We all try to pretend college admissions is fair and objective, but the reality is that many top students who did have straight As, the most demanding coursework, and strong extracurriculars that shows interest and excellence in a field get rejected. What did they do wrong?
Nothing.
There are far more applicants than spaces.
Also, holistic admissionsâŠ
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Perhaps they are not applying to a wide enough range of UCs. UC Merced still has almost a 90% acceptance rate, UC Riverside is around 70%, UC Santa Cruz is almost 50%. Apply widely and you have an excellent chance of a UC acceptance. You should build your UC list the way you build any other college list - with a mix of reaches, targets, and safeties. If you only apply to Berkeley and UCLA, then yes, there is a high likelihood of rejection, just as there is for the Ivies, MIT, Stanford, etc. These are reach schools for everyone, and if you ONLY apply to reach schools, you face the possibility of getting shut out, even if you are a top student. Itâs nothing you did wrong academically. Itâs just that admissions at these schools is very, very competitive. If you apply to a wide range of UCs, however, you are very likely to get at least one, if not several, acceptances.
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Itâs interesting though, while I agree wholeheartedly with the advice above, I did see a handful of kids who were accepted to most UCs and then a whole bunch that got shut out completely who looked like fantastic candidates. So there must be some thread they saw in those kids who got into every UC they applied to. I have no idea what it is, but I saw it last cycle.
Of course people say that, but like someone else stated, many strong students donât get into any UCs while others get into UCLA, Berkeley, UCSD, UCI, and all the others. Some students are clearly doing something that are leading to far more acceptances than others.
Or theyâre first generation which gives them a bump, or theyâre applying to a non-impacted major (versus CS or other high demand major), or their school is under resourced and under represented and theyâve excelled despite lack of resources or many other possibilities. But still, itâs not anything others did âwrong.â You can do everything right and still get rejected by schools with very competitive admissions. Apply widely. And, in my opinion, make sure you take the PIQs seriously and write them as the UCs tell you to.
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The people I know who got into every UC applied for CS and high demand majors and came from wealthy schools. As for the PIQs, the people who followed the UCs guidelines are the ones who didnât get into any UCs. The people who wrote creatively are the ones who got into many of them.
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Mystery solved!
The key to multiple top UC admissions is to 1. send your kid to a wealthy school, 2. have them apply to a high demand major and 3. have them write super creative PIQâs that donât follow the guidelines. 
(except that I know many kids who got into top UCâs from a mixed SE schools and applied to non-high demand majors and followed PIQ guidelines, soâŠ)
Seriously though, itâs unclear where youâd like this discussion to go?
I understand that UC admissions can feel frustrating, but the kids arenât doing anything âwrong.â The UCâs are looking for something that is not easy to quantify. If one school sees it in a kid, likely other UCâs do as well.
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unfortunately uc admissions differ in each campus and I have not seen too many past students read their admissions file and post comments on this forum. The last time i remember reading one was from @gauchoengineering for ucsb a few years ago.
But even that gives you limited insight on the rubric used for the grading scale.
They are for the most part fair and objective - and you can do everything right and still not get in because there are more people who do everything right than there are spots for themâŠ
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Temporarily closing for review.
According to other posts this OP has already graduated from UCLA so I do not understand the purpose of this thread.
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