How are admissions decisions actually made?

nick_scheu
Sat, 29 May 2010 00:39:46 +0000

I’ve been trying to do some research on this, but information seems scarse.

Who decides, and how? I’m particularly interested in UCLA, Cal, and UCSD, but any UC information be useful.

Most of my research has involved UCLA’s system. From what I can gather, each application is reviewed by more than one reviewer who assigns a score. Previously different reviewers scored the personal statement section and the hard numbers sections; under the holistic system, each reviewer evaluates the entire application.

How are decisions made from there? Does a committee of some sort review all applications, taking into account the scores? Are only applications meeting a certain score threshold reviewed by a committee? Is admission based on the scores alone, without any input from a committee? Are faculty from the major being applied to involved?

Getting a better sense of who makes these decisions will, I think, help me better target my personal statement and the like. Even if not, this would still be interesting information to be aware of.