I’m a bit puzzled. I have a 1560 score on my SAT, 4.6 GPA and I just got wait-listed at UCSB. According to Naviance, UCSB has a 32% acceptance rate. What is the Admissions staff looking for? I did extra-curricular activity too.
There are 14 areas of application review criteria that the UC campuses use however, each campus have a different weighting for these areas. UCSB states on their website that 50% is based on academics and 50% is based on the subject part of the application which are EC’s, essays, awards, special talents etc… Intended major can also play a huge part in your chances of being accepted especially CS/Engineering. UC’s can be unpredictable so hopefully you have some good options already.
My advice for all applicants to the UC’s is to apply widely and have 2 safety (likely) schools on your list.
More UCSB specific information: http://admissions.sa.ucsb.edu/apply/freshman/selection
For the UC’s, stats alone do not guarantee a spot.
@Bob2000 I feel like the UCs need to go to a ranking system for the UCs. UCSB was my daughter’s first choice and she has above the 75th percentile as well. She also has a lot of Ecs, leadership, sports and has had a job for 2 years. The unpredictability for a state university system is extremely stressful on these kids.
That would be unfair to the students who are less fortunate and have less opportunities than others.
I know how you feel, I was rejected by all but 3 of the UCs that I applied to last year. But life moves on. If you don’t get into your dream school, there’s always the community college system. Take advantage of the super cheap tuition to clear your GEs. Not a bad idea at all.
Stats, as Gumbymom said, do not guarantee a spot. There are MANY other people who have outstanding stats. Colleges want to see more than just that.
@j678gpo I meant ranking of which UC is your top choice, to help them match the student and the UC.
@Ryboy1: Back in the dark ages when I applied for college, you had to rank your top 3 UC’s when applying.
In my experience, good stats and extra curriculars are not enough. What was the purpose of the extra curriculars? How did they relate to you or what you want to do? UCs like to see passionate students rather than students who simply just take a lot of ECs.
It seems to me like this year they placed extreme value on UC GPA above all else. People were accepted from all over the SAT spectrum but GPA (usually 4.3+) seemed to get people in. I understand that the UCs have historically tended to weight GPA more than other schools but it’s honestly a little dense to compare students who received 1200s with a 4.3 o students who have 1500s with a 4.1. They also need to pay attention to the rigor of curriculum, which seemed to be thrown out the window, at least at my school. Students who took easier classes that yielded higher GPAs were favored for sure. Either way, there seemed to be a huge decrease in acceptances this year. (25 out of 56 accepted last year at my school, this year 7 were accepted out of 55).
I think the UCs recognize stats don’t reflect things in an ‘equalized’ manner. A 4.0+ GPA means more at some high schools and less at others. SAT scores can be more reflective of test prep offerings, whether privately funded via parents or publicly funded through school. In the end, the stats don’t tell the story. Lots of high stat applicants got in; some didn’t. Lots of low stat applicants were denied; some were accepted. In the end, the UCs appear to use stats as a starting point and then go from there.
I think, and this is pure conjecture, that a ‘balanced’ student experience in high school is the most appealing thing to UCs. Get good grades (they don’t need to be 4.3+). Show profeciency on the ACT/SAT (you do NOT need a 1500 or 35 plus). Play a sport or two and stick to it for four years (shows commitment and stability). Join a club or two and stick to it for four years. Volunteer in your community in a consistent fashion. Show how ALL THESE THINGS shaped your high school experience in your essays. If you do these things, you’re going to appeal to a campus you might not have anticipated getting into. A student that does these things is going to appeal to someone.
Our daughter didn’t get much college guidance at her high school, but one teacher gave her/us some profound advice in freshman year when our daughter said she dreamed of attending a UC campus. He said kids with high GPAs and great test scores are a dime a dozen in the UC admission piles. In the end, admission officers aren’t accepting ‘Stat Sheets’ or robots; they are accepting people. Make yourself a good, well rounded person and you’ll be fine.
Again this might be yield protection. If UCSB is where you want to go make sure they know that.
