@nadinev I was accepted early to UCSB by Chancellor’s Reception. I was accepted to every UC for Civil/Environmental/Mechanical Engineering (except for Berkeley which hasn’t come out yet and Merced where I didn’t apply). I am also female and in state. I do not understand your concerns of the UCs being biased.
My stats were similar to your daughter’s, except I had a higher ACT (35). My SAT was lower than your daughter’s. My GPA was a 4.2 capped and a 4.5 uncapped (3.8UW). I had similar extracurriculars (internship, volunteering, etc) to your daughter except I did not take any community college classes. I also had leadership and continuous involvement in Key Club.
The UCs are holistic and I believe personal statements are extremely important after grades and test scores, if not as important. I believe my personal statements are what got me into UCLA.
@Davallia Thanks so much for your reply. First congrats on your acceptances.That’s awesome. Perhaps you are correct. Perhaps her personal statements did not resonate. Can I ask you what you wrote about in your essays?
@nadinev For prompt #1 (Tell us about your world and how it’s shaped your views, etc.), I wrote a narrative of how I discovered environmental issues as a 9 year old. For prompt #2 (What you’re proud of), I did an analogy of my hobby of baking without a recipe and engineering (need innovation, try-observe-reflect, etc.) and how we treat Earth is similar to baking without a recipe as we are adding ingredients (chemicals) and taking out ingredients (resources). It was very “different” from most personals statements and I actually believed it was quite risky, but I guess they liked it!
Can I get your views on this? My son was accepted by UCSB and is likely to major in Politics or Global Studies. Are these considered good programs at UCSB? Also, what are considered the main pros and cons of UCSB? Lastly, he is also accepted to UCSD. How do the two schools compare? Thanks, Londondad
@calmom I don’t recall them saying that at our session but the did say there was no back door into engineering, and that if you want engineering you had to apply to engineering. High-stat OOS son got the no yesterday in ME. But he has a yes in MatE at CPSLO, which is really the major he wants that UCSB doesn’t have in undergrad so while the no stung like heck he’s good!
@kgcobb He applied Chem E. With an AP Chem 5 and 780 on Chem SAT II. And we’re not Asian so can’t use that excuse. He’s got plenty of great options and wrote off UCSB once his other acceptances came in. But it’s just strange to see the rejection. UCSB was the “safest” school he applied to and the only rejection he’s gotten.
Really strong ecs, 2 years of ASB, founder of political club at school and local political organization, interned for state senator over the summer
Solid essays, probably a little bit on the cheesy side but talked about family difficulties and immigrant background
Clearly, my GPA was way outside of the range of what you’d expect for UCSB, but I think it was salvaged by my SAT score and combination of major-focused ecs and solid essays. I still have to hear back from a few other colleges, but I’m incredibly lucky to have gotten into UCSB given my GPA and would be totally happy going there.
We thought it was a safety school too! They don’t have my sons preferred major (MatE) but that 4+1 MS MatE program. CalPoly SLO is more highly rated or easily a tie with UCSB engineering, and has a great top notch aerospace/materials program, a beautiful campus and they gave a nice little scholarship that makes son feel appreciated! Also got top OOS scholarship at Colo Mines which has a great program … Yes feels better than No regardless and all the early schools were yes and these later schools have been No. Are you OOS? That’s a big bone of contention on this thread
He’s in-state, caucasian and not looking for financial aid. It’s a weird one. DS isn’t really interested in engineering though. He’s mostly a finance/econ/math kid looking to get into the IB/VC world. He only applied Chem E at SB because they don’t have IE, all his other apps were for math, IE, and/or econ. I just looked at his UC app and his essay really didn’t read like an engineering app so maybe they know what they are doing and figured out he wasn’t right for the program.
@kgcobb He’s going to UChicago. He didn’t apply to any Ivies because he got in EA to UChicago and figured one super reach acceptance was enough. He’s waiting on USC and UCB but I can’t imagine any scenario where he would turn down UChicago.
I think we get emails starting today and ending the 25th. When you logged into your portal, did it say you were accepted into ccs whatever or your second choice major?
