Despite AOCs being adamant that all decisions will be made by June 15/16, if they DO decide to push it I honestly god hope that they just freaking accept the remaining ~1000(pure speculation) students on the wait list cause a delay means the later students won’t be able to get any of their classes.
I 100% agree that an ordinary student getting an in person class is basically impossible at this point. Now I see posts saying how UCs have a history of ignoring these laws and protecting their foreign students for multiple reasons. I know that even in my CCC, there are programs or times where teachers are actively trying to help those who are targeted by these dumb rules.
While I would be eager to be accepted, I definitely never wish this to happen to any INT students who have worked their asses off to attend the school and have overcome hurdles.
Off topic rant but why don’t the administration target the citizens who DON’T GIVE A DAMN to self isolating or wearing a mask. Those tens of thousands of people who visit the beach daily or still hosts huge parties are doing infinitely more damage than a few hard working/grinding students who are dedicated and who been watching their backs because of these unfair rules going around.
It makes me angry thinking about a few tutoring friends I made that just transferred and will be attending SJSU nearby. One works maximum hours the school allows him to do and they work outside to provide for his siblings back home. Literally every week I see him red eyed from lack of sleep or he passes out due to exhaustion while balancing his emotional state in aiming for a good GPA. This is his reward???
I’ve been doing some more research on the ICE decision and I thought some of you might find this informative.
-Only 3% of UCB classes will be in person.
-International students need to take at least one in-person class to not lose their F1 student visa. A good amount of international students on reddit were planning on doing the first semester remotely at their home country. This has drastically changed their plans though and now they might have to scramble to find an in-person class and look for housing.
International students may need to reapply for a student visa if they take a semester gap. However, the US embassy currently isn't accepting VISAs and likely won't for the rest of the year. This would basically default all semester gaps to being year gaps.
You need two semesters of schooling in order to do an internship on a student visa. All incoming international students will need to attend both the Winter and Spring semesters in order to do an internship for the Summer.
I've seen some people on reddit say this decision doesn't matter because Berkeley wouldn't dare report students to ICE. While Berkeley obviously wouldn't do that to their own students, they also will not lie on the I-20 form.
If you are an incoming international student and you are not taking an in-person class then you will not be allowed to enter the USA.
-UCB students are planning on offering a decal class for international students. Basically an easy to pass, one credit in-person class for international students to get around this decision. However, this class is expected to have very limited seating and it is still not a for sure thing.
-UCB is fully online after thanksgiving until the end of the fall semester. No idea how this might impact the ICE decision. Would international students who find an in-person class and stay for the beginning of the semester still be forced to leave after Thanksgiving?
The implications of these guidelines are going to be huge. My heart goes out to all you international students. This seems really cruel and I can only imagine how this is going to impact your future plans.
“The implications of these guidelines are going to be huge. My heart goes out to all you international students. This seems really cruel and I can only imagine how this is going to impact your future plans.”
@ShmopyShoj Agreed. I am 19 and am not familiar about how much power ICE has but I hope the CA government or administration are able to pass a law to stall/prevent this. Obviously I do not know about the authority differences but I pray something is done.
Apparently people are trying to make "in person" decals as a way to support students. Since Berkeley is hybrid, it has high hopes that it will work.
“I see some talk on the Overheard page where someone wants to create an in-person “Social Distancing” DeCal so that international students can have an in-person class on their schedule. Hopefully the administration can pull some strings.”
From what I see, If you are a brand new international student and your school is all online next year, you will not be allowed to enter the USA”
@ShmopyShoj I am from the UCLA waitlist threat (got off the waitlist a while back and got my admissions to UCLA in June 6th). I was hearing about the news too. That is very unfair for international students!!! You can’t forced a student whether International or in-state to go on campus when the virus is still out there! This is outrageous. My heart goes out to international students too. In the UCLA waitlist thread, I have not heard an international student get their admissions to UCLA. FIngers-crossed for international and in-state students who are still waiting.
For transferring international students in this thread:
I had F1 status for a while myself. As far as I know, if you’re not leaving USA - you are good to stay here even if your F1 visa is expired. However, the problem is how to maintain legal presence if UCB offers online classes (correct me if I’m wrong). From my personal experience - I did OPT for a year with only a Certificate of Achievement from cc (those who write that it’s not possible or you need to spend 2 years in college and get AA or AS - you’re wrong and I have a proof in form of my transcript and I-20). So if you’re afraid to leave the country and play a lottery on getting a new visa - the best course of action would probably be applying for OPT and doing it simultaneously with the Fall semester in university. The thing which I don’t know is how this OPT will affect you after university. STEM majors normally have two years of OPT after completing undergraduate studies, so I don’t know if it will be canceled out. You’ll probably need to make this choice. Anyway, you absolutely MUST make an appointment with International Student office in your CC and plan everything out ASAP - they will tell you what to do. Just remember that you can do OPT with a Certificate, for some reason they are hiding it until asked directly.
