There’s a trend with everyone getting accepted. Almost all of them are hispanics. Nothing against them, but I strongly believe that they’re being favored in the admission process.
@sendhelp4me: UC’s do not take Race/Ethnicity into consideration for admission decisions. Since the area is agricultural, it stands to reason that the local population may lean towards more Hispanic applicants. Affirmative action was banned by California publics so you cannot use this argument.
@Andreq I am in the LA area and was admitted on Thursday. Undeclared.
I didn’t think UC’s would even admit students undeclared. My son went in as a biology major because they do not have a pre-medicine major there. Being from Los Angeles where of course there are so many things to do activity wise At peoples fingertips… We live up in Valencia where he does all kinds of things around here in addition to driving to LA Live and to The Staples Center and Glendale and other places to do things with friends… i’m just wondering if they’ll be enough activities away from the campus for him to like living up there. And also being here in a metropolitan city there are so many internship possibilities… What are your thoughts about this? Then again if you went in as undeclared you probably haven’t thought about the internship opportunities yet.
@dogsarelife I’m sorry, I forgot to tag you in that last reply but that obviously was in answer to you.
accepted for computer science and engineering
gpa: 3.64
sat: 1260
@Andreq these schools absolutely allow for an undeclared major. Many colleges do. I decided to do it because I have many different interests. Many students have this attitude where they have to choose a major but it isn’t true. As for your situation, I think that decision is up to your son. I think that internships can be important but if necessary he can always do them in the summer. I am sure there are opportunities that Merced can offer for him
@dogsarelife My son is a bio major as I said since they didn’t have premedicine and plans to go into ophthalmology. Greet so yes I guess he could do it over the summer. Now what about my question about you living in Los Angeles where of course we know there are tons of different activities for those times that you’re not studying hard… ? What are your thoughts about where Merced is located as far as when you have some free time… Those people who don’t live in as metropolitan of a city as Los Angeles and living in a more subdued or quiet area even in Southern California, they may not mind that according to reviews that I’ve read the main drawback is that “it is isolated “ quoting a couple of people on reviews. This is one thing we are trying to think about. What are your thoughts?
@Andreq Merced is definitely a school that people would want to go to because it is isolated. It can be very different than living in the LA area because of the difference in population. But in the end it is up to your son. If he thinks he will like to have an environment like that he should totally go. If not I’m sure they’ll be other schools in more metropolitan areas like LA
@dogsarelife Yes. He’s already been admitted at a branch campus of Penn State, Goucher College which is in a suburb of Baltimore, University of New Hampshire, SFSU and Merced. He’s hoping his differed status at Drexel turns into an admit as that’s his number one choice. And he’s willing to consider UCSC IF he’s admitted. Which I don’t think it’s very likely.
My son got accepted…we’re in Culver City 
Accepted.
Male, Asian.
environmental engineering
in-state
UC GPA: 3.78 (C in advanced algebra 2 class)
SAT: 1450 (subject tests below 700, didn’t send)
No APs
v good essays
EC: exceptional
I haven’t heard back. Does it mean that i will most likely get rejected?
@sendhelp4me: Admissions are rolling through the end of March. Hang in there. No decision means no decision.
@Gumbymom Thank you so much for trying to answer as much questions throughout multiple threads! You’ve helped a lot of people through this dreadful month.
Admitted!
Major: Psychology
GPA: 3.47
Great ECs
Somewhat good essays.
I couldn’t find any transfer threads for UC Merced, so I decided to stop by here and celebrate with y’all younglings XD
No notification for my son yet. He was accepted to UCSC, which pleasantly surprised him and us. We thought Merced is a better fit.
GPA 3.42
SAT: 1310
2 APs
Strong music ECs - All So Cal Honor Orchestra - 2 years on violin 1 year on viola
Intended major: Mechanical Engineering
Is it doubtful at this point?
@sendhelp4me because of where it is located yes it is predominantly a Hispanic student population. But I can tell you that my son who is Caucasian and Jewish living here in Valencia ( Los Angeles County) which is right by Six Flags Magic Mountain, was accepted. However we don’t feel it would be a good fit for him for many different reasons.
@denisecallender Ok can our son’s switch places? My son was waitlisted for Santa Cruz which considering he really only wants to go to school on the East Coast, it was the only school he would have even considered staying here in California for. Because of where we live which is in Valencia which is Los Angeles county near Six Flags Magic Mountain, we do not feel that Merced would be in anyway a good fit for him. The location is too isolated and because of the things he does like to do in his free time and looking at the type of campus it is I think he will go out of his mind with boredom and therefore it will take away from his academics because he will be too unhappy there but again every kid is different . But that so far is the only UC campus that he has been admitted into. Curious why you feel Merced for your son is the best fit?
I think it may have been you that I saw posted whose son (with much better stats!) was waitlisted at Santa Cruz. We like Santa Cruz a lot. The main thing for our son is the size of the school. Most UCs are just too big for him for a myriad of reasons. UC Merced has the lowest undergrad enrollment of all UC campuses, and that’s a big deal for him as a person and student. They also are more generous than other UC campuses in terms of financial aid.
When we visited, the student who gave us our tour was an ME major. I asked what other schools he had considered. He astonished me when he shared that he had been accepted to Cal Poly SLO, UCLA, UCSB and UC Berkley. I asked him in a deliberately calm voice, why he had chosed UCM. He bluntly responded, “I came for the money.” He shared that his family could not help him at all with college expenses. I thought that need-based aid calculations should be pretty close between the different UC campuses. That is apparently not true. He said the UC Merced was by far the most generous aid package he was offered – with a huge difference from the others. He seemed to think that the land being rented by farmers, now owned by UC Merced, goes toward financial aid until the university builds on it. Not sure that it’s true. But this is what our student undergrad guide told us.
Again, our main interest in Merced is the size. I had barely considered it, until we visited. Since it’s considered the bottom of the heap (looking at Admissions stats), I did not take it seriously until we visited. My son is a city boy too. But I don’t think he minds the calmness of the country. The smallness of the community might not work for many students. But it would be an asset for him. So, we’re holding our breath.