What does it take to get into UC Berkeley?

205mom
Sat, 10 Aug 2013 13:21:03 +0000

Berkeley admissions have not been based on the old straight-point system that the rest of the UC campuses followed for sometime, and now the de-coupling from the points formula has spread to other admissions at some of the UCs. This means that UCB, UCLA, UCSD (as of last year, I think) and possibly one other are using the same method all selective private universities use: they have readers who are trained to look at the “whole picture,” and every application is evaluated by at least two readers and often more.
In the past this has yielded some strange decisions for the Ivies and like-ivies, and by “strange” I mean ones that don’t make sense in terms of grades, scores and the rest. Not even in terms of URM. Just the sort where you can neither figure out why someone was turned down, or why someone was admitted. The formula just didn’t deliver, because it was no longer there. So conventional wisdom on this didn’t apply.
As far as an inside look into this, the links provided by the replies on this thread, specifically #12, will give you the gist of how holistic admissions work, or not.

The bottom line it to put forth the strongest application you can, to try even if others dismiss your chances, not to count on others who chance you as a sure thing, and to accept whatever happens. What better option is there? Admissions to UCB are competitive.