<p>I recently got the unfortunate news of my rejection to UCI. Like others who were rejected, I'm going to attempt an appeal. But it seems that UCI has been rejecting a lot of qualified students lately. </p>
<p>Last year my cousin applied to UCI (He had kept A's and B's throughout high school, joined lots of clubs, got around 1800 on SAT I and around 590 on three SAT II tests, but was rejected. He appealed but got rejected again and went to UCR instead; he chose Biology as his major). I've also heard from one of my friends (who goes to another school) that he got rejected to UCI as well, but he was accepted to UCSB and UC Davis (He kept pretty good grades when he went to Troy High School and was even involved in swimming and went to meets often). As for me, I had a 1720 on my SAT I, and around 560 for my SAT II's, kept a 3.8 GPA (that's both unweighted college weighted), and even had volunteer hours and clubs; I left my major as undecided. Another of my friends that I currently go to the same school with told me that her SAT scores were low, that she only joined a few clubs, and that her grades were okay (she maintained her GPA around 3.5), and stated her major as Art. She got in to UCI (even though she thought she wasn't good academically, i think she got in because of her interest in art). </p>
<p>My sister who is about to go into her third year at UCI told me last year that they were letting Freshman live in apartments since they were running out of space in the dorms (and apartments are usually only given to second year students). </p>
<p>So what do you guys think? Do you think what major you choose has anything to do with it? Or could it be the space problem as well?</p>
<p>I think I got shafted because of my major. </p>
<p>I hade 3.74 UC GPA, 2160 SAT1, 700 on Physics and Math IIC SAT2s. </p>
<p>Nobody told me to choose undecided as my second major, so my two selections were Environmental Engineering (impacted, I later learned), and Civil Engineering (ditto). So I'm planning to appeal and ask them to review my app with undecided as my second major. </p>
<p>In addition, I now have work experience and leadership (varsity golf team captain) to add on, so I hope it helps me out.</p>
<p>if you apply to Letters & Sciences, your major has absolutely no impact on admissions (unless you mark math and have a 450 SAT Math test). Engineering applicants are reviewed separately and ranked accordingly.</p>
<p>There is no space problem at UCI since it is the Under Construction Indefinitely. i.e., it is a growing campus.</p>
<p>Look, there's something all of you have to understand. The UC people are looking for MORE than just a relatively high GPA and SAT scores. Just because your scores are above the average of applicants does not guarantee you a spot at UCI. They look at numerous other factors, and still most of you people treat opportunities like volunteering as a mandatory EC lister. Anybody with two brain cells and demanding parents can get a good SAT score withing months. You got to understand college admissions for UCs seem random and unfair mostly because you don't know the entire story. Maybe there are people in California that got in with lower stats, but you never seen their circumstances. Many people in the state go to crummy high schools that does not offer a single AP class, and are short on qualified teachers. The UCs are thankfully farsighted enough to see the individual differences. All you see are their numbers. </p>
<p>If your friend can go to Troy high school, that means he lives in a nice suburban neighborhood with houses costing at least a million. He also got accepted to SB and D. I don't see a problem in this situation. </p>
<p>So my advice. Don't appeal. I have never heard of anyone get accepted in that fashion.</p>