I thought that was a good article, too, and I was glad to see that many students do feel positively about being there.
@calmom…outside of college confidential, there are many students (a number of first generation) that would love to go to UC Merced or any UC they can make it into. Lots of good things in the future at UC Merced.
Lodi is fairly close to Merced on Hiway 99. There is a famous song “Stuck in Lodi” I think a few people may feel that way also about Merced
I think that it takes a very long time to grow a university–Merced is just a baby.
But…if you do a simple google search of “UC Merced aerial view” you can see why many young people find it less desirable.
My eldest thought it looked–in location and over-all style–like a prison.
And at 7pm, it’s still 100 degrees there right now. From the aerial view, I don’t doubt that at all.
Trees anyone?
Mature shade trees is one of the reasons it takes so long to establish a university.
-In my opinion
Weather prediction for tomorrow is 105 degrees in Davis. Somehow or other that has not prevented the growth of the university and surrounding town.
And yes it does take time, both for the growth of university and trees.
@dragonmom3…those shade trees are growing and will mature! UC Merced now reminds me of when I went to UC Riverside back in the 80’s…had even less people (5 thousand) with a personal touch, great programs and diversity that some others lacked. Received a great education and college experience at UC Riverside! Always have had a soft spot for people pursuing higher University of California education at ANY location and are willing to make sacrifices while not in that “perfect” “big city” or beach location…will always hold ALL University of California System locations in the highest regard and would NEVER put any location down for those going for their dreams and opportunities wherever they can!! The University of California System is so renowned (one of the best PUBLIC systems in the nation and world) that I would have attended a UC Barstow if they had one back in the day!!!
I just stumbled on this thread. I don’t know the magic bullet. My twins were both accepted to UCLA, UCB, UCI, UCSD, SLO, and Cal Poly Pomona. They are not Asian or a minority, but they did have high test scores and grades. No test prep, no crazy ECs, not athletes, no hook or hard luck story, and very middle class. We are not tiger parents either. So there you go! It’s possible! One will be going to Cal for electrical engineering and computer science (EECS) and the other will attend Yale this fall.
@CalMomX2 well congrats! To get into Yale is not easy at all. Something in their application made them standout for Yale. Maybe an essay or teacher rec, or an award or something in their EC. It wasn’t luck, and most certainly was NOT just test scores and grades! I could definitely see that for the UCs, it could be someone with run of the mill ECs, and then great grades and test scores (they don’t ask for recs), but not for Yale! My dd with high grades and test score (perfect 36), got into UCB, UCLA, UCSB - all the ones she applied to. Had no interest in going - all back up.
I really don’t know. Only one applied to Yale, but both were waitlisted at Columbia. The only rejections were from Harvard and Stanford. I have wracked my brain trying to think of what it was. We are not legacy or anything like that. He did write a great essay…I guess. He did his research and included things that were campus specific in his essay. He didn’t earn any awards except Nation Merit Finalist, but lots of kids get that. He did get a perfect ACT score and took upper level math classes at a community college. I am still shocked but we’ll be going to Connecticut in a few weeks to move him in!
Congrats @calmomx2!! You must be so proud. I would wish both your kids the best of luck at their respective schools, but they obviously don’t need it.
@CalMomX2 Sometimes no good reason except the adcom liked the application. Honestly, we were shocked that our kid got into Stanford REA with no hooks and with 33 ACT (still NMF) and two B+s and many A-s. He also got into top UCs. No music or athletics. No regional or national awards although got selected to participate in some nationally known language and cultural studies programs, which are not really awards but due to good applications and interviews. After he got into Stanford REA, saw no reason to apply to other top schools. Yale was only top school he was remotely interested in applying. We are CA residents. Academic wise, he was around top 20 out of 530 kids. He was definitely not an academic superstar although he was considered a good student. All top academic kids got denied from HYPSM. Only thing I can see is our kid’s ECs were more interesting, and his application resonated more with the adcom. Or we were lucky to get the particular adcom who fought to get our kid in. Honestly, we feel our kid got into Stanford as much for his personality and character traits than his academic accomplishments.
@websensation I agree! Something resonated with the adcom. They both applied early action to Stanford and after the rejection they really took a hard look at their applications and reworked them, revised, and perfected it. Yale is a great fit for my son’s personality and UCB is a great fit for the other son. We live in SoCal so I was really hoping for Stanford. The distance of Yale is overwhelming. I guess it’s true that they end up where they belong. Good luck to your son!
@Chumom I feel you always need some luck at any college because going to a good college is no guarantee of anything these days. I am mostly happy that our kid will attend a school he really wanted to go.
@CalMomX2 We live in SoCal too. We were just hoping our kid would get into either Berkeley or UCLA until our kid out of blue said he wanted to apply to Stanford but had been too shy to go for it. I think the fact that he only had Stanford application to focus on really helped him.
The Stanford adcom who reviewed our kid’s application was a Yale graduate! So I am partial to Yale graduates.
Just trying to give a compliment to a proud parent. Didn’t realize I was going to be analyzed.
@chumom some just like finding ways to work in that their student went or got into a certain school for the 1000th time, even if not remotely related to the current thread. And sometimes it continues for 10 years after they graduated!
Agreed. Accept my sincere apologies. Good luck to everyone.
@blueskies2day nicely and tactfully put…seriously.