CHP I believe is decided by major department for in-coming Freshman. Once you are an enrolled UCI student then you can apply if you meet the GPA requirement after 1st quarter.
Got into UCI with regents and honors for computer science yesterday. Will likely turn this down as UCSC is higher on the list for me. Congrats to everyone accepted so far!
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My son will take your spot; just let admissions know for me, okay? 
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I’m curious to know what makes UCSC higher on the list for you. My son got into UCSC for CS also.
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I bet you get into Berkeley.
Did anybody get rejected yesterday? Or was it all either acceptances or pending decisions?
I am under the impression that yesterday was just acceptances for Honors and Regents.
That.
My daughter got her UCI acceptance for Computer Science last night, with Honors Collegium invite and Regents Scholarship.
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Both are great schools so I wouldn’t worry about one being better than the other. When I toured UCSC, I fell in love with it. You’re nestled in a redwood forest yet you overlook the pacific ocean/monterey bay at the same time. It gave me a feeling I can’t put to words. I have a few friends at UCSC who are majoring in CS and they’ve all managed to secure internships (Microsoft, Google, startups, etc…) the summer after their Sophomore year. Having Silicon Valley just 35 minutes away is just icing on the cake- especially for engineers. My advice to your son is to pick whichever school he feels happiest at. I would also like to point out that rankings (US News, Niche, etc…) mean pretty much nothing. My high school counselors, along with an admission representative from UCSB, directly told me that UCSC isn’t any worse than the other UC’s. I feel like this is important because ranking websites normally put UCSC towards the bottom of the UC list which turns away a lot of prospective students. The UCSB representative even told me that the way US News ranks schools is based on criteria like alumni giving rate, class size index, faculty compensation, etc… UC Irvine is a fantastic school in a great location; you can’t go wrong with it. However, UCSC seemed to have just a little more of everything than UC Irvine did.
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Alright I’ll let them know hahaha!
I hope so… haven’t heard anything from them yet but I’m trying to stay hopeful. Thanks for the kind words!
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I couldn’t agree with you more. My college admission representative that I’ve seen since Sophomore year of high school told me very similar things. In fact, a question I even asked her was “what makes UC Santa Cruz worse than some of the other UC’s?” At the time, I referred to US News as a way to narrow down my list of colleges to apply to. It’s a shame that some schools, UC Santa Cruz in particular, are in the shadow of other UC’s when they shouldn’t be. Her response basically summed up what you just said. She said that it’s not worse than other UC’s and that each UC will have certain majors that are stronger than others. I’m also a computer science major, and she said UC Santa Cruz was one of the strongest in the UC system for it. I hope others give UCSC a fair shot, because if it wasn’t for my college counsellor, there’s the possibility that I wouldn’t have even applied. Now, UCSC and UCSB are my two dream schools.
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You have some really good, well thought out reasons here. Glad you have been able to visit and have friends there. We are in New York, so unfortunately we can’t even do a drive by of the California schools. I have really been liking the residential college system at UCSC as I went to a small liberal arts college (Wellesley) and loved the close knit school atmosphere. I have heard good things about the CS department there but also heard it can be very hard to get upper level classes even as an upperclassman. Have your friends said anything about that? That has been our only concern about the CS program there. Being close to Silicon Valley is definitely a plus as I hear many companies have direct recruitment with the school. I have definitely tried not to pay attention to those rankings for the same reasons you give. We’re looking more at how well professors can teach the material, the breadth of course offerings, and how well prepared a student will be in getting a job immediately after graduation.
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@CWYc1a552025Mom No I got into most of the UCs except for Cal. I just didn’t get into them early or with special perks. This was for starting fall 2016
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Being able to get classes was a big concern for me as well. My friends told me that there are definitely a few classes that fill up pretty much instantly and that they’re hard to get if you don’t get an early enrollment date. However, they told me that it’s never been a big problem for them. One of them needed a class in order to declare computer science on time but wasn’t able to get it in his enrollment time. He emailed advisors and they let him in. I feel like this is a problem that occurs at every school. I wouldn’t worry about this. If you have any other questions, feel free to let me know and I can ask some of them if I don’t already have information about it.
Thank you for the inside information. If we do, I’ll definitely ask again. Congratulations on your acceptances so far and good luck with Cal!
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@RyanBball432 You have a great attitude and perspective on the admissions process. More people should follow your lead.
In the end, ranking and “prestige” only go so far. Students will succeed best where they are happy. Finding a college that will be the best fit for you is the most important thing.
As a recent grad here’s a little unsolicited anecdote I tell people that are disappointed with not getting into a dream school, it will be ok. Once you or your child goes to the school they eventually attend all those feelings during admission will go away. You’ll have the excitement of going to orientation, meeting your roommates, and participating in welcome week activities. And one day you’ll look back at it and not want to trade the friends, memories, and experiences for anything else.
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Couldn’t have said it better.
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nope!