Anyone accepted both to UCB and UCLA? Whith what stats? :-)

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of California - GENERAL
1

<p>Every now and then I hear or read on CC a rumor about some misterious top UC’s “conspiracy” of accepting highly qualified applicants to either UC Berkley or UCLA, but not to both of them. Sometimes people override that rumor by stating they are accepted to both … and then I hear again and again about high achieving people accepted to only one of the top UC’s.</p>

<p>Now, in a few months my D will be applying to various UC’s and some other colleges. She is a higly-qualified student and definitely of UCB or UCLA caliber (good GPA, high SAT scores, has academic and artistic passions, regional and national awards etc.). But given todays crazy competition and that “holistic approach” trend in admissions, there is no guarantee whatsoever that she would be admitted to UC of her first choice, or of her second choice for that matter. The problem is: it looks like she is much more interested in going to UCB than UCLA (finds it a better fit). But, if not accepted to Berkeley, UCLA would be a logical second choice for her - better than any other UC. So, it wouldn’t be smart for her NOT to apply to both institutions, but too much of a pity if that “conspiracy” is true and she wouldn’t be accepted to her first choice UC beacuse she applied (and accepted) to the second one.</p>

<p>So, what would you do in her place? Is there a way to “hint” admissions people in your UC application that you have campus prefferences? Or is such a tactic as good as getting yourself rejected from everywhere?</p>

2

<p>They really dont care if a different UC plans to accept you. They kind of consider that when they plan their admissions around a yield rate. Most of the people from my school who got into UCB also got into UCLA, save a few exceptions where people applied to special programs and majors.</p>

<p>So..your daughter should just work on her essays and make she sure fills out her applications on time, since there is no real way to make gain an advantage at one UC even if u declare your undying love for it (public school = not care). And actually, if your stats and awards are good enough your probably can half-ass your essays and still get into both like I did.</p>

3

<br>


<br>

<p>Could you, please, explain what does it mean? :-) Do UC's adcoms care about a yield at all?</p>

4

<p>What I was trying to say is that when they are making decisions they already keep in mind that only a minority of students will enroll at their school. Even if the student is only using them as a back up they will just fill in their quota with the top students for the sake of getting top students at their school. Thus when 30% of the top students attend they will simply have just top students. </p>

<p>If they care about their yield at all, it has a minimal effect since they understand their place as a back up for many students (but as also a likely financially superior option)</p>

5

<p>My S applied to UCB, UCLA, UCSD, and UCI and got into all four. His friend applied to UCB and UCLA and got into both. I personally don't think there's any truth to a possible conspiracy theory. Being accepted or rejected to each UC depends on each UC's applicant pool for the year and not on which other UCs a student applies to. My recommendation is that your D apply to those UCs she is interested in attending, plus one "safety".</p>

6

<p>I would actually suggest applying to 2 safeties, in case a regents scholarship happens to pop out of no where.</p>

7

<p>As a parent of a D, I had the same concerns you have expressed. My D graduates from HS this year. a couple of things that may prove helpful...One...if your D attends a public hs in california, and she is one of the top students, she may be eligible for the ELC designation. ELC=Eligible in the Local Context. Check w/D's Guidance counselor. With the ELC, your D will receive letters from different admissions offices w/in the UC system that state that if she applies to their university, she will be guaranteed admission. My D received one from every UC except UC Santa Cruz and Cal and UCLA. These letters will give your D her safeties. She then can apply to Cal & UCLA, and maybe one or two of her safeties. I do not know if Cal & UCLA knew if my D applied to both schools, but both schools accepted her. Both offered close to a free ride-and UCLA offered her a place in their "honors college"....two...this year, and yours may be the same...there was a higher number of girls applying to college, many of them with high SATs and GPAs and ECs....so colleges that appear to be matches statistically may in fact be more of a "crap shoot"...My D got into all west coast schools and waitlisted at all the east coast schools. She eventually got off some of the east coast schools, and made a decision to go to one of them. Of course, if she had decided to go to one of the UCs..it would have been the "half priced sale".
Good luck to you, and your daughter-she has worked hard-and has earned the right to 'ask"/apply.</p>

