@northwesty, actually, we don’t know why the math whiz was rejected by Cal. Some majors at Cal are extremely difficult to get in to.
No one bats an eye when someone who gets in to Yale is rejected by ND. Why the conspiracy theory when it’s Cal instead of ND?
Also, I don’t believe the number of places at Cal for CA residents has decreased that much if at all. Some majors at Cal simply are very difficult to get in to.