Welcome prospective Bobcats. It’s that time of year again as the UC application has now opened and submission starts November 1. I am @Gumbymom one of the two UC Forum Champions/Moderators. My Co-Forum Champion is @lkg4answers and we are knowledgeable on the increasingly complicated UC admissions process and hopefully we can help any prospective UC applicants with their questions.
UC Merced like all the UC’s are test blind this admission cycle and will use 13 areas of criteria to review Freshman applicants. Each campus will weight the various areas of criteria differently so one size does not fit all. The UC application website has plenty of information that can help determine if UC Merced is a good option when applying. Below is some admit information specific to the school. Best of Luck.
Very important: Academic GPA, Personal Insight questions, Rigor of secondary school record
Important : Extracurricular activities, Talent/ability
Considered : Character/personal qualities, First generation college student, Geographical residence, State residency, Volunteer work, Work experience
Note: UC Merced is the default campus for ELC eligible applicants (top 9% of CA HS’s).
UC Merced admits into the major but will consider alternate majors if first choice is not available. UC Merced is the default campus for ELC eligible referral applicants if room is available.
Now that your UC applications have been submitted, here are some items on your “to do list” as you wait for your decisions.
Setup your student portal: Portal information will be emailed during December. Always check your Spam folder in case you do not receive your portal email.
Check your emails from all applied schools regularly for updates. Again check the Spam folder if necessary.
Look into housing options and usually the Housing application opens March 1, 2022
Remember to file your FASFA if applying for financial aid. Deadline is March 2, 2022 but get it in early.
Admission decisions for UC Merced:
Regular Decisions are rolling batches starting March 1, 2022
Congrats to all!! Were you all notified by email as well? I received a " Updates while you wait for Fall 2022 admission decisions to post" email from UC Merced yesterday, but I haven’t gotten any emails after that.
I got that email about the updates but I did not receive any email after that alerting me that I had a status update or that I got accepted so I would keep checking the portal.