Since Berkeley is a competitive campus, satisfying the minimum requirements is often not enough to be competitive for selection. In addition to the basic admission requirements, the campus selects its first-year class through an assessment that includes a holistic review of your academic performance as measured primarily by:
Your weighted and unweighted UC grade point average (calculated using 10th and 11th grade UC-approved courses only)
Your planned 12th grade courses
Your pattern of grades over time
The number of college preparatory, Advanced Placement (AP), International Baccalaureate (IB), honors and transferable college courses you have completed
Your level of achievement in those courses relative to other UC applicants at your school
Your scores on AP or IB exams and SAT subject exams
UC Berkeley is test-free, meaning we will not use standardized exams (SAT and ACT) in our review process. Subject exams are optional but can still be value added. If you report your scores to one campus, they will be shared with every campus to which you’ve applied. Standardized exams will not be used in the application review process.
We review students using a Holistic Review process. This means that we not only look at academic factors, but also non-academic factors. Using a broad concept of merit, readers employ the following criteria which carry no pre-assigned weights:
The applicant’s full record of achievement in college preparatory work in high school, including the number and rigor of courses taken and grades earned in those courses.
Personal qualities of the applicant, including leadership ability, character, motivation, insight, tenacity, initiative, originality, intellectual independence, responsibility, maturity, and demonstrated concern for others and for the community are considered.
Likely contributions to the intellectual and cultural vitality of the campus. In addition to a broad range of intellectual interests and achievements, admission readers seek diversity in personal background and experience.
Achievement in academic enrichment programs, including but not limited to those sponsored by the University of California. This criterion is measured by time and depth of participation, by the academic progress made by the applicant during that participation, and by the intellectual rigor of the particular program.
Other evidence of achievement. This criterion recognizes exemplary, sustained achievement in any field of intellectual or creative endeavor; accomplishments in extracurricular activities such as the performing arts or athletics; leadership in school or community organizations; employment; and volunteer service.
Race, ethnicity, gender, and religion are excluded from the criteria.
All achievements, both academic and nonacademic, are considered in the context of the opportunities an applicant has had, and the reader’s assessment is based on how fully the applicant has taken advantage of those opportunities. For an applicant who has faced any hardships or unusual circumstances, readers consider the maturity, determination and insight with which the applicant has responded to and/or overcome them. Readers also consider other contextual factors that bear directly upon the applicant’s achievement, including linguistic background, parental education level, and other indicators of support available in the home.
The review recognizes a wide range of talent and creativity that is not necessarily reflected in traditional measures of academic achievement but which, in the judgment of the reader, is a positive indicator of the student’s ability to succeed at Berkeley and beyond.
Do you know if Berkeley or other UCs consider, or even have access to, students’ CAASPP test scores? It’s been a few years, but seems like I remember my student being asked about authorizing the release of this information when filling out her UC application in fall 2020 (which could have made the situation unique).
But apparently, “close to perfect” GPA still isn’t good enough. My S24 has 4.0/4.36/4.64 GPA and still did not get into UC Davis (waitlisted), UC Irvine (waitlisted), UCLA or UCSD. Maybe it’s because he’s taken only 6 APs in high school and 2 honors, and only 24 year-long A-G courses in all. The competition is tight.
Did anyone else get requests for letters of recommendation? My daughter is a gap year applicant, was rejected last year, but this year after a very productive senior year and gap year was asked to submit letters of recommendation which wasn’t asked the first time. Wondering if this makes a difference. Thoughts?
I would not make any assumptions until UCB’s decisions are posted but I would say it is the choice of major (CS) in this case since it is just crazy competitive for all the UC’s (exception UCM) that has had the most impact on your student’s UC decisions.
LOR’s submissions are optional and not required to be admitted but the BOARS report which cited 2021 data showed that of the applicants that did submit LOR’s, there was a58% admit rate for that group.
However back in 2021, the LOR requests were very limited in scope and since then, the number of requests for LOR’s seems have to been broadened to a larger applicant pool.
I completely agree with you. “Close to perfect GPA” is never an assurance now especially if applying to CS major at top UC campuses. Have you heard of the California kid who was multi-awarded and was hired by Google? That kid, despite having everything credential-wise was rejected by 5 UCs.
My statement about UCLA admitting extremely high GPA students vs. UCB admitting kids with excellent ECs is just in the context of my D24’s school. The population in this school is mostly non-need based students, non-first gen, competitive kids mostly taking 10+ APs. They found that UCLA seemed to prefer students with extremely high GPAs even if some of the ECs were mediocre, while UCB seemed to prefer students with excellent (leadership) ECs even if GPAs are slightly lower. Personally, i’m just glad that the two top UCs seemed to prefer kids with different qualifications.
Added: in D24’s school, students going for CS applies to a lot of OOS schools such as UIUC and Purdue. They do not rely on UCs, no matter their qualifications. Too few slots for too many high-qualification students.
Yes, it is generally observed that UCLA has a stronger preference for high stat students, and UCB is more holistic. I do think “holistic” doesn’t necessarily translate precisely to ECs; UCB might also choose a student with a really interesting academic background, or great PIQs, for example. Anecdotally, not all UCB admits we know had impressive ECs. But in any case it is clear from looking at admission stats that UCB doesn’t put as much emphasis on stats (high GPA and high number of Honors classes) compared to UCLA.
Edited to add: Note also that what UCB says they are looking for in terms of “leadership” might not look like the traditional idea of leadership. What Leadership Looks Like (Cal Admissions)