Black At The UC's?!?!?

Applying to College
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<p>I have a question for UC students..or any one that knows quite a bit about the admissions process at the University of California. Do you think an African-American applicant would have a good chance at admissions to the top UC's(CAL,UCLA,UCSD) if he applied under a non-impacted major like African-American Studies??? Oh he is also a 1st generation college student.</p>

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<p>While being a first generation gives you a tip factor in the admissions process at the UC's being black does not</p>

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<p>Thanks Sybbie719....any other opinions?</p>

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<p>the UC schools do not consider intended major if you're applying to the college of Letters & Science (which houses most majors). They only consider major if you're applying to a major such as engineering, theater arts, etc.</p>

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<p>also being black does not give you a boost in UC admissions. some CA prop banned affirmative action. First gen college counts for very little. You pretyt much have to prove you are worth the school.</p>

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<p>actually 1st generation can be helpful; according to the UCSD alumni magazine article about admissions it can give you up to 300 points, which is damn important when you consider that the cutoff for UCSD was 7,450 points. See the article at <a href="http://alumni.ucsd.edu/magazine/vol1no2/features/admissions.htm%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://alumni.ucsd.edu/magazine/vol1no2/features/admissions.htm&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>Truth be told, the whole "comprehensive admissions" approach is designed to be an end-run around the ban on affirmative action. Its pretty clear the program intends to (and does) use race as a criteria, but they have good lawyers and I'll bet they crafted the policy in a way that will pass judicial review. One example -- you can get credit for taking certain college-prep programs, but those programs are only offered in predominantly minority schools. The goal is of course clear, but since you COULD transfer in theory to one of those schools even if you were white/asian, it probably passes the legal test.</p>

<p>Here's a quote from one of the designers of the review policy
[quote]
Former UCLA admissions director Rae Lee Siporin says the new system also was intended to make the student body as reflective as possible of the state's population. She says UCLA determined that simply using poverty as an index of disadvantage would reduce diversity, because it wouldn't help middle-class blacks and Hispanics and it would "pull in" lots of low-income Asians.

[/quote]
</p>

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<p>How much of a boost do u think one gets from being 1st generation, and in a single-parent home..at the UC's?</p>

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<p>Oh ya and thanks for the responses guys</p>

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<p>b
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<p>Cali, are you a senior this year? We've spoken before. I graduated from JFK HS way back in the day.</p>

<p>I'm not a fan of strictly playing the race card to get in anywhere, but there may be a support system available to you, if you are applying to Berkeley this fall. I'll PM you...</p>

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<p>Thanks a lot gsp<em>silicon</em>valley. I really appreciate the helpful info you sent me!</p>

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<p>your ethnicity doesnt play into your UC admissions decision. your major doesn't either if you apply under college of letters and sciences. however, your background obstacles, such as low-income, single-parent, first generation, etc., and your demonstrated ability to overcome those as explained in the essay, can have an impact on your UC admissions decision. this applies to all ethnic groups.</p>

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<p>single parent home=150 pts from san diego i believe. or 300. one or the ther. Check up on it. It actually helps u quite a lot in my opinion.</p>

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<p>ok thanks a lot hypoch0ndriac, kfc4u. Does anyone know where i can find UCSD's admissions rubric</p>

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<p><a href="http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/admissions/undergrad_adm/selecting/camp_profiles/camp_profiles_ucsd.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/admissions/undergrad_adm/selecting/camp_profiles/camp_profiles_ucsd.html&lt;/a>
Click on UCSD's comprehensive review page.</p>

<p>You can read details of how the other UC's use Comp. review via the same page - look in the left hand column for the school's of interest.</p>

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<p>Thanks for the link Carolyn</p>

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<p>Do you guys think it is worth writing about how hard is is for me to take standardized test in my personal statement?? I was thinking that it might be obvious that a UC would be able to tell by looking at my app, but i was wondering if i should explain myself?</p>