I was just waitlisted by UCSD. I have heard that UCSD does not check personal statements. Is this true?
No it is not true, I know readers of UCSD applications and they do check the personal statements.
I actually heard of this myth also but here is my two cents. Yes the UC system is very stat based but also since there are a lot of students who apply, there is bound to be some people who have the same stats. By then the only thing that colleges can look at is personal statements. Also I believe two readers read each person’s personal statements (I got this from UCSB but not sure if this applies to UCSD).
They do look at personal statements. I got a 1200 on my SAT (yeah vey low) and a 4.3 in highschool with a 4.0 at my community college. But together it combined to a 4.5 since community college is credited like ap classes for gpa. I was definantly not the ideal person to get admitted and my personal statements were steller. They do, I know for a fact that is what made my application iffy to accepted.
I had a 1260 on my SAT and a 4.1 GPA while they’re average admitted student had a 1400 and 4.15. I had a friend who had higher numbers than me; I got in and she didn’t. I’m pretty sure it’s because of the personal statement questions. If it’s on the application, they will see it:)