<p>OK, there’s no place else to put this, so I am going to rant over here. It probably belongs in Sinner’s Alley, but I figure maybe I’m not the only one with this problem, so I’ll share. </p>
<p>D. got admitted to UCSC, but the letter that came said that all info to complete the admission & financial aid apps must be accessed through the UCSC web site. The letter provided the student user ID number, but no password. Password retrieval script says that d. is authorized to have password sent - because in order to retrieve a password, you first have to set up security options to enable the feature, which of course can only be done after you have access. Can’t send an email request for the password, because their “security” procedures say that they will only send email to addreses on the UCSC system - so unless d. already has a UCSC email account, she can’t get email; they won’t send to a hotmail or gmail account. </p>
<p>They claim that they sent out the password in a letter a few months ago, but d. says she never received mail from UCSC, and I don’t remember seeing it. </p>
<p>So basically this is the most asinine system I have ever run across. (For those who know something about me, I am a techie: I manage web sites & servers, I run my own password-protected sites & forums and am used to dealing with lost password & password retrieval issues. The idea is to make create a system that makes it possible to get a lot password, not to lock the door and throw away the key). </p>
<p>This has caused UCSC to drop to dead last on my daughter’s list. It was low to begin with, but for financial reasons it is likely she will end up at a UC – her application strategy was focused on reach colleges that are not likely to award sufficent financial aid. I was surprised to see UCSC below UCSB, since she almost didn’t apply to UCSB… but UCSB sent her an invitation to a reception for “high achieving” students and, even though she has a conflict and can’t attend the reception, that apparently was enough to convince her that Santa Barbara is a better option than Santa Cruz. </p>
<p>AAARRG!! How could a college admissions dept. be so idiotic as to design a system this way?? They must know that of the thousands of admission letters they are sending out, a significant number are going to people who either didn’t receive or have lost whatever notice was ever sent out about their passwords.</p>