Introduction.

So, UC Berkeley waitlisted you.

You may be wondering what your chances are of getting out of the waitlist. Well, unfortunately, there is a lot of conflicting information regarding UCB’s waitlist acceptance rate.

We’ve gone through the trouble of parsing through the data below. And, the data may be surprising. For, UCB’s waitlist stats are “weird” to say the least.

What is UC Berkeley’s Waitlist Acceptance Rate? What are My Chances of UCB Accepting Me Off the Waitlist?

Below we’ve created a graph of UC Berkeley’s waitlist acceptance rate spanning from the 2019 to now.

UC Berkeley Waitlist Acceptance Rate Over the Years Visualized

UC Berkeley Acceptance Rate Year-By-Year

1. 2019-20: 27.62%
2. 2020-21: 32.73%
3. 2021-22: 5.22%
4. 2022-23: 1.03%
5. 2023-24: 24.72%

We’ve also pasted UCB’s exact waitlist acceptance numbers and statistics below. Sources: UC Berkeley Common Data Set and UC High School Counselor Conference 2022-23

Okay, there are two things to consider.

One, UC Berkeley’s waitlist admit rate is abysmally low. Anything above 50% is often seen in schools like UC Davis. Meanwhile, UCB averages the low 20s and below. This is in part due to Cal’s highly competitive waitlist pool. It’s Berkeley, after all! Most waitlisted students are very, very competent. Additionally, the possibility of single-digit acceptance rates makes things particularly daunting.

Next, volatility plays a big role in how you ought to plan your college admissions process. There’s no way to predict Cal’s future waitlist acceptance rate. Trying is a fool’s errand. That’s why we recommend creating a backup plan in case of rejection. Work hard on your other application essays, waitlist essays, and LOCIs for other schools. This serves as a safety net.

Next, you should make sure your UC Berkeley waitlist essay is solid.

How to Get off the UC Berkeley Waitlist: Writing the Waitlist Essay.

The only thing you can do is, well, wait.

Additionally, students are provided with a waitlist prompt. This gives students a chance to stand out from the waitlist pool. More importantly, the essay gives admissions officers a holistic look into why you’re a solid candidate beyond just your numbers.

We’ve already covered how to write the UC Berkeley waitlist essay in another article here. We highly recommend you read through this article. For, it covers everything you need to know to properly answer the prompt.

But, to paraphrase…

1. Use your words sparingly. Unnecessary wordiness disrupts essay readability in ways that impacts admissions officers’ comprehension.
2. If you can’t think of anything to write about, focus on the insufficiencies of your last essay or application details.
3. The next step is to write about how you’ve compensated for this insufficiency. For instance, if your grades were quite low, write about how you’ve honed your study habits and increased your GPA with your final quarters.
4. Explain how your improvement actually makes you a fitting candidate. Be careful, though. You must connect WHY the improvement actually ties back to your candidacy.

Remember that the waitlist essay is brief. There’s not a lot of space to talk about your own self-improvement since your application.

If you’re struggling to write the UC Berkeley waitlist essay to stand out amongst the rest of the competition pool, consider speaking with a college admissions essay advisor. We’ll get back to you within 24 hours. At PenningPapers, we’ve helped students write essays that earned acceptances into some of the most prestigious schools in the nation such as Cornell, NYU, UPenn, Dartmouth, and many more.