Scenes from campus 
might be useful for those who can’t visit. I live in the Bay Area so it was just a drive away for me
Let me know if you want more pictures or a specific part of campus. I have a lot of them!
32 Likes
I’m just curious what impact the Credit/No Credit options of the 2020-2021 school year may be having on GPAs and what we are seeing related to admissions decisions. Many schools gave students the option to choose C/NC rather than take Bs or Cs during distance learning, and therefore many classes may just not be figured into the GPAs we are seeing! Someone posted about Seattle schools giving ONLY As or Credit, nothing in between. My son did not opt for any credit/no credit classes and so his 4.1 UC GPA reflects each class he took. While this may be “lower” than what UCs usually accept, perhaps he was accepted and others were waitlisted albeit with higher GPAs because perhaps they had some CR classes rather than taking the grade letters? It’s just a thought and I’m curious what our moderator/experts think. @Gumbymom
2 Likes
We opted to not swap out Bs for Ps in my kid’s GPA (UC capped GPA 4.0, uncapped 4.3) because the idea of sanitizing the GPA by hiding Bs left a bad taste in our mouth. They were waitlisted, so that decision may have cost them admission to their dream school, but we stand by that decision. We will see.
4 Likes
It may also be Southern California preference. Being a SoCal resident, only a few of my son’s friends would consider UCSC or UCD and even UCB. They targeted UCLA, UCSB and UCI. Now as NorCal resident I see the opposite.
3 Likes
UC’s stance with credit/ no credit or P/NP was if there was an option to take a letter grade, that they prefer student take the letter grade option.
That said if there was no choice, having no letter grades for some of the a-g courses could increase the calculated UC GPA’s. On the flip side is that weighted classes such UC approved Honors, AP and IB classes did not get the extra weighting in the GPA calculation.
Applicants are evaluated within the context of their HS and AO’s do have access to the school profiles indicating how these type of classes were handled by the HS. Also applicants could explain any grading policy changes in the additional comments section of the application.
2 Likes
Good question, our HS allowed for grade changes through an extended period, but she chose to keep the lower grades vs. CR. She also explained some of her challenges in the additional comments section (per the advice she heard in the UCSC application webinars)
2 Likes
I’ve worked with a few high school college counseling offices and helped facilitate AO visits to the high schools, and I was always impressed by how much each AO knew not only about the particular high school they were visiting, but all the high schools in their region. They really do know which schools limit the number of AP/Honors courses their students can take, which school had a particularly rough year due to any number of reasons; which schools went P/F for a semester or a year; etc… Also, yes, as you mentioned: that “additional comments” section allows each student to clarify any issue or policy that might have impacted their GPA or ability to participate in ECs. I hope students were encouraged to take advantage of that by their high school guidance counselors.
2 Likes
An observation I have made regarding geographical location in terms of what applicants are accepted.
My dd’s high school is suburban with middle and upper middle class students, extremely diverse ethnically with over 30 different languages represented. There, UCSC only accepted la creme de la creme of the group who applied. Those kids are just slightly above my kid in terms of gpa and rigor. They were accepted in the first wave, offered merit scholarships and invitations to honors. Other kids who are not la creme de la creme, although very close, were wait listed. My kid is top 9% both state wide and ELC, as well as a Hispanic scholar, so she is no slouch.
Contrast this to the high school where my older kid works. Urban, lower socioeconomic, 99% Hispanic. There, my kid reports a few were accepted but their stats were definitely lower than my kid’s.
Both HS are in Southern California.
This is just a sample, but it points to the fact that UCSC is recruiting different profiles according to HS.
3 Likes
I see this info about on campus tours for admitted students on the UCSC website in the “Visit UCSC” section. My son says he hasn’t received the email/link. Has anyone else received?
Campus Tour
Admitted students for fall 2022 have received a link to sign up for available tours via their UC Santa Cruz email addresses. Group tours will not be available until fall 2022. In the meantime, self-guided options are available if you’d like to visit campus on your own, and you can feel free to access the virtual options below at any time.
I don’t know that UCSC ever had a single day in-person open house. When my oldest was admitted in 2017, they just offered admitted student tours over several weekends.
A few years ago, we visited UCSC over spring break. We attended the info session and took a tour. When we checked in, there were two desks - one for prospective students and one for admitted students. When the admitted students checked in there was a little fanfare (blowing a horn, confetti, etc) and a swag bag. I’m sure things have changed as different people are in charge now but I don’t think not having a big open house is because of the pandemic.
