UC Santa Cruz

<p>If I got in, I think you can. :P</p>

<p>Ahhh, if only UCSD admissions weren't completely formulaic. Everyone keeps telling me I'm going to get in, but it's hard to believe them when that cold formula is staring me in the face.</p>

<p>They aren't allowed to use purely cold formula. Their comprehensive review policy forbids it. I can't guarantee you'll get in, of course -- but by that same token, you wouldn't be guaranteed admission even if you did meet their formula.</p>

<p>Don't give up yet.</p>

<p>Their formula is their comprehensive review. Hahaha... They comprehensively review your file by assigning points to certain factors. For example, being low income can get you 300 points.</p>

<p>I got that many?</p>

<p>How come that didn't work for me at UCLA or Berkeley? >_></p>

<p><a href="http://admissions.ucsd.edu/dev3/info/comreview.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://admissions.ucsd.edu/dev3/info/comreview.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>You were low income?</p>

<p>undecided: I agree with you that it is not fair to compare UC Davis and UC San Francisco as they both have different focuses. However, when compared solely in medicine, UC San Francisco is ranked and regarded higher than UC Davis. But of course, UC Davis is an excellent UC for undergraduate in a variety of fields. :)</p>

<p>There are still a lot of vague, qualitative categories where you can get points you don't think you can get. Plus, you don't know the cut-off. UCSD admits a <em>lot</em> of students. As has often been said, "It ain't over 'til it's over!"</p>

<p>But even if you don't get in, does it really matter? If you decide it does, the community college programs (Diablo for Berkeley, Santa Monica for UCLA, and a couple others have really good CC->UC transfer statistics) are great.</p>

<p>Yes, wallflowers, but my point was more that UCSF has similar resources and yet focuses ALL of it on one area, whereas UC Davis divides it into multiple areas. Diversify versus specialize and all of that.</p>

<p>i find it amusing that UCSC's mascot is a banana slug</p>

<p>anyway, no i dont think UCSC will be a top tier UC in 10-15 years, i think UCSD will be mentioned in the same sentence as berkeley and UCLA by then. but because there's a surplus of overqualified students, i think every UC will have the opportunity to rise up. nevertheless, UCSC is still 3rd in the norcal UC pecking order (berkeley > davis > santa cruz).</p>

<p>sinful_saint: I was low-income, came from a public high school that sent 60% of its student to college (and 60% of those to local CC), and had one of the highest SAT scores in the school. Plus all those other stats.</p>

<p>kfc4u (hahah): The banana slug is gross, and quite the pest on campus. And it's... so like UCSC, so I guess it's a perfect mascot! Makes for weird discussions, though. :P I'll agree with you, except that I think it's more like Berkeley >= UCLA > UCSD >=UCSB >= UCD > UCI > UCR >= UCSC.</p>

<p>Well... Crap. Je suis screwed.</p>

<p>Note that I had to overcome a relatively low GPA / SAT IIs and mediocre/poor AP scores, and less than 4 years of a foreign language. Those things certainly helped me, but they didn't create an 'auto admit' for me. I maintain that you have a good chance.</p>

<p>saintful sinner</p>

<p>good luck wherever you choose. </p>

<p>the common issue i hear from UCSD kids is that there is no student soul at the place. maybe it's due to the emphasis on the separate schools. or lack of big-time sports. or lack of a greek system with houses. the emphasis is on education (surprise!) yet many lament not having some kind of unifying element present that gives the school a larger regional or national recognition. i'm sure some UCSD kids can speak up on that subject. there has been some previous threads about the growing high-quality of the poli sci program. probably can't go wrong if that's your emphasis.</p>

<p>UCI still has a "commuter school" tag to it, though weekend campus life surely has improved from even 5 years ago. you might try to get some nocal perspective from current students on that.</p>

<p>haha i am already in at UCSC and have been takin classes there:P not gonna go there tho</p>

<p>Pick Santa Barbara if you want an overall college experience. UCI seems more of a commuter school. </p>

<p>But UCSD is still with in your reach with a 3.8 UC gpa, and they have a great poly sci department. Hope you get in.</p>

<p>Thanks liek, hope I get in too.</p>

<p>UCSD's admission is MUCH easier than Berkeley or LA's. If berkeley and LA are tier 1, the other UC's would be tier 3 and 4. I'm not saying that the other UC's are bad, but more certainly LA and Berkeley are far ahead.</p>

<p>Just the environment makes it feel that way. SD is very laid back, and Davis just isnt lively.</p>

<p>There's a big difference between 22-23% and 50% admissions.</p>

<p>UCSD can be considered as for the best ratio in "quality of education vs. acceptance rate." basically, quality of education at UCSD is closer to LA and berkeley than its acceptance rate is to LA/berkeley.</p>