High time that PIQs are moved from a free form of 350 words to a set of specific questions that applicants can answer: What do you want to highlight? Why is it important? How did you grow etc? That’ll remove all this confusion and at least make that part of the holistic process a bit more predictable for UC decisions.
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Do you happen to know when this plan is implemented and completed? There is vast area of land from the edge of campus to the newest homes at the edge. I don’t know if that is farmland or land that is to be developed into homes and shops. I would think professors live in that area. I just haven’t had the chance to see where the shopping area is for that area of residents.
The medical school is welcoming its newest class of students.
Question, will one’s application be directed to uc merced if they were waitlisted to all of the campuses they applied to or do they have to be flat out rejected by all?
They will only get redirected if the student is designated as ELC (Top 9%) and they were not offered admission to any of the campuses they applied to.
https://admission.universityofcalifornia.edu/admission-requirements/freshman-requirements/california-residents/local-guarantee-elc.html
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I am in the 9% as stated in my uc portal, I was asking since I’ve been waitlisted/rejected from all of the uc’s I’ve applied to and unsure if I had to be flat out rejected to be considered for merced or waitlist was enough 
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waitlist won’t count. The redirection to Merced will only occur after the final decision of denial.
Edit: This is assuming you have accepted the waitlist offer
ohh okay, thank you!! 
I mean, I think that’s essentially what they are, or at least can be. It’s just that there often isn’t enough clarity around how to approach them to make the most out of the prompts you’re given and the space you have to answer them.
Oh, the other thing I just remembered that the admissions people said was a common mistake: applicants writing about their major for all the PIQs. They don’t want you to only talk about your major. Obviously that can be one topic, but the PIQs are a chance to highlight other parts of yourself, other interests, other experiences, etc. Try to limit talk about your major to just one of the responses and add more dimension to your application with the other three.
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@diskusr
@worriedmomucb is correct about the PIQ’s
From the UC Counselor conference regarding PIQ tips:
PIQ tips:
“Students need to think of the PIQ’s as interview questions and respond to them thus”
What works:
• Examples and details are helpful. Examples should be recent (focused on events in high school) when possible. If students reflect on life before high school they will need to explain how that situation impacted them as a high school student.
• The student doesn’t need to add details which place the reader in the moment with them. We don’t need to know that it was Tuesday at 2:15pm when the blue skateboard they were riding hit a green shard of glass and caused a 40 degree angle turn of their front wheel. Details should be about the experience instead (example – ‘I fell off my skateboard and ended up in a foot cast for 3 months walking on crutches.’ The detail here is due to their fall they had three months on crutches.)
What does not work:
• It is important that students understand the purpose of these responses is for admissions readers to get to know them. Literary or descriptive language is not helpful in introducing the student to the stranger in admissions.
• Admissions readers cannot make assumptions about what they read. Therefore, flowery language, metaphors and analogies are not helpful since they create ambiguity.
• Quotes, lyrics and dialogue may note be the students words, thus making them unnecessary as they often detract from the response.
• Students should avoid attempts to entertain or “hook” the reader and should instead use their own words to share their story and voice.
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env sci everywhere (one of my piqs was about env sci) + sustainable design management at ucd
Call admissions and ask… waitlist is not an acceptance and I believe that you actually will be redirected. I have heard many good things about Merced in regards to research experience, etc. hopefully one will come through for you!! 
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@3tcharm @diskur:
Waitlists do count as denials so if you are waitlisted everywhere, your UC application will be forwarded to UC Merced.
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Thank you for the clarification.
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I don’t think that’s always a mistake. My daughter applied to the 3 UCs that she would actually attend with the programs that she wanted . She got accepted to UCD (her first choice) and UCSC but got rejected by UCI. She applied widely to WUE schools as well. She is lucky it worked out.
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To some extent, I agree.
But I still feel, if a student is willing to work hard, he can practice with the standardized test books at a local library for 6-7 weeks and can see marked improvement.
You do not need some specialized coaching for SAT kind of tests.
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Agree. I know tons of people whose sole SAT prep was an occasional prep book and free online services like Khan Academy, and they did amazing. Sure, spending hundreds of hours at a SAT tutor is done by some, but it is by far not the norm.
Personally, my sole preparation for the SAT was the PSAT, nearly a year before my SAT testing session, as well as four free Khan Academy full-length practice exams done within the month leading up to the big day. I still scored in the 99th percentile after just being familiarized to the format and overall standards being tested through my prep.
The SAT is the one of the last equalizers in college admissions honestly. GPA can be fairly subjective school by school. Many extracurriculars, like sports, can be influenced by wealth and resources a lot more than one’s ability to take a standardized test can. I know people that have had tens of thousands dumped onto debate camps and years of elite sports training, or internships secured due to nepotistic connections.
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You are absolutely right in everything you said.
There’s a direct correlation between family income and test scores. I’ve also seen that a high percentage of kids in wealthy areas get extra time.
There’s a reason why top 20 colleges rely on Quest Bridge to be their diamond miner.
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Same here. My kids are 7th generation Californians and so our family has been paying CA taxes (and graduating from UC) for a LONG time, and we will be paying full price for UC (or Cal State) too. Still a great deal compared to most OOS and private. Although now that my DD has gotten some UC and Cal State acceptances at locations by the coast I see how much rent has gone up since her brothers went to college (2017 and 2020 grads). Looks like the “coastal” UC and Cal State’s rents are about double that of inland colleges like UCDavis or Chico State. Makes sense–the landlords can also rent to tourists, AirBnBs, etc. And with the pandemic so many workers moved to the coast to work remote. And inflation. Rents are a LOT more now.
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I found the Merced plan/vision (merging the university and town together) on the UCM website I think. I found the similar plan for CSUMB merging with Seaside online too–maybe just google it.
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