Is it possible to get into a nice private school without UC regents invites?

Hi,

I’m extremely sorry for making this post, but this question has just been running through my head ever since UCB and other UCs have been rolling out their regents results. I consider myself to be an OK applicant (mid 4 GPA, mid 1500 SAT, OK ECs, I hope OK recs and essays), but I have not been receiving any UC regents invites, which, as a resident of CA, seem to be going to most people (even people with seemingly worse stats), at least at my school.

I am not one of those people who goes like “I need an Ivy League or nothing!” But since my sister and a few other relatives go to Berk and other state schools, I have begun to realize the drawbacks of these extremely large state schools. While they definitely offer top-notch education, the opportunities are sadly limited due to the limited budget. Therefore, I pose this question— do you guys think it’s possible to get into an Ivy League or any nice private college without a UC regents invite?

Thanks!

Each UC campus determines their own criteria for selecting Regents so you cannot make a blanket statement that you might not be get Regents or you are not a competitive applicant. UCB is the only school so far that has asked for Regent Interviews which does not guarantee Regents at that school. UCSB just started sending out Regents and UCI has not sent any Regent notifications yet so I think you are jumping the gun.

You look like a very competitive applicant but each school is looking to fill their classes with a diverse group of students so not all schools are looking for the same type of applicant.

Regents is only a small percentage of accepted students, so you still have a decent chance for an acceptance at UCB and numerous other schools. Be patient and wait until all decisions are out before worrying about if you are not competitive or how you compare to your fellow students.

Best of luck.

Thank you so much for your kind response!

I thought UCSB already went out, and UCI sent something yesterday, however? Is that true?

UCSB sent out Chancellor invites and the majority of the invitees are probably Regent scholars but not all. UCI sent out CHP (Campus Wide Honors) but no one has been notified of Regents.

It’s still really early to be worrying about this. The vast majority of acceptances haven’t come out yet and as Gumbymom points out, only UCB has started to release regents. But is a very hard to wait, especially since a few students have already heard back from their EA/ED schools. Try to stay sane during this very trying time…

What opportunities do you see are limited?

UC admissions evaluation and criteria are different enough from the more selective private schools that an individual student’s results may not match the generally regarded levels of admission selectivity.

The only opportunities at Berkeley that I see are limited are the amount of internships relative to the number of great candidates applying. That’s nothing a private is going to help with. I’d like to sit back and see what you really mean by that statement.

@Hownowbwncow: That is true. The waiting game is definitely extremely stressful and terrifying…thank you guys for your understanding.

@ucbalumnus and @ProfessorPlum168: I’m sorry, I definitely did not mean to offend anyone by my statement. Berkeley is an AMAZING SCHOOL, and I’d be lucky just to get in! When I said I thought opportunities were limited, I was talking in terms of internships, housing, and courses. With so many students that the university needs to accommodate and with a much lower endowment than most private colleges, UCB really does do a great job; it’s just that the great number of students also makes housing and courses that you really want extremely hard to get. That’s all I meant.

Housing at Berkeley is in a much better situation than even one year ago. It is anticipated that anyone who is a current freshman who wants school-sponsored housing should be able to get an offer for next year.

There are some courses that gets filled up really quickly, but then again a large public like Berkeley will have so many more classes available than any private. A lot of the lower division CS classes will usually expand such that everyone gets in off of the waitlist. Now that poses a different type of issue, one of overcrowding, but that’s another issue for another day.

There are students who get Regents from either UCB or UCLA but have a low chance of getting accepted to HYPSM, and then there are kids like my kid who get accepted to one of HYPSM but have a low chance of getting Regents. Although I am not very familiar with how UCs select Regents scholarships, I did bump into some students with not that high GPA and test scores but with financial need who were surprised they were selected for Regents.

Having said this, you might get it, who knows?

@ProfessorPlum168, you are absolutely right. There definitely is an overcrowding issue, but with Berkeley’s multitude of classes, there’s really not much reason to complain.

@websensation, that is definitely true. Each college has their own criteria for judgement.

@websensation - you nailed it. They are trying to entice a certain type of student, and the review is VERY holistic for granting Regents. They only admit a couple hundred applicants as Regents every year, in a school with 1,000’s of students with excellent statistics. D has two Regents friends - both smart, talented, and not a whole lot of financial resources. Another friend’s older sister got in as Regents and her family has two parents with college degrees and plenty of financial resources. So, no way to really know what they are looking for.

OP, you are feeling less than worthy because you clearly are attending a very academically competitive HS. Just because you aren’t offered Regents at Cal doesn’t mean you aren’t HYPSM.

As for “crowding”:

Internships: you competing with not only people from you school, but with people from around THE COUNTRY. That’s necessarily a function of going to a large school.

Housing: yep, a lot of students and not enough to guarantee beyond the first year. A lot of kids don’t want to be in on-campus housing after their first year anyway. There a lot of housing options around the school for that reason.

Courses: yes, this is an issue, ain’t gonna lie. You just have to be super flexible and schedule classes whenever you can get them and physically go, even if it’s at 8:00 a.m.

BTW, D has another friend Cal friend who was also admitted to Harvard but wound up going with the cheaper option (she is in-state). It’s a great value, no question.

I understand your concern. When my daughter applied 4 years ago she only applied to UC’s. Similar stats to yours. She was waitlisted at soo many UCs that this year our son decided to apply OOS as well. So far he has not one Regents or Chancellor’s invite at all. He’s a 4.4 WGPA, 9 APs, SAT 1400 (that’s his weak spot), plus Eagle Scout and 12 years of robotics with leadership positions. But he was admitted for engineering to Virginia Tech, Purdue, and WPI so far. I think the UC’s have just been flooded with apps and there is just no predicting who’s in and who’s not. So while he is still waiting to hear from UCB, UCSB, UCI, and UCSD at least he knows he has some great options already locked in. (but they are expensive!)

My dd was a ucla and ucb regents few years ago but not invited from any of the lower ucs. She attended an ivy.