Hypothetical UC rejection

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of California - GENERAL
1

Let’s say I get rejected by all the campuses I applied to. Will a more “lower” tier UC such as Merced maybe offer me a spot?

2

If you didn’t apply you won’t get an offer. UCs in particular are stingy about the deadlines.

If you don’t get in, you can find a school that is still accepting applications or try community college

3

You can be admitted to UC Merced, even if you did not apply, if you qualify under ELC. In general, ELC means that you are in the top 9% of the CA high school graduates or the top 9% in your high school. If you qualify under ELC, you will be offered a spot at UC Merced, only if there is room at UCM and if you are rejected by all the other UC’s

4

I wouldn’t count on it… without knowing your stats, ELC status or where your applied, i can’t say. You may want to look into your local CC and begin to explore the registration process while you wait for your UC responses. Many campuses fill up pretty quickly so, any head start would help.

5

ELC = “Eligibility in the Local Context”. This means that you are in the top 9% at your high school, as measured by UC GPA. If you are ELC, then you probably got a letter from the UC system notifying you of the fact.

ESC = “Eligibility in the Statewide Context”. This means that you are in the top 9% statewide, as measured by a combination of your UC GPA and SAT/ACT scores. You can see if you are ESC by entering that data here:
http://admission.universityofcalifornia.edu/freshman/california-residents/admissions-index/index.html

If you are either ELC or ESC, then you could be offered a spot at UC Merced, even if you did not actually apply there. For this to happen, the following conditions must be true:

  1. You were rejected from every other UC campus that you applied to.
  2. There is still space at UC Merced (this has always been true in recent years, but that doesn't guarantee that it will always be true in the future).

Note that even if you do get an offer at UC Merced, you could be last in line when it comes to picking a major or receiving financial aid. Merced will probably give first priority to the people who actually applied. Then they will look to see if there is still any room for anyone else. In some cases, admissions get pushed back until the Spring semester.