Hi! My daughter, who is a junior, wants to stay in California for undergrad, and we do not want to pay for an expensive private school. She plans on getting a PhD in Environmental Science, or Botany (not sure yet), and we plan on paying for that as well. So, we’ve decided to only apply to the UC’s. My question is: Now that they are test blind, does she even need to take it? She could spend the time she would spend studying, working on her EC’s and taking classes at our local community college during the Summer. I just feel really nervous about her not taking it though…
Since she is a Junior and has another year before college applications, I would have her take either the SAT or ACT just in case she changes her mind in the types of colleges she plans to apply.
With the competitiveness of the UC’s, there is no guarantees so she may want to broaden her college list.
2021 Admission Rates are below:
Admission Rates for California Applicants:
UCLA: 10.1%
UC Berkeley: 16.8%
UC Irvine: 20.1%
UC Santa Barbara: 28.0%
UC San Diego: 28.5%
UC Davis: 39.0%
UC Santa Cruz: 54.5%
UC Riverside: 64.0%
UC Merced: 99.7%
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Yes she should take it because if her mind changes, if she decides to apply elsewhere, you might need it. While other schools will be test optional and we don’t know her overall background, what if she wanted to apply to a Middlebury or Vassar or chase the Johnson Scholarship at W&L. Thoughts change, especially as you go through the year and she learns about other schools.
If you are worried about prep time, you could always take it or the ACT without ore. some kids kick butt no studying.
She can take it in the Spring so then no reason to wreck the summer.
Could you do without it - yes. I don’t know her grades, rigor and rank but why not see if it adds value. Many private and OOS public colleges are extremely cost effective and you never know when her thoughts change.
I wouldn’t fret though…even without an SAT/ACT most schools are test optional and then the UCs are blind. But worst case is you waste a few bucks and hours. But if you don’t, I wouldn’t lose sleep. Good luck.
It won’t let me link but Google niche and environmental science and you’ll get one ranking which includes universities and LACs together…might be of interest to your daughter.
Anyway, if she’s open to OOS but is applying to the UCs solely for cost, with her stats shared, we could find u other affordable opportunities.
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Thank you! I guess we should have her take at least the ACT. Those acceptance rates are scary, but I feel like her major choices are not popular and her gpa is 4.0 unweighted and 4.9 weighted. I don’t know what her UC weighted will be. This is her junior year so she may get a B or two, with the heavy load she’s carrying. She is also very shy, so ec are hard to push her into. When I look at everyone’s extra curriculars I feel so bad for the very introverted like my sweet girl.
Thank you for the info on the ACT. I thought that the two exams were very similar. I’ll just have her study for it in the Spring, and take it before the Summer!
You have to objective. You can’t be when it’s your daughter. I’m assuming with the grades and weighted gpa she has rigor. But there is more than grades. And when you are applying to the top schools, everyone is like you. You have said which UC but the top schools are not easy. So you need match and safeties.
Some schools admit to the school, not major. Others admit by major.
You can see impacted majors at the UCs. Today Es is very popular and looking at the impacted list for UCs I see it. Again, you need to be objective. I would do research and not assume.
With her gpa, etc she’ll go near free at Arizona, Alabama, dirt cheap at Florida State and there’s so many more. These schools are bringing in smart kids from all over and putting them in their Honors Colleges. With those grades you might also look at W&L and the Johnson Scholarship
Good luck.
If she is planning to take the PSAT, she could use SAT materials to prepare and take the two back to back.
My D22 is also very shy. So, she’s chosen activities that better suit her personality. What’s interesting to see is that, because she interested in having a broader impact on certain matters, she occasionally gets involved in activities that require more extensive social interactions - in that sense, they may grow “less shy” (in quotes because I think she’s still very shy - but she’s adopted a pragmatic attitude and has ventured beyond her comfort zone when required) over time.
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I was reviewing S22’s UC app. I find it odd that there is a place to put ACT/SAT scores. I know UC is blind but they say it is for assessing future accepted student’s class placement, so why even have that?
I am not sure what is involved to make changes to the UC application each year, maybe an oversight? I agree, if test blind have the students submit their test scores with their final transcript for placement but not report on the application.
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Some UC admission rates for the fall 2020 entering class:
Recalculate your HS GPA with GPA Calculator for the University of California – RogerHub . Use the weighted capped version for the table below.
Fall 2020 admission rates by campus and HS GPA range from Freshman fall admissions summary | University of California :
| Campus | 4.20+ | 3.80-4.19 | 3.40-3.79 | 3.00-3.39 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Berkeley | 37% | 14% | 2% | 1% |
| Davis | 86% | 55% | 16% | 7% |
| Irvine | 60% | 38% | 9% | 1% |
| Los Angeles | 38% | 8% | 1% | 1% |
| Merced | 98% | 97% | 95% | 88% |
| Riverside | 97% | 90% | 65% | 30% |
| San Diego | 78% | 39% | 8% | 1% |
| Santa Barbara | 81% | 40% | 9% | 2% |
| Santa Cruz | 92% | 82% | 59% | 26% |
These are for the whole campus. Different divisions or majors may have different levels selectivity (usually, engineering and computer science majors are more selective).
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If she decides to go scholarship hunting out of state, then it may be worth taking the SAT and ACT, or at least try released old ones under test conditions to see if she could get high enough scores to make it worth while.
Thank you! This helped so much! I gave her one “B” this year and her weighted UC gpa is 4.7. But, I realize that so many 4.7s are applying. The good part is that she has a great chance at UCSB.
This is what worries me.
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Yes, based on her UC GPA being 4.2+, admit rates for students were high in 2020 for UCSB but you also have balance that with the 28% acceptance rate of CA HS students for 2021 which makes UCSB a target school but I would never say a “great” chance.
What is her capped weighted UC GPA? GPA Calculator for the University of California – RogerHub
UCSB had 71,209 CA applicants and accepted 19,924 for 2021. Definitely not a slam dunk.
UCSB application review info:
- SANTA BARBARA
- Very important: Academic GPA, Application essay
- Important: Rigor of secondary school record
- Considered: Character/personal qualities, Extracurricular activities, First generation college student, State residency, Talent/ability, Volunteer work, Work experience
- Note: Special consideration for disadvantaged students.
College of Letters and Sciences: Choice of major is not considered in selection to the College of Letters and Science.
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I really wonder about how much difference all the test prep people talk about makes. My kiddo used the psat in 9th and 10th as practice, did a handful of khan sections and that’s it. Why not just take it blind and see? There is time to brush up on areas needing improvement if she wants to take again.
What I wish would somehow change is the dependence on GPA’s and all of the weighting. There is no way to compare schools by weighting when they all weight grades differently. And what about top schools that have zero weighting or AP classes because all of their classes are at that level?
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The UC’s spell out how their GPA is weighted so no guessing on how GPA’s are calculated.
Guess CA schools are out for us since kiddo’s new school only has a couple of AP’s, and is not an IB school. It is a top 10 boarding school with a large number of kids who go on to Ivy League schools, so there must be some consideration given to the actual school over number of AP classes 
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Here UC weighted is 4.70. Of course nothing is a slam dunk, and we’ve heard of plenty of kids with great gpa’s being turned down. However, I teach at a local community college and I see students transfer to T20 schools all the time. I’m not worried about my daughter. If that’s what happens, I feel like it’s better to transfer than go to UCR.
I can only speak for myself… I raised my gre score 250 points in the 90’s taking a Princeton Review course. You’re probably right though…