So, on today’s live chat, it’s loosely been confirmed that we are the waitlist for the waitlist people. Meaning that we are waiting for the people who get off the waitlist to decide whether they except their offers. Outlook not so good.
They also mentioned that capacity is very fluid and changing frequently and that there is a chance that the decisions will have to be postponed a couple more weeks until late July.
It does seem though that currently there are barely any spots open. Sucks.
I would have to imagine that they can’t push decisions past July though right? It would be absurd to release decisions as late as August.
@NickAppliedMath@ShmopyShoj
He now said he’s unable to tell people whether he means seats are full since they’re still assessing their capacity/progress. I don’t think he said that those left on the waitlist are the waitlist to the waitlist. They never really answered that question. There’s only so much that can be drawn from the AO chats, and every AO says something slightly different.
Definitely, I think we are all correct. Sure “loosely confirmed” might have been a stretch, but trying to connect what dots I could through all their contradictory information, it’s pretty grime chances. Because the are so damn cryptic about it, thats all one can assume. By the laws of probability the chances of a mass admit off the waitlist is are still possible, but how I see it, very, very unlikely.
To be honest, I don’t know if they know when they’ll have made a decision. I guess we should all just think that since classes start mid August-ish, that has to be the final day.
All of this is just too much. I just signed my $20k housing contract with UCLA and now, if Berkeley comes through ill have to pay some fees to cancel it. For a school that focuses on equity, forcing us to wait this long means that we have to pay fees at other colleges, which for some, including myself, is very difficult.
Rep said that while there is a possibility that waitlist could be extended again, they are FORMALLY told that it will still be until July 15. They also said that there will be a wave mid July so expect next week.
Berkeley is likely to be converted to fully online from an email they sent to their students. Apparently Greek Life has caused cases among students which forced this hand.
Just read the email and it doesn’t seem as if they are moving fully online. It seems as if they are just going to cut back on their plans to make more classes in person. Supposedly they were looking into adding more in person classes but that recent outbreak stopped them dead in their tracks. They might cancel some in person classes but I am thinking at least 2-3% of total classes will stay online. Some labs would have to be open just with very limited capacity. Some people need labs to graduate and I don’t think Berkeley would go ahead and cancel labs for the whole year and force students to stay another extra year to graduate.
I’m also not sure whether to expect a wave or not. It seems like as if every time the Berkeley reps have said that no sizable wave has happened. I am guessing that by “wave” the AOs really mean like 10 people lol. There’s probably still around 2,000+ people on the waitlist. Accepting 10 people would be hardly noticeably and maybe that explains how we haven’t heard of people getting accepted off the waitlist even though AOs say that a “wave” was sent out.
UC President just released a statement on ICE guidelines.
“ICE’s announcement is perplexing, given that some degree of remote instruction is necessary for colleges and universities to protect the safety and well-being of their communities and the public at large, while still allowing students to continue their studies. Challenges and uncertainty related to COVID-19 are already weighing heavily on students; now is the worst time to burden them further with anxiety.
“UC will assess fully how these changes will affect our campuses and our international students. However, this much is abundantly clear: The Trump administration’s latest actions impacting international students jeopardize our nation’s future as a worldwide leader in research and innovation.
We are working closely with all of the other UC campuses and the UC Office of the President and consulting with colleagues across the country to review the details of the announcement and to engage with congressional and other government offices. Efforts are already underway to explore all options to assist our international students in achieving their academic goals without interruption.”
It seems as if all UC’s are trying to either postpone or erase the ICE guidelines during the pandemic. Considering that the start of the semester is only a month away, I would have to think that Berkeley would need more time to work a change through congress. However the AOs on the live chat can’t seem to comment on how this might affect admissions. Given how conservative Berkeley has been on admissions this year, I wouldn’t be surprised if they decide not to admit more students even in spite of this uncertainty.
@ShmopyShoj Well, this is different. Berkeley is just taking one hit after another, and now this. They can’t survive this financially unless they overenroll imo, and with Spring being online it’s a likely possibillity. I think they admitted small waves, and extended the WL, as it seems that they’re genuninely trying to better understand capacity, and how many more they should enroll to make up finances. And, I think the email hinted at a high chance of fully online.
I dont think there are 2000 students on the waitlist. The # of wl students for UCLA last year was 1200. So my guess for Berkeley waitlist # is about 800-1000 this year.
Idk exactly when but I remember looking at either the 2018 or 2019 past thread and the data was like 1000/3000 total people on the waitlist got accepted.
Apparently news is that in-person decals has been banned from insider sources but not too sure how legitimate this info this is.