@websensation wow, your son is remarkable! Things like that happen all the time, it’s really hit or miss when it comes to schools like UCLA. A similar situation happened to one of my closest friends, she got accepted into Yale but was rejected by Cal Poly SLO. It usually has to deal with how many spaces are open for applicants for each department at a university.
@JuicyMango If it makes you feel any better, I know several kids from CA who had over 2350 in SAT, NMF, near perfect gpa but wrote down Comp Sci or Engineering who did not get into UCLA or Berkeley and got into UCSD and are really doing well academically. IMO on the average, the difference in hard stats in competitive majors and not-so-competitive majors at UCLA and UC Berkeley is HUGE. My kid didn’t even apply to a competitive major. Anyway, you definitely deserve to get into good schools imo.
@judithapc All ok but it just shows you the randomness of college admission process. But again, I don’t think my kid’s major was all that competitive because it was in non-STEM area. lol From my research, Stanford was ranked top 3 in this major, UCSD top 12 and UCLA top 20, so I don’t think this was a competitive major. If my kid was rejected because he put down Engineering, Biology, Chemistry, Math or Computer Science, I would not wonder at all. Actually, my kid doesn’t care at all or is not even all that surprised; I am just astounded looking at this college admission process from a wider perspective, not just for my case.
One way to get into UCLA without working hard in high school is or was just go to Santa Monica college and get 3.5 and apply for transfer into a non-competitive major at UCLA. I know several students who did this and were accepted at UCLA. I did hear that this route is also getting more difficult.
I got waitlisted.
My SAT scores and ACT scores are pretty much the only thing bringing me down here. Its really bad, but i know for sure that my at least two of four of my essays were seriously good. Ahh!!! I hope i get in from the waitlist hehe!
SAT old version: 1490 then 1690
SAT new version 1210
ACT: 26
Extracurricular: no sports, president of 3 clubs and founded 2 of then, lots of volunteering.
Good Luck to everyone else trying to get in from the waitlist!
@wattba12 I don’t think UC schools care if you are a URM or not. Someone correct me if I’m wrong? Anyway, congrats!
@E17 Lol thanks. You seem to be a competitive applicant yourself; I’m sure we’ll both end up in great schools :).
Decision: Accepted 
Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 2150 old composite, 660 writing, 750 math, 740 critical reading, 1460 new composite, 760 math, 700 reading and writing
ACT: 33 composite, 31 English, 34 math, 35 reading, 8 writing
SAT II: 800 math II, 740 US history, 720 physics
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0
UC GPA:4.22? I dont know lol
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): top 10%? School doesn’t do rank or percentages
AP (place score in parenthesis): English Lang (4), Physics (5), APUSH (5), Euro (4), Human Geo (5)
Senior Year Course Load: AP Art History, AP Calc AB, AP physics 2, Choir, AP Gov/AP Econ, AP English lit
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): AP scholar with distinction
Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Volleyball (captain), Beach volleyball, Soccer, Choir (President and Secretary), Fellowship for Christian Athletes Club, and Change for Dinner (treasurer)
Job/Work Experience: Tutoring and Babysitting
Volunteer/Community service: Church Pianst, volleyball Referee, choir volunteering, and camp counselor
Other
Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes
Intended Major: physical sciences?
State (if domestic applicant): CA
School Type: Public
Ethnicity: white
Gender: F
Income Bracket: 100k
Hooks (URM, first generation college, research, etc.): none
Reflection
Strengths: Grades and Athletics
Weaknesses: community service
Schools were you accepted/waitlisted to? Deferred from Harvard, Accepted to UC Berkeley and still waiting
Good luck to everyone else!!
