Dark Reverie;842489354 said:

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I'm considering the department of Geography. I want to study cultural geography.

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Geography is a relatively small dept at Cal, meaning that it will have a relative small handful of doctoral students, meaning that the acceptance rate likely not deviate much from the campus level stats for the graduate school. 8-10% acceptance rate would probably be a decent barometer.

I will tell you that when I took a Geog class at Cal, they (the instructors and TA's) went on and on about something called the "Berkeley School," which the wonders of Google have just now taught me refers to a school of "cultural geography" thinking that rose to prominence under a Cal prof named Carl Sauer. Apparently Sauer was some sort of geography rock star (I'm laughing as I typed that), and cultural geography became Berkeley's "brand" in the geography academic world.

So your area of expertise dovetails nicely with Cal's historic claim to fame in this discipline, but it could also mean that every other doctoral candidate in cultural geography will have Berkeley as their top choice.

I would be very surprised if Geography at Cal was not considered one of the top-5 departments in the nation. Now, don't go telling me that a Tennessee undergrad went and did his Masters work at U of Ky. Isn't that like grounds for dismissal from the Volunteer Alumni Association of something?

BearBoarBlarney;842487534 said:

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...According to a story in the San Jose Mercury News a few weeks ago, the estimated Fall 2015 admissions rate for Ucla was 16.3% and for Cal was 13.5%. .

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If this is true, WOW!!! I and the missus would not have been admitted if we were applying today. Wasn't the acceptance rate in the 30-40% range back in the early mid 90s?

Even then, 4.3+ GPAs and 90th+ percentaile SAT were nothing special then. I recall that, back then, they still had some automatic-admit policy based on your combined GPAx1000 + SAT + 3 SAT2s (max 8000 pts). If that amount was over a certain number -- depending on the particular college (e.g., 7300 for Letters & Sciences; 7400+ for EECS/engineering) -- then you would get it. I knew because I worked as data-entry clerk for Office of Undergrad Admissions during freshman year to input those numbers.

The idea was that a set number of students would get admitted purely based on academic "numbers" alone regardless of leadership/essay/"enhanced" facts -- which thankfully helped me because I ain't got none of those. I'm not sure if that policy is still around, now with all the grade inflation, APs, 800 scores on not-exactly-perfect SATs.

On my part, while I'm trying to get my kids involved in all things Cal, I keep reminding them that there's a good chance they may not get admitted in the future because there are a lot of smart kids with good grades out there. But there are also other good schools out there, so it's not the end of the world if you have to be relegated to Westwood or Palo Alto. But god forbid Figueroa State.

BearBoarBlarney;842489400 said:

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Now, don't go telling me that a Tennessee undergrad went and did his Masters work at U of Ky. Isn't that like grounds for dismissal from the Volunteer Alumni Association of something?

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DR can correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe the automatic lifetime ban only applies to 'bama (first and foremost) and Florida. It's my understanding that association with UK merely amounts to "suspicious activity" resulting in "watchlist" status.

BearBoarBlarney;842489400 said:

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Geography is a relatively small dept at Cal, meaning that it will have a relative small handful of doctoral students, meaning that the acceptance rate likely not deviate much from the campus level stats for the graduate school. 8-10% acceptance rate would probably be a decent barometer.

I will tell you that when I took a Geog class at Cal, they (the instructors and TA's) went on and on about something called the "Berkeley School," which the wonders of Google have just now taught me refers to a school of "cultural geography" thinking that rose to prominence under a Cal prof named Carl Sauer. Apparently Sauer was some sort of geography rock star (I'm laughing as I typed that), and cultural geography became Berkeley's "brand" in the geography academic world.

So your area of expertise dovetails nicely with Cal's historic claim to fame in this discipline, but it could also mean that every other doctoral candidate in cultural geography will have Berkeley as their top choice.

I would be very surprised if Geography at Cal was not considered one of the top-5 departments in the nation. Now, don't go telling me that a Tennessee undergrad went and did his Masters work at U of Ky. Isn't that like grounds for dismissal from the Volunteer Alumni Association of something?

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No, no, no! 😂

You've got that part all wrong!

I did grow up a Volunteer fan, and I did go to UT for two years after high school, but I transferred to Middle Tennessee State and finished my undergraduate degree there. I'm actually working on my Master's now, not at UK, but at Western Kentucky (Bobby Petrino's old stomping grounds).

To be fair, your point about excommunication might still be well founded, as there is a long-standing rivalry between my alma mater and my current school.

OldBlue1999;842489456 said:

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DR can correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe the automatic lifetime ban only applies to 'bama (first and foremost) and Florida. It's my understanding that association with UK merely amounts to "suspicious activity" resulting in "watchlist" status.

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I laughed. 😂

In the SEC, anything is possible. We did have a guy poison a tree, another guy teabag a drunken, unconscious man, and a woman shoot her friend over a loss.
And yes, Alabama had something to do with all of those incidents.