@ethellou: You have posted “meh grades” but other than posting test scores, what was the UC GPA? What were the EC’s? What was the essays submitted about? The rejections were just not based on the admission by exam criteria, but maybe on less than stellar grades, EC’s and essays. All these combine to make a competitive application package. UC’s are very GPA focused, so you will see many posters that were rejected with outstanding test scores but lower than average GPA (grades).