Hi
My son has also received UCLA,UCSD, UCSB and UCI. He is on waitlist on UCB. But he was always keen on UCLA and we are moving forward with it.
Hi
My son has also received UCLA,UCSD, UCSB and UCI. He is on waitlist on UCB. But he was always keen on UCLA and we are moving forward with it.
This week was Cal Spring Break and me and my bear have been traveling and having a great time, so I haven’t been on CC for a while. But now that we are back, I just stopped by this thread to congratulate all the newly accepted! Hope to see you at Cal Day in April
For any new CNR admits, my D will be a peer advisor starting at GBO in August and then continuing into the academic year, so if you have any questions about CNR course requirements or majors/minors in the college or anything else, be sure to hit her up!
SLO is an amazing school. And all the students who got accepted deserved it. It’s just people are struggling to understand the impact of essays. Numbers can only show so much. Once you include an essay, it just provides so much more insight. Once writing is included, there is more variability between the A grades then all the other grades combined.
To be fair a lot of essays are carefully curated with the help of outside college counselors so it’s not a fair playing field any way you slice it.
We finally remembered to look this morning
Decision: Rejected
For future applicants:
Major (and division if applicable) applied to: Materials Science & Engineering
UC Unweighted GPA: 3.95
UC Capped Weighted GPA: 4.15
UC Fully Weighted GPA: 4.15
ELC (top 9% CA HS): no idea, school doesn’t internally rank I think to try to hold the toxicity level down. My kid said no one would talk to each other if rankings were at stake.
Comments about course load (including senior year): 6 APs (Phys1, Chem,English Lang, English Lit., CalcBC, CSA), no UC-approved honors at this school.
Did not bother with SAT/ACT applied test-optional everywhere OOS.
SUBJECTIVE::
Extracurriculars: Solid ECs, some volunteering, no special talents or awards
Summer Activities: Visiting all our relatives out of state/country, a class once, a little work.
DEMOGRAPHICS::
State/location of HS: Bay Area
First Generation? No
Accepted (all MSE): CalPoly, UCI, UCD, UCR, RPI(merit), Iowa St.(hnr, merit), UMN-TC(merit), Utah(WUE), Wash St.(WUE), Arizona (merit, hnr), CWRU (not enough merit), Pitt
Rejected: UCLA, UCB
Waitlisted: none
As far as my kid was concerned, in terms of interest, admissions season ended with the UCD, UCI, CalPoly acceptances. Neither UCLA nor UCB felt like a fit in terms of campus vibe, and it looks like the admissions offices agreed
The final six we will be visiting in the next three weeks are the first three in-state, and OOS listed above. We will see. I argued against “dream schools” in terms of applications, but now from the final 6 we will figure out what the dream school is. Looking at the weather forecast next week, the CA schools are going to have quite the home-field advantage.
Congratulations to all of the UCB admits! For certain students, UCB will give you a spectacular undergrad education.
If you go down that road then, possibly, but that is the same with ECs, grade inflation, well…the entire process.
Right. Life isn’t fair, and there’s only so much the colleges can do about that.
Honestly doesn’t know what he will choose. Please provide input. Concerned a bit about quality of life at Berkeley (grade deflation, competitive culture, social scene: he wants a social life) but knows obviously Cal is highly esteemed.
Son admitted for Environmental Science
Unweighted GPA 4.0
Capped UC GPA 4.33
Weighted 9-12 GPA 4.4
8 APs (4s and 5s on AP tests)
Great PIQs
Extracurriculars all tied into major a lot of quality and quantity in that area
Accepted: UCSC UCSB UCSD UCB UCD SDSU SLO UT Austin, George Washington, CU Boulder, Northeastern (but NUin first semester)
Rejected: USC UCLA
Waitlisted: BU, NYU
Yes, there’s a process you go through, but I don’t think it’s hard. It sounds like most colleges redact almost everything, though, and some make you just go and look at it and you can’t take your phone in or anything.
Source? I’m sure this happens. I highly doubt it is the case for most essays. In fact, I would wager most applicants do not use outside college counselors; then, of those who do, most are being advised, not having the work done for them. The end result is that it is likely a very tiny minority whose essays are curated in this way and, of those, where is the proof that they are being accepted at a higher rate than others? I am very, very skeptical of this claim, but certainly open to seeing evidence to the contrary.
