Yes, applications are up from last year in the University of California system. UCLA is up 11%, Berkeley is up 5%.
I think it’s fair to say that, historically, Berkeley has had an easier time convincing more “top” students from the ‘admitted’ pool to matriculate. That’s why the data from the ‘enrolled’ students show that they have stronger numbers than UCLA students. And UCLA has had a harder time convincing top students to matriculate – which is something we can deduce from the numbers. To be fair, UCLA does have a larger class to fill and thus their numbers might be skewed due to this. A bigger class = the lesser the effect the “top” student numbers will have on the mean.
But anyway, perhaps a good portion of these students who decide to go to Cal see rankings as an important factor and decide to enroll there because of its perceived slight academic edge. But if 2017 has taught us anything, it’s that UCLA might begin to close the gap on ‘enrolled student’ metrics as it has on overall selectivity as demand and rank continues to increase for the school. If you look at the data of admitted and enrolled students for Fall 2016, Cal was clearly more selective on both fronts. But Fall 2017 numbers show UCLA beating Cal slightly in the admitted student profile. In just one year, UCLA erased a good sized gap. And now that they have regularly received 20,000+ more applicants, I doubt Cal will be more ‘selective’ based on the admitted student profile for Fall 2018. In fact, because of such disparity in interest/applications between both schools, I think UCLA having a lower acceptance rate and stronger admit profile will be the new norm from here on out.
In terms of the ‘enrolled’ student profiles, I think they’ll remain strong for Cal and start to increase for UCLA until they reach an equilibrium, this will be due to the change in perception by students at high schools regard UCLA vs Cal. Cal and UCLA have long played to tug of war to convince the highest performing students to agree to enroll at their respective campuses. Cal has historically convinced more of these students to matriculate due to its prestige, but I think it’s going to start evening out now that they share the title of #1 Public and because UCLA has become the “hardest” UC to get into on top of the other perks it offers. Cal has had a lot of problems at or near its campus lately with regards to budgeting, crime, protesting, political violence, housing, etc. And the school has taken a beating in the media, especially right-wing media who unfairly use Cal as a piñata.
I’m interested in seeing the data for enrolled students at UCLA and Cal for Fall 2017 and 2018. I think they’ll be a lot closer than they were for Fall 2016 when we knew that Cal was more selective. But how about the data from 2017, 2018 and beyond? 2017 I think marks a turning point for UCLA. We shall see.
@Corbett Good point. I have no skin in the game since my kid going to another school but was accepted to both Berkeley and UCLA, but at my kid’s HS, almost everyone thinks Berkeley is academically stronger school by a slight margin. However, having said that, I would have recommended my kid attend UCLA (as do many here in Southern CA) for other reasons. Besides, the academic difference between Berkeley and UCLA undergraduate schools (not graduate schools where Berkeley is clearly stronger imo), if there is any, is so little that honestly, it should not play a big part in one’s selection. That’s my opinion. The only thing major Berkeley has over UCLA from the selection perspective is that it’s in SF, a more interesting city than Los Angeles. Just giving you my perspective, not objective data.
I went to school in NorCal and most chose Berkeley however more got into Berkeley than Ucla. Most tended to view cal as the more prestigious school. I liked Ucla more because of its better campus life. Really both are stellar and not worth splitting hairs about.
@KTJordan78 Depends which ratings you use, and besides a change in ratings doesn’t mean there has been a “sift”. UCLA has improved tremendously in recent years, but Berkeley still is the more renowned university, especially internationally. But does that really matter? And for OOS students, Michigan offers great financial aid and so is rapidly displacing all the UCs.
I would agree however the UCLA is now more popular for OOS students who don’t need financial aid, since they accept more students and are definitely chasing OOS dollars.
At the end of the day, it is sad that high school seniors spend so much time focusing on which university is higher rated when they sad reality is that most won’t be admitted to either.
DC is an Engineering applicant to UCLA. UCLA just sent an email to experience UCLA - look at website, visit, etc. Is this a good/hopeful sign, or just a mass mailing addressed to all applicants?
@mclmom naahh I just got it too, and I’m not a competitive applicant at all.
@mclmom @ironweasal check the class of 22 UCLA applicant thread. One of the recent posts has a detail review of what the different emails mean in terms of admissions. I’m a UCLA Engineering Ambassador so feel free to ask me anything.
Yay!! I can finally say UCLA is the more prestigious school.
Acceptance rate is used as the de facto measure of prestige in many countries and is more objective than many metrics including peer surveys, etc. Its the only fair way to make comparisons between many colleges, such as liberal arts colleges.
While the USC trend is evident, it doesn’t negate other trends happening in college ranks as well. Its irrelevant to the discussion.
Don’t know how I came in this thread, but based on naviance of my DD’s school, a small top-tier private school, this year the number of kids applying to UCB increased about 20%, vs that to UCLA/UCSD about 50%. Kids are scared by the media on the single-digit accepted rates thus adding unnecessarily long list of “match” even “safety” schools. The stupid UC application date and its single app for all are the biggest factors for these kids to chip in their $60 each by simply fingering a few more clicks - most of them will go somewhere else, I know it. I dropped my jaw when I heard DD’s friends added UCLA/UCSD as “backups”.
@hooverhoo According to a press release from the UC Regents, applications rose 5% for UCB and 11% for UCLA from last year. Also, UC schools have used one single application with a submission deadline of 11/30 for the last 30 or so years, just FYI.
Have you seen any detailed data about which majors those over 110k students applied to? Very curious!
@NWparent3 Those stats aren’t readily avaible for L&S though it is for engineering. It doesn’t matter for L&S as major choice has no factor on admissions whereas engineering, nursing, arts, and tft all admit by major
As a CA parent, regarding UCLA/Berkeley, people still consider Cal as a “better” academic school for most majors. However, I would have recommended that my kid attend UCLA over Cal for other reasons. However, it really depends on the fit for you. But no question that UCLA is on par with Berkeley when it comes to which CA public school they want to attend.
One caveat: I would still say in general Berkeley students have higher average hard stats on the average.
UCLA is closing the gap on Berkeley fast. Berkeley seems to be in bad shape atm in a lot of aspects.
Cal gets the advantage of being much older and has had more time to establish itself, but UCLA has done a lot in the last 20 years to raise its profile to match Cal.
I still yield more prestige to Cal, but not by much.
UCB will always be considered more prestigious because of its affiliation with Nobel Prize laureates (UCB = 47, university count vs. UCLA = 13, university count). 
USC will push past UCLA and UCB in prestige, selectivity and most other factors due to one reason and one reason only, it’s a private institution.
I’ve never heard of an 18 year old that decided where to attend college based on the number of Nobel Prize laureates that are “affiliated” with the school…
And I still remember 20 years ago when USC would have KILLED to be in the USNews top 50 colleges. Its come quite far, but lets not get crazy.
“Thoughts & Predictions?” Yes. Expect an increase in the application fee.
@10s4life You’re saying major doesn’t make any difference for freshman right?