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Berkeley and the "80%"

Posted: Fri Nov 02, 2012 7:11 pm
by colldood
It's a common perception that Berkeley rejects you if you score less than 80th percentile on the GRE. Is this actually known to be true? Because I recently met someone who did significantly worse and was accepted.

Re: Berkeley and the "80%"

Posted: Fri Nov 02, 2012 9:04 pm
by Legendre
This is stated on UC Berkeley's admissions page: http://math.berkeley.edu/programs/graduate/phd-program
Experience has shown that the score on the Mathematics Subject GRE is a partial indicator of preparation for Berkeley's PhD program. A score below the 80th percentile suggests inadequate preparation and must be balanced by other evidence if a favorable admission decision is to be reached.

Re: Berkeley and the "80%"

Posted: Mon Nov 05, 2012 1:19 am
by rmg512
I pretty much read that as "you better be a mathematical prodigy in every single other way conceivable if you want to be admitted." Because my friend with pretty much EVERYTHING else going for him got rejected because his GRE score was only in the 61st percentile.

Re: Berkeley and the "80%"

Posted: Mon Nov 05, 2012 2:52 pm
by colldood
Are you from the US? Because that would make a big difference

Re: Berkeley and the "80%"

Posted: Mon Nov 05, 2012 4:30 pm
by rmg512
My friend (and I) was a student at a California school. So you'd think maybe we'd have a leg up on the competition given we'd be the least expensive first year students. Nope.

Re: Berkeley and the "80%"

Posted: Mon Nov 05, 2012 4:41 pm
by math_stu
colldood wrote:Are you from the US? Because that would make a big difference
Do you mean that a low score of a US student is more forgivable from the same score of an international student?

Re: Berkeley and the "80%"

Posted: Mon Nov 05, 2012 5:09 pm
by colldood
I mean that Berkeley is a public school and therefore has few spots for international students, making the competition much stiffer. Unless I'm mistaken...