I’ve heard so much about UC rejects, and thinking about it realistically, I think it might be the only UC I would make it into. Does it really have that bad of a reputation?
No.
That reputation is really no longer accurate. It started because Riverside was the UC campus that would offer admission to candidates that qualified for either the ELC or the Statewide path who had not gained admission at the campus of their choice. Now that role goes to UC Merced. UCR’s current acceptance rate is 56% so it rejects plenty of candidates too.
No, but it’s expensive for out of state. Similar schools would be UC Merced and Temple is like Riverside’s east coast equivalent