Wow that’s an awesome stats with not so good results. I can understand how difficult it must have been for your kid, considering being a high performer. My DD has somewhat similar stats as yours, except UCB being geographically closeby I’m losing hopes at this point.
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Wow - this is absolute proof that the UCs act independently with regards to admissions! @doomam3 what major did your daughter apply at UCLA? Is she there now, and if so, does she like it?
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She applied to Data Theory, UCLA’s version of Data Science. UCLA doesnt consider secondary majors, and knowing how competitive CS is, decided to apply L&S. She is there now, and loves it.
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I am absolutely shocked by this set of results. By any measure, your daughter’s stats are stellar and I know PIQs are super important but in general someone with these stats would also likely have crafted good PIQs. A few questions:
- Did she not apply to UCSC?
- UCSD and UCI - how did she end up getting admitted undeclared?
Happy to see her thriving at UCLA but my big takeaway is to not be surprised if my S22 gets washed out without a single admit from the UCs.
Regarding getting Undeclared at UCSD and UCI, these schools admit into the University first and then into the major. They will consider your 1st choice major, then your alternate major and finally Undeclared depending upon where there is space available. So even if you specify a 1st choice and/or an alternate major, you can still be admitted Undeclared.
Unfortunately these results are typical for such a competitive major as CS.
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Thanks, that makes sense. I know CS is competitive, still these results are depressing.
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CS admission these days is Ivy League competitive at schools that are otherwise ranked well below Ivy League as overall institutions. Most are in single digit acceptance rates. We are playing the lottery and simply buying lots of tickets (I.e. applying to many schools).
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I agree it is pretty tough and that is why my younger son focused more on the Cal States vs. the UC’s for CS. Although when he applied, Data Science/Data Theory majors did not yet exist (Class of 2018 college graduate). Now back to the UCLA class discussion.
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Yes, disappointing but many higher stat and maybe more deserving kids didnt get in, so thankful for the offers she did get. Best of luck to your daughter!
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D has chosen CSE as her first major and EE as alternate. Lets see how it works. We don’t have too much hope at this point in time.
UCLA does not consider alternate majors along with UCB however, for the other UC campuses, selecting 2 Engineering majors can be an issue.
Thanks. Currently she got her acceptance from CalTech and that remains her top choice at this point. April will be the betting month I believe.
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She did not apply to UCSC, didnt think we needed to. But after these results my next kid definitely will be. For UCSD/UCI, already answered by Gumbymom but the undeclared was surprising, had no idea CS was this competitive. Best of luck to your S22!
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I agree with that strategy. My S22 is hoping that his 4.35 CSU GPA will get him into SJSU. He also wants to take some engineering courses so I advised him to apply to Software Engineering instead of CS given the stellar outcomes and access to the engineering courses. We did not hold much hope but to see it starkly validated by the stats above is still painful.
Wow Congrats! That is beyond amazing! I’ll take Caltech all daylong 
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My son is also applying for CS and it’s very worrying to see how competitive it is, even with high stats. He’s already had a deferral and admitted undeclared from two OOS schools, where we had assumed he had a good shot at CS because they’re less competitive than some of the UCs. Getting disappointing results from those two schools prompted him to change his major selection at one UC (and he may change some others), which, I was surprised to learn, you can still do up until 1/31.
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We were lucky my S was admitted to UT Austin for CS recently. We are in state but even then it was extremely competitive. We still have many applications out including to UC schools. We spent most of the Christmas holiday spreading applications like most people spread holiday cheer once we realized how competitive the major has become. We will see how admissions unfold and make the decision on which school from there. My S is 1550 SAT (single attempt), perfect 800 Math, ranked 1/710 in his class, 13 APs, very heavy and tangible CS extracurriculars, and also non CS activities. 4.0 UW GPA.
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UCLA likes their 4.0s. Good luck to your kid!
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Curious - why even consider the UCs when you have an in-state UT Austin admit? Don’t see what a UC will offer that UT Austin won’t, especially at the OOS costs involved.
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Good question. We simply hedged our bets. We have seen schools like UT turn away in state kids with better credentials than my son. They are a bit unpredictable. My son also loves both UCLA and UCB. He didn’t apply to the others.