I often see these posts where someone comments on why someone accepted with a lower GPA and/or SAT score and they are dumbfounded as to why someone got in and not another, or automatically think yield protection. I think the stats posted on here are much too limited to get a good idea of the individual application. Maybe the student that posted a lower GPA and SAT score had an incredible talent (fine arts awards, state champion athlete, lived in several countries and fluent in multiple languages, the list goes on…), maybe they had a compelling story (homeless, survivor of life threatening illness), maybe their essays really stood out made the reviewer think, or laugh, maybe they fill a unique need (bassoon player, demonstrated passion in greek mythology). We keep hearing holistic, and I think you have to take that to heart. There are SO many applications and each reviewer has a very limited time to read each application. Once they pass the 1530 SAT and 4,2 GPA and 4 AP’s, if everything after that falls flat, two or three common EC’s with standard 1-3 hours a week commitment. Essays that talk about coming off the bench and winning the big game. That SAT and GPA might not mean as much as the kid who had passions in and out of the classroom.
One other thing that is not talked about enough is that it is great to have a lot of EC’s but it is also very important that some of those strengthen the intended major. Having a lot of general and leadership experiences in student counsel, sports, church charities might show that you don’t sit in your room studying every night, but if you are looking to be an engineer, then having math, robotics, science fair, EC’s show your passion for that field.
I know one reviewer and in two months she had to read over 1,000 applications. I just had to review 50 applications for one non-profit scholarship in a day and they all started looking the same. I can’t imagine 1,000. If your application jumps off the page and provides a good snapshot of who you are and how you will contribute to the campus…this is often overlooked. Just like in a job, you want the reader to see a future article about you and your success at the college, not just that you are going to benefit yourself with a degree and job after graduation.
Lastly, each campus…and every UC is a different college with their own unique priorities, some might value environmental issues at the top, others charitable contribution, others early exposure to research, some more traditional sports participation and teamwork. There is some you can just glean by looking at their webpages, others you can feel by being at the campus. The hope is that each of our kids will find the fit that is best for them.
You might be over-qualified for UCSB. The school might think that you are unlikely to choose it so will yield-protect by putting you on wait-list. Sorry! It might mean you have a good chance to get into higher tier UCs. Good luck!
@DreiPM I’m not sure how much ‘higher tier’ you can get. Did you see UCSB’s ranking for top public school in the WHOLE of the US? #5. The only other UC’s ranked higher were UCLA at #1 and UCB at #2. That on top of its WORLD ranking by Times Higher Education - this would hardly suggest it’s a ‘lower tier’ UC and anyone who got accepted there should be extremely proud of their achievements.
ALL of the UC’s are fantastic places to get an education.
@scratchy903 “lower tier” is relative. The Forbes rankings (which rank public, private, liberal arts, research university together) are: Cal (14), UCLA (46), UCSB (85). It’s crazy, but top 50 schools are perceived as “higher tier” than 50-100 in elite college circles.
I know a girl on my daughter’s club sports team who was being aggressively recruited by a school in the 50-100 range, but she was afraid to accept because she would be “embarrassed” to tell her fellow students at an expensive, private prep school.
@JmGls yes they all have their own way of ranking and comparisons and I am certainly not one to worry too much about a university’s ranking.
I like the US News World Report rankings as they compare like for like (public vs public within the US). It is really just used for guidance for me to see how ALL the UC’s stack up against the other public universities.
I’m not a fan of the attitude that some UCs are better than others - especially around the time of admissions decisions. I want all applicants who earn a spot at ANY UC to be proud of their achievement.
What evidence do you have that UCSB does that?
My daughter applied to UC, out of state public, Common App private, and non Common App private schools. Between the fairly short response space for Personal Insight Questions and lack of ability to submit letters of recommendation, the UC schools have a lot less information to base their “holistic” decision on. Combine that with 100,000 applications and the admission officers have a very tough job.
@Bob2000 Just got to Santa Barbra city college. You will save alot of money and if you do well you should get in no problem.