University of California Berkeley, often just called Cal or Berkeley, is a public university in (you guessed it) Berkeley, California. It is the founding campus of the UC schools, the state’s nine-school university system. The school is famous for research, and in 2021, the funding for research and development exceeded $1 billion. Cal is also a large university with over 30k undergraduates across five undergraduate schools (The College of Letters and Science, Chemistry, Engineering, Environmental Design, Natural Resources, and the Haas School of Business). Some schools are more competitive than others, and some majors have strict enrollment caps, so it pays to do your research into the school and program you hope to attend.
How to Write the University of California (UC) System Supplement 2024-2025
The University of California system is a collection of some of the most sought-after universities in the country — all of which are state universities in California…but hopefully that last bit is obvious. The perks of the UC system for in-state students are real. You got in-state tuition, and the acceptance rates are much higher than for students applying from outside California. These schools are so popular, that tens of thousands of out-of-state students vie for a small percentage of spots, causing the acceptance rates overall to plummet. The are Berkeley, Davis, Irvine, UCLA, Merced, Riverside, San Diego, Santa Barbara, and Santa Cruz, and the acceptance rates overall range from 83% (UC Merced) to less than 12% (UC Berkeley).
How to Get into UCLA
The University of California Los Angeles, usually just called UCLA, is a public university in LA’s Westwood neighborhood. UCLA is one of nine undergraduate schools in the popular University of California system. UCLA has six undergraduate schools and Arts and Architecture, Engineering and Applied Science, Music, Nursing, Public Affairs, and Theater, Film and Television (and over 120 majors!) They are especially celebrated for their School of Theater, Film, and Television (TFT). Come on, it is LA, but they also have popular majors in biology, business economics, political science, psychology, and psychobiology.
Summer Strategy Ideas for UCLA
UCLA, or the University of California, Los Angeles, offers a big school experience in a big city. It’s sort of like ‘maximum’ college. UCLA is prestigious, it’s fun, it’s creative, it’s community focused, and it’s academically intense. It’s everything, and that’s why students love it. There are 33,000 undergraduates at UCLA, and nearly 50,000 total students. The student body represents over 100 countries, and over 9% of students are international — one of the highest ratios of international students in the country. Students in the undergraduate colleges are able to pick from over 125 majors, and over 90 minors, and many mix and match subjects and arenas. People who love to explore, to challenge themselves, and to collaborate with others . Two out of three classes have less than 30 students.
Applying to the University of California (UC) System as an International Student
The University of California cover dozens of academic majors, hundreds of degree programs, and nine distinct universities scattered around California — a state in the United States that is larger than Vietnam, the U.K., and France (although not combined). Some of these campuses are predominantly popular among California-based students and fairly accessible for those outside of the state, while others are globally-recognized as top-tier universities and are very hard to get into.
How to Write the University of California Supplement 2023-2024
The University of California is more than Berkeley or UCLA (although those are two of the most popular colleges among our clients). The UC system is made up of nine different colleges (UC Berkeley, UCLA, UC Santa Barbara, UC San Diego, UC Irvine, UC Davis, UC Santa Cruz, UC Riverside, and UC Merced), all with varying acceptance rates, admissions requirements, campus ~vibes~, and class sizes. While the UC system isn’t on the Common App (boo!) they do have a pretty cool portal that allows you to apply to all nine, with the same essays for each, with a simple click. Well, technically nine clicks (gotta check off all the boxes).
UC Schools Legacy Strategy
Maybe your legacy student is dreaming of going to Haas, a UCLA cluster, or even Film School at Santa Cruz. You might be wondering, “will my alumni status help them get into a UC?” It's a question we hear from parents all the time, especially when it comes to UC Berkeley and Los Angeles. So we wanted to break down what legacy means (and doesn’t mean) when applying to top UC schools.
How to Write the UC Application 2022-2023
So you are applying to one (or more) of the 9 UCs? Let’s talk about it. For those out of the loop, the UCs or the Universities of California include 9 campuses across the Golden State. The campuses include Berkeley, Los Angeles, Santa Cruz, Irvine, Riverside, Merced, Santa Barbara, San Diego, and Davis. While the schools range when it comes to size, programs, acceptance rates, etc they all share the same application. Students choose which of the campuses they want to apply to by checking a box on the application and paying separate application fees for each campus. TLDR: applying to one is as easy as applying to all 9, however much cheaper.
UCLA Legacy Guide
We often work with students who are legacies. Legacy status can help at many top schools but not all of them. And in general, the topic of legacy status isn’t the easiest to navigate. We have been working on a series of guides to help parents navigate legacy status at top schools and today we want to talk about UCLA.
UC Berkeley Legacy Guide
It isn’t uncommon in Northern California to see a child dressed up head to toe in UC Berkeley merch. These kids often go on to dream of going to Cal just like their parents did. We work with a lot of these kids and we always get questions from their parents about if their legacy status will help them get in. We have been doing a series on the ins and outs of legacy status at top schools and wanted to dive into what UC Berkeley says about legacy status and what that can mean for your applicant.