<p>I got an email inviting me to the UCSC Honors Program yesterday. I hadn't heard of the program before, and it seems that it is relatively new. Did anyone else get the invite/know anything about it? Is is tied to Regents somehow?</p>
<p>I got an invite, too. I doubt it’s tied to the Regents scholarship. I just want to know how many applicants are accepted to the honors program and what their average stats are. I read online that the original intent of the program (when it was established in 2004) was to admit the top 5% of all UCSC applicants. This may no longer be true, but the UCSC honors webpage was very vague and answered few of my questions.</p>
<p>The website could certainly use an update! It looks like they aim to have between 100 and 200 honors freshman, so they probably invite around 500? And the program seems to be only for the first year, so I’m guessing the benefits end there.</p>
<p>I emailed the program director just now and he got back to me promptly. He said that out of the incoming class, which will be about 3500 students, roughly 80 students will be honors students. Students are selected based on their high school GPA, test scores, and a holistic review of their applications, so extracurriculars and essays also come into play. That makes me feel pretty good! :)</p>
<p>Thank you for posting that! I will definitely be considering Santa Cruz as the rest of my decisions come in. Good luck you, as well!</p>
<p>Does anyone know if there are any financial incentives to going into the honors program. Also, is there any priority registration attached to the honors program.</p>
<p>Apparently if you also applied to UCB and UCLA, UCSC uses the “holistic score,” that was given by UCB + UCLA to determine whether to accept you or not. The score range is from a 1-5 (1 being the highest). Second page of the following link confirms this.</p>
<p><a href=“http://senate.ucsc.edu/senate-meetings/agendas-minutes/2011-may-27-senate-meeting/CAFA052711scp1674.pdf[/url]”>http://senate.ucsc.edu/senate-meetings/agendas-minutes/2011-may-27-senate-meeting/CAFA052711scp1674.pdf</a></p>
<p>Do you guys think it’s a good sign for UCLA/UCB decisions in the next couple weeks if one was accepted to UCSC + recieved the honors program invitation (which would imply being in the top 10 or 5% of the applicant pool)? I was also recently accepted at UCSD, and received the UCSB chancellors invitation. (Also got UC Riverside honors + chancellor invitation).</p>
<p>Any thoughts?</p>
<p>@Arzgania That’s exactly what I’m wondering! According to the director of the program, only about 2% of first-year Santa Cruz students are in the honors program. I’m guessing it’s a good sign for UCB and UCLA since it implies you’re in the top 5% of UCSC applicants. Plus UCSC seems to be accepting higher-caliber students this year. But who knows these days…the UC system is such a crapshoot. I’m so nervous, but what you said makes sense.</p>
<p>I’ve heard very few things about the honors program. There are supposed “honors” classes for some math courses, for instance. Enrollment was restricted to less than 25 students, in contrast to the normal 250+ class size for Algebra/Trig/Calc. However, that course hasn’t been offered in years. Perhaps it has just changed to what’s detailed here: [The</a> UCSC First-Year Honors Program](<a href=“http://honors.ucsc.edu/honors-programs/first-year.html]The”>http://honors.ucsc.edu/honors-programs/first-year.html)</p>
<p>For next year’s applicants who are admitted to UCSC Honors but aspire to attend UCLA or UCB, I think Arzgania <em>might</em> have been onto something. I was waitlisted at UCLA and accepted to Berkeley Spring 2014. The accepted students of the spring semester are by no means “lesser” students than the accepted fall students, and they still have a normal freshman experience (live in dorms, join sororities, etc.) and graduate in four years. However, I’m not sure if the holistic score theory is 100% accurate so don’t take my word for it.</p>
<p>Good luck! :)</p>
<p>@platshenanigans Just found this thread! Did you apply for spring 2014 or for fall 2013? (: I got into the UCSC honors this year and got the regents but was waitlisted at UCLA… Now I’m waiting for Berkeley but I’m really not expecting any good news :D</p>