8

<p>What were her stats if u are willing to share ^^ ???</p>

9

<p>Got into all four UC's I applied to... Davis, San Diego, UCLA, and Cal.. chose Cal (one of the toughest decision I've ever made to give up UCLA)</p>

<p>First, my drawbacks...
SAT I: 1830... 580(CR), 640(M), 610(W).. haha, only took it once... way too lazy and cheap to take it a second time.
SAT II: 570 in French, 640 in Math Level 2</p>

<p>I think this is why I got in...
GPA: 3.97 (UW), 4.3(W)
Crapload of extracurriculars
Thoughtful personal statement</p>

<p>I also have never taken any AP exams (exams not classes, I've taken a bunch of those)... thank goodness this didn't count against me. </p>

<p>I'm ELC... I had Davis, Santa Barbara, Irvine, Riverside, and Merced as safeties. San Diego sent me a letter too... but all they said was "we encourage you to apply"... nice.</p>

10

<p>Definately have your daughter apply to a couple of safety schools. Based on past stats, UCD was a clear safety for my son. UCD generally accepts about 65% of its applicants, and my son was clearly within the acceptance range. However, this year UCD only accepted about 51% of the applicants, and my son was not accepted. He did get accepted to UCI, which generally has more stringent admission requirements than UCD, so it's a good bet he would have gotten into UCD any other year but this year. Lesson: apply to several safety schools to guard against unexpected changes in admission practices.</p>

11

<p>rpsd, the exact same thing happened to me. I thought for SURE I was going to be accepted to Davis and didn't think I had a great chance at Irvine, so I was pretty shocked when I got rejected from Davis and accepted to Irvine. I think last year's overenrollment was a huge factor and, of course, I didn't know that's what was going to happen when I applied in November.</p>

12

<p>I'm pretty sure that it makes zero difference if you only apply to UCLA, only apply to Berkeley, or apply to both. There are anomalies in practically all admissions, I think the main reason would likely be the subjective areas that result in unexpected rejections (essays, ECs, etc.).</p>

<p>Have your daughter apply to both UCs, and make sure she also applies to lower UCs for safeties (It'd be plain stupid to ONLY apply to UCLA and Cal; she should apply somewhere that you know for a fact she'll get in based on her GPA/SAT, like UCSD, UCD, UCI, etc.). </p>

<p>I got accepted to both UCLA and Cal:</p>

<p>Country: United States
State: California
Major: Electrical and Computer Engineering (Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at Cal)</p>

<p>Accepted:
UC Berkeley (Undergraduate scholarship)
UCLA (Undergraduate scholarship)
UC San Diego (Regents)
UC Irvine (Regents + Honors Program)
UC Davis (Regents + Honors Program)
UC Santa Barbara (Regents + Honors Program)
Cal Poly -- SLO (I'm not sure what financial aid I got since I forgot my user name/password )</p>

<p>Sex: M
Race: North Indian (I put "other")
Unweighted GPA: 3.9474
Weighted GPA: 4.4286 (UC GPA: 4.2)
Class Rank: 4 out of 491</p>

<p>SAT I: CR: 690; M: 770; W: 790
SAT II: Biology-M: 740; Math IIC: 740
ACT: 33 (English: 35; Math: 30; Reading: 32; Science: 35)
AP:
European History: 2
United States History: 4
Biology: 5
English Language & Composition: 3</p>

<p>Senior year classes:
AP Physics (B)
AP Calculus (AB)
AP Government & Economics
AP English Literature
Industrial Engineering Technology
Photography</p>

<p>Awards:
Science Olympiad (1st place Regional Division winner: Cell Biology,
Compute This; 3rd place Regional Division winner: Fermi Questions)</p>

<p>Employment: [N/A]</p>

<p>Essays:
Academic Preparation: Talked about rigerous course load I've taken on that has focused in the science/engineering/math region. Also talked about getting involved in ECs related to science/engineering. I focused mainly on Junior and Senior year.
Potential to Contribute: Talked about listening to music and using it as a creative, emotional outlet.
Open-ended: Talked about tutoring students in science and how great of an experience it was and how it has effected me.</p>

