Berkeley e-mail

[hopeful87]

Does this mean that if i'm under review I could get a decision by the 15?  or does this mean that everything is taking longer?



A few words from Dean Tom:

Application volume has risen this year by approximately 6 percent, which means we have more applications to review compared to this time last year.  Our applications may rise further as the rate accelerates between now and our February 2 deadline. Nevertheless, the review process is proceeding smoothly and methodically.  Please be patient.  It is a deliberative process.  There are no numerical cut-offs; each application is reviewed, and this takes time.  Some admission decisions have been released, and we will continue to make admission offers through March.  Keep tabs on your status-checker and take a look at our Admissions Blog for announcements.

Due to the volume of applications at present, the majority of initial admission notifications are being made via email.  I am inundated at present and do not have time to make personal phone calls.  I regret this very much because phoning new admits is one of the highlights of my work. The first wave of admission packets will be mailed the week of December 15.  We have not finalized any deny decisions yet.

A caveat to those of you who have a Yahoo or Hotmail email account:  For some reason, our email often ends up in your spam or junk mail folders.  Please be sure to check for our messages there and to adjust your email system accordingly to route our messages into your inbox!

We will close for the holiday break beginning December 22.  I have no plans to read applications during the vacation.  However, anything can happen because my staff thinks I'm addicted to file-reading.  Along with the rest of the  Admissions staff, I will return on January 5, 2009.  Expect heavy decision-making to ensue shortly thereafter.

I know this is an anxious time for everyone.  Thank you for entrusting us with your application and for your patience as we make these important decisions.

All the best,

Edward Tom

[logickills]

it means this cycle is going to be more competitive than ever.  medians are going to get pushed up. 

this is going to suck.  my job just slashed our compensation package, effectively reducing my yearly salary about 25%

i no longer find journalists' comparison of this economic crisis to the great depression amusing.

[yaylaw]

I'm pretty sure that this email is intended to placate people who have submitted applications but still haven't heard anything as of yet.It basically means they haven't gotten around to us yet. Or we're not good enough. Or we're just too awesome.

[smushon]

I was accepted at Berkeley two weeks ago and I received this email. 

[gtg931r]

same here. Sounds like everyone who has applied thus far probably got the email...but on a different note...talk about a nice holiday break Dec 22 until Jan 5. Where can I sign up for that?

[Jamie Stringer]

same here. Sounds like everyone who has applied thus far probably got the email...but on a different note...talk about a nice holiday break Dec 22 until Jan 5. Where can I sign up for that?

If you go to Berkeley.

[goaliechica]

Technically our winter break this year is from Dec. 16 to Jan. 12.

[Migrate]

Do you think this trend applies to other schools as well ?

[Jamie Stringer]

Do you think this trend applies to other schools as well ?

Yes, I think there will be a small uptick this year with a bigger increase next year.

[JeNeSaisLaw]

No

Our last exam is December 18th (mine is the 17th). We start the new semester on January 5th. The upside is that our last day of class is April 17th, with exams ending on May 1st (at the latest).