<p>"There is much "forgiveness" when it comes to academic standards of admitted students at U.C. One of the common myths about UC admissions is that its supposed transparency makes it easier to track the reasons for admissions decisions. No it doesn't, actually."</p>
<p>Actually, this was much truer prior to the 2002 reforms, when there were essentially two "tracks" for admission. Now the point formula limits non-academic performance to approximately 10% of the class, though class rank is now more heavily weighted.</p>
<p>The result is that the average GPA at Berkeley is 4.2+, the median SAT is 1350, and the entire difference in SAT scores is attributable (if you believe the CollegeBoard) to the difference in family income between matriculating Princeton students (with, in 2008, 9% on Pell Grants) and those at Berkeley (36%). </p>
<p>That 10,000 UCLA and Berkeley first years wouldn't have gotten into Princeton goes without saying (with the reverse being true for a couple of score of Princeton freshmen - again, start with the athletes in the big sports). But it wasn't "purely" because they were of lower academic caliber. </p>
<p>"Zollman Scholarship: Based on academic merit and affords a grant to cover one-half of Smith's tuition in each of four years at the college. Normally, five Zollman Scholarships are awarded in each entering first-year class. Zollman Scholars are also offered the opportunity to work on a STRIDE Program research project."</p>
<p>You've got it - a total of 5, or significantly fewer than exist at Swarthmore. (For us, the Zollman didn't make a hill of beans worth of difference - the offers at other "need-blind" (doesn't exist) were virtually the same. The fact that it was labeled "merit aid' was irrelevant to us - as far as we are concerned, it is ALL merit aid. The big difference - and the draw - was in the academic opportunity offered by the STRIDE, which has made a huge difference, and was simply unavailable elsewhere.) If the $125,000 per class (the total paid out in $2,500 increments), out of a $33 million financial aid budget, were all that was necessary to attract 50 topflight students, colleges would be falling all over themselves to do it.</p>