Accepted to Cal. Rejected from UCLA.
Based off of my research, talking with others from my area (NorCal), UCLA looks to admit from MANY different regions at least from Cali. From many schools and much more of a diversity, so per school they can’t admit a lot. They are the largest school with applicants and attendees; they need diversity, even if that means accepting people with not-top stats.
Cal is a tad bit different imo. You need decent stats and they accept a bit more per school. Ive also heard a rumor (I don’t belief or not belief it. Indifferent toward it) that if one isn’t accepted into one, they get accepted into the other (depends ofc). I know someone who got into UCLA, rej. from Berkeley.
Hard to gauge; just my experience with it.
IMO even taking into account differences in what top colleges are looking for, college admission process is an imperfect and very, very subjective process. For example, I have seen many applicants who have been denied from UCLA, UCB, Univ of Chicago and all other Ivies but got into Harvard or Stanford; got into only Princeton and rejected from all other. Therefore, among very top applicants, luck plays a big role imo. This is why I cannot blame students from applying to 20 colleges if they want to get in.
For me, even though my kid got into Stanford REA and Berkeley also, I don’t have 100% good feeling because my kid is foregoing very good merit scholarships at other lower-ranked schools and going full-pay at Stanford, which to some may appear an unwise decision. However, since we thought about it a lot and we have saved up money for this purpose just in case. What I am saying is with ay decision or situation, there is always good and bad points, and what’s more important is your attitude and your effort.
@dasani12345 You do have kids getting admitted to both (my D did), but it’s more often one or the other. And it’s more often a Cal admit than a UCLA if applying to both. However, many people reporting on CC that they got the UCLA nod but not for Cal, so what do I know?
My classmate was wait listed into UCLA but got admitted into Berkeley. But someone else with lower stats than her got into UCLA and Berkeley.