if I did not submit my fafsa am I ineligible for merit scholarships? I am now worried for UCSD which is my top school and (Davis is very closely followed but I have family in San Diego) I don’t know anything about UC admissions for anything but particularly engineering because I’m from Boston
@lilyfullford: I do not know the UC’s policy on merit aid and the submission of the FASFA but many schools do require it so I would always submit just in case. You can contact UCSD’s FA office and ask the question directly. Remember there is no downside in submitting for the UC’s which are need-blind.
@lilyfullford Usually “merit” scholarships don’t require financial need for eligibility, so not filing a fafsa would not affect your eligibility for consideration. But, it’s best to check the description of those individual merit scholarships to determine if they require “financial need” and thus filing of fafsa
also:
Accepted oos Massachusetts
Environmental engineering first choice
3.93 unweighted
4.21 weighted and capped
31 act
rejected
sat 1200, act 25
lots of ec’s, decent essays
got into uc merced this morning
- Does anyone know why a student is put on a waitlist instead of their alternate major?
- Does the waitlist essay have to say something about wanting to be accepted into alternate major instead?
Waitlisted
Environmental Sciences and Management
4.14 W / 3.96 UW
1280 SAT (610,670)
Lots of leadership, ECs, volunteering, and i shared a very personal story. I’m so disappointed that i’m on waitlist. i thought this school was a match. it was my first choice.
@UniDaddy: UCD rarely considers alternate majors even though they ask you select one at time of application. I am sure like most schools they have far more qualified applicants for each major than space available so students selecting certain majors as first choice will be given the highest chance for an acceptance in this major.
Accepted
Communications
4.20 W
35 ACT
ASB President and much more Community Service
My DS got rejected. I’m pretty bummed because I’ve been a proud and giving alum of UCD. I even spent a couple years helping recruit new grads. When kids with lower stats got in to same major (and yes my son’s ECs are excellent) and they opt to reject… Anyway time to move on, but UCD you drove a dagger in to my heart yesterday!
Congrats to all that got in - it’s a great school. I have fond memories there.
DS
Waitlisted
Aerospace
4.00UW, 4.17W
1550 SAT (800 math)
35 ACT
National Merit Finalist
Excellent ECs
Go Cal Poly Mustangs!
First rejection and probably the first of many more. Luckily have acceptances to other colleges so I feel good about that but I really thought UCD was a possibility even though it was a stretch. Nervous to hear now from the other UCs but time will tell.
@FlyYellow agree. Feel something is not right. My hs some top students waitlisted, and two of them even got UCB regents and Stanford EA. I have posted my stats under other UC discussions forum. Eager to see any responses
I am the salutatorian in my school and got waitlisted. Not sure what to think right now and trying really hard not to cry since UC Davis was supposed to be my match school and I easily thought I would be able to get in. Do you guys think I should let go off my hopes for all the other UCs that I applied to? Kind of sucks to see all my hard work I have put in all 4 years with over 15 AP classes go to waste.
The Communications major lends itself nicely to adding a minor, something to consider but no action required now.
The Design major is the most comprehensive design program in the UC system.
Waitlisters, do a gut check and if you still want to go, write the UC Waitlist Statement this weekend or by next week. Why wait? Most UC campuses won’t release waitlist decisions until well after the May1st SIR deadline, so make sure you take care of business and SIR to one of your other schools on time. I don’t think there is a penalty for withdrawing your SIR if you get accepted from the waitlist except you lose the deposit.
In your waitlist statement, detail why the campus is a fit for you, what it will offer you that you can’t find anywhere else, and how you will take advantage of those opportunities. Also, explain why you are a good fit for the campus, including
your skills, experiences, personal characteristics, etc. How will you add to the campus community? Write with passion and be positive even though you may feel disappointed. As stated on this forum, acceptance numbers from the waitlist were dismal last year and there’s no telling what this year will yield, but if you don’t try you will be sure not to get in.
@sew5401 @TheBeyonder thank you for your valuable insights. Believe me, these students are high achievers. Other than excellent academic performances, they did even more beyond what you have mentioned here on the ECs. Also thanks for bring up socioeconomic background to this topic. I’d like to ask everyone, if you are a teacher in a class room, are you going to announce that 70% performance level is A grade for certain socioeconomic background students, while others have to be 90% or above to be considered as A grade?
Yes, you are right. You need continue to fight. Fighting for fair college admissions!!!
UC Davis released yesterday. Something seriously wrong!
Asked around my HS, 5 students I know get waitlisted:
CA in state status
GPA: 4.2 - 4.7
SAT: 1520 - 1580
All 5 took at lease 2 SAT ll, and all get perfect 800s
Many APs most in 5s, few 4
Many leaderships (student body leaders, etc , and impressive ECs national competition winners, hundreds hours volunteer services, many awards, internships, volunteer in third world countries…
One got UC Berkeley regents, the other Stanford EA.
Looks UCD went extreme on yield protection. My view it’s 100% unethical for denying hard working students rights to choose. Not sure it’s legal?
I posted same stats under usd discussion:
Got some feed backs like due to the holistic approach these students just did not standout among the rest applicants. I really do not buy in.
Any comments?
@fairadmin: Every year the idea of yield protection comes up at many of the UC’s and even CSU’s like Cal poly SLO. The CSU’s are pretty straightforward about admissions and it is a numbers game but you will see applicants that cannot get an acceptance at SLO but get into many of the top UC’s.
My take on this is that there are 14 areas of criteria that all UC’s use in their application review. Some campuses will emphasize some areas over others so unless you work in admissions, it is hard to see the rationale involved in making some of these decisions.
I personally think that many high stat applicants use UC’s like UCD/UCSB/UCI as possible safety schools while they concentrate more on schools like UCB/UCLA/Stanford/Harvard etc… and I am sure many of the UC’s know this. Schools would rather have students that want to attend vs. using them as a place holder until something better comes along.
Also, I can agree with several posters that the personal insight essays are a good deciding factor when it comes to selecting students that would “fit” each UC campus’ criteria. All UC campuses want high performing students, but they also want students with different perspectives that do not always come with High Stats. Since Race/Ethnicity cannot be used to help in selecting a diverse Freshman class, other indicators such as SES, essays, income will help admissions find the diverse Freshman class they are trying to build.
Who said anything is fair in life so that is why I always advocate apply widely and love all the schools on your list.
@fairadmin - I don’t think there’s a perfect answer to admissions but I agree the current system is flawed! UC campuses may very well be chasing $ for out of state tuition. I understand also that they want to give socioeconomic status consideration. All of these elements create conflicts, and while I don’t believe they are illegal or unethical they have a realistic downside to admission decisions. My preference is to eliminate the financial element. I think if I were CA governor, I would tell the UCs that I’m eliminating their state funding (which i believe is pretty small anyway). They can charge what they wish for tuition and we, CA, would subsidize the in state students in lieu of funding. That way they can admit whoever they want, without financials being a consideration.
Rejected
GPA: 4.2
ACT: 29
Amazing major related ECs
Accepted
GPA: 3.8
SAT: 1240
Major: English