Not my DD. Gold award. 3.95uw. Waitlisted.
be interested in your decision and why. similar admissions. debating among ucla and umich computer engineering
I do not know. Keen to know the answer to make a decision between UCLA and Umich engineering. Love both, but want to get into classes if I choose UCLA
Although I do not know anything about 50 students getting kicked out of Harvard because of flunking out and this as result of poor test course, I believe that Harvard and Yale do have grade inflation and it’s more likely than not the students who did flunk out just did not try very hard. They were probably cutting class and just not doing what they should be doing. It probably had little to do with their aptitude or their test scores. On the other hand, if this happened at a UC School like UCLA, Cal, UCSD or UCI, I could see that being true. Because I doubt tge UC Schools give inflated grades. You are simply a number at the UCs. I have no proof of all this, but once you make it into an Ivy League school, I doubt that they will kick you out, unless you force them to do so. The UCs are different. They will kick you out and just fill your spot with another well qualified student.
A students is more than their SAT score, which is why they view applicants holistically. Ivy’s do it as well - I know two students who got into Harvard with 1420 & 1440 SAT’s - of course they are recruited athletes as are 10-20 % of their students. They are super coachable and will help Harvard accumulate several more athletic trophies (though I have no idea why that matters). Harvard apparently feels their degree of aptitude is sufficient to be academically successful at their institution, which proves that you don’t need to be any more intelligent than any typical honor level student to get a degree at any school period.
Your son I am sure is a very intelligent kid, and you are probably correct that a high percentage of accepted students had a lower SAT score, they just had some thing that admission preferred others over yours.
Having taught for 20 years I can assure you that the most academic kids are not always the best students. Just because they can do something doesn’t mean they will - which is why looking at their track record of commitment to activities, and grades gives a better view of what a kid is likely to do - not just what they are capable doing. make sense?
I recall a student who rarely came to class, and when he did was generally high, yet he scored a 5 on AP calc exam to get people off his back, and out of boredom, fired off a paper during detention which most kids AP lang kids couldn’t write on their best day with JK Rowling as a co-writer. Was he capable - yes, astoundingly so, overqualified actually. Would he be a good college student? Definitely not, which he ensured by dropping out before graduation.
I imagine your son is probably a super smart kid and deserving of UCLA and probably a lot more- like so many others. but that’s not all they are looking for.
If college acceptance and success was just about raw talent - I’d have to put my money on that now homeless kid who is out riding trains or holding a sign along some highway, as he could probably run mental laps around your kid and most others.
Take home message: College admission and academic success has far less to do with aptitude, than most people imagine.
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Number of A-G and AP/de classes appears to matter at UCLA more so than at the CSUs based on these admissions posts.
At my daughter HS all the high achieving students got into UCLA. We have 4 known admissions now and probably one more ( haven’t been back to school since admissions released). This is huge bc there are only 100 kids in the class. Historically we only saw one admission per class. This year we are seeing more admissions to UCLA at her HS and as a neiboring HS both.
Based on prior years we assumed only one would get in. We were so happy to see so many getting in this year.
So I don’t think they are competing against each other based on what we have seen.
Last year Regents came out around 3/28. It came as an email and a digital letter on the MyUCLA Provisional Aid portal page.
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Generally speaking, that has always been the case at UC and CSU.
It is usually not the engineering classes themselves because there are enrollment restrictions specific to majors.
Much of the problem is getting into Math/Physics/Chem because engineering track is shared with physical sciences and although there are 200-400 people lecture halls, you may not get the time/prof/section that you want.
People complain when they have to wake up and make 8AM lectures, or have to stay on Friday for 4PM discussions. “Can’t get into class” is often because they don’t want one that’s open.
But as far as getting classes to finish your degree, I have yet to encounter anyone who absolutely can’t get into class. If you are a graduating senior, missing one class, then your department will step in and get you enrolled.
