<p>oops, didn't realize this thread originated last year! Congrats on the admit to UCSB -- my alma mater! He will love it there... most beautiful place in the world!</p>
<p>momof2inca--I am going to guess your daughter is a faster swimmer than mine, since I don't know what a CIF time is! Anyway, my daughter loves to swim. She must. She keeps going, and the weather has been CRAP this swim season. Rain, hail, cold, yuck! She is kind of unusual in that she swims her butterfly as fast as or faster than her freestyle. </p>
<p>Congratulations on UCSB, Kluge!!!!</p>
<p>Kluge, congratulations to yoiu and your son. UCSB is a great place to go to school.</p>
<p>Plus, "Men's Health" Magazine said Santa Barbara was the number one place in the US for most beautiful women. :)</p>
<p>...then Men's Health hasn't been to San Diego State. Sheeesh! (I think you may have hit on a major criteria in my boys' college selection process.)</p>
<p>Hey Kluge, I think you've been hanging around CC for too long. </p>
<p>Your son's chances of admission to Berkeley are excellent. </p>
<p>I've gone 2 for 2 on kids getting into Berkeley. My daughter just got accepted to Berkeley with a 580 math SAT and a 520 as the second highest available SAT II score. (I kid you not). She's got probably a 3.8 or 3.9 unweighted GPA, maybe 4.2 weighted. High school has an API of 9. White. We have been disqualified from a Cal Grant because our assets are above the ceiling. Parents both college-educated professionals. </p>
<p>My son had better grades and scores and his chief EC was endless hours of play at Grand Theft Auto, which he wisely did not mention in his college apps, recognizing that Berkeley does not need more car thieves. Daughter had those really iffy SAT scores... but the girl's got heart and I guess it showed through. </p>
<p>I think if you go in with the attitude that you've lost the game before you start to play... well then you kind of deserve to lose. I always kind of had the attitude that it didn't really matter -that I and my kids would succeed wherever we went, because we are smart enough to do so no matter what anyone else things. </p>
<p>So improve the 'tude man. No one ever got ahead in this world by whining an dfeeling sorry for themselves.</p>
<p>Well, technically speaking, his chances are actually pretty poor, since he's been rejected already. It's not a problem - he had already decided that if he got into UCSB San Diego and Berkeley were no longer in the running. (By the way - did you read the thread before posting?)</p>
<p>Congrats to your son Kluge!! SB is beautiful and is a great school. Was he able to get the major/program he wanted?? My sis went to school there many moons ago and loved all her time there. Son #1's best friend is there now as a junior and she just got back from a term in Ghana. She turned down Davis and Cal for SB.</p>
<p>Good luck to your son!</p>
<p>Kat</p>
<p>Another thumbs up for SB: great weather, beautiful women.</p>
<p>Kluge, congratulations on UCSB -- I'm pretty sure that they have an outstanding physics department, if your son decides to pursue the physical sciences.</p>
<p>Kluge, I'm so sorry -- I really didn't read the whole thread, and I am profusely sorry that I misconstrued your post. I just thought that your kid had a LOT more than "bupkis" going for him.</p>
<p>I really think that the major the kid selects has more to do with which UC campus the kid gets into than hardship factors or whatever other comprehensive review issues come into play. </p>
<p>My son applied to Berkeley as an "undeclared" (meaning he wasn't threatening to take anyone else's "slot" in their preferred major). </p>
<p>My daughter applied to Berkeley and top private colleges as a prospective Russian/Slavic languages major. Berkeley has a very large slavic language department and very few undergraduates coming out of it with degrees -- so they need warm bodies to fill their classes. My daughter has now managed to get admitted to every top college she applied to that meets that criteria: big department with very low enrollment (less than 3 majors coming through the department a year, upper level classes with single-digit enrollment). </p>
<p>The sciences at all the UCs are very hard to get into, so if your son chose any science or engineering major, I think that is the most likely reason for rejection. If it is anything listed as an impacted major, then that really is a big barrier to overcome -- and I doubt that it is any low-performing athlete or URM who is taking up competitive slots in those departments. (The lower performing kid probably also get the same edge my son did by going in as undeclared or else opting for something soft).</p>
<p>I know I am speculating and there could be other reasons, but statistically the URM/disadvantaged enrollment at Berkeley and UCLA is very low, far less than it should be in terms of proportional representation of the population. The "hardship" cases get attention, but they are the exception rather than the rule. Most of the Berkeley/UCLA admits have very strong grades & test scores and come from good high schools and reasonably solid middle class or upper middle class roots. </p>
<p>I mean truthfully: most white kids who don't get into Berkeley had their so-called "slot" taken by a super high-performing Asian kid, and the Asian kids are already being handicapped for admission. Really - it is the very high-achieving, high performing kids who are setting the standard and raising the bar for everyone.</p>
<p>My nephew had a choice between UCSB and a 3-2 engineering program where he started at one of the Cal states (can't remember which one) and then finished at Berkely with a chem e major. Every adult he talked to at the time said to go with the 3-2 program and come out with an engineering degree from Berkeley. Every kid (especially the male ones!) said UCSB all the way - who's stupid enough to give up those girls??? And one thing my nephew isn't is stupid...so he's very, very happy at UCSB - working hard, getting a great education and enjoying the lovely scenery (and the beach isn't bad either!).</p>
<p>Thanks, all - yes, Santa Barbara is a beautiful place, with beautiful girls, and a first rate university. S2 is excited and chez Kluge is a happy place.
The point I was trying to make last year is still valid today: Different universities are looking for different kinds of students. The chances are actually pretty good that the match created by the admissions process won't be too bad. And in my opinion the chances are the schools will do a better job at figuring the fit than most parents. Even though my son has extremely high test scores, and not bad grades, I knew he didn't fit the Cal/UCLA/UCSD mold. I understand what they're looking for (they've made no secret of it - grades, grades, grades) and they're right - my kid is a slacker. (If you get 800's on the MathII SAT and B's in Trig, you're a slacker.) The opportunity will be there for him at UCSB, to find what he's interested in (he's undeclared now) and to do as much with it as he's willing to work for. There's a school out there for every kid - it would be great if every kid and his or her parents could relax and take joy in the opportunities presented, instead of complaining about the opportunities not offered, or, worse yet, growing sour and angry at the opportunities other got which we felt should have gone to our own kids. Our kids' futures are in their own hands and will not be aided by our trying to hold other kids back.
This is a happy time for our family, and I hope it's a happy time for all of your families, too (and my apologies to East Fudd Teacher's College.)</p>
<p>great post kluge! loved reading it:)</p>
<p>"With low income and sunsidized loans, take one of the better colleges. Irvine just can't compare, And unless you're planning a really low paying, non profit career, Irvine just isn't close to Cal or UCLA.You should take your place at a top UC if you are thinking of any career that pays a good living. It seems sad to try to say $20,000 by going to a far inferior school and not have access to top jobs. CA is full of relatively bright kids who go to all the UCs. Bottom line, there are only a few who break out of the mold and have opportunities you would have if you went to a top private."</p>
<p>Hi Kluge! I just read the above quote on another thread. It seemed pretty "amazing" to me, so I had to share it. Yeesh.</p>
<p>I agree with you, by the way, and your son will surely be blissfully happy at UCSB. Blissfully happy and low income according to the above quote ( ha ha).</p>