I was wondering if UC’s took an applicants proximity to the university into consideration when reviewing apps? For example, if I live three miles from the campus I applied to (UCLA, UCB, UCSB, etc.) will it help me in the review process? I know there is a ton that goes into the reviews… but any little bit will help, right?
Thanks!
I don’t think that matters for UC’s. CSU’s, on the other hand, have been known for giving high priority to local students.
It’s technically a factor, but it’s probably the least important one. as @lopapo said, though, CSUs take it very seriously. I’ve seen people on these forums state that they got into UCLA and Berkeley but then get rejected by San Diego State University, presumably because they lived too far away from that campus.
Define “local”. Within 1 mile radius? 5 mile radius? 50 mile radius? Some people commute 2 hours each way to get to work.
You really think these AdComms have the time to pinpoint whether you are “local”?
Living in a really traffic dense city can put you within a ten mile radius and on a two hour commute each way…
Try living on the south end of LA taking the 405 to the valley or WLA at rush hour b-(
Or the I-80 up in the bay… Ive done both and it’s HORRIBLE. So I guess “local” is a pretty relative term lol
And… yeah I would say that being local should be a factor… I just wasn’t sure of how big of a factor.
As stated by several posters, being local for the UC’s will have no impact on your admissions decisions; however, for the CSU’s it will. Local residents are given priority so the Eligibility index threshold may be lower for local applicants. The CSU’s were set up to serve and educate the local residents and allow them to enter the workforce.
Basically, every high school and CC in California has a designated CSU.
They officially define “Local” like this:
http://www.calstate.edu/sas/onestopkiosk/documents/CSULocalAdmission-ServiceAreas.pdf
As you can see, it is really specific - especially in more urban areas.
It is interesting for transfer applicants, CSULB looks back to the high school the applicant graduated from. I had never noticed that before.
UCs can choose a location to prefer - (certain high schools or zip codes that have been historically under-represented).
How that weighs in is very difficult to divine but, the areas aren’t typically proximate to the campus.
See item 14 on UCSBs list.
https://admissions.sa.ucsb.edu/applying/freshman/selection
It does not help in UC admissions. I’ve heard that UCSD does have some preference for people in SD County but I have not seen any definitive proof that this is the case.
According to SBCC, approx. 30% of students transferring to UCSB are from the nearby CC. So I would say in some cases being local does help.
That means nothing. So many third variables could be causing that 30% figure, e.g. more local applicants apply than non-local applicants.
http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/infocenter/admissions-source-school
SBCC is a fine program and does guide lots of students on to UCSB but, with 504 admits,they don’t represent nearly 30% of admitted transfers (about 7k). They aren’t even the largest source of transfers.
@ncalrent I’ve been looking for that! Thanks!
They seem to indicate it has some bearing:
http://admission.universityofcalifornia.edu/transfer/reviewed/index.html
that link says
What they may mean is whether or not you went to college in CA and whether you are a CA resident, not whether you live in a UC’s area.