@NickFraser98 Just to give you a heads up:
You mentioned that you are applying for financial aid and are high need. Unfortunately the UC system does not offer need based aid to OOS students. The only aid you can get is a federal roll grant and loans from the federal government. That puts the cost at roughly 55-60k a year. Keep that in mind.
Hey everyone good luck with applying to UCLA! It truly is one of the best places to spend your 4 years at. Check out the 2020 page it has a lot of good info. I was admitted last year and I am a current freshman majoring in Electrical Engineering. Feel free to ask me any questions regarding life on the hill, Greek Life, academics, etc. Hope to see you all at Bruin Day!
Submitted UC app to LA, Berkeley, and Irvine 
In-state applicant. Is anyone else applying for the Veterans College Fee Waiver? Excited that I might get free tuition at all UCs!!
How are applicants finding the new changed essay questions? I think it’s now hard to be too creative (or BS?) with your essays, and you have to really focus on answering substantively.
@gureum
I think you have a decent chance if you work hard on your essays because your intended major (psychology) is not a competitive major IMO.
@hongyiweiwu Com Sci is a super competitive major. I have seen several Asian-American students with almost perfect GPA and test scores get waitlisted or denied. I think you might have an easier time getting into Harvard as a Com Sci major rather than at UCLA.
@SillyJillie423 I think you will get in for two reasons. One, your intended major is not super competitive and two, you are a female in a STEM area. Also, you come across as a well-rounded person. That’s my gut feeling.
@websensation @hongyiweiwu Because of Ca Prop 209 passed in the 1990s the UC and CSU systems do not see the race of an applicant nor can they use that as a sis for admittance. They also do not see your name. You are merely referred to as your App Number. That being said,a good amount of applicants are Asian and that is why you see so many denied. CS is impacted here but there are other options like math with a concentration in computing.
@10s4life You may be right but I have seen too big a gulf in the way UC Berkeley and UCLA accept applicants depending on the races. Other than the race, I do agree that majors, financial situation, sex and the geographic area also play a role.
When you say they “do not see the race of an applicant”, I don’t see that in the language of the CA Prop 209. The Proposition just says it’s illegal to discriminate based on the race or something like that; it does not say reviewers don’t see your name. [I would be willing to reconsider my answer if you show me where UCLA and UC Berkeley implement a system where the names in the applications are replaced by numbers.] Also, there are other ways to figure out an applicant’s race, such as personal statements.
https://ballotpedia.org/California_Affirmative_Action,Proposition_209(1996)
@websensation Best not to turn this into a race debate. Build the best application you can and that’s all you really can do. I’d be happy to answer any additional application questions, life at ucla, academics especially within engineering, and Greek life (fraternities and rushing).
@websensation Thanks so much for replying to my post. I hope I get in…I appreciate your encouraging words.
Chance me please!
Name of UCLA school you are applying to: HSSEAS
Major: Computer Science
Grades (school give CGPA on 10 till grade 10 and after that is percentages):
Class 9 - 9.8
Class 10 - 10
Class 11 - 80%
Class 12 (predicted) : 85%
(Acc. to UCLA intl. brochure, above 80% is good)
SAT I (breakdown): 1490/1600 (760 M, 730 CRW)
ACT (breakdown): N/A
SAT II: 800 Chem, 730 Math 2 (wrote Math 2 again and Physics this November)
Rank: School doesn’t have ranking system
AP Scores: N/A
IB Scores: N/A
Courses you are taking senior year: Physics, Chemistry, Math, Biology, English (CBSE system - Indian curriculum)
Awards: A lot of quizzing awards, a lot of academic awards for getting a perfect CGPA in class 10, High Distinction in Maths, English and Science in IBT (International Benchmark Tests) - ACER, 83.5% in DELF (Diplôme d’études en langue française) exam - A2 level, a few prizes in school drama competition.
Extracurriculars: Quizzing - Founder and PRO of quizzing club at our school, drama, chess, throwball and sprinting (even though I haven’t won any prizes for the last 3)
Volunteering: 1 year at Operation Smile
Work Experience: None - nobody below 18 is allowed to work here in the UAE
Essays: Good, I think.
Ethnicity: Indian (Asian)
Gender: Female
State (if domestic): N/A
Country (if international): UAE
Income Bracket: Eh, okay but may not go if I don’t get some scholarship. (Yea even I’m wondering why I even bother to apply - does UCLA even give scholarships to intl. students?)
Are you applying for financial aid?: No
The Official UCLA Class of 2021 Facebook: https:// www.facebook .com/ groups/1005679746171167/
quick question: do any current students at UCLA know of friends with better than average qualified GPA and test scores that did not get into UCLA for any reason? (e.g. bad essays, not enough extra curriculars, etc)
@PivotXD Current student here. Maybe I can offer some insight for those of you asking similar questions.
Admissions teams at top tier institutions like UCLA consider the breadth of the existing student body’s intellectual diversity when making their decisions. The folks up in the admissions office are aware of the ever-changing needs of our academic communities – that being said, admissions only become more competitive each year (as you probably already know).
