@yoamogatos all I know is what she told me and another on the interview committee verified. Not one without financial need/hardship in four years. I’m talking alumni. Did your son actually get the alumni scholarship or was he simply asked to interview?
I read essays for UCB alumni twice (not the interviews, just the essays) and everyone I read was hardship-related, etc.
There have also been a lot of reviews on CC about Regents (one from someone who worked in the office, the other two recipients who wrote back about awardees at the regents cocktail reception). Person from office said skewed toward hardship, the others said it appeared that way. I believe these referred to UCB and/or UCLA.
But I guess I should amend to not every one.