Not all UC’s define First Generation students like UCLA or UCSB.
UC San Diego defines first-generation college students as students with neither parent having a four-year college degree (UCOP definition).
UC Davis: Who is FirstGen?
UC Office of the President defines first generation college students as students with neither parent having a four-year college degree
Yet another perplexing situation as to why they all do not follow the same standard/definition as a UC. After all they are all governed by the Regents, shouldn’t they all have the same admissions policies, since that is what the Regents are, aka, Policy Board.
I agree that all the UC’s should have the same policy.
I’m a first generation American who worked my tail of to get a college education. I don’t necessarily agree that that should count against my kids.
I can understand this thread is helping parents vent their frustration but how can we use this energy to make a positive change for next batches. It may take long time to bring change but is there a place where somebody is listening to CA applicants.
If things are unfair what can be done to change, I had received this note from Senator, will writing to help him bring a positive change, will a petition signed by parents students help to bring the required change.
Any thoughts ?
My kid got into Caltech for Bio Medical Engineering and UCD, UCI and UCSC but got rejected from UCLA and UCSD. We are happy that he got his top choice but I do have a frustration that he did not get in UCLA and UCSD.
Yes. My daughter took 1 AP class and 50 semester credits of DE classes at local community colleges via a dual enrollment program. I think this helped her a lot with the UC acceptances that she received.
What specifically is unfair about the process? Is the issue the number of OOS students being accepted? I can understand wanting strong preference for in state students, but I think that is already the case, and it seems that each year the number of in state students is increasing (at the expense of OOS). It’s not perfect, but I do think they are taking concrete steps in the right direction and the gov has made increased funding contingent on increased in state enrollment. Senator Becker outlines this quite well in the link you provided (my daughter actually works with Sen Becker - he’s a great guy and trying to do the right thing for his constituents and by extension all Californians)
Do you know how they factored into her UC GPA? Were they weighted?
Yes, they get a 1 point bump just as AP classes get.
1 semester UC Transferable CC class = 1 Honors point bump
I don’t understand the complaint. Your kid got his first choice of Caltech, and on top of that, was also accepted into three fine UCs. What is the problem?
Admission at all of these schools is holistic. Caltech saw him as a fit, but UCLA and UCSD apparently didn’t. Getting into Caltech doesn’t mean that an applicant also deserves admission into every other university.
Also may be it’s unfair that a kid who got rejected by UCLA got accepted to Caltech - perhaps from the pov of kids who got accepted to UCLA but not to CalTech. See how things can be twisted?
The admissions process has its flaws but taking one individual students results to complain about the entire process is IMO pointless.
Here is another site to look at admission data:
https://www.sfchronicle.com/projects/2023/uc-admissions-acceptance-rates/
66% admission into UCs does not seem bad. A lot of public school kids do not apply to UCs. That is the reason we see such a high admission rate.
Yes. Weighted just like an AP class. I think UCs really like when kids have already proven themselves to be successful at real college classes.
My hunch is they aren’t taking as many kids from private schools in general, unless they are internationals because of “institutional priorities.”
I think this is accurate. The private school I teach at, and where my kids attend, has seen a significant drop in UC admissions since the pandemic/test blind admissions.
But is it actually related to the test blind policy or is that just coincidence in timing? My guess - and it is only a guess - is that private school admits are lower because private schools are more likely to serve affluent, educated families (yes, not always the case, I know), and the UCs are trying to increase 1st gen and low income students (who are more likely to attend public schools).
I think it’s probably a combination of both factors. Our students tend to have high test scores, so test blind admissions do them no favors. Our school is also in a moderately affluent zip code, so that’s not helpful either.
I don’t think the idea behind tax-funded education was started based on the altruistic goal of social mobility, even though the whole first-gen fad is a marketing ploy. The argument to tax-payers has been that public education will benefit their own children, result in an educated voter base, and keep crime rates lower.
In lieu of a long response let me just say that social mobility benefits the larger society as well, not just the individual (e.g reducing reliance on govt programs and reducing taxpayer burden)
