UCSD Waitlist Thread [Class of 2020]

@FarWestCoast Oh, well UC Davis said that they look at your first semester Senior Year grades, so I assumed UCSD did the same.

@jackisawesome same haha. I would reject all my college admissions right now and all the upcoming ones if it means that ucsd can accept me.

If this gives any of you guys hope, if you search ucsd waitlist on twitter, there were mainly acceptances for those that opted in to the waitlist. You never know if you don’t try! Also on the ucsd waitlist 2015 forum, there were a lot of acceptances off the waitlist! I know that financial aid did not cover oos students this year so hopefully that will open up a ton of spots for us! Some people are bound to get into colleges that they prefer over ucsd ;p

Because I mean, I got waitlisted UCSD and denied LA. I feel that this rules out both Berkeley and Cornell. So UCSD would be my top choice (at least in my thoughts atm). Plus, I have always loved it and know my way around the entirety of campus, so it would be a shame to have lost this uni

Do any of you know whether you would go to UCSB or UC Davis for bio? Like if u don’t get into UCSD off the waitlist, which school would you go to? I am having such a hard time trying to decide

@honcho @jackisawesome I guess if your first semester grades are good you should mention them in the 200 words. Unless you have a lot to say otherwise and can’t spare the space.

I mean is it worth it to opt in? It seems that there’s no chance we’ll get our desired major once we’re supposedly accepted off the wait-list, nor will we get our desired college. I’m curious because I’m not sure how it works, but I’m assuming if you get off the waitlist you really only attend the school as an Undeclared?

@tennis7cowboys Wait, is that true? Do they actually accept you as undeclared? I don’t really care about getting my top pick of college at this point, as far as one of them will take me in. But doesn’t being undeclared make it much harder for us to get the classes that we want?

@jackisawesome I personally really like UCD’s bio program. I’m planning on visiting soon too.

@jackisawesome May I suggest UCI’s bio program? Personally I’ve heard that its on par with Davis’s if not better.

@tiredaf16 Being undeclared only makes it harder to get CS classes and transfer into an engineering major. Otherwise you’re fine

@tennis7cowboys different perspective: there’s no chance you’ll get your desired major or desired college if you don’t opt-in

@DoctorP well answer me this, is it at all possible to get an impacted major off the waitlist?

@jackisawesome First and foremost I hope you don’t let this year’s results discourage you, they overall seem pretty strange, as those who are following the UC threads would likely agree. The schools don’t really know that much about you, they just see a 15 minute snapshot based on some sheets of paper. I think UCSB and UCD are some great options that many people would be envious of.

I think the answer may depend partly on what you want to do when you graduate? But it is a tough call. At least on the surface, I think you have to say UCSB wins on environment, and UCD wins on academics. For biology, US News has ranks of UCSB - 50 in the US and 155 globally, and UCD - 19 in the US, 30 globally. For Psychology it is UCSB - 40 in US and 81 globally, and UCD 21 in the US and 34 globally. Of course, these ranks are just a coarse starting point. And UCSB and UCD each have some specialties where they are very strong. For instance, UCSB is absolutely epic in Materials Science.

The deeper question is which one feels more like the kind of place that will be a supportive environment, since as good as academics are somewhere, if you are miserable, you won’t be able to take advantage of it. Did you get a chance to visit both?

I would assume that if accepted applicants were unable to get into their 1st or 2nd choice majors and were placed into an Undeclared major, that applicants on the waitlist which have applied to capped or impacted majors, would most likely be placed in Undeclared, but there is no way of knowing unless you are accepted. You always have the option to turn down the spot.

@Gumbymom that was my initial impression

Just thought I would save the trip for some people from calling UCSD’s admissions office, but I just called and apparently the freshman waitlist is not ranked, so there’s really no way to know if you have a better chance of getting admitted or not compared to others waitlisted until they notify us after May 1st.

@Gumbymom I called up Davis and they said they do not even look at your alternate major, even for waitlisted applicants. UCSD on the other hand I have no idea.

@honcho: Thanks for the info and that is good to know.

@Gumbymom Any time. I wish I had known this before, as I was sort of depending on the alternate major (my primary major was biomed. engi, very competitive). Might as well TAG If I don’t make the waitlist(s).

Maybe the UC Freshman matrix needs to be updated since according the matrix I am linking, it states UCD “may” consider an alternate major. I guess “may” needs to be changed to “does not”.

http://admission.universityofcalifornia.edu/counselors/files/freshman-admission-matrix.pdf

Reminder to all!

I just called UCSD admissions and they clarified that they do not admit based off of major, even off of the waitlist. This means that it is possible to be admitted to the school as “undeclared”.

On the other hand, UC Davis does admit by major (For engineering majors) and by College (For the rest of the majors), even off of the waitlist. They also do not consider your alternate.

I wish I had known these before I applied.

Waitlist stats for 2015 (all UC campuses):
http://■■■■■■■■■■■■/docs/2015FreshmanWaitlistAppealCancellation.pdf?f397bc