This is now my fifth admission cycle on the forums and every year the alumni scholarships stir up so many conspiracy theories amongst the applicants.
That email appears authentic (as in its a real AO replying). But the AO is mistaken. So I hope this serves as a final answer to the topic, but I know this will keep getting brought up… sigh.
Alumni scholarship invites are NOT sent to all applicants. Using pre set screening criteria, the UCLA Undergraduate Admissions folks will forward a pool of applicants that is smaller than the actual applicant pool to the UCLA Alumni Association. The UCLA Alumni Association is a separate although related entity to UCLA administration. The Alumni Association then sends out email invites to that select pool inviting them to apply. That is email #1, the good one that means recipients have been screened against criteria that compares favorably with the admission criteria. Past data had shown a 60ish% (most likely lower now) of positive correlation between getting email #1 and eventually getting in. That is because criteria to get invited is similar to criteria to get admitted.
However, all applicants are able to apply for the Alumni Scholarships, so closer to the deadline, ALL applicants to UCLA will receive a reminder email too apply for the Alumni Scholarships. That is email #2 and is sent to everyone so it means nothing.
The AO in that post most likely is referring to the second email. There is a lot of moving parts with admission and not every representative of undergrad admissions will know all the answers. And technically the email #1 invite, although a good thing, is not indicative of admission because its not a likely letter sent by admission but by the alumni association. Its just getting it means your odds are higher just because of how the system works.
Hopefully this all makes sense to everyone. If you don’t believe me, you’re gonna have to trust me or look through all the previous class discussion threads dating back to the class of 2020 discussion over 5 years ago. Best of luck and try not to stress too much itll all be over soon!
Tagging @Gumbymom @lkg4answers @Ohm888 @MaineLonghorn for awareness