ucsd_ucla_dad

The same was said last year when my one D entered and 5 years ago when my other D entered. And it was true then as well. It's sometimes hard to make sense of it given people with higher numeric stats being rejected than some with lower stats. Certainly there are an increasing number of applicants every year to most UC campuses though with UCLA receiving more apps than any college in the country. They've increased some capacity though by building a new campus (UC Merced) and increasing the size of several other campuses.

As to why to apply to the UCs in general and to multiple campuses when they really want a particular one - "reach, match, and safety" says it all. Also, one might be offered a Regents (full ride) scholarship at one of the campuses but not another which might be a factor in where they go.