All nine schools of the University of California system offer engineering programs, but among the most popular is UC Berkeley’s College of Engineering. Located in the East Bay college town of Berkeley, the UC school is often just called Cal. It is the flagship campus of the California public land-grant research university system. Cal is an extremely popular school, and their engineering programs are especially competitive. While they haven’t released a separate acceptance rate for the engineering school in a couple of years, they did for the 2021-2022 school year. At the time, the College of Engineering had about a 7.6% acceptance rate. The overall acceptance rate for that same year was 14%.
These numbers are a couple of years too old to use, but they show that Cal’s engineering programs are more challenging to get into than the school at large. Last year, the acceptance rate for out-of-state students was around 7.3%. While it was higher for in-state students (at around 15%), trust us when we say that it is always hard to get into Cal. It is especially hard for out-of-state engineers. If that sounds like you, you need to make sure you are an elite candidate. There are a couple of steps that you need to take to do this. Let’s break them down.
Get the Grades
The UCs don’t look at SAT/ACT scores. Grades are always important for getting into college, but their testing policy makes your grades even more important. Last year, over 35% of applicants had a 4.0 unweighted GPA. Over 89% of applicants had above a 3.75 unweighted GPA, with the average submitted GPA as an unweighted 3.9. These are impressive grades, but you actually need more than just near-perfect grades. Cal also wants to see remarkable transcripts. You need to take as many Honors, IB, AP, Accelerated, and/or Dual Enrollment courses as possible to craft an impressive transcript. This very much includes the highest levels of math and science available to you, but it doesn’t stop there. You should push yourself with a challenging course load in as many subjects as possible while maintaining a high GPA.
Build a Niche
The UCs make you choose from programs and majors when applying. Your resume needs to back up this decision. The best way to do this is to establish an academic niche. You should explore your academic interests outside of class. This makes it clear that you know what you want to study and that you have knowledge of your intended field. The more you can learn, the better. Ideally, you want to become an expert in your academic niche. A well-defined niche comes with a solid resume and knowledge base; there are a couple of ways to start building just this.
Courses and Reading
The first step in building an academic niche is learning as much as possible about your academic interests. Many students say they want to be engineers, but don’t know much about engineering. Don’t be like them. We recommend reading books. Before you say anything, there are many excellent books on STEM subjects. At the risk of sounding like a boomer, many young people don’t read outside of class. Reading makes you better at talking and writing about your interests and helps build a strong knowledge base. You can supplement your reading list with podcasts, scientific journals, tech blogs, etc., but books should be on it.
Another great resource is online classes. Many universities offer pre-taped and often free courses through third parties like Coursera. These classes can give you the background knowledge of the field to push yourself further. You can also look for courses at college summer programs or community colleges. Taking classes outside of school will help you build a strong academic niche. Again, these are your first steps. But first steps are often the most important in determining a future direction.
School Extracurriculars
We love to see students who are involved in their school communities, especially in strategic ways. You should sign up for clubs and activities at school that build on your academic interests and niche. Hopeful engineers should look for robotics teams, Science Olympiads, mathletes, STEM tutoring clubs, solar car teams, computer science societies, etc. If your school doesn’t offer STEM-based clubs or the right STEM-based clubs for your niche, ask the administration about starting your own.
However, just signing up isn’t enough. Cal wants students who commit time and effort to the clubs that matter to them. You want to set yourself up to take on responsibilities and leadership roles. For example, a one-hour-a-week commitment to the Science Olympiad is not going to cut it. Being the co-captain and leading your team to the regionals in helicopter building? Now we are talking. Push yourself as far as you can in your extracurriculars!
Out of School Extracurriculars
While we love it when students are involved outside of school all year long, summers are especially important for building Cal-level resumes. You should strategically plan your summers to help develop your academic niche. There are a lot of great opportunities out there, but competitive candidates will likely have a mix of educational programs, internships, and research during their summers. You should look for opportunities specifically connected to your field of study.
Summers are extremely important. We often work with students as young as Freshmen to ensure their summers are strategically planned. If you aren’t sure where to start, we can help you maximize your summers. Contact us today!
Build Something Cool
You can show off your engineering skills by building something you would be proud to tell Cal about. Engineering is one of the more hands-on majors you can have, which makes skills from fabrication to programming valuable. We have worked with students who have built drones, computers, solar power systems, and much more. You can really choose anything; just make sure it makes sense for your academic niche. Show off what you can do, or even better, challenge yourself with a project that forces you to learn more and expand your skill set.
UC Berkeley is hard to get into, especially for out-of-state students. If you hope to get in, you need to be an outstanding candidate. It is a lot to ask for. If you need help, we have you covered.
We work with freshmen to transfers on all things college applications. Reach out to talk to a dedicated counselor today!