So glad to have found this thread. Here is a recent article highlighting a student in my neighborhood and the real problem of California residents leaving the state.
It sounds like UC Merced should be grown, as well as the area around it, in order to make space for all UC-level students in California. Does UC Merced offer merit aid to entice students? An issue is budget - for UC’s to grow, there needs to be more money invested in the campuses so that the student:faculty ratio doesn’t balloon further than what is already is. And since urban UC’s don’t have extra space, that doesn’t leave much choice.
First hand experience that an EI of 4360 can earn you a rejection letter from CSU-LB.
Eh. Californians may leave CA, but the state is still a magnet to out-of-staters.
BTW, @MYOS1634, the problem isn’t that UC Merced can’t grow any more. CA promises a UC to the top 9%. The problem is that CA kids seem to regard Merced as being one step below CC. 10K CA kids were offered Merced as an alternate; 124 took up the offer.
^ I know Mercer’s reputation, but if they could make some sort of mixed used college village near it for instance it may become more attractive, then go from there by having unique, attractive undergraduate majors. Few UCs can build due to lack of space and cost of real estate in CA, and even though everyone wants to go to UCB/UCLA that can’t happen without more faculty, classes offered, etc.
@MYOS1634, you think that would do the trick?
I don’t think that would do much against the marketing from OOS schools, chase for prestige, and groupthink.
Well, it can help 
- see TCNJ, Rowan… in NJ for instance. NJ “exports” a lot of students but they found ways to market their non-flagships and make them more appealing. Or, Merced could become the State Honors LAC like SUNY Geneseo for instance. Lots of students would be interested in personal attention + UC name.
MYOS1634, you may consider TCNJ non-flagship but its the highest ranked other than Princeton in the state.
Major?
In local service area ( https://www.csulb.edu/admissions/local-preference-admission-consideration ) or not?
If you have been in Merced you will recognize the only thing worse is Lord being stuck in Lodi again (Lodi is close bye)
Merced, Davis, Riverside, and Santa Cruz all have Top 100 US News Ranked programs and great people where you will receive a top notch education. However, “rural” inland location (and/or “lower tier” UC status) still drives those spoiled, entitled ones away that want to be by the “big city” or beach. The University of California System is one of the best in the world at ALL LOCATIONS holding national and international recognition.
I’ve always respected those that are willing to chase superior academics in "non ideal’ locations that many on here are unwilling to do! Another choice is to pay over twice the money out of state that will probably be no better than ANY UC quality program! People in California have NO IDEA how good they have it compared to the rest of the nation!!
At 35k for instate tuition, room and board, it is unlikely moat kids would need to pay double out of state. Especially since other states are more generous with merit aid.
The biggest problem I see Merced facing is that students who are accepted there are also likely to be accepted by CSU campuses that are well known and well regarded on the west coast. So they choose a respected regional name university that costs a lot less money.
I know several students who were only offered Merced admissions from UC. Without even thinking about it, they enrolled in our excellent nearby community college to try again for a different UC in two years. Like the CSU alternative, this saves boatloads of money over going to Merced.
These are economically rational choices people are making.
I personally only know of one young woman who went UC Merced. She’s now in the PhD program at CalTech.
I never knew that Davis or Irvine was by the beach or by a “big city”
I do have to admit that the students in California are spoiled compared to those in Oklahoma or Kentucky.
@Otterma, and that’s fair, but that just shows that Californians have a lot of terrific public options compared some other parts of the country where the very best in-state public that is available for in-state costs is a school at the level of UC Merced.
@collegedad13 UC Irvine is less than a 10-minute drive from Corona Del Mar. It’s closer to the beach than UCLA.
@sbjdorlo Sure, he applied to if I remember correctly: Berkeley, UCLA, UCI, UCSD. Just four. His intended major was International Relations or something related to it. If his major was engineering, he would have been denied because not only is he not good in math but got 2 B+s in HS in biology and math. But after he got into Stanford REA, he really didn’t care if he got denied by UCs, but he got into them all. He also applied to OOS Honors College and was seriously considering going there over UCLA/Berkeley.
I know so many kids with 1550 SAT and 3.9+ GPA with decent ECs who got denied at UCLA/Berkeley engineering or CS, and went to UCSD. It’s an entirely different ball game of admission when you are applying to competitive majors at UCs.
@collegedad13, Irvine is just a few miles away from some of the most gorgeous beaches in California (Newport Beach and Laguna Beach) and is part of Orange County, a metropolitan area of more than three million people. And Davis is inland but is a charming college town that’s considered by many a desirable (and now quite expensive) place to live. It’s 20 minutes from Sacramento, certainly a big city, and 75 minutes from San Francisco.
Riverside and Merced are situated in inland locations that are considered less attractive. Riverside is growing tremendously–but that has a lot to do with the coastal areas becoming so crazy expensive again and people moving there because housing costs so much less. That’s not to say you can’t get a great education at Riverside or Merced–and there’s tremendous value to graduating with a UC degree, regardless of the campus. But the stats of kids who attend there are lower than at the so-called top tier UCs and the campuses get many fewer applications. I don’t know why some seem to think it makes students entitled for being disappointed at admission results at some of the other UCs that were never quite this competitive before-we understand there are a wealth of good colleges in California–but I do think it shows a lack of familiarity of the state.
@Fisherman99, most of the kids I know who are going out of state are going to an Ivy or similarly ranked university or somewhere they’re getting considerable merit money so the cost becomes less than a UC. Many wonderful OOS universities try to attract high stat California students with big merit awards.
@collegedad13 UCI is only about 3 miles from Newport Beach and very close to other insanely beautiful coastline in south Orange County. It’s only about 30 miles from LA, 10 minutes from Disneyland, and an hour from San Diego. It may not be a fun, college town like Davis or Chico, but for many the location is ideal.