I don’t think their yield is surprising at all. You can’t compare it to private schools because tuition at UCLA is nothing compared to privates. Since vast majority of kids entering UCLA are CA kids, and many parents are full pay (high cost of living has high salaries and housing cost means many people have crazy equity) they might be facing double the cost with privates. So why choose Emory and go into debt if you can pay half that for UCLA? I think those sorts of calculations really help yield at UCLA and UCB. Those kids who care about prestige and name can get it with those two schools for a fraction of cost.
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If he gets in and wants to re-visit, you can DM me and I can ask my son to give him a little tour. There is a big contingent of kids from BHS there and most seem quite happy. Son loves the campus, weather, big rah rah sports experience that he has access to since he’s in marching band, food and housing. Music & cultural activities are outstanding in part bc of Herb Alpert. It’s overall I think a slightly more laid-back, “hard-working but happy” vibe than maybe Cal is. Grade deflation is definitely a thing but possibly not as much as at Cal.
Both great schools! He was only waitlisted at Cal but definitely would have still chosen UCLA if he had been able to pick. Younger sister who is currently applying could be happy at either I think (she’s probably more a Cal vibe but would like to grow a little by getting outside of her hometown). But we are at this point assuming she won’t have either to pick from because really both are a crap-shoot regardless of how strong of a candidate you are. I keep telling her that you have to be both good and lucky. Brother was both. She may well end up being good but unlucky – which will be the case for most applicants!
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That would be awesome, if it turns out that my kid is “good and lucky” enough to be admitted! Thank you for offering, very thoughtful of you. Hoping for the best for all of our kids in this admissions season. 
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I completely agree with you. I was responding to someone else’s post. I guess it’s a matter of interpretation of what 50% is. I think 50% is impressive. And that’s why I added other respectable publics which have less yield than UCLA yet have fewer options in terms of other “sought out” publics in their respective states.
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If accepted, he should most definitely attend Bruin Day.
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Bruin Day is what sold my D22. She loves it. She definitely works hard (she is not a STEM major) but she has time to relax and hang out with her friends, too. She’s not a big sports fan, but likes going occasionally to watch games. She and her friends think the men’s volleyball team is fun to watch (cute, tall boys). She also loves LA. She’s been to the beach, some museums, the flea markets… and she’s barely scratched the surface. it’s a fun city. The campus is beautiful and she really likes the layout, with the dorms “on the hill” and campus across the street.
For context, we live in the Bay Area. Over the years, we’ve spent a decent amount of time at Berkeley and know the town pretty well. My daughter loved Berkeley when we toured when she was a sophomore. I think she could have been happy at either, though Berkeley was too close to home (and she didn’t get in). I’m not sure it’s true that most kids are likely to have a strong preference. A good friend’s daughter agonized over this choice last spring and she picked Berkeley due to a better program match with her future plans (Environmental Policy). My friend and I agreed that this was an amazing problem to have.
I fully agree with CA families choosing UCs over privates and OOS publics. That’s exactly what happened to us. We are a full pay family and D22 was picking between Smith (full pay, 80k) and Kenyon (still 65k after 15k in merit), as well as Michigan (66k, full pay). If she had loved Smith or Kenyon, I probably would have forked over the money for it, but definitely not for Michigan. It was a stroke of luck that she a) got into UCLA b) loved it over all the others. I thank my lucky stars every time I pay her tuition. 
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We could be the same person. We got sort of lucky that our son (and we) didn’t really know what the heck we were doing when he applied in '20-'21 and applied mainly to UCs & elite schools with tiny acceptance rates (even tinier in the RD round, which is where he was applying because did know enough that we couldn’t afford to risk ED!) plus 2 other still-pretty-selective schools in BC and Oberlin. No CSUs, no true safeties at all. What the heck? I shudder to look back on it. The end result was a few rejections, a bunch of waitlists at elite schools, 6 UCs to pick from, and acceptances at Boston College + Oberlin (this last one with good merit). When we write that tuition check to UCLA, I thank all the stars that he never got off any of those waitlists at schools that would have made us have to pause and consider. As it was, $83K at BC and even $50ishK at Oberlin didn’t make it a real choice. Being in state with really strong UCs and CSUs is one of the true benefits of living in CA!
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Ha!! You’re right. We’ve had very parallel experiences! My D didn’t really consider the UCs until the end and it was time to make a choice. She had a great EA round and had good choices in Michigan, Wisconsin, Vermont, Oregon Honors (her safety). But wow, the RD round… she really didn’t get in to any of the super selective schools she applied to (rejected at 3 Ivies, Middlebury, Tufts, waitlisted at Wesleyan). At the end of the day, UCLA offered the best bang for the buck across all the dimensions.
Good luck to your younger one! I have a few years before we dive back into this drama again - and S26 tells me he has “no interest” in staying CA for college. We’ll see…
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My UCLA kid also had a negative first impression of campus as a young high schooler, and loved Berkeley’s campus as an older high schooler, but both visits were empty campuses. One thing that stuck with her from family/friends was that in-campus food was considered much better at UCLA. The housing crisis was another point in favor of UCLA. Berkeley is amazing of course but UCLA has a lot going for it beyond the superficial first visit campus feel. Hope your kid finds himself with that choice soon! So happy that our choice was “made for her” by getting WL at UCB. We are OOS.
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Does anyone have acceptance rates for statewide 9% students?
ELC admission information is not grouped by Local vs Statewide. Here is some information from 2018-2020.
Admits
About 90 percent of ELC applicants are admitted to at least one UC campus to which they applied (Figure 3). Some ELC applicants, however, employ application strategies that do not maximize their chance of being admitted. For example, they may apply only to one or two of the most selective campuses rather than applying broadly across the system. However, because these students are entitled to a guarantee of admission to the UC system based on ELC status and completion of the minimum 15 A-G courses, they have the additional opportunity to enroll via the referral process.
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The initial alumni scholarship application has one 500 word essay and listing of activities awards etc then there is a choice to continue completing additional freshman application with two more 500 word essays? Do separate readers read the first essay and another group the other two? Does simply doing the initial application ( one essay) qualify for any possible scholarships if selected or is this just considered the required first step before completing the other scholarships. Looking for clarification on these essays. Thanks!!
The alumni scholarship application is not read by admissions. Generally, a reader will receive the entire application to review.
There is a long list of scholarships that students can qualify for based on their UC application. At the end of the UC application, there were a series of questions to see if a student qualifies for certain scholarships (ex. hometown, parent’s occupation, career goals).
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Thank you, so the scholarship that any freshman can apply to requires a total of three 500 word essays? ( not the other scholarships that are based on need, location etc)
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Is the scholarship due before the admission offers? Don’t really want to waste time writing if not offered admissions. Too busy to waste time.
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Yes, March 2nd is deadline.
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Are you referring to just the Alumni scholarship and asking if a student should submit one vs three essays? A student that provides more insight and information (ie. three essays instead of one) will provide the reader with more reasons to score the student higher.
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I’m so confused! My daughter completed the application and said it was only one essay. Now I’m hearing there are two more? Ugh! Can she make a PIQ fit, since the readers are alumni, as opposed to admissions readers? TIA
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I don’t know the three essays that Lily_22 is referring to. When I look at the Alumni Scholarship, it shows two supplemental essays.
Supplemental Questions
- Select any quote about leadership, and share how it relates to your core principles. (500 word maximum)
- What sets you apart from other students at your current learning institution? (500 word maximum)
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So, I just asked my daughter and she said there was only one question on the application, and that these two were supplemental. Note to self: Never let your 17 year old decide whether or not to do supplemental essays. She won’t. Thank you for the response!
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