Does the Ucs put the most emphasis on the UC GPA or the regular uncapped weighted gpa for admissions?
The UCs especially UCB and UCLA look at all the GPAs but the main one used for comparisons is the UC weighted capped GPA.
You will also notice that only UCLA and UCB list the Fully weighted UC GPA data on their website. None of the other UC’s list this information.
I watched a video that was put together for those interested in reviewing the UCLA Alumni Scholarships and the admissions officer said that the capped GPA is an archaic formula that none of the selective UC’s use any more. It seemed like he was referring to more then just UCLA and UCB but that was unclear. It may be more valuable as a systemwide tool that is used to compare campuses, but not necessarily used to select students by the individual campuses. Hard to tell.
^^^ If this is true, then the UC Regents need to update their website since all 9 UC campuses list the Capped Weighted UC GPA on their Freshman profile and not the Fully weighted UC GPA. Also all the statistical data on UCOP.edu is based on the Capped Weighted UC GPA.
@Gumbymom so does that mean that only UCLA and UCB look at the fully weighted gpa while the other Ucs don’t look at it?
No, it means that only UCLA/UCB will post their Fully weighted UC GPA as part of their statistical data. All UC’s will look at the UW UC GPA, Capped Weighted UC GPA and Fully Weighted UC GPA. The Capped Weighted UC GPA is the statistical standard posted on the UC website.
ok thank you very much
@gumbymom each individual campus can determine admissions based on what they want (within those 14 general UC standards) and systemwide can always compare how they want. I think it is an important distinction to understand since each student is evaluated based on the individual schools criteria, not the comparison Capped UC GPA used by a systemwide matrix. It would be great if someone could actually get an answer from each of the campuses how they interpret gpa. I hear comments like “ucla and ucb ALSO consider fully weighted gpa” but this comment made on the training video let me to believe that at the “selective campuses” the UC Capped GPA is not used.
Any school that is using URM and SES as a criteria, which I’m sure most if not all the UCs do, I would think that UC capped weighted would be used. If it wasn’t used, those students that loaded up on APs and DEs would have a major advantage. It would be “unfair” to compare them to those students that went to high schools that didn’t offer only a couple of AP classes.
This is not my opinion, this is directly from the admissions presentation anyone can find on youtube. If you google “UCLA Alumni Scholarships Program Volunteer Information Session 2018” and listen to the presentation made by the Deputy Director of Undergraduate Admissions you can hear the response to this question. He says at about 40 minutes into the presentation that UCLA does not used weighted and capped UC GPA, in fact he indicates “most” UC’s don’t use it, that it is part of a “bygone era”. He explains that they use GPA in combination with local context. The entire presentation is actually quite helpful if you want a very detailed explanation of how UCLA conducts their holistic admissions process.
Thanks for that info @19parent I just watched the part of the video exchange re: UCLA not using UC capped GPA…he could not have been more clear that UCLA doesn’t use it. It’s disappointing that UCLA does not reflect this on their website, and seemingly not many people know this.
I agree @Mwfan1921 the entire first hour of the presentation was not only very informative but it really illustrates how carefully the admissions staff review applications and how “holistic review” is approached. Knowing the 7 criteria, the honors semester comparison, importance of essays. Very interesting.
UCLA may not use capped weighted GPA in their application review, but to be eligible to apply for any UC, an applicant must meet the minimum UC capped weighted GPA: 3.0 for in-state and 3.4 for OOS/International. All the UC’s will still use the Capped Weighted UC GPA to screen applicants regarding eligibility.
@gumbymom wrote
That is a good point to remember…but in that video above, the admissions director does say there are no GPA minimums. Also, my understanding is that recruited athletes do not have to meet those numbers though (3.0/3.4), is that correct?
@Mwfan1921: I am sure if an athlete is being recruited, there is some string pulling going on with the coaches and admission unfortunately. UCLA shows 0.3% of enrolled students had a GPA of 2.5-2.99.
@gumbymom Thanks for your reply. I did edit my comment above too…in that video referenced by 19parent, the AO does say there are no GPA minimums (around the 7 minute mark) and every app is reviewed twice, by a person. Regardless, this video is instructive and makes clear there’s a range of methodologies in UC review processes.
@Mwfan1921; I will definitely have to watch the video.
I wish we had these videos for all schools 
I have recently watched really good ones from MIT and Dickinson as well, really important info to be gleaned for sure.
I guess that means that for those schools that offer a very few number of AP classes, the students there have very little chance of getting in.