<p>Community Service:
Science & Technology Club - Science tutoring.</p>

<p>Extra-curriculars:
EnTech Club (11th, 12th) - Vice-President [An Engineering technology club in which students engineering various projects, such as Tesla coils and hover cars]
IS Networks class (12th) - A class teaching students how to engineer and create information systems networks.
Science and Technology Club (11th, 12th) - President [A club for students to explore careers in science and technology. Members tour labs, hear guest speakers, and tutor students]
Science Olympiad (11th, 12th) - A nation-wide team competition, sutdents compete in various events relating to science and engineering.
T-Bots Club (12th) - A robotics club in which students work in team environments to build robots and participate in national robotics challenges.</p>

13

<p>conspiracy theories are best left for Oliver Stone. Cal and UCLA review independently, and make decisions independently. Last year at our HS, only one of the top ~20 kids did not get into both schools (that applied to both).</p>

<p>When folks say it is random, they are incorrect. What makes it appear random is the fact that we don't necessarily know what's in the essays, Writing score (appears more important to UCLA), or who has a plus factor (low income, first gen to go to college, family circumstances), specialy major (theater, eng?), and the like. And, of course, applying to Engineering is extremely competitive at both schools, with Cal being tougher.</p>

14

<p>Applied to uci, cal, ucla, ucsd
I'll just copy and paste what i have on an academic resume.</p>

<p>Special Programs of Study: IB Full Diploma Candidate, AP, Troy Tech
Academic Weighted GPA: (9-12): 4.48
SAT I Math: 800
Verbal: 710
Writing: 740
SAT II Math IIC: 800
SAT II Chemistry: 740
SAT II US History: 740</p>

<p>IB Tests:
Physics SL: 6
Math SL: 6</p>

<p>IB Tests to be taken:
Spanish SL
Chemistry HL
Philosophy HL
English HL</p>

<p>AP Tests Taken:</p>

<p>AP European History: 4
AP Computer Science A: 5
AP American History: 4
AP English Language: 4
AP Computer Science AB: 5
AP Calculus AB: 5</p>

<p>AP Tests to be Taken:
AP Chem
AP Bio
AP Macro Econ
AP Spanish
AP Calculus BC
AP English Literature
AP Gov</p>

<p>Troy Tech Internship
Edwards Lifesciences, Irvine
Mentor: Robert Greene
Over the summer at my internship I worked with the manufacturing engineering department of Edwards Lifesciences, a biotech company that makes heart valves, in designing a silicone mold to package a Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tag with the heart valve to more easily identifiy the heart valves. This internship allowed me to gain insight in bioengineering.</p>

<p>Extracurriculars</p>

<ul>
<li>2nd in school on the AMC12 2006(first round of the American Mathematics Contest) with a score of 125.5 out of 150. </li>
<li>4th in the Troy High Math Meet 2006.</li>
<li>5th in Southern California Programming Contest 2006.</li>
<li>Part of the Southern California team for the American Regions Math League (ARML). On June 3rd, 2006, our team competed against other regions or states in the US at Las Vegas. My B division team achieved 23rd place out of over 80 teams.</li>
<li>Member of Chess club 2005-2006. Vice President of Chess club – teaching chess and organizing tournaments.</li>
<li>1st place in Southern California Chess Federation November Scholastic Open in the Reserve section on November 19, 2006 in Westminster, CA with an undefeated score of 5-0.</li>
<li>150 Hour internship with Edwards Lifesciences</li>
<li>Over 80 hours of volunteering at UCI Medical Center in the pediatrics floor. Aided nurses with patient care.</li>
<li>Over 130 hours of volunteering at the Westminster Branch Library of Orange County. Managed the summer reading program for ages 12 and under.</li>
</ul>

<p>Oh, and my personal statement was mediocre, im chinese and middle class if it matters.</p>

<p>Got into all UC's i applied to but will be attending UCI in the fall as biomed engineering: premed on a full tuition scholarship.</p>