Decision: Accepted
Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): did not send
ACT (breakdown): 33 C (34 E 31 M 32 R 36 S); 33 C (33 E 34 M 34 R 30 S) sent both
SAT II: 760 math II, 750 US history
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0 / 4.4 weighted capped
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 1 / 33
AP (place score in parenthesis): AP World (5), AP Comp Sci. (4), AP Human Geography (4), AP Chem (4), AP English Lang (5), AP Macroeconomics (5), AP Calculus AB (5), AP US History (4)
IB (place score in parenthesis): n/a
Senior Year Course Load: Japanese II, AP US Gov, AP Eng Lit, AP Calc BC, AP Physics 1, P.E.
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): regional awards for debate and outstanding delegate at Harvard Model Congress Asia
Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis):
Harvard Model Congress Asia [9-12] [Captain 10, 11, 12] [Honorable Mention 1x] [Outstanding Delegate 2x]
Online Model United Nations [Executive Administrative Officer for Korea] – Organize debates online for students who enjoy MUN around the world. I teach parliamentary procedure and moderate debates, which give me excellent experience for a MUN conference later in the year.
Varsity Tennis [Captain 12] [Most Improved 10] [Far East Tennis 9-12] – Not much to show.
Student Council [Class VP 9] [Class President 10] [Class Parliamentarian 11] [Class Secretary 12]
Hiking – I enjoy hiking on weekends.
Minjoo Party of Korea – Worked for a local representative’s office during the 2016 Korean parliamentary elections.
Seosan Law Firm – internship at a law firm that helped me understand the courtroom better and confirmed my initial interests in the law.
DoDEA Pacific Advisory Council – selected to represent over 10,000 students at an education board that includes the director of our school region.
Global Mission Church – Pianist for the praise team; humanitarian projects through the church.
Job/Work Experience: n/a
Volunteer/Community service: through church, NHS…
Summer Activities: some listed above, and if there were a short essay about my summer, I would have written “spent hours perfecting my serve.”
Essays (rating 1-10, details):
1: I wrote about how my curiosities dominate my life, and basically used debate and tennis as examples of how the question "why" influences me. It's very logical, and I tried to reflect my personality as a realistic, concise person.
2: Love about history and how I hypothesize different scenarios and make comparisons throughout time periods
3: My experience as a military child and how it has affected me (sent to almost all colleges)
4: Why I ran for student council, my love for government, and how I want to expand the idea that local government is the most important.
Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):
Teacher Rec #1: 7 – APUSH teacher. Great letter. We’re really close, and it showed. I read the letter and it included an anecdote. However, I think the letter might be a little undeveloped. It praises me, but a little more “tell” than “show.” However, it is around 700 words.
Teacher Rec #2: 5 – AP Chem / AP Physics teacher. I read it just yesterday. A lot “tell” than “show.” It’s average.
Counselor Rec: 4 – We are close, but her writing doesn’t show much. It regurgitates parts of my resume and doesn’t add much.
Additional Rec: Nada
(i guess recs don’t matter at UCs lul)
Other
Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes
Intended Major: Poli Sci / History / Econ
State (if domestic applicant): Resident of CA
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: Public Department of Defense
Ethnicity: Asian (Korean)
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: 60~70K
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): nope.
NO SUPPLEMENT ESSAY REQUEST
Decision: Waitlisted
Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 1280 Composite; 640 M + 640 CR
ACT: 28 Composite
SAT II: Did not take
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.8/4.667 on South Carolina Scale
UC GPA: tbh idk
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 20/454
AP (place score in parenthesis): World History (4), US History (5), English Lang (4), Calc AB (2); I did not send the Calc AB score because I was embarrassed to lol; Senior year AP includes English Lit, US Government, Environmental Science and Calc BC
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): AP Scholar, Palmetto Fellows (Highest academic merit award in SC)
Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Yearbook (Editor and Business Manager), School/Club Soccer (Captain), School/Community Theatre (Lead Role, Stage Manager, Student Director), PR Intern at major publication, YIG Senate Member (Honorable Mention Bill), Academic Team (History Specialist), Piano (10 years)
Job/Work Experience: Babysitting and at a local grocery store
Volunteer/Community service: 50+ hours with National Beta Club Chapter (Peer tutoring, city council events, etc)
Other
Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes
Intended Major: History
State (if domestic applicant): SC
School Type: Large public, sends many kids to community college
Ethnicity: Asian (Filipino)
Gender: F
Income Bracket: Pretty low tbh
Hooks (URM, first generation college, research, etc.): none
Reflection
Strengths: I tried to be diverse and well-rounded in my activities, and I spent lots of time on my essays.
