<p>See pages 1-2 for this haha.</p>
<p>40% acceptance sounds pretty normal to me. So is UCSD acceptance cutthroat?... </p>
<p>a 4.0 GPA (Weighted!) isn't as impressive as you think. I think all the mid-tier UCs and up have around 3.9 and up.</p>
<p>I believe calling UCSD "presitgious" might be taking it a bit far. HYPS/Max Plank is prestigious.</p>
<p>The fact is, UCSD is generally classified itself as a mid-tier UC. However, for almost all UCs, admission can at least be called "competitive." While UCSD is selective, from stats and general knowledge it's obvious that they're not on part with UCLA/UCB.</p>
<p>^ isn't all the mid-tier UCs around 40-50% acceptance anyways?</p>
<p>Yep, pretty much. I'm not positive on the stats for this year, but I believe all the mid tiers, including UCSD were in the 40s to low 50s for acceptance rates.</p>
<p>I believe UCSD is in the top 30 univeristies in the country. GPA, SAT, SAT Subj., admit rate are competitive. Is part of the UC system which is part of the public ivy league. Has programs that are top ranked.</p>
<p>Hmm...sounds pretty prestigious to me.</p>
<p>It's not in the top 30, but there's no doubt that admission is very competitive!
Again, I'd place it equal in prestige with the rest of the second-tier UCs.</p>
<p>USNW #38
Webometrics "World" Ranking(I emphasize on the WORLD) #32</p>
<p>Not top 30's, nontheless in the top 50's in the world and in the nation.
UC Top - Mid Tiers are all prestigious, some more prestigious than the other, but still prestigious in general.</p>
<p>A 4.0 may be mediocre at best by CC standards, but if you tell anybody that your GPA is over a 4.0 in person they'll know you're a very good student. It may not hold quite the same value it used to, but a 4.0 is still impressive even by today's standards.</p>
<p>UCSD is "generally" considered either top-tier or at least in its own tier (between Cal/LA and Davis/SB/Irvine). A few CC'ers (like some of you guys for example) may group it with Davis/SB/Irvine, but nobody I've talked to in person has done the same. And don't even refer to the rankings - I believe I've already mentioned that there are many other rankings which place UCSD in the space right behind UCLA (some have even ranked it higher in past years). Even if USNWR is the most trusted of the rankings, it's far from perfect, and it certainly isn't the college bible like some people seem to believe it is. College rankings are done by a bunch of self-proclaimed college experts who use a formula (which is still flawed and changes quite frequently) to generate a list that has an unreasonable amount of influence on its readers.</p>
<p>As for admissions, I believe we had a huge discussion and came to the conclusion that acceptance rates don't really say much. I hardly consider acceptance rates when determining how tough a particular college is to get into. It's true that it's important when you're talking about HYPSMC, but not so much between the UCs (and similar schools). This was also cited in the other discussion, but is Cal Poly SLO tougher to get into than UCSD and McGill just because it has a lower acceptance rate than both of them? I don't think so. Are UCR and UCM tougher to get into than UCSC? Not at all.</p>
<p>UCSD may have a high acceptance rate, but its applicant pool is also very well-qualified so more applicants will get in. I remember someone on CC posted the statistics of the applicant pools of Cal/LA/SD and they were all very similar. I even remember SD's applicant pool having a slightly higher average GPA than LA's. I'm not sure about the applicant pool statistics for Davis/SB/Irvine, but I'm willing to wager that they're not quite as strong as Cal/LA/SD.</p>
<p>If acceptance rates HAVE to matter, however, UCSD's was 40.2% for this year while the mid-tiers had acceptance rates close to 50%. Also, it is important to note that UCSB and UCI have only just broken the 50% mark this year. UCSD has been in the low 40% range the past couple years I believe (and will probably break 40% next year). That's a pretty fair difference if you ask me. However, one could also argue that acceptance rates separate UCSD further from Cal/LA in terms of prestige, so remember what I said in the past couple paragraphs.</p>
<p>Back to what I was saying, UCSD's admissions statistics (basically the average GPA (UC) and SAT scores) may not be quite on par with UCB and UCLA, but they're slightly closer to those two than they are to the mid-tiers, which is why UCSD is generally considered to be top-tier when it has to be classified in a 3-tier system. UCSD's reputation is also rising fast enough that it will close the gap between Cal/LA in years to come, thus becoming a full-fledged top-tier UC (instead of borderline top-tier like it is now). You can expect SD to adopt holistic admissions and garner worldwide name recognition pretty soon.</p>
<p>It is also important to note that the admissions statistics we are shown (for this year) include the UC GPA (which is what is seen by admissions officers) rather than the overall weighted GPA, which is quite a bit higher. I don't believe that this year's weighted GPAs of each UC have been released yet, but from those that have I know that UCLA's was a 4.34 (compared to a 4.16UC) and that UCSB's was a 4.03 (compared to a 3.94UC, and I believe that this is the first year UCSB has broken the 4.0 mark). UCSD's average UC GPA for this year was a 4.06, but I'm not sure about the weighted. I heard somewhere that it was close to a 4.2, which sounds about right. You may be able to meet plenty of people with GPAs greater than a 4.0, but if you think a university whose average GPA of accepted applicants is above a 4.0 isn't impressive then you've been spending a little too much time on CC.</p>
<p>As for whether or not UCSD is prestigious, it depends on what you consider to be "prestigious". It certainly isn't as prestigious as HYPSMC, but if you consider Cal/LA to be "prestigious" then UCSD must also be at least somewhat prestigious, and the mid-tier UCs should have some prestige as well. The UC system is comprised of elite schools.</p>
<p>I am in no way bashing any of the mid-tier UCs in favor of UCSD. I am simply vouching for UCSD and giving it the respect it deserves - something I don't see too much of here on CC.</p>
<p>To the OP: Go to UCSD if you value prestige, but if you like UCI better for whatever reason (be it the campus/programs/surrounding area) then by all means go there.</p>
<p>Hmmmmn, well US News is THE most prestigious of all the rankings. ;)</p>
<p>I looked for UCSD on CC's list of top tier schools and while I could find UCB and UCLA, UCSD was not there.
