I thought I would post my decision because I thought it was odd that I would get accepted from UCSD, the slightly higher ranked of the two and get rejected from UCSB(not even waitlisted). Did this happen to anyone else? I understand that each UC campuses review your application so maybe UCSD people just liked my application more.
If you are rejected from UCSB, hopefully this can serve you as an reminder that your application may appeal differently to different colleges so you shouldn’t give up on your other schools just because of the outcome of another school. (I opened my UC San Diego with no hope of getting in after getting rejected from UCSD)
Here’s a quick run down of my app.
Asian Female
Out of state
Undeclared (Social Science)
ACT: 32
GPA (out of 4.0): 3.8
Graduating with 12 AP classes
EC: had many leadership roles within clubs, mostly art-oriented, 2 years of JV Cheerleading, decent volunteer/community service
Awards: National AP Scholar w Distinction, Basic Academic and Community Service Honor stuff., MVP and Coach’s Award from cheerleading.
Personal Statement: I honestly cringe every time I read it, I’m awful at writing, I would say my 1st one was 5/10 and then my 2nd one was 8/10.
Strength: decent EC, rigor of the course schedule, number of AP classes
Weaknesses: Although GPA is pretty good, overall avg isn’t that high. Personal Statement was definitely weak. I also think having teacher rec would have helped but that wasn’t an option anyways.
Based on what I provided above, what are my chances for UCLA and UCB? I’m thinking slim to none but any feedback is much appreciated
I think you just answered your own question. UCSB’s decisions are made based upon 50% grades and 50% essay, extracurricular, and other stuff you do outside of school. If you think you’re essay is bad, then that is probably the reason why you got denied from UCSB. My stats were way lower than yours but I got accepted 2 years ago. UCSD is definitely more GPA and stats oriented. It’s hard to predict your chances for CAL and UCLA because they always reject candidates that are top of the top. But one thing to note, CAL and UCLA really care about your personal statements, and if you think your personal statement is bad, then there’s your answer.
Out-of-state acceptances are higher at UCB and UCLA (about 30% as opposed to more like 20% for other UCs), so you may be surprised. You have good grades and scores.
It also depends on how impacted the school is (e.g Economics or Sociology may be much more difficult at UCB).
I had no idea different UCs placed varying importance on stats, ECs, and personal statements etc. I’d always assumed that it was the same since they were all under the UC umbrella. Could anybody offer a quick rundown on what the differences are?
UCSB states on their website that 50% of the application is GPA and Test scores, 50% EC’s and essays. Some UC’s will weigh GPA more like UCI over test scores but all use 14 areas of critieria to review the application. Much will depend upon what the admissions officers like or dislike about your application. This is a holistic review. Also some schools may have more open spots for some majors than others. Many times it is unpredictable and random.
