<p>Alamemom:</p>
<p>This is just the kind of information I was looking for, thanks. You make a good point that if you apply to a highly competitive school you will likely get stuck at Merced (not saying Merced is necessarily bad), which I hadn’t figured out at the time I first posted. </p>
<p>I also appreciate the way you grouped the UCs in order of competitiveness. That’s extremely helpful and gives us a good idea where we should be applying (I’m thinking maybe one from each group).</p>
<p>Thanks again!</p>