<a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/colleges-universities/%5B/url%5D">http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/colleges-universities/</a></p>
<p>Prestige was never an issue for UCSD, no one is denying that. No doubt all the mid-tier UCs (SD,D,I,SB) are all prestigious. However, you seem to insist on grouping UCSD with UCLA and UCB, which simply isn't true. They are much more selective than UCSD, and have much higher GPAs/SAT scores.</p>
<p>Most on the boards split up the UCs like so:
UCLA, UCB
UCSD,UCD,UCSB,UCI
and then the rest...</p>
<p>Point being, UCSD has the equivalent of 6 ranking spots for USNWR more prestige than UCI does.</p>
<p>Base your decision off the campus.</p>
<p>collegemom16:
- Like I said, no one ranking system is perfect and they all have flaws, even USNWR. None of them should be referred to religiously, they are simple recommendations and this must be remembered. It's great if a university gets a high ranking on USNWR, but that doesn't necessarily mean that it's better in every regard than those ranked several slots behind it.
- I remember reading somewhere that CC's top universities is based off of the top 25 slots of USNWR.</p>
<p>dmission:
- Cal/LA have somewhat higher average GPAs/SATs than UCSD, but, like I said in my previous post, SD's average GPA/SAT is closer to those of Cal/LA than those of Davis/SB/Irvine. Therefore, in a 3-tier system, UCSD would be grouped with Cal/LA. It's still borderline, though.
- You say that most people on CC group SD with Davis/SB/Irvine, and you posted a link in the other thread in an attempt to prove this point. You claimed that the "overwhelming majority" of people in the thread you linked grouped SD with the mid-tiers, but I looked through that thread myself and noticed that very few people did so. Most either grouped it in the top tier with Cal/LA or in its own tier between Cal/LA and Davis/SB/Irvine. Point is, it's at least above the mid tier.
- Again, USNWR isn't the college bible.</p>
<p>z7xfla: Well said. I've studied this thing for about a year now, trying to help my daughter figure out where to apply, and then where to accept. I came to the conclusion that UCSD had enough of an extra prestige factor (along with the great location) to choose it over the mid-tier schools.</p>
<p>UCLA/UCB have SATs over 2000, UCSD does not. Their GPAs are above 4.1, while UCSDs is not. Their admission rates are less than half that of UCSDs. It's not on tier with them, but it is still a great school.</p>
<p>z7xfla: I know how you feel. UCSD really doesnt get the respect that it deserves.Because it doesnt have a football team to get it more recognized in the public, many don't give it the academic credit it really has achieved.</p>
<p>Agreed^</p>
<p>No doubt UCSD is academically a great school. It's just quite on par with the top-tier UCs, though it may be soon.</p>
<p>"Most on the boards split up the UCs like so:
UCLA, UCB
UCSD,UCD,UCSB,UCI
and then the rest..."</p>
<p>While UCSD is not quite on par with UCB/UCLA, the mid UC's are not on par with UCSD either. Let's face it, the gap between a mid-tier UC, be it Davis, SB, or Irvine and UCSD is quite noticeable. There is an approximate 0.1 difference in weighted GPA between UCSD and the mid-tier UC's. Curious to note, there is also an approximate 0.1 difference between UCSD and UCB/UCLA. The same is also true for the SAT's. The difference between UCSD and mid-tier UC's is around 70 while the difference between UCSD and UCB/UCLA is 70.</p>
<p>So, UCSD is neither here nor there in terms of a rigid ranking structure of top and mid-tier UC's. It's unreasonable to bound UCSD to the mid-tier UC's, because, truthfully, the difference is quite noticeable. At the same time, it's not quite UCB/UCLA. Thus, it's only fair to put it in a high-middle-tier of its own.</p>
<p>Hence, most of the people who actually realize the distinct differences between UCSD and mid-tier UC's, split up the UC's into:
UCB/UCLA
UCSD
UCD/UCI/UCSB
the rest.</p>
<p>dmission: Just curious. What schools did you pass on for UCD? And are you from California?</p>
<p>tastybeef pretty much said what I was about to. However, UCSD's average GPA/SAT do lean slightly towards Cal/LA. UCSD would normally be in its own tier, but if it had to be either top or mid, I'd put it in the top.</p>
<p>Thanks for everyone's input and especially to z7xfla and tastybeef. I think all the UC's are awesome campuses, but everyone has their personal preferences for their top choice. For me it was UCSD, partly due to its academic standing, but also because of location. Overall, I think all the UC 's offer something for everybody.</p>