Or the applicant writes the essays but there is some very heavy handed editing by someone else.
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I think there is a lot of truth to the observation that admissions has become very subjective and unpredictable. My daughter was just rejected from UCSB with a 3.92 (unweighted) and 4.31 (UC weighted) GPA. Top 10% of her class a one of the top public high schools in our state. She had a 34 on the ACT which of course was not considered this year. Looking at UCSB’s own admissions statistics the last two years, this would place her in the top 20% of admitted students.
To add more context, her ECs were good but not great, and were probably a neutral factor. She was captain of a varsity sports team and president of the school community service organization, but that’s about it for school activities. She had activities outside of school. She worked part-time jobs 10-15 hours per week throughout high school, is a whiz seamstress and dress-maker, and is an excellent piano player. And she also had perfect attendance at school for 5 straight years. Her essays were solid but not spectacular. She’s an excellent writer and spent weeks polishing them for grammar and organization, but the subjects were admittedly rather mundane (I thought).
She’s also VERY modest. She insisted not highlighting those extra qualities because she did not want to brag and felt her excellent academics would speak for themselves. She thought her humility would show through, and felt no reason to brag on top of her excellent academics. So on her UC application, although she did report most of her ECs, she did not at all embellish.
Also her demographic was rather mundane as well. Just a normal middle class white girl from the suburbs who had a stable and quiet upbringing. No adversity or special circumstances, and not the first from her family to go to college.
So I think the takeaway is that the UCs are clearly getting away from their history of closely following academic credentials and are truly looking at each applicant holistically, which is a great thing in my opinion. There was a day when an applicant could estimate pretty accurately their admissions chances based on GPA and test scores, but now times have changed.
Like with any system that has remained static for a long time and then suddenly changes, the transition will not be smooth and there will be a turbulent adjustment period. The new system places less importance on academics and more on the “whole person” concept. This is a welcome change, but there will be winners and losers as we make this transition.
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Unfortunately college admissions has become such a high stakes environment. Families in my neighborhood are hiring consultants and professional essay writers to write these essays. These are professionals/former AO who know what can impress an AO. A 17 year student has no idea what to write. I know of several students who have said that their parents wrote their essays.
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I just got invited by email to a chancellors event for UCSB… does anyone know what that means?
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I got that email too
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Me too👀
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I got that too
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Last year my friend’s essays were written by his parents. He got in everywhere. What holistic do colleges want to see. This year GT selected a boy over me because he has stronger stats but no ecs. What to say. It’s just a gamble
I think if you ask AO that on what basis they rejected your application, they might not have an answer.
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Moderators Note:
Hi guys just a quick message, one of the rules on the forums is that CC is not a debate forum. While there has been some great discussion about the merits and faults of test blind admissions the discussion has strayed from the original intent which is to talk about UCSB admissions.
If it continues, one of the site moderators or members of the UC Forum Champion Team may issue warnings to users or close the thread which none of us want. Please let me know if you have any questions about the CC Terms of Service.
-10s4life
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Would you happen to have any info about the chancellors reception invite some of us received? Like implications🤔
Previously the chancellors reception was for those that got the chancellors scholarship and there was a nice in person event. I havent heard anything about it this year but congrats if you got it!
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wow that’s sounds amazing! I’ll update you during the event to see what actually occurs🤔
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me too
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I think there is a lot of truth to the observation that admissions has become very subjective and unpredictable. Any school with holistic admissions is subjective and unpredictable. The CSUs have an Eligibility Index which makes them easier to guage.
To add more context, her ECs were good but not great, and were probably a neutral factor. UCSB generally weights rigor + GPA as 50% and PIQ + activities as 50%. They used to have a pie chart on their website but they took it down this year.
She’s also VERY modest. She insisted not highlighting those extra qualities because she did not want to brag and felt her excellent academics would speak for themselves. I am not criticizing your daughter but am posting this for those who may be applying in the future. Schools up and down the state and across the nation consistently tell students DO NOT BE MODEST! We need you to brag and tell us what you did. We don’t know if the tennis captain at your school is just a title or if you were in charge of practices, transportation, schedules, ordering uniforms, etc. You need to tell them what you did.
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Are you able to actually register for the event? It keeps telling me that I am missing something.
Why?
Ah that happened to me lol, scroll down. There’s additional questions 
Do you think everyone was invited to it?
it’s invite only, and it says it’s for top admits.
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