I thought I’d make this thread to warn other prospective UC students of the seriousness of SIRing. I recently was accepted into both UCSB and UCSC. UCSB was my first choice, which made my situation particularly difficult. There were citcumstances which prevented me from turning in my FAFSA on time so when the unofficial finaid estimates for UCSB came out, the only financial help I was offered was the Pell. With UCSB being my first choice, I decided to try to appeal my financial aid decision. The thing is you have to SIR in order to appeal. I was reluctant at first but did some research on old threads from this site and based on those posts thought it was no big deal and I could just withdraw my SIR and SIR to UCSC had the appeal been rejected.
But apparently that’s not how it works anymore. I was under the impression that no matter what my offer to UCSC would remain until June 1. What actually happened I guess is that SC was notified by SB of my SIR and therefore withdrew the offer. The worst part about this is I just found out my fafsa appeal for UCSB has been rejected.
Long story short: do not take the SIR lightly, it may cost you your offer of admission.