Weaknesses: TEST SCORES!!! UCLA '22, if you’re reading this, please please study and do well on SAT/ACT! Don’t do what I did and think you’ll be fine, because I promise you, the test scores could make or break your app.
Schools were you accepted/waitlisted to? Accepted: UofSC, Clemson, College of Charleston Honors, Alabama Honors, UC San Diego; Deferred: UVA; Waitlisted: UCLA; Rejected: Duke, UNC, and possibly Cal at the end of the month.
I really had no chance at getting in, but I wanted to apply just to see what would happen. Good luck to all!
Decision: Accepted to Pre Mathematics/Economics
Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 2370 (800 math and writing, 770 CR)
ACT (breakdown): N/A
SAT II: Math II - 800, Lit - 760, US History - 710
Unweighted GPA: 3.98
Weighted GPA: 4.65
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): Top 9% (no rank beyond that)
AP (place score in parenthesis): 5 - Calc AB, Chinese, Statistics; 4 - English Lang, US History, European History
IB (place score in parenthesis): N/A
Senior Year Course Load: AP Calculus BC, AP Physics 2, AP Macro/Micro, AP US Government, Senior English, Band
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): National Merit Semifinalist, two year state finalist at economics competition, AP Scholar with Distinction, random music awards
Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): A LOT of Red Cross leadership (regional board member, club VP, organized a ton of events, internship), youth orchestra (principal member), marching band (section leader), concert band (section leader), DECA (VP, treasurer), National Econ Challenge (top 5 in state twice), county honor band (2 years), teacher at Chinese summer camp, NHS
Job/Work Experience: a lot of unpaid internships
Volunteer/Community service: Definitely the strongest part of my app - raised lots of money through events I organized and music performances, volunteer tutor, 200+ hours with the Red Cross
Summer Activities: Johns Hopkins CTY Economics course, Red Cross intern, not that good tbh
Essays: 9/10, they were pretty good and each one had a different theme/idea
Additional Rec: N/A
Interview: N/A
Supplementary Material (portfolio, etc.): N/A
Other
Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes
State (if domestic applicant): CA
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: Public
Ethnicity: Asian
Gender: Female
Income Bracket: Upper Middle
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): N/A
Reflection
Strengths: stats, community service
Weaknesses: I’m not a super stellar applicant! UCLA was definitely a crapshoot and I’m happy I got in :’)
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: Extracurriculars showed a lot of different interests - music, those related to my major, leadership, service + consistently good grades
Where else were you accepted/deferred/rejected: Accepted to UCSD, UCSB (regents), UCI (regents), UW (purple and gold scholarship), Cal Poly SLO; Rejected from Pomona 
General Comments: If you’ve been rejected or waitlisted and are waiting for other schools, there is honestly no need to worry. Many of my friends who were accepted to top 10 schools were waitlisted or rejected (crazy) - maybe UCLA is trying to protect its yield, who knows? Remember that each college does its admissions differently! Best of luck to everyone.
Accepted! (I almost fainted)
SAT 2070
SAT II: World History 720, French 710, Spanish 800, Chinese 800
GPA (Latin America) 6.6/7.0
I just put that I speak 6 languages (Spanish, Chinese, English, French, a little Turkish and a little Portuguese)
and a couple of activities.
@actuallysad Not superstellar? You got 300 pts more than me and far more activities. I thought UCLA was just a far dream
@Muturi I go to a fairly competitive school where a lot of people were qualified than myself haven’t been accepted in the past. I was definitely terrified about this decision haha. Congratulations on your acceptance, you definitely had some great qualities otherwise UCLA wouldn’t have taken you!!
