Those are good points.
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Iâm not sure if this is what you were trying to say, but UCs do not give HL bumps in GPA to OOS students.
Which came first, the chicken or the egg? In 2018, USNWR added social mobility to their ranking system. As a result, state schools moved up in rankings. This Inside Higher Ed article mentions UCR moving up 39 spots.
For some institutions, the changes in the formula have resulted in large gains. The University of California, Riverside, is up 39 spots, to a three-way tie for 85th. Riverside is known for having high graduation rates (73 percent, well above the national median of 42 percent), while also having a student body that is diverse in all kinds of ways â Riverside is a âmajority minorityâ campus where 12 percent of students are white. Fifty-six percent of its students receive Pell Grants (five times the share at Harvard University).
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That is just odd. So someone whose parents graduated from Cambridge or Oxford would be considered first gen?
Yes for UCLA and UCSB. They specifically say the college degree needs to be US.
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Understandably. Meanwhile, by the UC definition of getting the âdegree,â if two students dropped out of Stanford to start a tech co, made billions, and got married, their kid would be considered first-gen.
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Congrats to your kid on Caltech! That is huge!!
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While very frustrating - and I agree that it is - one has to assume that this would potentially only apply to barely a handful of applicants at most rather than constitute some critical mass that could capsize their admissions strategy.
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Well, this a place to vent about the UC decisions, so most of us here are upset with the UC system in one way or another.
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This is so interesting! So way more private school kids applied, but much fewer of them got in percentage-wise. Iâm not surprised.
Of course you are right. I was making an observation.
That makes sense.
Really good articles! Thank you!!
Very odd. Maybe this is a subtle way of getting their first-gen numbers up.
But I think thatâs the thing - people think of various hypothetical scenarios - understandably as all we can really do is speculate based on limited certain information - but then I think sometimes they begin to see view these scenarios as something that has or could substantially move the needle on admissions decisions. I see this most with speculation on kids lying about their awards or activities or whatever. Sure, I am absolutely certain that some do this. But I am not convinced that the majority do this, and I am not convinced that AOs are so naive that they usually fall for it. Rather, I think some small percentage lie and an even smaller percentage get away with it (through an acceptance). This is the same thing to me - sure, this (the 1st gen thing) is something that can be gamed/abused, but is it often enough to really make any difference in outcome for the vast majority of other applicants?
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This is most likely true.
However, the melting pot that the US is and specifically CA and for instance the bay area (because of all the tech businesses), the amount of families that are here that have degrees from outside the US is higher then one would expect.
At my company alone, 20% have degrees from outside the US (equates to slightly more then 100 employees) and they are CA residents now.
At my kids high school, there are a handful of seniors going outside the US for their colleges next year. They will comeback to the US most likely and their degree based on the current criteria would make there future kids first gen.
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Good points. Maybe it doesnât move the needle, but it certainly affects individual perceptions of the school and whether or not their admissions process is âfair.â All parents or students need is to hear a few stories about how someone got in by lying, and it can taint their whole view of that school and maybe the application process in general.
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Interesting points!
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I havenât read all the replies yet so please forgive me if someone else has already said this, but there are about 50% of applicants or more to the UC system that get a spot now (I canât remember the exact percentage). I think what may be confused here is the difference between admissions and enrollments. The UC system as a whole enrolls a lot of the students who apply, they just do not all get their first choice campus. If you restrict applications and admissions it wouldnât have the effect youâre thinking it would. The same number of seats at the UCs exist now that would exist then. More seats would not be available if we restricted how many admissions a student could getâthey still can only attend one school.
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Interesting discussion and I love a good vent! I was thinking of my personal experience with friends whose kids go to private schools in the SF Bay Area. Most apply to the UCs as safeties (even Cal and UCLA). So the UCs might have adjusted their numbers based on yield from privates?
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Excellent thread. I applied to all 9 UC schools as an in-state applicant and have heard back from 8 thus far. Iâm willing to provide stats and which UC PIQs I chose if anyone is interested :)) I hope this comment might help a future applicant! Good luck to all!
Accepted: UC Merced, UCR, UCD, UCSD
Waitlisted: UCI and UCSC
Rejected: UCLA and UCSB
Waiting on UC Berkeley (which is my top choice lol) but I doubt I will get in. Itâs looking like Iâm headed to UC San Diego! Go Tritons!
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