How the University of California evaluates student applications

[Gumbymom]

Here is a link to how the UC’s evaluate applicants just posted on the UCOP website dated October 31, 2024. Happy reading.

How the University of California evaluates student applications

[lkg4answers]

This deserves highlighting.

For the fall 2023 admission cycle, UC Davis had 94,638 first-year applicants, and UC San Diego saw 130,835. Other campuses range from 30,232 applicants for UC Merced, the smallest campus, to 145,903 for UCLA, the most in demand. The numbers are huge.

So how do admissions offices handle the volume? It takes a big team and a lot of planning. Months before the first applications roll in, each campus hires a small army of readers. The UC Davis admissions staff grows from 65 to almost 150 for application season, while UC San Diego’s team balloons from 50 year-round staff to nearly 300.

Readers go through extensive training to learn norms and expectations, and they log some serious hours honing their skills. A new reader at UC Davis, for example, has to read and score about a hundred sample applications before they can work on “live” files. For returning readers and newcomers alike, scoring is routinely quality checked to make sure it’s in keeping with the norms. Readers are sent blind test applications throughout the application review period to make sure their scoring stays in line with the training. Their scores are checked against other reviews, and anything that’s off by a set amount gets sent to another reader for an additional review. Each campus admissions office trains their readers according to its own method, but they all take the role of the reader very seriously.

[Anonymous090807]

I like that they put this out. Having gone through the process with my child last year, there is always some questions about who got in where. My child and I were floored when he got accepted to Cal. At admitted student day, they made it a point in the welcome that if you were sitting there, it wasn’t a mistake. Your were chosen by at least 2, but in some cases 4, readers. We all kind of chuckled because with admission rates so low, you do kind of wonder if there was a mistake.

My kid is 10 weeks in to his first semester and it’s clear that Cal knew what they were doing. It’s such a great fit for him and we can’t imagine him anywhere else now.

[MMAk06]

This is a great post!

UCLA has noted that it suggest a student to choose academic over EC OR rigor over GPA when he/she needs to make a compromise.

Is there a comprehensive list for all UCs? That may help future candidates to make choices better for their strengths/limitations.

[Gumbymom]

If you check each specific UC campus website, there is information regarding Freshman selection.

There is also information posted on the official discussion threads for each UC along the UC application guide Freshman selection section starting on page 26. https://admission.universityofcalifornia.edu/counselors/_files/documents/quick-reference-guide-to-uc-admissions.pdf

Here are some other tips discussed at the UC Counselor conference:

UC Selection General criteria:

Several factors and variables can influence selection. What is most important to know is that selection looks different at every campus.

• Selection can even look different from year to year for the same campus.

• Things like enrollment capacity (campus size impacts how many students can enroll) and enrollment targets for each campus are factored into selection.

• Campuses use multiple factors when selecting students and the way campuses select students varies.

• It is to the student’s advantage to include as much information as possible on the application.

• Every student is considered in the context of their own environment which includes, but is not limited to, school, family and geographic region.

• Students are also considered within the context of the applicant pool for each campus.

• Each campus will complete their own individual review of the application independently of one another, which means that they’re going to review the information in the application and select students without asking what the other campuses have decided.

• Each campus selects students independently.