@astroLyf I did some research earlier and made a post about it on this thread; hopefully it answers your questions:
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/discussion/comment/20502940/#Comment_20502940
@guavayogurt do berkely accepts waitlisters before may 1st.i am international candidate applied for undeclared engg. Accoring to ur reearch do u hav any idea if any one from our school does not SIR then will they give someone from my school the chance to off waitlist
@astroLyf Ahh, my classmate chose UCD due to UCB being too close. From my high school and UCB, it’s only thirteen minutes away! LOL. That is why students from my high school tend to choose UCLA or UCD, UCSB instead because they do not want to be too close to home. Also, UCB does not have a medical program. Honestly, It’s all about your major. Plus, people from my school tend to have negative vibes with the students and feel uncomfortable with students. I totally disagree. But aye, people got other opinions about stuff.
To the answer to your question, I truly believe we all competing with each other. Y is not equal to X; this is why they are reviewing our application and deciding which one is more competitive than the other. SADLY, the first review we competed with our HIGH SCHOOL CLASSMATES! But now, we are competing with each other:l Cross fingers! This is why they said not everyone would grant a seat. BUT, I REALLY remember UCB said the same people who reviewed our application and decided to waitlist us, will be the same ones who will review it again after May 1!
@Lifeissohard Okay I understand that… But if you were a Chinese student you would never choose UCD over UCB…I’ve been admitted to UCD, UCI, UCSD, UCSB, but still, all I think about everyday is UCB… I don’t know why, but maybe because of my super unlucky life, among all the students applying to UCB and UCLA at my high school, 7 admitted to UCB and 9 admitted to UCLA, and I am the only one got waitlisted by them… The rest all got rejected… Have you any idea on the waitlist essay? I don’t know what to write yet…
Is every bodys waitlist letter have same language as to commit to some school before may 1st or thr r different waitlist letters.
@beegbeeegboi Which schools accepted you so far?
@USUG21 We are all competing with each other now, not with the people at our school. So, to answer your question in simple terms: no, our admittance from the waitlist is not directly affected by how many people from our school decide to SIR (it would be incredibly unfair for those who are the only candidate from their school).
However, the less people who SIR to Berkeley in general, the greater the chance us waitlisters will be admitted.
@astroLyf and anyone else trying to get ideas for the essay… On last year’s waitlist thread, someone actually posted their essay so people like us could read it (and yes, they did get accepted off of the waitlist).
Can you please send the link to it??? @guavayogurt !! And also does anyone know if people that don’t get offered a spot at Berkeley get notified?? Like if you don’t get in will they tell you so you’re not waiting around forever !!?
Also, guys, I read last year’s thread and it seems that not everyone accepted gets fall admission. A lot of the people had to choose from 3 different enrollment paths: Berkeley/SF FPF (Fall Program for Freshmen), Global Edge, or January admit.
They were also admitted in at least 3 different waves, and with each wave certain enrollment paths would fill up (Berkeley FPF was the first to get full).
It kinda shocked me, since I had assumed we’d all get fall admission, but I guess not. Just thought I’d throw that out there.
@bellabiology99 They will notify you by June 1 (or maybe after–I forget) of your final decision.
I finally found the link to the essay. Here it is:
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/discussion/comment/19642642/#Comment_19642642
Hey, so my high school grades on a semester system… so does that mean I enter my grade under the “Fall” category on the opt-in form? Also, that means I leave the winter grade and spring grader categories blank right?
@sike4123 yes, however, for spring put IN PROGRESS/IP and winter N/A. They are going to review our application once again, and they will review our grades we posted so you know, they know we got a semester system. But I really recommend putting spring IP.
@astroLyf Ahh, I know. I got accepted to UCSB, UCD, UCSC. I got accepted to other four private schools and four CSUs, But I am aiming UCB right now, but we got to accept the fact we have to SIR to one of the UCs that accepted us. May I ask why you didn’t apply for UCLA? I didn’t apply for UCLA because they said most people either get accepted to UCLA and get rejected to UCB, or the other way around. So, it was risky for me to apply for UCLA. About 6 of my classmates got accepted to UCLA, and got rejected to UCB! People who got accepted to UCB didn’t get accepted to UCLA. SAME! I am the only person who got waitlisted in my school! So depressing since I want to go there, however, we got another chance!
Also, do not feel your life is unluckkkkky! That’s not true… I thought about that on March 30th, but if you think about it, we got a second opportunity especially a HIGHER chance getting into UCB. (17% to 55%! comparing to 2015-2016 though)They usually waitlist around 3-4 thousand students out of over 85k applicants!!! You know that is a low chance getting waitlisted, and we should be happy that it is not a flat-out rejection!!
Maybe if you want to make yourself feel better, read the last year waitlist thread, a plethora of people got accepted! Plus, I talked to three of the students in my school from last year who got waitlisted. THEY ALL GOT IN! However, two of them had to do the programs I think it was the Global one, and the FPF and one got the regular fall where you just start your fall at Berkeley. I looked at the programs Berkeley offered on youtube; everyone seems to enjoy it truly. So I don’t actually mind…
There are FAQ Questions on our UCB portal, and like it says that the waitlist is “for freshman applicants who were not offered admission due to space limitations but who are considered excellent candidates for admission should space become available in the current admissions cycle.”
I guess, we are qualified applicants, and like they WANT to accept us; however, there is no space?? What do you think about that? Because I thought waitlist means maybe lol. When people read the FAQs, they end up NOT doing the essay and just putting their grades and opt in.
I’ll just do the essay for my safety. For me, I do not want to give them another pity essay. It’ll be worthwhile to write the personal essay about what draws you to want to study at Cal. I think that focusing on your aspirations and what the university has that can make your goals a reality, as well as what you can bring to the campus to make a positive impact are good topics for your essay.
I can see that you want to go to Berkeley, but WHY? Why Berkeley other than the four UC’s you applied to? Why is this UC the right for you? How will you contribute to the student body and the campus community? Are you going to make a difference in the community? Basically; WHY BERKELEY?!??!?!
That’s what I am going to write my personal statement about. I already did 600 words already, but like I know I have to polish it up, and I know it could be better, and make other people read it! It’s spring break right now, and I’m crossing my fingers my teachers read my essays. We are competing with each other! If we all want to go, Berkeley, we have to fight for it. LOL. Maybe this personal essay is the way out for us! (And our fall grades??)
Please, do not think negative; think positive. I was thinking negative before, now, I just have to this damn essay and make UC Berkeley WANTS me!
Do I really have to wait til the end of June to get a decision?? Or will it be a bit earlier?
@0ffdaboat You will get notified earlier. Last year the first wave was May 2.
Were you in the college of engineering or L&S
@guavayogurt Thanks! so the last wave is around June?
I hope that is a reflection of the population of wait-listed students using college confidential and not the true admission statistics. #OOSstruggles
@Lifeissohard I actually applied to CULA and got waitlisted too :(( There are 4 students in my school got admitted to both UCB and UCLA, I expected the same, but it turned out that I am the only one got waltlisted… What’s that program you talked about? I read the post by guavayogurt that there are several options, regular fall admission, regular spring admission, fall program for freshmen, global edge. What’s the difference between them? And also, I’m wondering whether the admission chance would be lower for me since I am an international student… A lot of students submit the waitlist form without even writing the essay? I don’t want to do that… I want to take this seriously and show my love for the school as much as possible. But this brings me another question - is the admission on a first-come-first-served base?
@astroLyf I don’t think they admit people by how fast they opt-in. After the waitlist opt-in form is due they re-evaulate everyone + I noticed that last year they admit by college