Yes, you can withdraw from any school you SIR’ed, but you will lose the SIR deposit plus the payment for housing. Lots of schools ask you to sign the housing contract by May 15th…
Not sure whom you are replying to but I did not ask a question about the waitlist.
I was recently waitlisted, and I know the College of L&S does not admit by major, but does this still apply to the waitlist? If so, I applied under Biology (general) and Human Biology and Society (alternate), will both be considered? I stated I would enjoy studying either.
UCLA guarantees review of your primary major only even from the waitlist. However, I have seen some very rare alternate major admits which have been Engineering/CS majors whom were admitted into an L&S major instead.
Listing 2 majors in L&S will not make a difference in your chances of getting off the waitlist.
Ok, thank you. So, since I applied for majors at L&S, will the major I put in have any impact on getting off the waitlist/my chances? Essentially, when filling in gaps, will UCLA admit the most competitive applicants for L&S and not consider major?
Correct, they will look at the original application review scores along with the waitlist statement/ updated grades and consider whom meets their criteria for waitlist admission.
Is there any use in requesting to be considered for an alternate major (in L&S) on the waitlist form? Instead of being considered for my primary choice (CoE)?
You can email UCLA admissions but normally they will not accept a request for a change of major while being considered for admission off the waitlist.
do you know what the original application review scores look like? Is it just a number or do they leave comments?
Every UC campus may review things differently. There is a uniformity of the scoring. Here is the information from a UCSB student whom asked to see his file.
- Academic Index – essentially the academic strength of the applicant, calculated from GPA, course load, AP scores, community college classes, rigor, etc.
- Engineering Academic Index – considered for admissions to the College of Engineering, essentially a modified version of the Academic Index weighted heavily towards engineering, science and math classes, etc.
- “EC+Essays” Index – essentially everything else on the application. This includes your ECs, essays, your personal circumstances, everything that’s read by a reader.
The first two are calculated via computer algorithms, the third one is calculated via a score from 1-3 readers.
The poster did not state if the readers made any comments. Again, each UC campus may evaluate the applications differently but consistently.
Does it hurt to email your regional admissions officer, even if it’s just to state you’re still hoping to attend and also to ask a quick question? Also, I have read different people saying they prioritize OOS over in-state from the waitlist. Is this true? Are they bucketed differently but don’t play any factor?
It will not hurt to email the regional officer but UCLA does not consider an applicants level of interest in their admissions decisions.
UCLA will prioritize the applicants that meet their institutional need so if their target enrollment for OOS students is low, they will pull OOS students from the waitlist. If their target enrollment is lower than expected for in-state, then they pull in-state students.
There is an incentive to meet the OOS/International student enrollment target since these groups are full pay students but the UC’s are restricted by the cap limits set by the Regents in 2017.
How can I find out my regional admissions officer?
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Thank you so much Gumbymom, for all of your sound advice!
A student I am helping is currently waitlisted in the School of Engineering. He is equally interested in some other majors in L & S, and as UCLA is a family legacy and a lifelong dream, he would be thrilled to be admitted to any major. Is there any benefit in communicating this to admissions at this point? And if so, what would be the best way to do so? Thank you again!
As a waitlisted student, they could in the waitlist statement indicate they would be interested in other majors but I would not send an email separately to admissions. Legacy is not a consideration for UCLA but I understand wanting to fulfill the dream.
Unfortunately, there is really nothing anyone can do to increase their chances of being admitted off the waitlist other than hoping many of the admitted students decline admission. UCLA had a 50% yield rate last year.
Just curious but do you think everyone once on the waitlist is seen equally until they see the grades and additional info or do you think people are already ranked on the waitlist and you can help yourself get up the ranks based on grades and additional info or people are just put into a pool and they just pick people and see their stats
From the UCLA website:
Freshman Waitlist
For freshman waitlist applicants, consideration for admission occurs if space becomes available after May 15th. The waitlist is by invitation only, and applicants must opt-in by April 15th through the My Application Status site. To be fair to all applicants, additional materials (including letters of recommendation) cannot be accepted and will not be reviewed if sent. However, there is space provided in the Waitlist Option form to provide updates and additional information. Students on the waitlist are not ranked, and we do not know how many students will accept our waitlist offer. We notify students as early as possible after May 15th, and we will update students throughout the summer. Additional information for waitlisted applicants, including FAQs, can be found through the My Application Status site.
No school will give you the exact details on how they determine whom they admit off the waitlist but will use their Institutional priorities as the reason for the admits.
@Gumbymom Do you know if receiving a supplemental has any advantage in terms of being on the waitlist? I finished my additional comments section but i’m just curious. I know they said at first it wasn’t an indication of anything but isn’t it technically continued interest in my application from them?
Supplementals are sent to aid the UC’s in making their admission decisions. It does not mean they have a specific interest in any applicant other than to gather more information to help in the application review.
The UCOP BOARS report from 2021, showed that 23% of the UCLA Supplemental review pool was admitted. It is an advantage in that UCLA wanted more information but also many targeted applicants did not respond and were not at a disadvantage in the admission process.