Solution I have for S24 with classes is to start CC. If he goes to an UCLA, he will start with Math 32A, Physics !B, and wait until Winter quarter to do Chem 20A. He already met the class requirement for programming and done with Freshman Comp and writing. I suspect he will have zero problem signing up for classes at UCs.
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UC Forum Champion Note
College confidential is not a debating society. How qualified or not qualified an individual applicant is for admission to UCLA is not up to debate. No one on this forum can determine that unless they have access to each individual’s UC application and are trained to evaluate such application without bias.
Regarding SAT scores: Scores are only used for course placement and not for admissions. National merit can be listed on the awards section of the UC application, but it is considered nothing more than award. The UC’s have not participated in the National Merit program since 2008.
Here is their reason which seems to mirror their reasoning for dropping the SAT/ACT scores from a 2008 article.
The University of California announced Wednesday that its campuses will stop participating in the National Merit Scholarship program, contending that the annual competition doesn’t fairly assess academic talent.
The constant back and forth of what is considered a “high achieving student” and why an individual did not get into UCLA, demeans the students that did get an acceptance to UCLA based on what UCLA considers important. With over 147,000 Freshman applications, the students applying to UCLA seem to feel that UCLA is doing something right or they would not apply?
Thank you.
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Well said. Thank you.
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On Friday, May 10th our D19 got off the waitlist and never looked back - anything can happen, even super late in the process.
Her sister with better stats just got straight rejected, so the process is always non-linear and unpredictable. Good luck!
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I have a child at an Ivy, family who has taught at another Ivy, friends who go to Ivies. It had to have been really bad for Harvard to kick them out. The Ivies will work with your kid. Sometimes to the point of coddling. They do not want the track record of % of students graduating to be blemished.
All got email from ucla?
delete
Please move on since this is a UCLA discussion thread.
My daughter received an acceptance via their online portal but no email yet. Strange?
We too, other ucs sent emails .
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We didn’t get an email either.
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Stats for D24:
Decision: rejected
Merit scholarships awarded (if any): NA
Major (and division if applicable) applied to: Public Health (not sure if BA or BS)
ACADEMIC STATS:
Calculate your GPAs with GPA Calculator for the University of California – RogerHub 8
UC Unweighted GPA: 3.92
UC Capped Weighted GPA: 4.13
UC Fully Weighted GPA: 4.21
ELC (top 9% CA HS): no very small graduating class of just over 100 kids; my kid is ranked #23. (FWIW so far she knows of 5 kids from her school who were admitted to UCLA!)
Comments about course load (including senior year):
Number of a-g courses: 20 (classes were full year and not semester; completed all categories)
Number of UC Approved Honors courses: 11
AP courses/exams (scores in parentheses): AP World (4), APUSH (3), AP Lang (2); AP Gov (will take as senior), and AP Bio (will take as senior). Other senior AP classes taken but won’t take exams: Statistics, and Literature.
IB courses/exams (score in parentheses): NA
DE courses: none
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): none
SUBJECTIVE:
Extracurriculars: dance team x 3, tennis team x4 (Captain x1, MVP x2), school ambassador program, national dance team competition x 2, and drama tech crew
Job/Work Experience: none
Volunteer/Community service: 50+hours through local diaper bank, 100+ through high school drama program, school ambassador program (actual hours unknown)
Summer Activities: nothing other than dance and tennis practice.
Personal Insight essays (general details/topics): not known; she didn’t let me read them
Supplemental/Augmented Review: No
DEMOGRAPHICS:
State/location of HS (if domestic applicant): California (Inland Empire region)
Country (if international applicant):
Applied for need-based financial aid?: yes
First Generation?: no
Other acceptances/waitlists/denials (applied as public heath, or kinesiology):
Accept: Santa Clara University, Loyola Marymount, University of San Diego, San Diego State, CSU Long Beach, and Utah.
EA Deferral: University of Southern California (human biology)
Rejection: UCLA
Still Waiting: Cal Poly SLO, UC Berkeley, and University of Southern California.