I’m not sure I understand what you are trying to say.
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Question for you: I know UC currently uses 13 factors for admission–prior to 2020, did they use 14 factors (existing ones plus SAT/ACT)? Or did they also review SAT Subject scores? Class ranking (not considered anymore)? Since you’ve been following this for 13 years–how have the admission criteria changed otherwise (or did they not always publicize their criteria)?
The original criteria was 14 factors and the one dropped was the SAT/ACT test scores. Students can submit SAT/ACT test scores which are used for placement after enrolling.
Some students still have valid SAT subject test scores that could be submitted prior to Fall 2022 but these students were usually homeschooled and were reviewed for Admission by Exception.
Since I have been CC for a while, I cannot tell exactly when the UC’s started listing their application review criteria but the data I have collected on what each campus considers as Very Important, Important, Considered and Not Considered originally came from the Common Dataset for each campus.
Individual HS Class rank was never a consideration since I have been on CC. The UC’s target from the 1960 master plan was the top 12.5% of CA HS students. They use to have a handy little tool on the UC website where you input your UC capped weighted GPA and test scores to find out if you were in the top 9% of the state for ELC statewide and tables on what your calculated UC score would be. Since test scores were dropped, you now have to do the calculation yourself.
The UC’s when my son’s applied in 2013 and 2014 had only 2 essay prompts instead of 8 now.
One thing that has not changed is that GPA is “King” with the UC’s and they were always more GPA focused vs. test focused.
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Just for more UC history, UC Riverside was one of the 2 default campuses for ELC along with UC Merced in 2013/2014. UC Riverside also had a Freshman guaranteed admission program which I believe ended 2015. If you applied early in August, had an eligible GPA and test scores, you were guaranteed admission as a Freshman student for the campus but necessarily the major. My older son applied for this program, so UCR was definitely a safety at that time.
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Just putting this out there. Would this be a more fair process?
Tell me how ChatGPT could do a better job of reading college admission applications than humans.
As an AI language model, ChatGPT can process vast amounts of data much faster than humans, making it capable of reviewing college admission applications more efficiently and accurately than humans. Here are some ways in which ChatGPT could potentially do a better job of reading college admission applications than humans:
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Unbiased evaluation: ChatGPT can be programmed to evaluate applications purely on their merit, without any bias based on gender, race, ethnicity, or socioeconomic status. This can help ensure a fair evaluation process and eliminate any potential for discrimination or prejudice.
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Consistent evaluation: Unlike humans, ChatGPT can evaluate applications consistently without any deviation. This can help ensure that each application is evaluated on the same criteria, providing a fair and level playing field for all applicants.
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Efficient processing: ChatGPT can process a large number of applications in a short amount of time, saving colleges time and resources. This can help colleges make decisions more quickly, allowing them to communicate admission decisions to applicants sooner.
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Ability to analyze data: ChatGPT can analyze data from previous admissions cycles and use that information to make more informed decisions. This can help colleges identify trends and patterns in applicant data and make more accurate predictions about which applicants are likely to be successful.
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Reduced human error: ChatGPT is less likely to make errors or overlook important details compared to humans. This can help ensure that each application is evaluated thoroughly and accurately.
Overall, while ChatGPT may not be able to replace humans entirely in the college admissions process, it can provide a valuable tool for colleges to use in conjunction with human evaluators to improve the fairness, efficiency, and accuracy of the evaluation process.
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I am not sure that we really want to read ChatGPT’s opinion on this topic. If you have your own opinion, you could write a human generated post, though.
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There’s an element to admissions essays that’s an emotional response. I don’t think that’s something we would want to remove from the process. Then we’re back to just comparing stats.
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Fair enough!
Agree with the emotional component. However, I believe it’s inevitable that AI becomes part and parcel of the application evaluation process. My question is really focused on whether there’s a more fair process out there for an overwhelmed system.
It won’t, automation is already a part but AI needs to be trained and the biggest problem in admissions are the existing inequities. No institution serious about holistic review and addressing inequities will use AI.
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“…while ChatGPT may not be able to replace humans entirely in the college admissions process, it can provide a valuable tool for colleges to use in conjunction with human evaluators to improve the fairness, efficiency, and accuracy of the evaluation process.”
Please note that this post has nothing to do with Generative AI v. human post – simply asking the question as it seems folks are not happy with the process as it is today.
the two links below are to a external essay reader that read PIQs for Berkeley, and a PPT from the UC Counselor Conference. The take away from both seems to be that many well qualified students don’t write the PIQ in a way that connects with the reader, and, therefore, is not a memorable PIQ. Also, I read that the UCs get around using race as a factor by heavily focusing on a comparison of students by school and region; can’t find the article that discussed topic. In essence, applicants are compared to their immediate peers.
I don’t think the system is “overwhelmed”. The amount of time a reader spends on an essay will probably always be the same. If the school has a surge in applicants, then more readers will be hired. The flexibility of hiring seasonal readers addresses the workload.
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I think it is interesting that in the “It’s not an essay” document, the two PIQs described as good examples are both about issues related to being low income / first generation.
“Ever since my parents couldn’t afford to pay the rent for our apartment, my family moved into a garage…”
and
“I look up to my mother the most … although uneducated, she is a selfless woman who works two jobs while taking care of my disabled father and her 3 children at home”
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Appreciate the response and opinions.
That’s interesting. I’ll search for that and if you do come upon it please post…
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https://www.scu.edu/financialaid/cost-of-attendance/
$82,227 per year before aid.
My son was deferred and then waitlisted for fall 2023 admission. They have a seminar for waitlisted student. They said there is no merit scholarship or financial aid from the school for waitlisted. Cannot afford it, have my son remove it from the list. Will not attend even got off from waitlisted. Honestly it is a good school with excellent location, just too expensive even for middle class.
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Some of the UC Admission departments have You Tube channels.
In each of the videos below, I linked to the portion of the video where they give examples of PIQ that provided enough information and those that were missed opportunities.
UCSD Admissions
UCSB Admissions
Berkeley Admissions doesn’t show specific examples, but you can hear that they are looking for specifics similar to UCSD and UCSB.
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Agree on everything you said.
UC can definitely put in some effort in making the PIQ dos and donts better and widely understood. Often these counselor directed messaging doesn’t make its way to students
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