I think there is also some info floating around out there about what each campus is looking for most (contained in their mission statements: for example, UCD looks for cooperation, UCLA looks for leadership, etc). And that is also probably why one student can have great success at one campus, but not at another. It is the rare candidate that will speak to all UC campuses. Although it happens, I think it is very much the exception.
I can understand your rage. I know of an applicant who got rejected from UC Merced yet accepted at UCLA. I mean, that is CRAZY.
Congratulations on UCD acceptance. My daughter will be going there in the Fall and is thrilled.
The high demand major list were not 2022 numbers and I should have not posted the % unless I verified. The current CC discussion for CS admit rates are up to date.
2 Likes
What was the major then? Again, critical piece of info if you want people to comment.
2 Likes
Thatās the point of the āholisticā review. The gpa may be the most important part of the application, but it is not the deciding factor. They look at āfitā and determine through your PIQs and ec, etc whether or not they think you would be a successful student at their particular campus and they all have different requirements.
They look at things like course rigor and whether or not you are ready for college. A student with a 4.0 gpa who chose not to take honors or AP classes that were available at their high school, probably wonāt be preferred over a student with a slightly lower gpa but pushed themselves with the extra classes.
You also have to consider that many kids apply with the same stats, so they have to have ways of choosing which one gets the offer.
As an example, student A with a 4.0 applying for CS but hasnāt taken any prep courses towards that degree and student B with a 3.9 who has AP, honors and a week long summer course in programming. Assuming PIQs are equal, my guess is theyāll take student B over student A.
1 Like
@worriedmomucb,
It makes sense that each UC wants particular traits.
Iām thinking if that would make sense. Letās say ucla accepted the kids with great leadership skills. Once youāre in the classroom/campus how does it work? It would be out of balance
Yeah, I have no idea, but I think they know how they want to build their incoming class. Iām sure they balance in some ways, but I am certainly not privy to the finer points of UC admissions other than, as Facebook likes to say, āItās complicated.ā
1 Like
I read that UK schools next year will eliminate essays and require video submissions of students talking about themselves instead. Sigh. Glad this is my last high school senior!
4 Likes
Comprehensive UC application review considers 13 areas of criteria. GPA is only of those factors and each UC independently determines how each factor is considered in their review.
2 Likes
@scratchy903, great points.
Letās asume the student took the hardest classes and highest level AP/honors and has high uw/w gpa.
And has advanced their interests in their major.
How equally qualified kids get selected ? One selected one rejected/waitlisted, but was is the reason for that selection?
Itās a number game. No matter how ācomprehensiveā or āfairā we think the application process is, there are always perfectly excellent kids (not just in the eyes of their parents) who will not make the cut. We donāt take it personal, neither did my son. It has nothing to do with him as a person nor as a student.
2 Likes
This might help answer some of your questions. I linked to the time stamp when he talks about what leadership might look like.
1 Like
At that point youāre looking at PIQās, First Gen, Low Income, Zip code (High school attended). In reality, no two applications will ever be 100% equal. Itās near impossible to tell with two very closely matched applications why they would chose one over another.
The kids are also competing with other kids from their high school as well as all the other applicants.
4 Likes
Totally makes sense. Itās a gamble.
1 Like
If there is a scale of numbers being assigned to the 13 categories, the top 10-15% of hundreds of thousands of applications will most likely have very similar if not the same exact number. Itās mathematically impossible to have that many applicants separated out by discrete number. Therefore, at that point, the cut is pretty much random. Happy for those who got accepted, I truly do. But I donāt I believe for a second, they deserve more OR less than those who didnāt. It is what it is.
4 Likes
@nhatrang, well explained.
Sometimes luck/randomness doesnāt cooperate.
2 Likes
My husband works at a well known company in the bay area that hires a lot of software engineers. When my son started looking for engineering schools, Stevens was one of the schools my husband suggested. In his opinion Stevens is an excellent school and its graduates have a great reputation. So thatās one west coast hiring managerās opinion for you! 
1 Like
The CSU system also is an excellent alternative to UC. A lot of people turn up their noses to CSUs, but they have many highly recognized programs and are moving up in the ranks too!
3 Likes
Completely agree. Iāve been saying this again and again to anyone who will listen this year. I donāt know why we didnāt have my son apply to any CSUs 2 years ago. This year my daughter applied to 3, got into all of them, and I know could be happy at any of them! They are great schools!
2 Likes
Off the top of my head I can think of UT Austin, Georgia Tech, UNC, UMichigan, UWashington, UWisconsin-Madison, and UVA (in no particular order.) California might have more public uniās in the top 50, but it also has a population of over 39 million people. Texas is the next closest in population of the states I listed, with about 30 million people. Florida has almost 22 million people, but its population tends to skew older. California is nearly four times the size of Michigan, Georgia, and Virginia. Wisconsin and Washington both have fewer that 10 million people.
3 Likes