Applications soar at University of California campuses

Parents Forum
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<p>
[quote]
Each of the nine University of California campuses received a record number of undergraduate applications for the coming fall, when anticipated reductions in state funding may result in students paying more for their education.
About 121,000 students already have applied to a UC school for the fall 2008 semester, nearly 58 percent more than applied a decade ago, according to preliminary numbers released Tuesday by the university system. </p>

<p>“There is clearly a very strong demand among California students for a UC education,” said Susan Wilbur, UC's director of undergraduate admissions.
UCLA received the most applications with 70,328, followed by UC Berkeley (60,709), UC San Diego (57,116), UC Santa Barbara (55,871) and UC Irvine (51,935).
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SignOnSanDiego.com</a> > News > State -- Applications soar at University of California campuses</p>

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<p>boy...I thought last year was tough...it looks like a bump of about 12%...pretty much inline with other top Universities/HYP...does anyone know if the 12% also reflects the increase percentage of students born in 1990 vs 1989?....or is the increase coming from more students seeking a strong/elite four-year university experience?</p>

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<p>This might be the most important data in the entire article:</p>

<p>
[quote]
For the UC system as a whole, the pool includes nearly 26,000 transfer students and 95,000 students seeking admission as freshmen, an increase of 9 percent over last year. The university accepted 85,509 of the 96,569 students who eventually sought spots either as freshmen or as transfers for 2007-08, 49,963 of whom ended up enrolling.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>85,509 admitted out of 96,569 applications. </p>

<p>Remove all the multiple applications and the image gets a LOT blurrier.</p>

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<p>With the UCs it's extremely easy to apply to multiple campuses, just checking another box on the app (and including more of an app fee), so it can get a little blurry. Judging from the total number of apps and the apps to the specific schools it's clear that there are quite a few people selecting multiple schools. </p>

<p>Also, the 'minimum requirements' (equal to about the top 12% of students in the state) are fairly clear so I assume that most people who don't make the minimum requirements wouldn't bother to apply. I believe there also were some campuses (UC Riverside, UC Merced) that weren't at capacity last year so they accepted almost anyone who applied that met the minimum whereas some others (UCLA, UCSD, UCB) were much more selective (average incoming GPA > 4.0).</p>

<p>Still, it's a huge amount of applications and it seems as if the campuses might get more crowded unless they're expanding capacity quite a bit (some campuses are).</p>

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<p>actually, if you remove the OOS apps, the multiple apps and those unqualified (some kids fail to take the Subject Tests to qualify; others have senior-itis and end up with grade drops/recisions; still others do not complete their senior VAPA requirement, or Alg II, etc), the image gets quite clear: the UC will accept 99% of every minimally-qualified in-state applicant; of course, that might mean Merced and/or Riverside. :D</p>

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<p>^^ The caveat is that the 'minimally qualified in state candidate" is targeted at the top 12% of the in-state HS grads.</p>

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<p>FYI Numbers for UC Class of 2010 </p>

<p>All first-time freshmen</p>

<p>Universitywide (all campuses combined, unduplicated counts)
UC Applied Admit Enroll
Total 83,199 68,249* 35,328
*Admit Rate = 82%</p>

<p>Universitywide (all campuses combined, duplicated counts)
UC Applied Admit Enroll
Total 308,172 162,809 35,328</p>

<p>Details
UC Applied Admit Enroll
Berke 41,796 9,941 4,157
Davis 32,643 22,143 5,511
Irvine 38,429 23,193 4,835
UCLA 47,317 12,188 4,809
Merc 14,098 12,314 398
River 25,899 22,373 3,591
UCSD 43,591 19,863 4,589
UCSB 39,857 21,282 4,100
UCSC 24,542 19,512 3,338
Total 308,172 162,809 35,328</p>

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<p>
[quote]
The caveat is that the 'minimally qualified in state candidate" is targeted at the top 12% of the in-state HS grads.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>Actually, the 'target' is the top 12.5% of HS grads statewide (but it crept up to 14% actual ~2000); but 12.5% target has been true for decades....</p>

<p>Irvine is adding capacity every year.</p>

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<p>The UCs are SUPPOSED to accept the in state qualified (top 12+%) HS applicants, that's the way the system was designed.</p>

<p>If you have not taken the A-G courses and don't have the minimal SATs & GPA, I would think the GC would tell you not to waste your money. The "what the heck, I am not qualified, but I'll give it a shot" crowd may be the 1% not admitted??</p>

<p>If people are looking for prestige, then some locations are more rigourous than others.</p>

<p>My BIL who is a prof at a "lower" UC would tell you ELC is no good as too many kids who are there are simply not prepared, and generally it is those kids at the top of a lousy HS</p>