UC Davis Class of 2027 Official Thread

Welcome prospective Aggies. It’s that time of year again as the UC application has now opened and submission starts October 1 through November 30 for this admissions cycle. I am @Gumbymom one of the two UC Forum Champions/Moderators. My Co-Forum Champion is @lkg4answers and we are knowledgeable on the increasingly complicated UC admissions process and hopefully we can help any prospective UC applicants with their questions. We both have students that have attended UC Davis so please utilize our knowledge of the campus by posting your questions here.

UC Davis like all the UC’s are test blind and will use 13 areas of criteria to review Freshman applicants. Each campus will weight the various areas of criteria differently so one size does not fit all. The UC application website has plenty of information that can help determine if UC Davis is a good option when applying.

https://admission.universityofcalifornia.edu/how-to-apply/applying-as-a-freshman/how-applications-are-reviewed.html

https://admission.universityofcalifornia.edu/campuses-majors/davis/freshman-admit-data.html

Below is some admit information specific to the school.

Application review:

  • Very important : Academic GPA, Personal Insight questions, Rigor of secondary school record
  • Important : Character/personal qualities, Extracurricular activities, Talent/ability, Volunteer work
  • Considered : First generation college student, Geographical residence, State residency, Work experience
  • Note : Scholastic achievement most important, followed by school and community activities, academic interests, special circumstances, special achievements and awards

Admission decisions are made based upon the qualifications of the applicant pool and the number of available spaces within each academic area:

• College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences admits by college

• College of Biological Sciences admits by college

• College of Letters and Science admits by division within the college
(Humanities, Arts and Cultural Studies; Mathematics and Physical Sciences; Social Sciences)

• College of Engineering admits by academic department

Students applying as “undeclared” or “undeclared/exploratory” are considered within the college/division to which they applied.

Applicants are encouraged to list an alternate major but not in the same area as the primary major. Admission to an alternate major is considered occasionally.

Best of luck to all applicants and here is a link to last years Class of 2026 discussion thread. http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/t/uc-davis-freshman-class-of-2026-discussion

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Go Aggies - here i come!

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Videos about UC Davis on the College Tour program:

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Good morning. I wanted to see if anyone has received an email with a portal link yet from UCD? My son received them from 4 other UCs but not UCD, UCSB or UCLA. Just wanted to see if others had a similar experience. Thank you!

Same here. Not to worry, I’m sure they are just working through the huge load of apps.

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Some schools are more proactive than others.

Edited: UCLA, UCD and UCSB state information will be available Mid-December for applicant portal setup.

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Looks like UC Davis already posted their 2023 Aggie Day open house for admitted students.

Freshman Aggie Day is Saturday, April 8
Transfer Aggie Day is Saturday, May 5

https://www.ucdavis.edu/admissions/undergraduate/events/aggie-day

Picnic Day, a big open house for students, alumni, families and the community, is April 15, 2023

https://picnicday.ucdavis.edu/

If you are planning on attending, make your hotel reservations as soon as possible.

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A post was split to a new thread: OOS applicants chances at the UC’s

Just some interesting information from the UC Counselor conference.
Freshman admit rates by College for Fall 2022::
Letters and Sciences: 37.9%
Agriculture & Env Science: 39.8%
Biological Sciences: 45.9%
Engineering: 29%

Also preliminary waitlist information. I will be starting a separate discussion thread in February 2023 for Waitlisted applicants. UCD requires a waitlist essay when opting into their Waitlist. Fall 2021 had no waitlist admits.

For Fall 2022:
Waitlist offers: 19263
Waitlist opt ins: 6923
Waitlist admits: 1338

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A post was merged into an existing topic: UC Davis Fall 2023: Transfer Thread

Curious. That the results are just two months away, would UCD already have made a shortlist of sorts? May be they would have reviewed x% of the applications already? How does that work?

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The UC’s perform a comprehensive review of all applicants and the review process varies from campus to campus.
Each UC has their own team of reviewers/readers, there own timeline and applicant pool. Each campus determines the number of reads per application.
Internal readers are those individuals within the admissions office such as evaluators, recruitment and outreach specialists, and other admissions team members.
External readers are those individuals outside of the admissions office. These individuals are often high school counselors, teachers, or leadership; campus outreach staff such as EAOP staff; independent counselors, graduate students, department staff, alumni, etc.

All applications are reviewed regardless of whether the student meets all minimum admissions requirements.

Multiple reads often occur as part of various quality control measures instituted by the campuses.

