<p>More AP the better, unless you're getting a C or below</p>
<p>Here's a good tip. Make sure you have a STORY! I know someone that got into the all the UC's he applied to(UCB/LA..etc) with a 1600 sat and a 3.8 weighted gpa. He talked about coming to America during the korean conflict, and the death of his mother during this whole time. Make sure your essays really make the university want to accept you. Get some interesting EC's and a great story, because it is not all about grades and sat scores as you can see.</p>
<p>Wait... How could your friend (the UCB/UCLA admit) have come to America during the Korean conflict, which was half a century ago? :rolleyes:</p>
<p>There is some correct information on this thread, but also a lot of wild speculation. </p>
<p>The figure about 99% (of UCB admits) being in the top 10% of their class is correct, & this has been true for many years.</p>
<p>In some ways, UC admissions looks even more mysterious & confounding than certain elite Privates; but that's because there are many weighted factors, & as one poster pointed out, a deficit in one area can be compensated for in another. I only caution you not to disregard the essay. One poster said that it "didn't count," but in fact it does, & several high-stat in-State folks have been denied admission because of a lack of focus or conviction in their essay. It is important partly because it substitutes as a "personal voice," due to the fact that there are no personal or academic letters of recommendation. E.C.'s also count, & again are weighted according to the category of e.c., the level of involvement, the kinds of awards/leadership in them, etc. Challenges count, including environmental, academic, physical. Points are assigned to all these aspects. Yes, AP/Honors are capped for non-ELC'ers, but U.C. does expect that a student will choose advanced classes at any school which offers many advanced choices.</p>
<p>All of these variables -- and more -- account for the <em>appearance</em> of "randomness," but U.C. admission is no more "random" than the Ivies are. In addition to the above considerations -- which translate to radically different kinds of students, with different experiences & achievement, being accepted, there is the aspect of the different flavors of the campuses. UCB & UCLA, while both generally highly selective, look for different things. Both the review process and the priorities of each campus can vary somewhat, resulting in an admission to one campus & not the other, although -- yes, generally the levels tend to be grouped together. However, because of the differences, it's entirely plausible that one can get accepted to UCB but not UCLA, for example.</p>
<p>^actually that 99% thing isn't true..in the US News it even says UCR has like 95% were in the top 10 percent of their class. if 99% were really in the top 10, then berkeley would have no athletes..and their admissions would be even stricter than the top ivy leagues. i think it might be more like 80-85% in top 10 IMO. 99% in top 10 is just too ridiculous, for ANY school for that matter, including HYPSM</p>
<p>Yes, I should have corrected myself. The difference is that 99% of <em>non-URMs</em> are in the top 10%. That is the figure that has been reported. At UCSD it's the top 90% for non-URM's.</p>
<p>"Yes, I should have corrected myself. The difference is that 99% of <em>non-URMs</em> are in the top 10%. That is the figure that has been reported. At UCSD it's the top 90% for non-URM's."</p>
<p>Being a URM doesn't matter at the UCs.</p>
<p>I believe the stats state that 97% of freshmen ucla students are in the top 10% of high school class. likely the 3% are mostly atheletes. ucsd and uc berkeley both have 99% in the top 10% of high school class. interesting berkeley should also have a lot of atheletes, possibly more qualified ones. ucsd does not have much of an athletic program or place much emphasis or importance on it. that is likely why 99% are in the top 10%. After these top 3 uc's, the numbers of percentage in top 10% of class falls off substantially. while being a urm is stated not to matter, the top three uc's have found ways around the law banning race based admission which was inacted by the voters of california. hardships are allowed to be considered, and being a urm is considered a hardship by berkeley ucla and ucsd. so being a urm may not be officially stated as mattering, but it clearly does. all you have to do is look at are average urm acceptance stats, they will be somewhat lower on average than other aplicants. this does not meen though that every urm has lower stats, it is not true in all cases. Also, being a urm will not help you at the top uc's near as much as it would have 10 years ago, before the proposition banning aa was passed, as numbers of minorities has fallen somewhat at top uc's, but gone up at mid tier and lower tier uc's.</p>
<p>Brandy, I'm talking about reported numbers. Of the non-URM's admitted, 99% of those are in the top 10% of the class. (Btw, it also does not mean, as the poster above me noted, that there will not be quite a few URM's in the top 10% of their own classes -- or 5%, 1%, etc.) That poster is quite correct about URM status "mattering" (love that new word!).:)</p>
<p>Sorry flopsy i wasnt clear, his parents are from N. Korea</p>