<p>That’s not exactly true. All UC’s except Cal and UCLA use a distinctive point system. No one really knows how the admission process works at Cal and UCLA, but I’ve seen point system rubrics for every other UC except for UC Merced (It was brand new when I applied to UC’s last year, so I didn’t know much about it). The reason most people only hear about UCSD’s rubric is that it has a higher cutoff point than UCSB, UCI, UCD, UCR, UCSC, UCM. So, if you can get past UCSD’s cutoff point for admission, it’s highly likely you can get into the other UC’s listed above.</p>
<p>Anyway, back to the question regarding the essays. The thing with the point system is that it’s very straightforward. If you get above the cutoff points, you are automatically accepted. Therefore, if your SAT, GPA, ELC status, number of A-G courses, income level, etc. gives you enough points to reach the cutoff, then your essay isn’t even read. If you don’t have enough points alone based on your stats than the admission committee will read your paper to look for other criteria where you can gain points.<br>
For example, you have 4.3 GPA, 2300 SAT I, 800 IIC, 780 Bio-M, ELC, 42 semesters of A-G courses. Then based on the rubric system, you’ll have:
4300 + (0.8)(2300+800+780) + 300 + 500 = 8204
Your accumulative points is well above the cut-off, so your essay isn’t even read. </p>
<p>So here comes the question: does that mean I can write about anything in my essay if I have 4.5 GPA, 2400 SAT, 800 IIC, 800 Chemisty, 800 Physics LOL !11!111!?
Not exactly. This is a hard question to answer.
To put this question in perspective, I have to resort to an anecdotal reference. I have a friend who had similar stats to what I listed above. He’s smart, but a little confused sometimes. These are stats that can guarantee him a spot in almost all UC’s, but he didn’t get into UCLA or Cal. Why? He BS’ed his essay. He wrote his on how he likes to stay at home and study. Bad idea. Come March, he got accepted to UCSB, UCI, UCD, and UCSD all with Regents interview. He got flat out rejected by Cal and UCLA even after appealing to both of them.</p>
<p>So what does that tell you? If you are only shooting for UC’s with point systems, then by all means go ahead and mess around on your essay. You’ll sure impress them with your high GPA and scores, but you’re not showing much of your character in your essay.</p>