<p>My S applied to UCLA and UCB with a 3.96 UC weighted GPA. This semester he may get all A’s, including 4 AP classes. I know that if he gets augmented review he may be asked for his Senior grades, but assuming the decision hasn’t yet been made, is there any way we can just send in his grades uninvited?</p>
<p>Yes you could conceivably mail them to Director of Admissions at each campus, but it's my understanding that they even won't look at them (nor recs) --the big computer in the UC sky calculates everything with the self-reported grades.</p>
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Yes you could conceivably mail them to Director of Admissions at each campus..
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<p>Do you mean snail mail?</p>
<p>Yes, snail mail. But, beware, a couple of years ago, a UC rep on these boards reported that they would not read recs or other material sent in that was not specifically requested. Of course that was then.</p>
<p>good luck to your S.</p>
<p>Although I can't stop you from sending in documents uninvited, I do ask that you only submit documents that are requested. It stays the same that unrequested documents will not be reviewed.</p>
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It stays the same that unrequested documents will not be reviewed.
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<p>Okay, he won't send in any anything unrequested, like a transcript.</p>
<p>But, maybe you could let us know the rationale for UC not looking at Senior 1st Semester grades, when other colleges admitting for RD manage to do so?</p>
<p>UC doesn't scrutinize Freshman year, which has the sound rationale of being too early in the student's development and less current. To the extent that this rationale is sound it directly undercuts any rationale UC provides for ignoring the current Senior grades most reflective of the student's development.</p>
<p>UC is not shy to congratulate itself on its boundless commitment to diversity. The scope of such commitment apparently does not extend to the rich diversity in adolescent intellectual development. Some students may still be emerging from early adolescent issues early in high school, but with a window of only two years, UC cannot discern the trajectory of a progressing student. Freshman year not considered, Junior year may be better than Sophomore year, but whether this is random variation or progression pattern UC cannot recognize until and unless it sees progress Senior year. With the review of the entire 3-1/2 years of transcript, UC might be able to identify those late-blooming students who show particular promise in college. To such students, UC makes itself, like Justice, blind. </p>
<p>Why? It isn't that UC announces its decisions any sooner than other colleges, and yet other colleges make sure they have the latest transcript. Not so UC, which is content with a transcript 9 months old.</p>
<p>From the general to the specific, My S's UC GPA increased from 3.96 to 4.1 as a result of his Senior grades. According to UC</a> StatFinder, given his SAT of >2100, this boost in GPA would at UC Berkeley have increased his chances of admission from 21.7% to 54.0%. Every other college to which he applied incorporates Senior year grades into its RD. By not reviewing my S's latest grades I feel that UC is giving his chances short shrift. Am I wrong? If so, how?</p>
<p>It's just UC policy, you can argue with us, but it will not change their rules :-(</p>
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But, maybe you could let us know the rationale for UC not looking at Senior 1st Semester grades
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<p>Perhaps the rationale is fairness and timeliness. If they look at your son's new gpa, then they should look at everyone's new gpa, particularly since the campuses do compare applicants at each HS. Don't forget that most UC-tracked kids load up on AP/IB course senior year, so they all have gpa boosts, particulalry if they pull down 5-6 A's. Thus, statistically, your son's chances may not increase if the applicant pool from your HS also increases their gpa's a similar amount.</p>
<p>Not to mention, that many admission decisions have already been made. UCLA, for example, has already started to notify candidates to apply for Regents. Cal will do the same in a week or two, and will hold interviews in mid-Feb. If UC waited to upload senior grades, they couldn't start reviewing apps for another two weeks....(our public HS has still not yet posted first semester grades). Finally, UC uses a LOT of application readers, unlike private colleges which use Admissions personnel. Those UC app readers are located throughout the state, and are not necessarily admissions folks or former admissions folks; they are just folks who read and score and their recommendations are then sent to Admissions.</p>
<p>Does UC put a premium on Junior year grades? Absolutely, just like applying EA/ED anywhere else.</p>
<p>Incidentally, while UC does not use frosh grades for its UC-gpa, its app readers do see frosh grades and use them in whatever way they deem appropriate. (In the old days, Frosh grades were not even reported to UC...)</p>
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apparently does not extend to the rich diversity in adolescent intellectual development
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<p>Of course not. :D</p>
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If they look at your son's new gpa, then they should look at everyone's new gpa.
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<p>I not asking for UC to look at my son's Senior 1st Semester grades in particular, but rather to provide UC rationale for looking at Sophomore and Junior grades to the exclusion of Senior grades.</p>
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Not to mention, that many admission decisions have already been made. UCLA, for example, has already started to notify candidates to apply for Regents.
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<p>Yeah, well Regents awardees aren't exactly on the bubble. So too are other colleges (e.g. USC) now sending out merit scholarship awards for students who obviously will be admitted. But the regular UC decisions are announced in late March, like every other college, the only difference being that UC doesn't bother to look at Senior year grades.</p>
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UCB: March 26th, 2009, status site, [evening]
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<p>i think its good that they only look at jr and sophomore years... at senior year you still should try hard but if you take 5 AP's, you wont have so much pressure to ace all of them, you could ace half of them and get B's in the rest and come out good.</p>
<p>UC may be trying to encourage seniors to expand their comfort zones without admit/reject consequences. That may be the reason why rigor is emphasized but results are not. Given the profile of an average UC applicant, I think there is merit in this approach as there is a big gap between high school and college, and the sooner the average students get acclimated, the better it is for them and the colleges.
JW, I think you do have a point and I think you should report the new information regardless. In fact, tell your son to keep up the good work this semester as there may be ground for an appeal once the decisions are announced.</p>
<p>The UC system using the Comprehensive Review process does factor in the senior year program. Although we don't ask for an official record with grades, we do expect the student to pass the in progress and planned courses as self reported on the application. This expectation is already considered in the admission decision.
I'm also assuming that workload is an issue. Already the Comprehensive Review process for the number of applications the UC system receives takes several months, as noted in a comment above. Having to collect, process and review new information for the 43,000 applications UC Davis has received would make it quite impossible to have decisions made by March; as well as put a strain on the high school counseling office to send records out to multiple campuses then again a final record to one campus at the end of the year.
The Comprehensive Review process does consider maturity by considering "Significant Marked Improvement." This factor will look at those students who do show significant improvement between the freshman and junior years; we would also expect this improvement to continue in the senior year.
I hope this was able to address some of your concerns.</p>
<p>fwiw: our public HS, which receives ~100 accepances to UC every year, has still not yet updated first semester grade reports. If UC had to wait for them....</p>