@Gator88NE …very true in Post #'s 1037 & 1038! There is a fine line between rapidly expanding the campus to its 40,000 goal, while also significantly decreasing student acceptance rates along with an increase in all the hard numbers. It is all happening now…the campus is in a great position to accomodate the rapid growth projected through the year 2065. It has always been known for its personal touch and still has it. Hope it can retain it!!
The reality is that for a majority of California families, the difference in cost between a UC and a private school or an OOS public is, at the very least, a very significant factor. (Obviously there are also lots of families for whom the difference in cost between a UC and a CSU is also not to be sneezed at.)
So sure, there are affluent families who turn down an acceptance at UCSC or UC Riverside to go to an OOS public, because they want a school where there are football games and the other trappings of a big flagship. Or they choose to go to a small LAC because they want the individual attention. Those are perfectly legitimate choices – if you can afford them.
Saying “the UCs have lost their luster” is like saying “nobody goes there anymore – it’s too crowded.”
@dustypig Um, I said the UCs lost their luster “for some families”. UCs still have their ardent supporters, but all the UCB and UCLA grads I know (including myself) are sending their own kids to USC and elsewhere.
"the MARKETING companies hired by those universities are the ones who send out all of the “apply to ME " mailers, NOT the staff of the admissions offices, because they are paid for an increase in the # of applications.”
They’re all one and the same, the marketing companies are only doing the implementation work of the mailer, the actual strategy, messaging, content and approval to send the mails come from admissions or someone else in the university. As long as the mailer has the brand and logo of the university, it should be seen as coming from the university, which is actually what admissions wants. I have worked on many of these mailings (emails now) as I’m in marketing, and the marketing company used is not seen as a separate entity from the university, it can’t be as that would violate some privacy laws and company standards. If a company gets a list from a third party, in this case NMSQT, they cannot give it to another external vendor unless the vendor has signed some kind of NDA.
Let me put it another way, if I get too many mails from a college, I’m not contacting the marketing company to take me off the list, I’m contacting the college.
Interesting. I didn’t know this. From what I know, in Asian community in CA, UC System, in particular UCB, UCLA, and UCI, is still #1 choice.
Maybe this explains the large number of Asians in those campuses?
I guess this is a case of “one man’s food is someone else’s poison.”
These opinions/statements are not mutually exclusive. Both can be true. UC’s aren’t #1 for everyone and they’re also at the same time #1 choice of many CA students and families.
I heard that in most areas around the world and especially in Asia people know what “UC” means…says something about all locations within the best public college system in the world!
@theloniusmonk
my point was that the admission officers are NOT the ones who decide who will receive those mailings.
Every year naive kids think that if they get a letter from U of Chicago, it must mean SOMETHING! as is Chicago really wants ME!
Most have never received “marketing material” before . All I am trying to do is educate kids and parents that those mailings are not indicative, in ANY way, of a students chances of acceptance.
As savvy, knowledgeable adults, you and I know that. But you’d be surprised how many adults and kids dont.
That probably says a lot more about your social circle & choice of neigborhood and schools than it does about the UC’s.
Obviously the problem that is the stimulus for this thread is because the UC’s are getting more applicants than ever before … no shortage at all of students who desperately want to attend.
Probably finances play a lot into these decisions as well.
I am sure Asians know UC as good but realistic, not as ‘best’. Sure Harvard and Yale are preferred, but everyone knows that admission there is very unlikely.
@calmom Agree, that is why I said “some families”. The UCs getting more applicants than ever before plays into it as well since the UCs ARE overcrowded, and seemingly overwhelmed with applications. Consider the last cycle in which many applicants were left frustrated with delayed decisions (UCI in particular irritated many). Those with resources can opt out of what they see to be a frustrating process and apply elsewhere. Also, UCs don’t care about legacy and give preference to first gen, so there is no added advantage to a legacy kid applying. According to what I’ve read on this thread, it even works against you since you had the advantage of college-educated parents.
The mission of PUBLIC education definitely different from PRIVATE colleges.
The UC campuses are not overcrowded. California population does not explode. The problem is they allow too many duplicate applications. More than 30 years ago I could only choose at most 3 campuses on the app and they would select only one campus to review my app. They chose a Southern CA campus for me probably because I lived in Southern CA at that time. Now they let students independently apply to 5 or more campuses. They highest admission yield for UCLA is 37%, for UCB is less than 38%. The average yield is around 23-25%. The low yield indicates the inefficiency in the admission process.
https://dailybruin.com/2014/04/30/uclas-yield-rate-explained-by-location-competition/
http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ucla-admissions-20170405-story.html
https://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/infocenter/freshman-admissions-summary
Actually, the UCs are overcrowded as they enroll more students, a plan approved by the Regents a couple of years ago. Undergraduate housing is particularly affected, with many campuses having converted dorm rooms meant as doubles into triples. (The problem is aggravated by rent for off-campus apartments being so crazy expensive in many areas.)
https://dailybruin.com/2016/06/05/ucla-to-convert-doubles-into-triples-to-house-additional-students/
http://dailynexus.com/2016-05-11/300-dorms-to-become-triples/
http://ucsdguardian.org/2017/10/16/ucsd-offers-to-pay-transfers-to-move-off-campus-due-to-overcrowding/
https://thetab.com/us/uc-santacruz/2016/11/01/influx-new-students-83
Davis has built more dorms but also has had issues:
https://theaggie.org/2016/11/09/uc-davis-faces-issue-of-overcrowding/
^ They need more dorms because there are more students moving away from home than in the past. Both my niece and nephew were not admitted to UCI but they were admitted to UCSD and they had to live in UCSD dorms. And off course they need more dorms for OOS and international students. Besides, living in the dorm is today’s trend, and it’s a good thing for college students.
@coolweather, students have always attended campuses away from their homes–nothing new there. And there’s nothing “today” about wanting to live in a dorm. Here’s a fact–the Regents approved expanding the number of students enrolled and it’s led to overcrowding in housing and some classes.
https://www.sfgate.com/education/article/UC-committee-approves-plan-to-increase-California-6644782.php
With Napolitano now calling for guaranteed transfers for community college students, the situation could grow worse unless the growth is managed smartly. I have a couple of friends who work at different UCs and they’ve both expressed concern about adding students without adequate infrastructure in place.
Increasing number of dorm rooms for public colleges is a new thing. A lot of students used to commute in the past. Now they cannot because of traffic snarl. Also private apartments near campuses were easier to find and cheaper. Now, housing price explodes in California and it will be difficult for students to find private housing.
Napolitano can send $5,000-$10,000 to underenrolled UCR and UCM without any problem.
5,000-10,000 students, not $. But donations from high income administrators are welcomed.
Can any Californian tell me where they can apply to a flagship university for tuition of $13k a year? I’m actually surprised that UCLA doesn’t have 200,000 applications…
It’s the most applied to university because of the hundreds of thousands of CA high school grads that can’t afford to go OOS or pay private university tuition. Sadly 70% get denied anyway even though their decent applicants.