<ol>
<li><p>Are teacher and counselor recommendations in essay form?</p></li>
<li><p>I heard that it’s possible to have guaranteed admission to the UC system (doesn’t matter which school to me - I want to know so I can determine whether or not I will have a guaranteed school as safety). How does that work?</p></li>
</ol>
<p>It is called the Eligibility In The Local Context (ELC) prgram. You must graduate in the top 4% of a CA HS to qualify. You are usually offered acceptance into one of the secondary UC’s. My daughter was offered admission into UC Santa Barbara several years ago.</p>
<p>So it’s completely based on rank. =(
Nevermind.</p>
<p>UCs don’t accept letters of recommendation.</p>
<p>if you are instate, you are essentially guaranteed a slot at a UC – it may only be Merced, but you’ll be in – IFF you meet all of the minimal eligibility criteria.</p>
<p>I’m still confused at why 95%+ of the admits to schools such as Riverside or Merced are ranked in the top 10% of their class… my rank is subpar at best.</p>
<p>becausseee only motivated, talented, and successful students go to higher education such as the UC’s… what kind of question is that</p>
<p>the UC top 10% is ‘estimated’ since only half the California public high schools even rank students.</p>