Engineering admits at the UCs have gotten a lot more competitive.
My D was denied by UCSB’s School of Engineering last year with a SAT of 2300. One thing about the UCs is that they don’t superscore. She took the SAT twice, got 2190 each time (got a lower math score the first time and lower writing score the second time) - but superscored it was 2300, which is what most Uni’s will use, but not the UCs. 2190 is still good, plus she had APs, SAT2s, etc. but not enough to get her in.
@CMUmechEalumna that is a super-interesting question. I would think the answer is no? But it is just speculation on my part. Maybe @Gumbymom knows?
I do find what I have seen puzzling, as I detailed in my thread. However, it is always difficult for sure to know what is going on because from every outward appearance, certain majors like CS and BME have gotten way tougher to get in to, as they have become popular and the schools have to maintain their proper enrollment balance between majors.
@insanedreamer Was your D accepted to UCLA or UC Berkeley? Just wondering if I have a chance of getting into either of them after receiving a rejection from Davis.
Sorry posters, your guess is as good as anyone’s here on this site. I know that Cal Poly SLO has been accused of the “Tufts Syndrome” in the past and also again this year with high stat applicants getting waitlisted or rejected. All I know is that there is no guarantee at any of the UC’s and I gave up trying to figure them out. Just look what they are doing with the decisions at UCI/UCSD this year with the small batches of acceptances coming out periodically. Again shades of many of the CSU’s that give rolling acceptances and prolonging the agony. At least UCD got this part right and notified everyone at once.
I’ve posted this before but if you want some very compelling evidence supporting the idea of “Tufts Syndrome” (and insight into how it works and how it impact on ratings-from an empirical standpoint, take a look at this paper called "A REVEALED PREFERENCE RANKING OF U.S. COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES by Christopher Avery Mark Glickman Caroline Hoxby Andrew Metrick
@CMUmechEalumna That’s a really good question actually. I’m curious to see whether they do. it seems likely they would do this because I know a few applicants like myself with extremely high stats get into UCLA and Berkeley and get waitlisted to UC Davis. I still don’t get why they would reject highly qualified applicants though; UCs aren’t elite private schools that should care about yield.
Some of the UC schools are getting over 100K applicants. My guess is 90% of the applicants are qualified and that the admissions office has a very tough time picking who gets offers. I also believe that the UC system wants to admit all qualified applicants to at LEAST one UC. The regents have no interest in admitting the same applicant to ALL of the UC schools or even all the top and/or mid-tier schools. That only feeds an applicant’s ego and serves no one else and prevents them from making offers to other qualified applicants. At some point, I imagine after the same applicant has received acceptance to a certain number of UC schools, they stop the other schools from offering more admissions. This is purely speculation on my part. I’m just a California taxpayer. I’ve read up on UC admissions. I could be wrong. Would love to get inside information from someone who knows, but my guess is that is extremely confidential information.
The more likely explanation is that most of the waitlist/reject examples are not “overqualified” (e.g. second tier GPAs), possibly due to applying to more selective majors. It does appear that most posters here use SAT/ACT scores as the primary determinant of academic qualifications, even though UC appears to prefer courses and grades/GPA, given its own research indicating the lesser predictive value on college GPA of SAT/ACT scores versus high school GPA. The few other waitlist/reject examples who may appear “overqualified” by stats alone are more likely due to the “fuzz” of subjective grading during admissions reading, since subjectively graded factors like the essays are used.
Granted, some applicants prefer to think highly of their own qualifications, so that it may be easier for them to think of themselves as being an “overqualified” applicant rejected for yield protection rather than one who was rejected because the admissions readers just did not score his/her application high enough to clear the admission threshold in comparison to many other applicants.
I see students with lower GPAs AND SAT/ACT (read in posted decisions in Davis) getting in while students with both higher GPA and SAT/ACT are getting denied for the same major. This seems a bit strange. I understand that essays and EC’s can play a role, but I doubt it can replace a .3+ difference in GPA and a substantial difference in test scores. That and adding on to the fact that students get into schools like UChicago and MIT while getting denied or waitlisted to Davis is very strange, to say the least. An earlier poster mentioned “fit,” which I think could account for the waitlists/denies. UC Davis might not see such applicants as a good match for the campus atmosphere, etc.
Other factors (often subjectively graded) are also likely to have an effect on UC admissions readings:
Did you send that SAT score in? Is that 1920 out of 2400? If so, not that hot.
UCs do not use race/ethnicity as a factor in admissions. However, overcoming the limitations of a disability can be seen as a favorable point.
I agree, they have so many applicants it’s hard to imagine they are wasting resources to manipulate yield. And besides, they can always use the wait list to fine tune admitted student numbers once decisions are released. I’ve heard many illogical acceptance results, especially with respect to Davis. In past years some students were even admitted to Ivys but denied by the cow college. Their chancellor has recently been disciplined for several instances of extremely poor judgement so who knows what sorts of shenanigans are occurring in the admissions department. If you have an interest and aptitude for computer science you will do well, regardless of where you receive your undergraduate degree. Good luck, and keep us posted!
Other things to consider are:
Even though you meet the average gpa/scores of last year’s freshman class, doesn’t mean it won’t change this year.
Kids who meet or exceed the average gpa/test scores of a freshman class are also rejected every year. It’s an average only.
Every year the number they admit is proportional to the number who are scheduled to graduate before the fall term. This changes every year and could be lower the year you apply than last year.
I don’t think the UCs want all their freshman CS majors (or really any major) to be cut from the same mold and have the exact same stats, sex, race, zip code, income, etc. Sometimes, you are just unlucky on this one.
As everyone has said, essays are subjective. You have to brag about yourself without sounding egotistical and of course it has to be well written and supported also.
@bopper I had to send the 1920 SAT if I wanted to send my SAT 2’s. 
Either I sent the 1920 (which, I know, is utter shyt) and my 800/800/790 Math Level 2, Chem, Physics SAT 2’s or not send either. Collegeboard said I needed to send all SAT 1 scores for some reason, even though I was using my ACT score. So unfair.
Since you sent your ACT, they are ignoring your SAT. Really. And, nice SAT 2s!
Just received my decision from UCLA. Also rejected. There’s absolutely no way I got rejected for being “overqualified” at UCLA. Maybe my EC/essays weren’t good enough. Maybe it’s because I got a few B’s in 10th and 11th grade. Or maybe I am deficient as a human being? Or I lack character? The worst part is that I don’t even know or will ever know why I got denied… All I know is that in one way or another I am inferior to students who got accepted…
The prospect for the Berkeley decision is…devastating. Given the rejections to Davis and UCLA, I’m over 100% sure I’ll get denied to Berkeley… I guess I was hoping for too much when I chose Berkeley as my dream school.
Did you get accepted somewhere? What was your essay about and did someone read it before you submitted it?
Well, if you make one of the “top 9%” criteria, if you get shut out of the UCs you applied to, you may get an admission offer from Merced.