This is interesting. Do you have the numbers? I would be curious what the numbers have been like for the last decade or even two decades as I think college enrollment declined after 2010 but most flagships saw increased applications. Next year is the start of declining birth rates so if the number of aps fell this year for a couple of Uc’s, I wonder if the trend will continue next year and if so, which UC’s will be impacted. This year’s cohort was born right before the financial crash so was right when birth rates peaked.
I don’t have the time right now to pull the numbers out and compare, but here is one article that is not paywalled that shows percentage increase at all the campuses that increased (unfortunately the Chron is paywalled):
And here is the factsheet for 2025 which you can compare to previous years. https://ucop.edu/institutional-research-academic-planning/_files/factsheets/2025/table-1a-undergraduate-application-summary-counts.pdf
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Yes, it is not transparent at all. It is too much pressure to wait so many days after 27th March. Other prestigious UC s and ivy league colleges also have accepted so many waitlisted kids.
Here is a gift link with application data for fall 24 vs. fall 25 - there was actually a rise in apps to Cal (dip in apps to UCLA):
I think the whole hype for the Berkeley waitlist began when the TikTok guy (I think tineo?) said Berkeley under admitted this year as he spoke with admissions officers directly. Next when @Sriram2 contacted Berkeley and said May 28 could be a reasonable date. Super heart breaking when so much hope and possibility was dumped down only for it to end this way. Really disappointed to be waiting on the waitlist for so long without a clear response. I still refuse to believe they won’t take anyone off the waitlist. If not me, at least someone deserving should definitely be given the spot of the waitlist… I would be very very surprised if a public school takes no one off the waitlist, even if it is Berkeley.
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This is the link with the 2025 applicant numbers.. check out the freshman application numbers not the combined transfer + freshman
UCB has the lower freshman applicants in 2025 than 2024 as well as fewer applicants than UCSD
No waitlist admissions for a cycle would be crazy for a public like Berkeley. Its a shame cuz waitlists could literally just be the difference of a vote or two in the committee, numbers, or institutional priorities. What that does mean is that y’all are all amazing students and are set to do great things no matter what school you go to! Don’t let a rejection from ol’ crumbling overcrowded underfunded cutthroat Berkeley change that!
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uc admissions are actually so annoying i got on 5 waitlists and the best uc i was admitted to was santa cruz. idk why they use the waitlist so much to manage numbers it leads to so much false hope and uncertainty esp for those ucs that barely have any movement. also some use the waitlist for what looks like yield protection which also feels so unfair to applicants
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So nice post.
Thanks for the links! Interesting. I wonder whether we will see more declines in the coming years. Won’t help those on the wait list this year though!
Interesting.
Thanks for the link!
Berkeley also has lower applications than UCSD for most categories. The exceptions are Berkeley had more OOS apps for both first years and transfers and for International transfers. UCSD even beat out Berkeley for first year internationals which was rather surprising since I would have thought Berkeley would be ahead.
Might be something to consider for those who got into UCSD and are waiting to hear back from Berkeley. Seems UCSD is very desirous!
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Assuming this statement is true, how many applied does not matter at his point. For whatever reason their yield is trending high, but since they admit by major or college I still think they will admit a few here and there as some majors/colleges might see more melt.
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UCSD has been growing as a more desirable option for applicants among the UCs. UCLA is probably the most sought after, popularity wise among this generation of kids, followed by UCSD. Anecdotally, fewer of my S25’s friends applied to UCB or accepted, compared to S22’s cohort. Berkeley still is the primary choice for certain majors (Haas, eng, econ).
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Called today from my side. They have basically confirmed they aren’t taking anyone off the freshmen waitlist as of now. If they are, they will be taking less than that of last year. They have moved on to transfers and they can expect to hear back soon. The official closing of waitlist email will be sent mid July for freshmen.
It certainly gets annoying when you’ve put a considerable amount of effort into applying to a school (especially UCs, where we carefully craft 4 individual essays talking about significant moments of our lives) only to not hear anything back for more than a reasonable amount of time and be treated like a bunch of nobodies. If we put in effort and show interest in a school, why can’t the same school put some effort and give us updates, even if it is as little as saying the class is full…
Just going to withdraw my application from here for my peace of mind.
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Looking at the top of this thread, other than 2023, Berkeley has historically accepted very few waitlists. So, that is probably their baseline. It seems the same will be repeated this year as well.
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Berkeley received 126,796 freshman applications for the class entering in Fall 2025, as per your link. Berkeley received 124,242 applications for the class entering in Fall 2024, as per the link below. Berkeley’s freshman applications increased by 2% year-over-year.
For many years now, both UCLA and UCSD have received more freshman applications than UC Berkeley. The southernmost 8 counties in California comprise 58% of the state’s population (the other 50 counties have 42% of population), so not surprisingly, SoCal kids apply to popular SoCal colleges.
Yes, which is why the in-state rate may not be a surprise though I do think it used to be that Berkeley received more apps and southern CA always had more population but I don’t know the details of the size of pop vs difference in applications so this could be explained as southern CA population taking a larger share more recently. However, what is a surprise are the international freshmen apps where UCSD had slightly more than Berkeley 24,288 vs 24,020. Internationals often tend to gravitate towards the more recognized name and Berkeley is more recognizable than UCSD in many countries. In other words, UCSD seems to be on the rise which should be a good sign for students accepted at UCSD and still waiting to hear from Berkeley.
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I asked when to expect some sort of official update regarding the waitlist (i.e. closing of the waitlist/ how many people will be taken off/ etc…)
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Yeah I think ppl were expecting <100 accepts before Tineo said in his video that Berkeley AO said they under admitted.