Berkeley augmented review: what to do if asked for letters

TThe UC application has no place for teacher or counselor letters, and most UC campuses never ask for them, but UC Berkeley is the exception. After the deadline, a portion of its applicants receive a request for additional information, typically including up to two letters of recommendation, along with a questionnaire.

Families often read the request as paperwork, a box to tick before decisions come out, and send whichever two letters are easiest to collect. The best evidence, from Berkeley's own Hout report and from former readers there, says it deserves the opposite treatment, and the families who misread it rarely learn what it cost them. Understanding where the request comes from explains why.