This is a question for those admitted to a UC and have earned a scholarship/know someone who has. I am going to be a junior in high school next year and I am very interested in going to school in California (I am out of state) specifically a UC. I have heard that those with high academics can get a merit scholarship from UC schools even as an out of state student. I know even those with the best stats don’t get a scholarship, but for those who have-what do your stats look like? (GPA, # AP classes & scores, ACT/SAT, ECs, etc). Just want to get an idea so any input helps.
Here are the Regent scholarship amounts below:
**UC Regents Scholarships and the amounts/year:
Amount: Awards vary by campus and are not transferable if you transfer to another UC campus.
- UC Berkley $2,500
- UC Davis $7,500
- UC Irvine $5,000
- UCLA $2,000
- UC Merced $7,000
- UC Riverside $10,000
- UC San Diego $2,000
- UC Santa Barbara $6,000
- UC Santa Cruz $5,000
In addition, certain perks are provided to Regents recipients: priority registration, extended library privileges, honors dormitories, faculty mentorship, and others, dependent upon campus.
Number of Scholarships Awarded: Varies annually—students in the top 1-2% of the applicant pool are considered for the scholarship.**
So if the top 1-2% of the applicant pool are considered, you can determine the top ACT/SAT scores and GPA from the Freshman profiles for each UC campus.
Below are the 25th-75th percentile for UC Capped GPA and test scores:
2019 UC capped weighted GPA averages along with 25th-75th percentile range:
UCB: 4.23 (4.15-4.30)
UCLA: 4.25 (4.18-4.32)
UCSD: 4.16 (4.03-4.28)
UCSB: 4.16 (4.04-4.28)
UCI: 4.13 (4.00-4.25)
UCD: 4.13 (4.00-4.26)
UCSC: 3.96 (3.76-4.16)
UCR: 3.90 (3.69-4.11)
UCM: 3.73 (3.45-4.00)
2019 Data:
25th - 75th percentiles for SAT totals:
UCB: 1340-1540
UCLA: 1330-1550
UCSD: 1300-1520
UCSB: 1280-1520
UCD: 1230-1490
UCI: 1250-1510
UCSC: 1200-1450
UCR: 1130-1400
UCM: 1020-1290
25th - 75th percentiles for ACT composite + language arts
UCB: 28-35
UCLA: 29-35
UCSD: 26-34
UCSB: 26-34
UCD: 24-33
UCI: 24-34
UCSC: 24-32
UCR: 21-30
UCM: 18-26
Chancellor scholarships are mainly reserved for in-state applicants (campus dependent). There are other merit scholarships like the Dean’s scholarship’s (UCI which is around $5000/year) and UCD has the Provost award for OOS students specifically (up to $13000+) In general, UC’s give good need-based aid to in-state applicants.
As an OOS applicant should expect to pay full fees at around $60K/year to attend since most merit scholarships would still be a drop in the bucket towards the UC costs.
I think that the applicant pool you are competing in depends somewhat on your subject. You will likely have to be more outstanding academically to get a Regents scholarship if you are applying for engineering than if you are applying for performing arts.
Having said that my D18 (in state) was offered Regents as a performing arts major (audition based) at UCSB and UCI. She had 4.0UW/35 ACT/9 APs (8 5s and 1 4), top 2% in her class of ~400. However she went elsewhere.
The top kid in her class (36 ACT/4.0 UW, not sure about APs but plenty) got Regents at UCLA for engineering (but was rejected for EECS at Berkeley).
IMHO, OOS tuition at UCs is absurd for all but the wealthy.
Most students who qualify for something like a Regents grant would also be offered lots of merit money at private schools like USD, LMU and Santa Clara. I encourage you to look at several of them. I think you will find the academics are great and student experience is often better and more intimate than is possible at UCs.
Can you share if these are supplemental applications or it’s reviewed and awarded based on admission application info and essay. TY
@MommaLue: The majority of the UC Campus Regents are automatically awarded based on the UC application information.
UCLA will send an invite with a Scholarship code and you are asked to submit a supplemental essay.
UCB invites applicants for the Scholarship and requires an interview.
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