The results roughly validate the initial assessment, and the whole family is happy.
What stands out is that he received warm acceptance from all UCs but barely got into one private school. Let me know your thoughts about it.
He will have a month to think about his 9 choices. I don’t think there’s a bad choice here.
We will visit/revisit all UC campuses and USC to assess.
The most likely choices are UCLA, USC, and UCB. He just needs to be there to personally experience them to make a call.
I appreciate all the advice and guidance received from this community.
1 Like
How much is the UCI Regents scholarship?
Both UCI and UCD Regents include priority registration. UCSB does not.
UCI Regents says it guarantees four years of on campus housing. If you are considering UCI, I would double check what they consider on campus housing. If it includes ACC, that would be great.
2 Likes
I think UCI will be one of the first to go, just because it’s within commuting distance. He wants to be away from home to have an independent campus life; so do I.
UTD may be the next. It will give him almost a full ride scholarship, but we want to give him the best we can afford, and UCs are comfortably affordable.
That leaves us FSU, 5 UCs, and USC for now, with USC, UCLA, and UCB being the most likely.
1 Like
UCI Regents Scholarship is $5000 per year. UCSB, $5000 too. UCD, $7500.
We attended the UCSB Chancellor’s reception, and confirmed that UCSB took priority registration away from Regents or honors students. UCSB has a new college called Creative Studies, and I heard that all students there receive priority registration.
He would be commuting if attending UCI (why pay for housing when it’s free at home?). After 18 years I just think he needs more freedom.
1 Like
Yeah, I also would eliminate UCI if he was commuting. With all that he has available, that’s not the optimal college experience. Does USC feel too close to home?
Thank you for confirming the UCI Regents Scholarship amount. They are cagey about listing the amount on their website. I updated our reference page to indicate that, in 2024, it is $5000.
College of Creative Studies is not new. It opened in 1967. It is an amazing program for the right student.
Even for a nearby school, he can still live on campus, presuming affordability.
However, UCI does seem to have somewhat of a “suitcase” reputation, where a noticeable percentage of students head home for weekends.
1 Like
His interests are economics, criminology, Chinese language, psychology, and philosophy, etc.
Like flexibility of change of majors.
Would like to prepare for law school or PhD postgraduate.
What schols are more suitable based on the opportunities of the learning and exploring these areas?
UCB has a very good Chinese language program; that was my sister’s major and she feels that the program was excellent. Other than criminology, the majors you list are all available within L&S. Psychology is on the high demand list, however, so the process for declaring that major would involve comprehensive review.
2 Likes
Is it easy to take a capped major as a minor?
Do you mean in Psychology, since that is the only capped major on the list that I see?
Here are the minor options in Psych, I’m not sure they fit with an interest in criminology (but I don’t know what the student is looking for): Minor Requirements | UC Psych
Economics will be the major. One of the others could be minor or selective classes taken.
Thank you for the clarification on CCD.
LA is just far enough.
I saw your post on the NM thread. Did he make a decision?
Still undecided between UCLA and Berkeley.
1 Like
Note the GPA requirements to declare the majors:
| School | Major | GPA |
|---|---|---|
| UCB | Economics | 2.0 |
| UCLA | Economics | 2.5 |
| UCLA | Business economics | 3.3 |
| UCLA | Math economics | 2.7 |
3 Likes
April update:
UC Davis: visited the nice campus. Tons of bicycles there. Also very walkable. Davis is a college town and is safe. Has good food. We enjoyed the botanical garden.
UC Berkeley: visited campus. The campus is mature with lots of trees and historical buildings. The student leader of the campus tour did a great job showing us around. I spoke with a few students and can feel the high caliber of Berkeley students. They are smart and driven. We had a nice meal in downtown, a block from the campus, while our car window was smashed. That’s equally impressive (in a negative way).
USC: NMF presidential scholarship was confirmed. Revisited on himself for a full-day program to feel it again. Unfortunately, he didn’t feel the click, therefore decided to decline it.
UCLA: revisited. went to Bruins Day himself in light rain. It’s a busy rah-rah event. The food is good.
High school: confirmed as the valedictorian.
Extra-curricular activities: got into the top 100 of a national competition.
UChicago: sent in LOCI with updated information.
FAFSA: After looking up a workaround on the internet we were finally able to resubmit to get UC’s financial statements.
UCSD: the financial statement shows the Regents Scholarship. What a nice surprise.
He still has two weeks to decide, but I think he’s going to UCLA.
8 Likes
Congratulations on all of the great acceptances!
Was this not apparent when he was accepted?
No. He did not receive any notice about it until he saw the financial statement.
It’s Bruins!
S24 took another weekend day off to meet with some friends at UCLA, then made the final decision.
It’s been a long journey, and we are all happy with the outcome.
8 Likes
A few takeaways:
Merit money: big merit money at top schools is scarce and hard to come by. NMF provides a very reliable way to get some of them, although may not be at the very top schools.
Tippy top schools: they were not the focus of our efforts, and we only applied to a few in December to enter the lottery so really don’t have much advice to offer. A student needs extraordinary EC to get into the doors of those elite schools. That would require careful planning years ahead of time.
Top private schools: The best chance is through ED or ED2. They substantially improve the chance to get into them. The early commitment comes with a heavy price tag for middle-class families, so parents must be willing to forgo other opportunities to take this option.
Essays: Start early! Writing becomes better over time, so starting in the summer helps the quality of the essays, especially for early decision/early admission/priority deadlines.
USC Spring Admission: USC is special for me. We appreciate the offer but did not take it despite receiving the NMF Presidential Scholarship. Although S24 did not pass it up for this particular reason, we were not excited about the Spring admission. The university says that Spring admits are selected randomly, despite someone suggesting that it essentially serves as a waitlist and there’s a stigma associated with it. I think that the school may benefit from offering a choice on its application: Prefer Fall to Spring, Prefer Spring to Fall, No Preference, Fall Ony, or Spring Only. That way students/parents will be prepared, and the school can better allocate students into the Spring admission pool.
Why UCLA: finally, he picked it for a combination of several reasons. The flexibility of exploration of majors within the College of L&S and better food are among the most important. The safety of the neighborhood is a lingering concern for the family; and UCLA fares well here. He also likes the longer summer break offered by the quarter system. He fully understands the strength of Berkeley, but at the end of the day picked what he feels is a better fit.
7 Likes