I’m wondering how UCs will evaluate students with no test scores, at least half of 11th and maybe even 12th grade GPA P/F and possibly compromised by online schooling (though our school made it work) cancelled ECs, and no recommendations… And if most UCs don’t even consider 9th or 12th grade, that’s even less data. I suppose the PIQs are there, but realistically they neither have the time nor the data to delve into the applications like a private college might.
I don’t know what to expect. In a normal year, my kid would have had an excellent shot at the UCs ( perfect acacdemic record with rigor, perfect scores all around (which won’t be considered), excellent ECs that he has continued and even expanded in senior year, great writer) but I have to admit I’m getting anxious because of the uncertainty. And that is my problem with holistic admissions.
i think it was short sighted to go test blind this year, given the limited information they will have. Test OPTIONAL is a must everywhere, so I am 100% for that for the long term, and they should have figured out a way to make that work this year, too (reweighting the categories for those without scores), given that UCs are normally more number driven and more predictable than selective private colleges with holistic admissions.
It’s going to be interesting…
Just venting here. I have mixed feelings about testing, even though it normally benefits my own kids.
The UC’s were suppose to be test optional for 2 years and then go test blind but due to Covid and the lawsuit filed, they were forced to go test blind. The UC’s still have 13 areas of criteria to review applicants including UC GPA, HS course rigor and PIQ’s which have always been Very Important. UC’s have always been more GPA focused vs. test focused so I am sure they have it figured out since several UC’s have already accepted students.
Right Gumbymom, but the GPA and ECs may have been compromised by Covid so I’m not sure it was a good idea to switch this year.
And I think it’s a terrible idea for the UCs to invent a NEW standardized test for future students, so I hope that doesn’t go through. I can guarantee most kids around here will start additional test prep for that, if it ever happens.
The UC’s were forced to go test blind this year so everyone can make their feelings known about the situation, but it will not change anything at this point.
Several of the UC’s have already stated that they will be test blind for next year and most till Fall of 2024 so the hold outs are UCSD, UCR and UCM which have not stated their position yet.
I disagree with this fundamental assumption.
They already discarded the idea of coming up with their own standardized test to replace the other standardized tests.
I think the decision to exclude tests is terrible. I think it is going to exclude many highly capable students in the service of accepting disadvantaged students. My son has a good GPA (4.0 weighted GPA) but is taking most of his APs his senior year which doesn’t count. He has only had one B and one B+, otherwise all As. Great marks by teachers. Has been selected to represent his class in a senior club. He has been the first chair of his (prestigious) orchestra section for three years. He is going to be a salutatorian at his very rigorous public high school. He scored almost perfect on his SATs but they will not be considered. He has only been accepted into UCR. Was waitlisted at UCI and UCSC. Was rejected at UCSB. I think any other year he would have been accepted there. Just a terrible decision.
AP classes do count for HS rigor but not for the GPA calculation. Each school/system has their pros and cons and no one is forced to apply to the UC’s. The UC’s have always been more GPA focused vs. test focused so going test blind was eventually going to happen. Their goal was to be test optional for 2 years to help with the transition and then test blind but due to circumstances they were FORCED to be test blind immediately.
Everyone has a right to their opinion and that is fine, but everyone needs to understand that California has 8 out of 10 most applied schools in the US and 6 of them are UC’s.
Bottom line, as a state we have many high achieving students and although we have 23 Cal states, 9 UC’s and a variety of Private Universities and LAC’s, the majority of students are applying to the same group of schools. Too many students and not enough spots to accommodate them.
A student can only attend one college and what is important is that they realize that where they go for Undergrad will not define them, it is what they do with the opportunities they are given that will make them successful. High achieving students will “bloom where planted”.
I just cannot fathom how they can evaluate students fairly without tests or teacher recommendations. It seems like the only criteria is economic status or hard luck stories. My son attends one of the best public (and largest) high schools in CA and is one of their top students. If he cannot get into any but Riverside then there is something wrong, in my opinion. (Though I suppose he is lucky to get into any UC since he did not apply to any other schools. We will have two students in college at the same time. His sister is applying as a transfer from a community college. We are not economically advantaged compared to a lot of other parents.) Seems like the decision to eliminate tests disfavors the middle class.
4 UC’s have still not released decision results so I say do not get upset until all decisions are posted.
Grades in high school and course rigor.
Students spend 180 days a year, 6-7 hours a day, for 3.5 years, being evaluated continuously, reflect in grades they earn.
Course rigor reflects how a student was challenged in earning those grades. I suspect most Berkeley students have 5+ AP courses completed before Senior year.
An SAT is a <4 hour test taken once, testing math through Algebra/some pre-Calc and grammar/reading at ~10-11th grade level.
A recommendation is the view of two of probably 20+ teachers, which the student selected to write a recommendation because they will write a positive recommendation.
Standardized testing provides an additional data point, but it’s not such a tremendously influential component such that omitting it will invalidate the admissions process, IMHO.
This too applies to some UC graduate school applications. My son’s friend, currently a senior at a CSU, has a 3.7 engineering GPA. He was recently accepted into UC Berkeley’s Master’s in Engineering program. If he had to take the GRE, he probably would not have scored high enough to get in 
No GRE requirement enable him to get into a top notch masters program.
grammar: “enabled him to get into…”
For future reference, if you go to your previous post, you will see a little pencil icon at the bottom. That pencil will allow you to edit your post. CC used to limit the editing time to 15 minutes but now you can edit whenever you find a typo. 
thanks for the info on editing