Which is better? Most rigorous or higher GPA?

ucbalumnus
Thu, 28 Nov 2019 03:33:43 +0000

theloniusmonk:

Actually I think only 11-14 are holistic, the first ten are all academic so on the balance, UCs do not use holistic admissions. They cannot consider race or legacy, no recommendations (though, I know that UCB has started asking), no interview, no “crafting the class” comments from adcoms.

Actually, UC’s process is in some ways more holistic, in that each application is read and given a single score by each of two readers (as opposed to several scores in different categories like at some elite private colleges) – i.e. each applicant is rated as a whole rather than as a combination of parts.

Of course, the criteria used are different, in that UC heavily weights GPA / academic record, gives somewhat less weight to test scores, uses other criteria like essays, extracurriculars, and such things as first generation status, and does not use race or legacy at all (with no recommendations or interview). But there is no point system or similar non-holistic criteria for admission readers to use to score each application.

But then the final round of deciding the scored applications at UCs is a simple ranking (perhaps with specified tie breakers), rather than a more subjective process. “Crafting the class” is limited to admitting by division or major to avoid overflow in popular divisions or majors.