UC San Diego Freshman Class of 2028 Waitlist/Appeals Discussion

Since decision time is coming up for UC San Diego, I have started the Waitlist/Appeal Discussion thread.

2023 Timeline: Wave of admits including some capped majors such as DS/Undeclared Engineering and EE on May 10. Admits May 22. Few admits June 7. Some students denied from the waitlist June 12. More denials on June 30.

UCSD Waitlist 2023 Updated CDS:

Number of qualified applicants offered a place on waiting list: 29,087
Number accepting a place on the waitlist 19,373
Number of waitlisted students admitted 2616

2022 CDS Data (edited from published CDS):
Number of qualified applicants offered a place on waiting list: 51369
Number accepting a place on the waitlist: 36113
Number of waitlisted students admitted: 2400

2021 Common Data Set Waitlist:
Number of qualified applicants offered a place on waiting list:25,419
Number accepting a place on the waiting list:8,835
Number of waitlisted students admitted:0

General Waitlist Information:

  1. No specific timeline for waitlist admits. If space opens up before the SIR deadline of May 15, then students can be pulled from the waitlist.
  2. Residency type and major are not broken out for the UC waitlists
  3. The number of enrolled waitlisted students is not listed.
  4. No LOCI’s since UC’s do not consider demonstrated interest. Opting into the waitlist shows your interest in attending.
  5. Opting into the waitlist is by invitation only.
  6. You cannot appeal your decision while on the waitlist.

Appeals for Applicants Not Offered Admission or Waitlist

Every application to UC San Diego is reviewed thoroughly by at least two readers. Admission decisions are made carefully to meet the enrollment goals of the university. Therefore, successful appeals are very rare.

Applicants who have new and compelling academic information that was not presented in their original application, may submit an appeal through their Applicant Portal.

2023: APPEALS: 729. APPROVED: 0

For UCSD waitlisted applicants please share the following:

Major (and division if applicable) applied to:

ACADEMIC STATS:
Calculate your GPAs with GPA Calculator for the University of California – RogerHub
UC Unweighted GPA:
UC Capped Weighted GPA:
UC Fully Weighted GPA:
ELC (top 9% CA HS):

Comments about course load (including senior year):
Number of a-g courses:
Number of UC Approved Honors courses:
AP courses/exams (scores in parentheses):
IB courses/exams (score in parentheses):
DE courses:

SUBJECTIVE::
Extracurriculars:
Job/Work Experience:
Volunteer/Community service:
Summer Activities:

Personal Insight essays (general details/topics):

Supplemental/Augmented Review: Yes or No

DEMOGRAPHICS::
State/location of HS (if domestic applicant):
Country (if international applicant):
Applied for need-based financial aid?
First Generation?

Other acceptances/waitlists/denials:

Will you accept a spot on the waitlist?

I noticed that you guys created similar posts every year, Are you one of energetic parents like me or college counselor? Some information you posted is helpful for parents/students to make decision.

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Hi. Question about the UCSD waitlist. Is the student waitlisted for the major, alternate major, or just a spot within the school? I ask because my kid applied for music and he has been admitted at other schools. Want to know if he should bother staying on the UCSD waitlist because he would only go if he gets a music spot.

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You are waitlisted for your primary major but could be admitted off the waitlist with your Primary, Alternate or Undeclared.

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Hello. What was the earliest waitlist decision from last year?

May 10 was the earliest admit but the SIR deadline was May 1 and this year it is May 15. See the top of this discussion thread for details.

My daughter got waitlisted for Biochemistry with UWGPA 4.0, WGPA 4.6 7AP 15Honor🙏

Any chance of successful appeal? Only major update I have for application is USAMO

Appeal data from 2023:

APPEALS: 729. APPROVED: 0

You have 0% chance if you do not appeal, but normally new awards/activities are not a reason to reverse a decision.

Congratulations for the award!!!

DD has been waitlisted . To be a strong contender among the waitlists, does she need to do anything? LOCI, LOR etc?

All she can do is opt into the waitlist. They do not accept updated grades, LOCI’s or LOR’s.

I just got waitlisted, is there any way to find out what place I am in? Also would it help to send a letter to the admissions office?

UCSD does not rank their waitlist and if they did, they would not disclose that information. Schools will pull from the waitlist based on their instructional priorities which no one is privy to except admissions.

UCSD will not accept LOCI’s or any other documentation.

  1. No specific timeline for waitlist admits. If space opens up before the SIR deadline of May 15, then students can be pulled from the waitlist.
  2. Residency type and major are not broken out for the UC waitlists
  3. The number of enrolled waitlisted students is not listed.
  4. No LOCI’s since UC’s do not consider demonstrated interest. Opting into the waitlist shows your interest in attending.
  5. Opting into the waitlist is by invitation only.
  6. You cannot appeal your decision while on the waitlist.
  7. UC waitlists are not ranked.

So now that I have opted in, it is totally random?

Not random but specific to UCSD’s needs for their Freshman class. There is a method to the madness unfortunately that is something they will not divulge.

Two questions for the experts as my daughter is on the waitlist:

  1. In general, are accepted students proactive in declining their offer if they commit to another school as opposed to just letting the clock time out?

  2. Are waitlist openings processed as spots open up or do they release them in batches?

Common Data Set says the waitlist is ranked. (But ranking is secret.)

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I was going by what was stated at the UC Counselor conference. I am sure there is some hierarchy when to comes to admitting off the waitlists but as stated not disclosed to the general public.

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