UCBSO Applicant Pool

[322012]

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Hi guys,

I am not sure if any of you guys have noticed, but the applicant pool at Berkeley is pretty small in comparison to other programs. Why is that!? berkeley has a great opto program and it was kinda shocking to me when i heard that only around 300 people applied. Even past years, its been around 250-300 applicants. strangeee...

just wondering your guys thoughts.. thanks!

 

[Shnurek]

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[hockeystar123]

It could be a number of reasons:

1. location
2. cost (especially for people who are out of state)
3. fear of not getting in --> waster of time and money if they applied and then got rejected
4. preference for another school (for example, due to a better clinical experience)
5. not interested in research (Berkeley is very well known for their research and is pretty research-oriented, I think)

Those are a few of the reasons I could come up with, but I think all these reasons are applicable for any other school too. Most applicants apply to around 3-7 schools so if they don't apply to Berkeley or any other optometry school, then all of those reasons mentioned above are probably still valid.

 

[optoapp2012]

It could be a number of reasons:

1. location
2. cost (especially for people who are out of state)
3. fear of not getting in --> waster of time and money if they applied and then got rejected
4. preference for another school (for example, due to a better clinical experience)
5. not interested in research (Berkeley is very well known for their research and is pretty research-oriented, I think)

Those are a few of the reasons I could come up with, but I think all these reasons are applicable for any other school too. Most applicants apply to around 3-7 schools so if they don't apply to Berkeley or any other optometry school, then all of those reasons mentioned above are probably still valid.

I agree - it's very expensive for people out of state for that first year, plus living expenses in the area for everyone. A lot of the people that I know who didn't apply said they didn't want to bother because they figured they'd be rejected. Another reason is because of the fact that it's not rolling admissions like the others, which can be inconvenient for some. Also some people really prioritize new facilities or clinical experiences that go beyond the current scope of practice - those aren't top priorities at Berkeley. I wish the clinical experience beyond the current scope of practice WAS a priority, but that wasn't so important as to stop me from picking the school 🙂

 

[OpticalBlackOut]

Couple reasons for me-
1. They had the most intensive supplemental application...numerous essay questions
2. They had the most pre-reqs required
3. Due to the lack of rolling admissions, I had already gotten acceptances from other schools

 

[kokobeans]

Stringent prerequisites and it's fairly competitive

 

[srwilson1]

Yea- I was surprised to learn the applicant pool is small as well. I think some people don't apply because its highly competitive, meaning most of those who are accepted have very high oat's and high gpa's. People prob don't think they stand a chance. Also, berk requires more work and money during the application process. I'll say from experience: if you're interested in the school, just apply there and see what happens. The small applicant pool at berk may work to your advantage. I thought I would never get in because my oat scores are on the lower end of the spectrum, but I was accepted because they liked other stuff about me. Play up your strengths, minimize your weaknesses and chances are schools will notice.