<p>“(ELC referenced frequently on CC, but I don’t really understand it!)”</p>
<p>2boysima:</p>
<p>ELC is just the top 4% of each high school senior class (using a special UC weighted average formula). UC goes through the transcripts and determines this for all the high schools that choose to participate. If your S or D qualifies as ELC, then s/he is guaranteed acceptance to UC Santa Barbara, Davis, Irvine, Merced and Riverside. There is no guarantee of acceptance to Berkeley, UCLA, or San Diego, but the ELC status is “considered” as part of the admissions decisions, and if one reviews admissions statistics for these campuses, ELC status significantly increases the odds of acceptance to them.</p>