I’ve been waitlisted by LA and SD and rejected by UT Austin. My future seems bleak at the moment in terms of getting into Berkeley, however, I am determined to study there no matter what.
It is unlikely I will get in their for undergrad next week, so I have a few options:
- Go to one the schools that admitted me for electrical engineering for undergrad and apply for Berkeley for grad school.
These schools include: UIUC, UW, CSU SLO, SJSU, and UCD. Which one of these schools would be the best option?
I am well aware that its not just about the grades and the school, so I also intend to do research as a undergrad/participate in competitions and am currently applying for internships.
- Go to community college at De Anza, transfer to Berkeley EECS as an undergad
- Go to university for two years and then transfer to Berkeley EECS as an undergrad
I’ve heard it’s hard for Berkeley undergrad students to apply to Berkeley’s grad school, but my goal is essentially to go to Berkeley no matter what. If I get in for undergrad, I will finish there. If I don’t get in for undergrad, I will spend the next for years of my life crafting the perfect application for a grad student there.
Another question I have, which option would be the best out of these three?
If you remain this way, there is a very good chance you will be disappointed. Life is full of unknown. Be flexible and willing to compromise. You don’t have to go to any particular school to be happy/successful.
It depends on the department. For UCB EECS, it’s not true. My D, an undergrad at EECS, is now a PhD student there.
Before my D applied for PhD at UCB, I asked two people I knew, one an EE professor for more than 30 years, one a graduate and researcher at UCB; both of them told me that in many times volunteering to serve in ad. com, they had never seen a case in which the undergrad school was a factor in denying admissions.
Among the schools you listed, I recommend UCD (I assume it is UC Davis), especially if you have CA residency. UCD is close to UCB (there are shuttle buses between them). You will have a lot of opportunities to go to UCB to attend workshops/boot camps/seminars, to cooperate in researches at UCB, and to expand your network. I know many UCB graduates ending up in UCD faculty. When it’s time for you to apply to UCB for grad study, LoRs from UCD will likely carry a bit more weigh.
One of the potential drawbacks of transferring to UCB is that there is not enough time for you to do research at UCB. The first year you’re too new, not having known the faculty yet. By the second year, it’s too late because you’re about to get out.
i think you need to do a hard reset. You were admitted to UCD, CPSLO and several other quality schools and you feel that your future looks bleak! You need to measure yourself by a different yardstick young man or you will never be happy. I’d say go to one of them, do your best, see what opportunities unfold and embrace them wholeheartedly.
@stressedoutEE
I think getting into Berkeley is a perfectly reasonable, and achievable aspiration.
However, may I ask what is it about Berkeley that really makes you want to go there?
And considering attending Berkeley itself isn’t an ultimate life goal but just a ‘step’ in life, exactly what motivates you or dream yourself doing?
Don’t go to Berkeley for undergrad if you want to go here for grad school.
@smrider29 That is a fallacy.
@10s4life Uh, ok. It’s very well known that Berkeley prefers it undergrads to go to different grad schools. Most schools do.
My D (former CS undergrad and current CS PhD student at UCB) told me that when people during a proof relied on a clause but couldn’t prove it, (s)he just prefixed that clause with “it is obvious that…”
Now I learned another phrase for the same purpose 
She also told me that in the group of a few people admitted to her program at UCB this year, there was at least one UCB undergrad.
@10s4life , what you posted may be true for other departments, but from what I gathered, not necessarily so for EECS.