I have plenty of friends who were admitted to UC Berkeley but rejected/waitlisted at UCLA. Each year, UCLA welcomes 5000+ incoming freshmen, and each year the admissions team is looking for something unique. Places like UCLA have a tough job in trying to choose the students they think are best-suited for the university’s rigourous academics pursuits, but it’s difficult to compare my admissions experience to current applicants. The pool of applicants on any given year is subject to a higher level of scrutiny than the previous year, and that’s always going to be true.
UCLA rejects students with perfect test scores/GPAs all the time, but they also frequently accept students with below average statistics. They value your potential contribution to the university as an individual, and as overstated as this is, they really do look at your application holistically. My Berkeley-bound friends had excellent academic records/involvement, but each university is a different community looking for different things. Plenty of people from my school with higher test scores than me didn’t get in, but it’s not to say that they had “bad essays” or didn’t meet specific academic criteria.
tl;dr dont think your chances are diminished if you think your performance in one area is weak. UCLA is consistently ranked ahead of Ivy League institutions, and I think that UCLA is much fairer in giving every applicant equal consideration and every application a comprehensive review.
Chance me please!
School: Letters and Sciences
Major: Global Studies
Unweighted GPA: 3.86
Weighted GPA (capped): 4.25
SAT I (breakdown): 2150 (650 CR/ 750 M/ 750 W)
Rank: 17/644 (Top 3%)
AP Scores:
-AP English Lang & Comp - 5
-AP US History - 5
-AP Calculus AB - 4
-AP Psychology - 4
-AP Statistics - 3
Courses you are taking senior year:
-AP CSP
-AP U.S. Gov
-AP Calc BC
-AP French
Awards:
-AP Scholar With Distinction
-National Merit Commended Scholar
-CFGL Persuasive Essay Writing Contest Regional Finalist
Extracurriculars:
-Marching Band
-Drumline
-Indian Cultural Club President
-Psychology Club President
-SADD Club President
-National French Honor Society President
-National Arts Honor Society Public Relations Officer
-National Honor Society
-National Math Honor Society
Volunteering:
-Office Intern for State Assemblyman
-Elementary School Tutor
Work Experience:
-Private Tutor
Essays: 1, 2, 3, 7
Ethnicity: Indian
Gender: Female
State (if domestic): California
join the UCLA official Class of 2021 Facebook group, it will start to get big once acceptances are out, https:// www.facebook .com/groups/1005679746171167/
Is the deadline tonight or tommorow night?
tonight
Congrats on sending your apps in! UCLA is a great school and it’d be awesome if you all made it in. It’s a very competitive process as you all know but just realize no matter where you end up you’ll make the best of it. Decisions do not define who you are. Now a few pointers:
- Check out the 2020 Applicant discussion it’s chalked full of good info and was quite active.
- UCLA Alumni scholarship invitations will be sent sometime in Winter. Unlike Berkeley which sends them in mass, the UCLA invite is for top applicants and according to a reliable sources thread some years ago it carries a 60-70% acceptance rate.
- Regents is very tough to get so don't worry if you don't, most of us aren't regents.
- Chance me posts are quite pointless. Applicants are just as in the dark as you and even those who are admitted won't know for sure. With 120k applicants last year it's impossible to say for certain so focus on having fun senior year. Chancing here won't do anything.
- Letters and Science Major choice DOES NOT MATTER IN ADMISSIONS. You are admitted to the college and are assigned either undeclared or a pre major. You will need a certain GPA in pre reqs to declare it.
- Engineering is admit by major and they might consider a second choice only if it was engineering. A first choice engineering and second L&S is a no go. Switching into engineering is extremely difficult. If you don't get into engineering strongly consider another school unless you love ucla.
- A room surf sponsored 2021 fb group is gonna launch around the time decisions come out. Be wary of joining it it will become an ad zone soon. Wait until the official UCLA 2021 fb group gets created where only those with ucla emails can join. There was ucla guys and girls 2020 groups that got to be a few thousand members for the purposes of finding roommates, etc.
- Go to all the games! Sports are a big thing here and you'll make a lot of memories cheering on our mediocre football team!
- Consider rushing. Fraternity and Sorority life can really enrich your experience here. Most stereotypes just aren't true and I'm glad I pledged. Frats rush fall, and sometimes winter and spring. Usually rush involves eating food and talking with the bros. Most houses have you take a headshot and wear a nametage and if enough like you you'll receive a bid. Sorority rush is more intense. From what I heard from friends is it will be super grueling but once you finish rushing it's quite easy.
- The social life here is a more academically focused version of UCSB. There's always something going on whether it be chilling in the dorm or going to the Thursday Frat parties there's always something to do.
- A word on Financial Aid- Unfortunately for OOS there is no aid other than the federal peak grant and federal loans. It is very hard to switch residencies. In fact it's nearly impossible.
Hope this helps! And good luck cause time flies!