I was recently accepted to my second choice school UCR, but my first and dream school has always been Santa Cruz. I got into UCR with a 3.7 and a 24 ACT. I had great E.C’s and a personal statement that brought many to tears. I also majored in Global studies and talked about why I wanted to major in this field in my essay. My major isn’t very competitive and I fit in well with both school’s average. UCR’s acceptance rate is 58% while UCSC is 57% being a bit more selective. Since I got into UCR which is only a bit easier do you think I have a good chance at my dream school Santa Cruz? Thank you all so much, I am very anxious for what reply they will give me.
You’re looking at statistics from 2013 or something. In 2015, the acceptance rates for Santa Cruz and Riverside were 51% to 56%. Not such a big difference. Also, I think a lot people are going to get accepted this year if you live in California. I read that they increased enrollment for California residents a whole 5000 seats and only 59,000 people applied to Santa Cruz whereas Riverside got 52k applicants. I think you have good odds like everyone on this subforum does. Good luck :).
You might not get admitted because you ACT score is a little low. I think it is a toss up depending on how competitive the other applicants are.