Applying to UC Berkeley

HISTORY OF UC BERKELEY

The University of California at Berkeley has one of the richest histories among the United State’s premier educational institutions. It began as a merger between two universities in the mid-1800’s: the College of California and the Agricultural, Mining, and Mechanical Arts College. The College of California was a private institution, whose curriculum was structured in the mold of Yale and Harvard with the added focus on modern languages. The Agricultural, Mining, and Mechanical Arts College, on the other hand, was a public institution that focused on agriculture, livelihood, military studies, mechanical arts, and to a lesser but equally essential extent science and engineering. While the College of California suffered financial troubles, the Agricultural, Mining, and Mechanical Arts College received sufficient public funding, but possessed no land on which to build its institution. Each possessing the solution to the other school’s problem, the two universities merged together and created the University of California, situating itself on the land the former College of California owned. This merger created a highly well-rounded and dynamic educational body that boasted of many fields of study. On March 23, 1868, the Organic Act was signed, thus finally creating the University of California.

In1899, the university began to receive renown. Then President Benjamin Ide Wheeler managed the school’s finances well and recruited the top minds in the university’s fields of study, thereby placing his university at the threshold of the top education institutions of his time. Since 1930, this drive for academic excellence through the recruitment of promising professorial talent persisted and has attained huge academic capital for the school, not to mention a reputation as a leading research facility.

Famous Alumni

The university’s excellent academic reputation made success for both its educators and alumni highly possible, if not inevitable. Berkley’s physicists were the team leaders in the Manhattan Project, which led to the creation of the atomic bomb during World War II and the eventual production of the hydrogen bomb. The University of California, Berkeley also oversees the nation’s two primary nuclear weapons laboratories. True to its origin of fusion and dynamism, the university has garnered achievements in not just one field of study. Other than its research exploits, the University of California has received numerous awards for intellectual studies and works of art. Its alumni boasts of great scientists, such as Steven Chu (PhD, ‘76) and John C. Mather (B.S., ‘74); successful businessmen, like Steve Wozniak (B.S., ‘86) of Apple Computer and Gordon Moore (B.S., ‘50) of Intel; Nobel prize winners Thomas Schelling (BA, ‘44) and Hamilton O. Smith (BA, ‘52); and even popular culture icons, such as Scott Adams, the creator of Dilbert, actor Gregory Peck, and Third Eye Blind lead singer Stephan Jenkins.

What makes UC Berkeley prestigious?

There is no doubt that the University of California is a prestigious research institution. It is nationally ranked at number one in terms of the number of graduate programs considered to be in the top ten in their fields. Twenty four Nobel Prizes have been awarded to its alumni in various fields, such as Physiology/Medicine, Chemistry, Physics, and Economics. There have also been 4 Pulitzer Prizes won by alumni of the university. It is also considered the number one public university in the nation. As an institution, the University of California has won its accolades and cannot be discounted as one of the premier colleges of the nation.

Why people apply to this school?

The more than evident success of both the school and its alumni are clear indicators of the reason why applicants to the school reach tens of thousands every year. The numerous specializations and fields of study also assure applicants of the diversity of education in the university.

How to apply

Visiting the UCB application site to view the detailed application process for the various University of California campuses. Each application costs $60. Applicants can apply to more than one campus.

There are two ways to become eligible to apply to the University of California:

1. For state-wide eligibility, applicants must fulfill the following requirements:

a) two years of education in History/Social Science
b) four years of English
c) three to four years of Math
d) two to three years of Lab Science
e) two to three years of study of a language other than English
f) one year of Visual and Performing Arts
g) one year of college preparatory electives

2) Local eligibility can be given to students, whose GPA (based on the required coursework) in a Californian high school are in the top 4 percent. These students will be informed of their eligibility by their respective school administrators during their fourth year.

To apply, simply fill out an on line application found at the following site:http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/admissions/undergrad_adm/apply_to_uc.html . Applicants can also print out a form from the same site to have a hard copy application. An application form can also be mailed to applicants by request. This can be done by emailing the request to the following address:ucinfo@ucapplication.net.

All freshmen applicants must also take two SAT subject tests and the ACT Assessment plus Writing or SAT Reasoning Test for that year. Instruct the testing agencies to forward the test scores to the University of California.

Information

For additional questions, applicants may call (510)642-5215, go to the university’s website http://berkeley.edu , or visit the campus at 1950 Carleton Street, Berkeley, CA 94720.