Here’s what I can share right now about UC Berkeley’s transfer waitlist and acceptance rates.
Direct answer
- Transfer waitlist acceptance rates at UC Berkeley have varied widely by year. Recent public snapshots show extremely low rates in some years (around 0.3%–0.9%), with much higher rates in other years (up to ~24% in an earlier year) depending on campus yield and waitlist size. For the most recent cycles, many sources report rates well under 1%, but there are outliers where more students admitted off the waitlist. Note that exact current-year figures are not officially published by UC Berkeley for every cycle, so public estimates vary and may be retroactive.
Context and what influences the rate
- The waitlist process and admissions decisions can swing dramatically based on:
- The number of applicants offered waitlist spots
- How many accept the waitlist offer
- Yield of admitted students who end up enrolling
- UC Berkeley’s overall admissions goals for the cohort in a given year
- Because of this variability, year-to-year comparisons can be misleading without the official data from the university’s admissions office.
What to do if you’re waitlisted
- If you’re on the waitlist, the typical recommended steps are:
- Confirm your status and any deadlines with the admissions office
- Submit any requested additional information or updated grades/transcripts
- Consider submitting a short, respectful letter or update if allowed by the campus policies
- Prepare a strong backup plan with other admitted options
Illustrative snapshots from recent years (for context)
- 2024 cycle: reports indicate a very small number admitted off the waitlist (some sources around 0.3%–0.9%), illustrating how tight the process can be in a year with high yield from early applicants. Public compilations often cite around 26 admissions off the waitlist out of roughly 7,800 waitlisted in one recent year, yielding around 0.3% [source aggregations from college-admissions trackers].
- A prior year had a much higher rate (over 20%), reflecting a different enrollment landscape and waitlist dynamics [historical summaries from college forums and advisory blogs].
- Overall, averages across several recent years tend to hover around a few percent, but individual years can be far higher or lower depending on enrollment needs and applicant behavior.
Would you like me to:
- Pull the latest publicly reported numbers from multiple sources and summarize them with dates, sources, and caveats, or
- Help you craft a succinct waitlist update letter or status inquiry tailored to UC Berkeley?
If you want precise, up-to-date numbers, I can compile and cite the latest available sources for you.
Sources
Waitlisted at the University of California, Berkeley? Review UC Berkeley waitlist acceptance rates and recent admissions statistics.
www.ivycoach.comLearn about UC Berkeley’s waitlist acceptance rate, trends, decision dates, requirements, and tips for what to do if you're waitlisted.
admissionsight.comFor example, for the 2024-2025 application cycle, the waitlist acceptance rate was only 0.33% since only 26 of 7,853 students on the waitlist were admitted. Yet the year before, 24.7% of students were accepted off the waitlist when 1,191 of the 4,820 students were admitted.
www.collegevine.comMarch 24 is Decision day for UCB so I am starting the Waitlist/Appeal discussion thread. Below are some Waitlist stats from the last few years. Page 6 of this link explains common questions regarding the waitlist note from 2021: https://apply.berkeley.edu/counselor/freshman_FAQs.pdf 2021: Number of qualified applicants offered a place on waiting list: 11,725 Number accepting a place on the waiting list: 6,871 ...
talk.collegeconfidential.comUC Berkeley’s most recent acceptance rate is 11.43%. Get the latest overall admissions data, transfer rates, and waitlist stats.
admissionsight.com