Curious to hear the take on that Tiktok video by Iris from @tamagotchi @Gumbymom @pathandpurpose
I did not watch the TikTok video. The only thing I have to say is that the number of waitlist admits varies tremendously from year to year. Itâs quite possible that this might be a year where the yield was higher than expected, and few students end up being admitted from the waitlist.
Recent yearsâ numbers from @Gumbymomâs post at the top of this thread:
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Hopefully your visit at UCSB helped your D24 with choice!
Iâm just a parent, so no inside knowledge, but I think the letter in TikTok video is real and any movement will be one offs due to melt or if offers are rescinded when transcripts due 7/1 that donât match application without explanation.
From anecdotal observation from my S24âs HSâ Instagram page â hard to really trend anything as data on majors is limited.
Our HS stats for UC Berkeley SIRâs with caveat on unknown majors
2024: 11
2023: 6
2022: 6
2021: 7
Whereas UCLAâs was
2024: 2
2023: 5
2022: 3
2021: 2
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This TikTok video is definitely real, last year waitlist decisions already came out for in state kids. Better to consider yourself rejected from all uc waitlists and have zero hope because odds are u wonât get off the waitlist in most cases, except maybe sb and sc. Try to like the school u committed to, and if u do get off the waitlist, youâll be pleasantly surprised.
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Amongst the approx 15000 first year admits to UCB,.saying 200 CS is MORE is the cruelest joke UCB admin can make.
CS is the the MOST sought after study in these times, not just for jobs but also advancement of technology and society.
UCB in their infinite wisdom believe that 100 CS graduates in 2028 (a mere 0.66% of the stadium.they fill on commencement) is too much!!
And UCB is in the heart of silicon valley, where tech companies employ - believe it or not around 500,000 tech workers!
Someone needs to wake up at UCB. So sad.
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They are simply restricting the major to the number of students that they have capacity to teach. They must also leave room for a certain number of junior transfer students, and they also reserve a limited number of spaces for âdiscoverersâ who apply to change to the CS major through the comprehensive review process.
Keep in mind that in addition to the CS major in the new College of CDSS, UCB also has the EECS major in the College of Engineering, which is very similar. There are also a number of CS-adjacent majors such as data science, etc., and also many other majors (and many other students) that include CS classes as part of the curriculum.
To give you a sense of the number of students that the department must accommodate, the first foundation course in the CS major, 61A (that DeNero teaches) has about 1200-1500 students per semester. More advanced CS courses are somewhat smaller in size, but the popular ones are perpetually overflowing with waitlists. Courses in this department are excellent and most teachers are great, too. There is simply a limit to how many students they can teach.
Hoping for the best outcome for everyone here, whether you end up at UCB or at another great school out there 
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I thought they created CDSS to stop the âbackdoorâ where 2000 L&S student went after CS. Wasânt CDSS created to limit massive class sizes, but going from 1500 CS grads through backdoor to 100 is a stretch.
Anyway, it is what it is. Not sure why these numbers were not publicised before and why UCs decide to privately communicate with private counselors.and not their real users/customers that is the students.
If they had shared that they only have 100 seats for CS upfront publicly on their website, I would have applied to EECS and would have had 7x better chance.
So much secrecy for what?
I am not sure where you are getting a number of 1500. Was it from the number of students taking 61A? This class is taken by students in CS, EECS, other engineering majors, data science, and many other majors.
The number of enrolled CS-intended first year students peaked at 566 in Fall 2019, as you can see on the slide. Remember that this was at a time when CS-intended students were being admitted by College, not by major. UCB apparently began to limit CS-intended first-year students for Fall 2021, further reducing the number in Fall 2022 to a target of about 100 enrolled, and about the same number in Fall 2023.
The sharp decrease in CS-intended admits was definitely a surprise for Fall 2022 applicants, especially since the High Demand policy wasnât yet in effect.
For Fall 2023 and Fall 2024, however, CS-intended students were aware they were applying to a High Demand major on the UC application. It hasnât been a secret that the number of students admitted to CS in 2022 and 2023 was extremely small (and in both years, the admit rate was lower than EECS).
In your case of choosing between EECS or CS, although past numbers are available, it can be difficult for an applicant to predict in any given admission season how many others will be applying to each major. It could have been the case this year that lots of students might have looked at the prior year numbers, and applied to EECS instead of CS⊠in which case the admit rate for EECS might have dropped. That might happen next year. We really donât know.
Any way you slice it, CS / EECS is a difficult admit at many schools, since the major is in high demand. I hope you end up at a great place that fits you, whether itâs Georgia Tech or another school!
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Thanks for your detailed response, I have four concerns (and not directed towards you).
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The number of CS admits in all major schools in US is increasing as is the industry demand. UCB seems to be bucking that trend for some unknown reason.
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If CS adjacent is âsimilarâ when it comes to curriculum and class size then they should allow students to apply for these majors together (why EECS and CS is mutually exclusive)?
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There is this element of exclusivity in their communication - the screen grab you shared is now private, the email like the TikTok video is shared with counselors including private counselors. Not sure what else is shared privately as such unless students pay big bucks to these private counselors would never know.
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UCB knows the intended class size before the admission process begins. Why is that information not public? Why do we have to learn these things and try to decipher private video screen grabs?
Thank you
There has indeed been a HUGE increase in the total number of students studying CS and graduating with CS majors all over the country (and world). There is industry demand⊠but it is not at all clear to me that the demand is rising as fast as the HUGE increase in the supply of new grads. Historically, the job market in this industry tends to fluctuate. In my career in this industry I have seen many downturns and mass layoffs.
If you talk to current seniors or recent graduates, it hasnât been as easy to get internships and jobs as it was a few years ago.
Every college and university will make its own choices based on resources available, but I personally think itâs prudent not to expand the number of students past a level where the department can continue to offer a high level of education to all students in the major.
However, I do think this conversation might be getting a bit off topic for the UCB Waitlist thread. Perhaps it would make sense to start another topic to discuss CS admission policies specifically?
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Will start a new thread.in policies forum. Waitlist is cooked anyway lol
Will look for your DM 
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Will DM you to not clutter up this thread.
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My sonâs HS was the opposite. Usually 5-10 students go to UCB and this year it was zero. Students will attend all of the other UCâs but none to UCB
UIUC uses a new way to address the demand: CS+X
so waitlist is closed for all OOS and international and instate students or will just be open for in state from now on and will only let in a limited amount.
Source?
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I think the waitlist might close soon
Source?
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Just a guess