UCLA Class of 2024 Waitlist Discussion

Hey all - I just got off the phone with admissions. Here are some answers I got.

  1. Nobody reads the applications until tomorrow - confirmed! She even checked with a supervisor to be sure.
  2. Everybody will be notified when the process is over, so we won't be left hanging.
  3. At this point the statements are reviewed by a general admissions committee, not by the departments (though I think she said there is some faculty on the committee).
  4. You're encouraged to use the whole space. I'd be wary of filling it just for the sake of filling it, though; you don't want them to feel like you're wasting their time with fluff.

I forgot to ask another question I had, whether they read every submitted essay or just first come first served until the spots are filled, but I guess knowing wouldn’t change anything anyway.

Sorry I didn’t tag everybody who had these questions, but I want to get this out fast to anyone still thinking of updating. I’d encourage you to call admissions if you still have questions. They’re really nice and even today there was no wait! (310)825-3101. Good luck, everybody! You’re in the home stretch!

@WhimsicalSquid - I’m sorry if this is a rhetorical question but just want to be sure that they also review the full application? My D didn’t list any repetitive information on the essay such as test scores or ECs.

@gratefulmama I didn’t ask that, but when I asked if it was a department, college, or general admissions committee who does this final review, she said it was general “because the departments have already read the whole application a couple of times.” It felt like maybe they don’t, but I can’t say for sure.

@WhimsicalSquid - Thanks! I have to think the essay is a supplement to the original application as an opportunity to provide new information and demonstrate interest (Fall semester grades and spring projected grades would be relevant.) It would seem unnecessary to repeat information that has already been submitted unless an applicant felt they didn’t provide enough detail originally.

We just got another email response from the admissions office stating that we had initially received the wrong guidance and no supplemental information may be submitted by email, and the good news is that the waitlist essay portal can be updated until midnight tonight and to make sure we submit through that portal by the deadline. Hope that is helpful to you all. This was causing a lot of stress over the last couple of days.

Sorry for the repeated question. If an initial essay was submitted and then an updated version was submitted on the portal, which one do they look at? Is it the latest or the original one? If the original one, do we need to email them with the updated version?

Anyone else feeling anxious? For the first time in my life, I’ve been having trouble sleeping.

@StillLotsToLearn . . . much appreciated. They closed down the thread after mid-June, 2019 and unpinned it from the board.

Here’s the link to that thread, “UCLA 2023 Waitlist”:

http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/university-california-los-angeles/2132722-ucla-2023-waitlist-thread-p1.html

It’s only about 21 pages:

1st Wave: OOS students on 04/23/2019, pgs. 2-3
2nd Wave: OOS students on 04/30/2019, pgs. 5-6
3rd Wave: OOS & In-State students, 05/01/2019 pg. 8, Some Engineering, L&S
4 - 1,000 Wave: Mostly In-state students, 05/03, 05/08, 05/09, 05/10
05/25, 06/04,

It’s an interesting thread, last ones accepted seemed to be 06/04 with a 06/08 date to accept. The typical time to accept beyond May 1st seemed to be about 4-5 days.

Regret letters were sent out in various days in June.

If you want to go to a specific page, without tabbing through, you can change the number in the address right before “.html” to “pxx” where the xx is the page number.

So for spring grades, should we just put in progress or our predicted grades?

@waitlistking2020 Definitely. I also haven’t been able to sleep the past few days.

On another note, truly grateful for all these answers. Everything was confusing at first but glad things got cleared up by admissions. They’re very helpful! Thank you.

Hope we all get off the waitlist soon!

@DaniM7 Put IP for Spring grades.

Okay, y’all I just submitted my final draft. Good luck to anyone finishing up and those who have already submitted. And thank you to @WhimsicalSquid for the updated information from admissions! Fingers crossed these next few weeks bring some good news.

@AniAni - you can keep updating the waitlist essay and hit the submit button to save it - until tonight’s deadline. That is what my son’s regional admissions counselor said in an email to my son earlier today.

Yep. Got a confirmation regarding the same from the UCLA undergraduate admissions office


Due to COVID19, predicting waitlist outcome is even more difficult this year. In my opinion, I think it will be more difficult for in-state since more students will stay closer to home and save money. On the other hand, there is already lots of talk about schools wanting start online in the fall. So much unknown and financial constraints may result more students taking a gap year. Regardless, interesting and nerve wracking at the same time.

Historically speaking, people who do not attend UCLA got into better schools like Stanford, Harvard, Yale, Cal and etc. Now let’s consider a person who lives in CA and got into UCLA and Yale. Will this person go to UCLA to stay closer to home? The answer is no! “To stay closer to home” expression does not work because we are talking about UCLA. As you said, people are already taking gap and many people decide not attend! This year there will be an increase in the number of people accepted both from in state and out of state applicants.

I just logged on to UCLA’s portal and it says I can still press submit, I thought the deadline was last night?

@maybenotjohn I know, I went back to check and see if there was any new info, maybe something acknowledging that I submitted the essay(besides the emails), and I noticed that I could still click “edit” and it let me go to my essay. I think the deadline means that anything you change from 12 AM PST on will not be looked at. They will only read the version of your essay that was submitted prior to 11:59 PST on April 15th.

Yes I checked the website last night and essay was locked. We can conclude that the essays were submitted last night and the portal went back to normal!

Does this mean that our chances of getting admitted will be even less due to Covid-19 ? I’ve been reading many articles where they state that many schools especially in the U.S will be heavily relying on their waitlist since many international students will not decide to attend due to visa issues and the increasing number of cases the U.S. Will this make it easier for in-states to get off the waitlist?

On another note I’ve been continuously keeping up with this thread and I finally decided to join. I’m so anxious I’m just hoping for the best. GOOD LUCK TO EVERYONE !