Nervous Jitters from CA mom

[ucbalumnus]

@calmom

The entire California university system, both historically and presently, is structured around high school class rank. As originally conceived, the concept was that the top 10% of graduates would be eligible to attend UC’s, whereas those who weren’t at that level would attend CSUs or community colleges. There have been numerous tweaks over the years - now it has tightened to top 9% - but class rank remains a significant factor, both on a per-school basis (“local context”) and on the “statewide path.”. The ranking is determined by measuring GPA in only specific, UC-approved and required coursework. So the system is specifically designed around the idea that California high schools are direct feeders into the University system.

Historically, the policy goals of the UC and CSU systems were based on statewide rank (top 12.5% for UCs and top 33.3% for CSUs), but these were defined in terms of (recalculated) GPA and test scores. Even when UC policy goals began to include rank within high school (Eligibility in Local Context), eligibility for such was defined in terms of GPA compared to recent previous classes’ top 4% (initially) or 9% (currently) GPA thresholds, possibly to avoid the kind of cutthroat rank gaming that occurs in Texas. Class rank as defined by the high school is not used in UC and CSU admissions.