Being “highly esteemed” is not enough. Have you visited Berkeley? If not, and it is a contender, then you should. It can be a great place, but it is definitely not a good fit for everyone. You really need to see it. I highly recommend Cal Day, if he is considering attending Cal.
Anywhere he is seriously considering he should be visiting in the next few weeks, if he hasn’t already. Yes, Cal is highly esteemed, but in the greater scheme of things all of the CA schools on his list are pretty great in this regard. The high esteem thing is like the cherry on the top of a pecan praline ice cream sunday. It doesn’t do you much good if you have a nut allergy.
True. I wonder if colleges have data about which schools might inflate grades based on student outcome. Or maybe it’s not that deep.
Source? Umm other parents around here who have been very open about it. In this area it’s not exactly a secret. Kids get outside college advisors as sophomores. That’s a huge leg up.
Edited to add that this doesn’t downplay the students hard work it’s just certainly helpful to have a professional paid to help you with your essays.
Foodiemom: We have a similar list and concerns, but my D24 only applied to 3 UCs. I think her 4 contenders are Berkeley, UCSB, UW (Seattle) & George Washington. We know GW is not as prestigious as Berkeley, but she loved the urban campus, merit aid, general vibe and screen acting program. She was rejected from all of the best screen acting schools. She really wants to have a social life, hoping to be involved in as many activities as in h/s. Grade deflation is a concern. My type A kid would really emotionally crumble if she started receiving poor grades. She didn’t like seeing an A- on her h/s transcript! We are visiting on 4/19 bc can’t make Cal Day. Keep me posted as to what you all decide!
For students who are leaning towards accepting at UCB, is there any advantage to accepting before the deadline to get in line earlier for housing options?
SDActingMom good luck with your decision! We are going to Cal day so hopefully that will help with his decision. Will keep you posted!
Dad15 worriedmomUCB we are going to Cal day. We are SoCal residents. Have been to Bay Area a lot and been on Berkeley campus years ago but never an official tour. He has toured UCSB and been up to SB a few times. Visiting Davis on admitted day as well as visiting UT Austin. I think those are his top choices as of now. Oh touring UCSD as well (been to La Jolla a lot but no campus tour). He is honestly having a tough time choosing. Was leaning towards UCSB or UT Austin before being admitted to Berkeley. Would love to hear pros cons of Berkeley from parents who have kids there
DS24 Rejected
Major applied to: American Studies
ACADEMIC STATS
UC Unweighted GPA: 3.91
UC Capped Weighted GPA: 4.17
UC Fully Weighted GPA: 4.17
ELC (top 9% CA HS): No
Comments about course load (including senior year):
Number of a-g courses: 26
Number of UC Approved Honors courses: 6
AP courses/exams (scores in parentheses): School doesn’t offer
IB courses/exams (score in parentheses):
DE courses:
SUBJECTIVE::
Extracurriculars: NHRP Scholar
Job/Work Experience: Fast Food job
Volunteer/Community service: Food bank
Summer Activities: enrichment, city internship
Personal Insight essays (general details/topics): I thought they were pretty good.
Supplemental/Augmented Review: No
DEMOGRAPHICS::
State/location of HS (if domestic applicant): SF private
Country (if international applicant):
Applied for need-based financial aid? No
First Generation? No
Other acceptances/waitlists/denials:
Accepted: UCD, UCSC, Cal Poly SLO, SF State, Santa Clara w/$22k merit, USF w/$20k merit
Denied: UCLA, UCSB, UCSD, Pomona
Waitlists: none
I honestly thought he had a chance at Cal but they thought otherwise. He Is deciding between Davis and SLO.
So some anecdotes within your local community…Not really evidence of a widespread issue, imo, so I remain very skeptical. The average family in the US can not afford a private counselor and, of those who can, again, I do believe most are operating according to professional ethics. Sure, not all. But I think most are. Perhaps I am being naive about that, but since this is an unaffordable luxury for most families, it’s a still a non-issue.