I’m jealous of those who got a letter haha
Just got mine today. Many of my classmates received theirs either yesterday or today, so perhaps they review students by region/school?
I attend an international school in East Asia btw
I read the LA Times article and I think the data about the school (from school code on app) might have triggered the request. Public magnet school, low SES neighborhood, overall stats for school are dismal but her IB program makes a difference. 2260, 4.0 UW, very qualified.
requested
OOS
GPA: 4.0 UW
ACT: 35
SAT II : 800 Math Level 2, 800 USH
Valedictorian
Requested
In State
GPA: 4.0 UW
SAT : 2260
EECS Major
I would like to add that the 2 other people at my school who applied also received LOR requests, and one has mediocre stats and one has good stats.
Requested
OOS / Illinois / Big public school
GPA UW- 3.6ish probably
ACT- 31
Applied for PoliSci
As you can tell, my stats are really low when it comes to other students on CC so I’m not sure why I got a request either…
Requested
3.9 UW 4.3 W
OOS/NC
ACT: 32 (33 superscored)
Applied for Political Science (L&S)
Just throwing it out there, it does seem that letters of recc are being requested from “borderline candidates” as in those from OOS simply because it’s more competitive, and many applying for a competitive program like engineering or etc. Personally, my SAT unsuperscored isn’t spectacular at a 2230 and I am an OOS applicant which is my hunch why they requested a letter of recc. I also come from a large suburban public school with only one other person to my knowledge applying to any UC school at all so yeah.
I’m wondering if many of the requests for recommendations are related to holistic evaluation. The UCs can’t take race into consideration, but they can consider family and economic challenges. Since many schools and zip codes have a mix of high and low income students, perhaps some of the letters of recommendation are requested for students in locations that are neither mostly low income or mostly high income. I have no data points to support this theory.
Update:
I received the request in the morning today (PST). I submitted my app on Nov 28. My major (again) is EECS.
@Ynotgo I suppose, but you state family income on your application and doesn’t the applicant’s school usually send in a report with info about the high school?
Family income section was optional.
Requested
My S got a request on Sunday via the email he used on his CA. His guidance counselors were pretty excited about it today at school and said that so far, he was the only one out of about 15 applicants to receive the request. His stats are definitely not the highest but his school is an extremely rigorous and well known private college prep.
OOS
GPA: 3.6 UW (not sure about UC GPA but his school report says all classes are to be considered Honors)
ACT : 32
Major: Bio
Essays: 10
Not requested
GPA:3.79 uw
UC GPA: 4.04
ACT: 29 (31 superscored, submitted both even though UC’s don’t superscore)
L&S Applied as Developmental Studies major
Submitted Nov 23rd… Alot of kids at my competitive private school got LOR’s so i’m suprised I did not get one since I am boarderline…
No request received
Submitted November 15
Applied Letters and Sciences (neuroscience)
ORM=white
4.2 UC GPA
2170 SAT (M=740, CR=650, W=780 and 10)
In-state
My school is also pretty competitive, with about 16-20 kids being accepted by Berkeley each year (class of 350 people). It’s so weird. The more sense I try to make out of it, the less sense that it makes. At this point, after researching the topic for two weeks, I think that it is truly random. It’s not submission date. Not academic caliber. Not GPA-SAT related. Not EC related. Not race related or URM related. Not major related or school related. I honestly have no clue what it could be…
Requested.
International.
UW GPA: ~3.8
ACT: 33
Major applied to: EECS
Submitted 11/30
Another student in our small school got a request. Has competitive stats (esp. ECs)
Received a request, while my friend who has similar stats did not.
4.43 UC GPA
2110 SAT (750 CR, 690 M, 670 W)
740 Math 2 and 750 Chemistry Subject Test
No ACT (taking this Saturday)
In-state
EC probably lower than average, band, but very little little volunteering
Top 5% of class (18 out 516)
Applied the college of chemistry with a major of chemical engineering
Just like the applicant above, received a request for a letter of recommendation. Friends with similar statistics did not.
UW GPA: 3.72
4.30 UC GPA (extremely difficult classes + 2 community college courses)
2240 SAT (770 M, 780 CR, 690 W) (2330 superscore, raised writing to 780 the second time around)
SAT Subjects: Math II, Chemistry, Biology-Molecular (800 all)
In-state applicant
School does not rank, estimating somewhere in top 20%
Strong research, better than average ECs, not much volunteering
Applied L&S Astrophysics major
Asian Indian Male (super ORM at university, maybe not so much with this major)