4 Likes
I emailed the UCSC Campus Visits visits@ucsc.edu and received the following response - it mentions emails to register for tours for admitted students will be sent today (or sent by today):
Thank you for contacting the UC Santa Cruz Campus Visits Office. Our office will have limited staffing during finals and spring break, March 14-28, 2022. Please note that our email response may be delayed during this time. We thank you for your patience.
We are in the process of rebuilding our tours program and are offering as many tours as possible while maintaining the quality of our program and accommodating our guides’ academics.
Currently, student-led campus walking tours are prioritized for admitted students only. Congratulations to our newly admitted Slugs! Your email with the link to register for a campus walking tour should arrive by Thursday.
The UC Santa Cruz Campus Visits Office is not hosting in-person tours for groups at this time.
Please refer to our website for the most recent updates regarding virtual events and tours:https://admissions.ucsc.edu/uc-santa-cruz-campus/visit-ucsc.
All are welcome to come to campus for a self-guided tour. If you are visiting campus during regular business hours, you are invited to talk with available Admissions staff in the Hahn Student Services Building.
We also have live virtual student panels and events with our campus tour guides available.
If you plan to park your car on campus and walk around, please use either metered parking spots or the free 10 or 20 minute spots. Please refer to this link for parking fees, info, and lot locations.
Tips from Tour Guides
For Bay views, stop by the Cowell/Stevenson dining hall!
Don’t spend more than 5-10 minutes at each place you want to see because walking between the points on the map is the longest part! We are situated on 2000 acres.
Check out our Virtual Tour at each stop you make. You can access it on your smartphone or tablet.
Cowell College is the easiest (most central) residential college to visit. Please note that our residential colleges are not organized by major. Most students select their colleges based on location or theme. Check out our colleges at Undergraduate Colleges
If you are driving to the central campus, you may want to park at Hahn Student Services lot 101, which is very central. Hahn accepts A permits, and also has Parkmobile spots for shorter term parking. Hahn parking lot is free on weekends.
Virtual tours of campus housing can be found at Residential Communities.
All scheduled and unscheduled visitors to the UC Santa Cruz owned or leased property must complete the UCSC Visitor COVID-19 Symptom Check Questionnaire prior to entering the campus for each day when entering the campus. Visitors are defined as anyone who is not a UC Santa Cruz employee (faculty, staff, and other academic appointees) or student, and who will be entering on-site at a UCSC owned or leased property.
We hope you enjoy our beautiful campus!
Again, we thank you for your patience. If you have further questions please contact our Campus Tours Coordinator, Felicita Rasul, at fsrasul@ucsc.edu.
Sincerely,
UC Santa Cruz Campus Visits Office
4 Likes
Wow, very helpful, thank you!
Ah okay, that makes sense. Sounds like they’re just more low-key about these things, which is okay too. Thanks!
2 Likes
I’m loving your photos! I’ve been on the campus several times but it was a long time ago.
4 Likes
3.8
1 Like
Son ACCEPTED for Computer Science
4.11 uc weighted gpa
3.81 uw
6 ap’s
decent ec’s, good piq’s
bay area resident
Accepted w/CS:
-University of SF ($21,500 scholarship/yr)
-SJSU
-SFSU
-Fullerton
-UCM
Waiting: UCB (w/2 LOR requests in Dec), UCSB, UCI, UCR, UCSD, CPSLO, Long Beach
Denied: UCD, Univ of Washington
Waitlisted: SDSU, CPP
7 Likes
This is my first child going to college, so I’m unfamiliar with the timeline for everything. If a person is accepted, when would they learn if they were being offered a merit scholarship? Have those all been given out already? I was also wondering if someone turns down a scholarship to attend another school, does that scholarship get offered to someone else? Thanks!
It appears that most merit scholarships (at least the ones sent by the school) have come out already.
I got the Regents scholarship with my decision letter back in February
1 Like
From what I have seen posted so far, there are a few accepted students that have been offered merit scholarships. The UC’s offer few merit scholarships in general but they offer good need based financial aid to California residents.
Depending upon how many offers of merit scholarships have been made, if a student decides not enroll, it could be given to another student. Since schools admit more students than actually enroll, the chances of getting a scholarship after the fact are probably slim.
If you have been offered any scholarships, they will be under your financial aid page.
1 Like
Thank you!