UC Davis uses 13 areas of criteria for their admission selection and no fixed weight is placed on any one criteria.

https://admission.universityofcalifornia.edu/how-to-apply/applying-as-a-freshman/how-applications-are-reviewed.html

Unless an individual works in admissions or is an enrolled student asking to see their application review, specific details about the process will not be disclosed.

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Did anyone else get this e-mail? Wondering if this is good or bad?

Undergraduate Admissions is carefully reviewing your application. It would help us to receive additional information from you in order to make the best possible holistic review assessment of your application.

Please thoroughly complete this [Supplemental Review Questionnaire]

Be sure to include your fall 2022 grades and spring 2023 coursework-in-progress. It is important to submit the questionnaire with the requested information as soon as possible.

In addition, you may also request support of your application from another individual (e.g., counselor, teacher, employer, organizational leader, religious official) who may complete and submit a Recommendation Form. To identify the recommending candidate of your choosing, provide their contact information in the area located at the end of your questionnaire. A notice to submit an online Recommendation Form will be sent directly by Undergraduate Admissions to the person you identified.

Thank you for your immediate attention to this request.

Undergraduate Admissions
University of California, Davis

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UCD is requesting more information under the Supplemental/ Augmented review and should be viewed as a good thing. The information below is from the BOARS report:

Augmented Review
Process
The AR process is designed to provide an additional review for applicants whose applications are particularly challenging or lack essential information that would confirm for the reader that the applicant may receive a higher holistic review (HR) score. AR was created to allow Davis to consider a small number of students who for some significant reason—for example, special talents or achievements made despite severe hardship—are particularly deserving of the opportunity to pursue a UC education.
AR candidates are identified by HR readers during the regular reading process. HR readers assign these applicants a holistic score, note a recommendation for AR, and select one of the following questionnaires to be sent to the applicant:
• Extraordinary Achievements
• Personal Challenge
• Compound Disadvantage/Academic Enrichment
Applicants Selected for AR are sent an email to complete an online questionnaire that gives them the opportunity to expand upon information provided in the original application, such as special talents/skills, personal circumstances (which includes, but is not limited to, medical conditions, immigrant experience, disabilities, family experiences, and opportunities that were or were not available at school or home) and any extraordinary circumstances that the applicant believes may bear upon his/her high school performance. Applicants are also given the opportunity to identify an individual who may provide a recommendation, as well as the ability to submit seventh- semester grades and revise their planned eighth-semester coursework.
Criteria
The AR criteria below are designed to capture the most likely circumstances in which HR readers would wish to gather additional information. In assessing applicants, readers must seek to follow the “spirit” of the process, and should request AR consideration even in circumstances not encompassed in the criteria below. Although many AR cases will be applicants who have experienced hardship or had limited academic opportunities, the campus’s Committee on Admissions and Enrollment (CAE) recognizes that some applicants may not have experienced hardships, yet may have encountered extraordinary circumstances that make them appropriate candidates for AR. Finally, please note that because Davis receives so many applications from low-income and first-generation students, the fact that an applicant comes from a low-income family and/or has parents who did not graduate from college is insufficient to warrant an applicant receiving AR consideration. AR consideration may be offered for HR scores between 1 and 6.
Readers use the following criteria to recommend AR:
● Evidence of significant improvement in the academic record, but not at a level sufficiently competitive for regular admission, accompanied by reasons for the initial substandard performance that are in keeping with the intent of the policy;
● Evidence of extraordinary talent in one area, but lacking the overall balance that would be found in most applicants who are likely to be admitted through the regular review process;
● Evidence of significant academic achievement, or the potential for academic achievement, at the University in spite of extraordinary or compound disadvantage, disability, or other unusual circumstances;
● Evidence of academic achievement at a level that may indicate the potential for success at Davis, but with insufficient information with which to fully gauge this potential. These applicants should have demonstrated the ability to overcome substantial hardship, and may have participated in an outreach program. When in doubt, participation in UC- approved outreach programs are sufficient grounds upon which to recommend AR;
● Evidence of impassioned, enduring commitment, and extraordinary achievement in a particular area (e.g., intellectual or creative activity, athletics, leadership, or community service), or evidence of character traits that imply a strong likelihood of making a significant contribution to campus life at Davis; and
● Evidence of relative lack of access to, counseling or support to take A-G, honors, AP, IB, or college-level classes, or required college entrance examinations.

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Thank you this is very helpful and I can see where my son meets the criteria based on this information.

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When did you receive the email? After the new year? What is the deadline for the recommendation?

This was sent to my son via e-mail and the questions targeted a “special talent”. It had no due date, just said “soon.”

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They just sent it after the new year? This is weird.

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Augmented reviews are usually sent in January with an early February deadline.

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