@actuallysad Thanks, Congrats too! Felicidades!
r u attending?
PS: 你是中国人么?
**Decision: Accepted **
Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 1350 (660 Reading, 690 Math)
ACT (breakdown): 31 C (28 E, 32 M, 33 R, 30 S)
SAT II: N/A - did not send
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.97 unweighted, 4.2 weighted (not UC)
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): N/A
AP (place score in parenthesis): Biology (3), Calculus AB (4), Psychology (5), English Lang & Comp (3)
IB (place score in parenthesis): N/A
Senior Year Course Load: AP Studio Art, AP Statistics, AP U.S. History, AP English Lit, required religion class, & leadership class
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): AP Scholar, NHS
Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis):
Track & Field [9, 10, 11, 12]
Orchestra 10, 11, 12
School Ambassador 10, 11, 12 - help facilitate large school events, i.e. the annual auction
Junior States of America Club [10, 11, 12] - political debate club; organized and attended statewide JSA conventions
Job/Work Experience: Babysitting + I’m currently a barista at Starbucks
Volunteer/Community service:
Blessed Sacrament Sunday Dinner [9, 10, 11, 12] - early morning prepping & serving Sunday meals for local homeless
Mary’s Place Shelter [11, 12] - shelter for homeless women and children
UW Medical Center WISH Program [12] - worked as a confederate at the University of Washington simulation training facility
TFOS Monster Bash [10, 12] - Halloween event put on for Children’s Hospital patients who suffer from a long-term illness
When I applied I had 89 hours of service logged.
Summer Activities: As listed before; working at Starbucks, babysitting, participating in community service
Essays (rating 1-10, details):
9/10. I honestly think this is what got me in because my test scores aren’t amazing.
Essay 1 – Leadership role; I talked about my leadership as a senior Peer Mentor
Essay 2 – Significant educational opportunity; I talked about being in Japanese immersion in elementary school and how lucky I am to have learned math and science in a completely different language
Essay 3 – Favorite academic subject; I connected my love for the sciences with my Pacific Islander heritage. My family on Guam doesn’t receive adequate health care and eventually I want to do something about it!
Essay 4 – What sets me apart from others; I’ve immersed myself in many different cultures (my Guamanian heritage, I’m fluent in Japanese, I’ve gone on mission trips, etc.) so I said I would add to the diverse backgrounds at UCLA
Recommendations (rating 1-10, details): N/A
Other:
Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes
Intended Major: Pre Psychology but I want to switch to Econ
State (if domestic applicant): Washington
Country (if international applicant): N/A
School Type: All-girls Catholic private
Ethnicity: Pacific Islander
Gender: Female
Income Bracket: Upper middle class
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): My ethnicity lol
Reflection
Strengths: Essays
Weaknesses: Test scores
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: My ethnicity probably played a big role, which I expressed well in my essays without shoving it in their face…
Where else were you accepted/deferred/rejected: Accepted from UW so far, haven’t heard back from anywhere else.
General Comments: I’m bummed I didn’t get any money but I’m absolutely not surprised. I honestly didn’t think I was going to get in so I’m excited this is an option for me! Shoutout to UCLA '21 and good luck to rising seniors! You got this
[acolor=#FFA500]Decision: Waitlisted [/color]
SAT I (breakdown): 800 Reading + Writing, 770 Math (1770)
ACT: 35 (36 English, 12 Writing, 36 Reading, 34 Science, 35 Math)
SAT II: 800 - Literature, 770 - World History, 760 - Math Level 1, 750 - US History, 750 - French
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.88
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): school doesn’t rank
AP (place score in parenthesis): - World History - 5 , Lang + Comp - 5, US History - 5 ,European History - 4
IB (place score in parenthesis):
Senior Year Course Load: High Honors English, History, and French that qualify me to take the AP tests for Lit, French, and Gov, AP Physics, AP Calc AB, Broadcasting
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): National Merit Semifinalist, AP Scholar, AP Scholar w/ Distinction, Illinois State Scholar.
Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis):
-Writer at moderately well known online magazine, have an editorial position on there - 4 Years
- School Newspaper - 3 Years - Editor in Chief this year
- School Broadcasting Team - 4 Years - Co station manager this year, have had own radio show for 3 years
- Speech Team - 3 Years - Chair of Prose Reading this year, made it to nationals three years in a row
- GSA - 4 Years - Board Member
- Feminism Club - 4 Years - Board Member
- Key Club - 4 Years - VP
- Literary Magazines - 4 Years - Editor in Chief for upperclassmen one this year
- Thespians - 2 years, been in some school productions.
- Member of National Honor Society and World Languages Honor Society.
Job/Work Experience:
- Job in retail for two years
Volunteer/Community service:
- Volunteering through Key Club, the public library, and other organizations, about 300 hours total.
Summer Activities:
- Northwestern Cherubs Journalism Program and Northwestern Summer Screenwriting Program
Essays (rating 1-10, details): 8910 - had variety and were p good
Teacher Recommendation:
- 1: 10/10, the sponsor for the Newspaper at my school, he loves me a lot and this rec letter almost made me cry
- 2: 10/10, my current history teacher, runs the advanced humanities program at my school, knows me + my aspirations well lmao
Counselor Rec:
- 8/10, I wasn’t close with her until junior year, which I regret. but i think she liked me well enough.
Additional Rec:
- 10/10, My speech sponsor, who’s also co sponsor of the gsa, and one of my favorite teachers i’ve ever had
Interview: n/a
Other
State (if domestic applicant): Ilinois
Country (if international applicant): United States
Intended major(s): English / Political Science
School Type: Public, Large
Ethnicity: Mixed (South Asian/White)
Gender: F
Income Bracket: 80k - 90k a year
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): first generation college student
Reflection
Strengths: Scores, Essays
Weaknesses: I had barely any interest I legit forgot I applied at some point???
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: No/little interest
General Comments: Tbh I’m surprised I got waitlisted even? Congrats to all accepted and I hope UCLA (it is a great school) treats you well!
@Muturi Don’t know if I’m going to attend, still waiting for more schools. And 是的!
@2017journalismhopeful Can’t see how you got waitlisted. You have so many wonderful achievements and high stats too.
Accepted!! Molecular Biology
ACT:- 34- 35R, 35E, 33M, 34S
SAT II- didn’t give
GPA:- In India so no GPA
9th- 10CGPA (max 10)
10th- 10CGPA
11th- 84% (severe grade deflation, accordingly to school profile, above 70% qualifies as top percentile and equivalent to 85% in external board examinations)
Predicted score- 95+
ECs- Internship at one of India’s national pharmacopeia labs
Trinity Grade 5 distinction holder(vocals and keyboard)
Have a Bachelor of Arts in Indian classical music
Editor in Chief at school newspaper (circulation of 40,000 copies approx)
USG Press Corps, EiC, Editor at 6 MUNs in one year
Did several field reporting stories on dying arts of India, campaigned for displaced colonies of traditional puppeteers
Part of a Capella group, won several awards
Several community outreach programs volunteer
Essays- decent, 8/10 contained several Game of Thrones references lmao
No idea how this happened
Accepted:- UCSD, BU (presidential scholar), UA
Rejected:- UT Austin, Uchicago(still mourning)
Waitlisted- JHU
Applied:- Berkeley, Duke, Purdue
Congrats to all those admitted!! HMU if you plan on attending! Go Bruins!!
Decision: Accepted
ACT: 34C (one taking)
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.93; UC: 4.33
AP: Two 5s and a 4
Extracurriculars: 1000+ community service hours
State: CA
Go Bruins!
@BunnyBlue nah my interest was low and i applied mainly because of location and overall UC atmosphere and i got into my reach school so it wasn’t really a loss, but thank you!