UC Decisions are rolling out

Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Only selective high achiever students and possible scholarship recipients heard about their decision. Most decisions will be put in March. Last year it was March 15.


My niece (a student in a public high school in California) was admitted to Cal a few weeks ago.


Curious what kind of stats/achievements she had that made her such a standout. I assume 4.0 unweighted and full grade bumps, but what in addition do you think? National awards, rigorous academics (did she ace AP Calc BC, AP Physics C, currently in multi aria law calc?). Please don’t give any info that would identify her, but truly curious.



It's much easier to get in the UCs in state than out of state.


I am a UC grad and CA ex-pat. My in-state friends that are parents say the exact opposite.


Yes, were in state. Very hard particularly for UCLA and Berkeley. My son got in UCLA but he was valedictorian. My daughter got in UC Davis but decided to go VT because we were moving back here.
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I’m confused. If the UC schools don’t look at test scores or 9th grade grades, and limit the number of AP/equivalent “lifts” that each kid can get to 8, then how do they actually select students? Because it seems to me that there would be a large number of applicants with unweighted 4.0s (or near enough) who also have taken the maximum allowed APs. So how do they pick a class?


'Holistically'. GPA, APs etc. are only few of many 'factors' to be considered for admission.


Reader here. And I think it's important to remember that "holistically" doesn't mean randomly. There are rubrics for different factors, academic and not. Let's say a certain UC was particularly interested in "bravery" as a quality. (So far as I know, none are.) So they have one part of the rubric where readers score the student 1-10 on bravery, with 10 being the most brave. One student writes about overcoming his fear of dogs to pet a neighbor's dog. Another writes about falling into a ravine on a camping trip and being stuck, so having to spend the night there. A third student, who once rescued a child from kidnappers at the risk of her own life, chooses not to write about this incident in much detail, just saying,"Last summer I helped my neighbor who was in a difficult situation."

The readers would score the students' bravery based on what they said in their essays. The first student bravely overcome his fears, and the act was of his own volition. He also wrote both earnestly and, at times, with gentle humor. The second student encountered a greater obstacle but wasn't necessarily able to do much to help themselves. Is that second student much braver than the first student, or just a victim of bad luck? The application readers are told on the rubric (and in training) how the school wants them to score these types of accounts.

The third student bravely risked her life to help someone else. Seems like the most brave to me! However, this student didn't really write about the incident in her essay, maybe not realizing that the school is particularly interested in "bravery" as a quality this year. Therefore, she scores poorly in this category. Remember, the readers score based on what's on the page.

From my experience, I wouldn't think of the results so much as random as unpredictable. Students can still do the best job they can of presenting themselves, not downplaying or overstating their accomplishments. Then the school gets to decide who's the best fit.


Christ. This is what college in the US has become?

Give me the exams and merit-based admissions like in Europe. I mean, they are applying to ACADEMIC institutions. Do I really care if my future heart surgeon overcame his fear of dogs?


You do understand this was an illustrative example showing how the process might play out with an imaginary factor?


Useless waste of space on DCUM - to write a whole long imaginary scenario that has no bearing on real life college applications?


FWIW, I thought it was illustrative of the process and helpful.


Then you're a chump. It was BS (NP)


Just to unpack your criticism a bit, are you asserting that the described process doesn’t happen or that the process is BS? Thanks.
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Only selective high achiever students and possible scholarship recipients heard about their decision. Most decisions will be put in March. Last year it was March 15.


My niece (a student in a public high school in California) was admitted to Cal a few weeks ago.


Curious what kind of stats/achievements she had that made her such a standout. I assume 4.0 unweighted and full grade bumps, but what in addition do you think? National awards, rigorous academics (did she ace AP Calc BC, AP Physics C, currently in multi aria law calc?). Please don’t give any info that would identify her, but truly curious.



It's much easier to get in the UCs in state than out of state.


I am a UC grad and CA ex-pat. My in-state friends that are parents say the exact opposite.


Have they attended a tour recently? The UCs specifically have higher GPA requirements for out of state families.
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Only selective high achiever students and possible scholarship recipients heard about their decision. Most decisions will be put in March. Last year it was March 15.


My niece (a student in a public high school in California) was admitted to Cal a few weeks ago.


Curious what kind of stats/achievements she had that made her such a standout. I assume 4.0 unweighted and full grade bumps, but what in addition do you think? National awards, rigorous academics (did she ace AP Calc BC, AP Physics C, currently in multi aria law calc?). Please don’t give any info that would identify her, but truly curious.



It's much easier to get in the UCs in state than out of state.


I am a UC grad and CA ex-pat. My in-state friends that are parents say the exact opposite.


Have they attended a tour recently? The UCs specifically have higher GPA requirements for out of state families.


Did they say (or does anyone know) generally what type of gpa is required for oos students? 4.4? Top 10%? 5%?
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Only selective high achiever students and possible scholarship recipients heard about their decision. Most decisions will be put in March. Last year it was March 15.


My niece (a student in a public high school in California) was admitted to Cal a few weeks ago.


Curious what kind of stats/achievements she had that made her such a standout. I assume 4.0 unweighted and full grade bumps, but what in addition do you think? National awards, rigorous academics (did she ace AP Calc BC, AP Physics C, currently in multi aria law calc?). Please don’t give any info that would identify her, but truly curious.



It's much easier to get in the UCs in state than out of state.


I am a UC grad and CA ex-pat. My in-state friends that are parents say the exact opposite.


To be competitive for Berkeley or UCLA, top 1%.

Have they attended a tour recently? The UCs specifically have higher GPA requirements for out of state families.


Did they say (or does anyone know) generally what type of gpa is required for oos students? 4.4? Top 10%? 5%?
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Only selective high achiever students and possible scholarship recipients heard about their decision. Most decisions will be put in March. Last year it was March 15.


My niece (a student in a public high school in California) was admitted to Cal a few weeks ago.


Curious what kind of stats/achievements she had that made her such a standout. I assume 4.0 unweighted and full grade bumps, but what in addition do you think? National awards, rigorous academics (did she ace AP Calc BC, AP Physics C, currently in multi aria law calc?). Please don’t give any info that would identify her, but truly curious.



It's much easier to get in the UCs in state than out of state.


I am a UC grad and CA ex-pat. My in-state friends that are parents say the exact opposite.



Have they attended a tour recently? The UCs specifically have higher GPA requirements for out of state families.
it is a 3.4 GPA v. 3.0. No one getting into the UCs that out of state students are applying to is getting in with a 3.4 GPA, with the possible exception of a recruited athlete.
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Only selective high achiever students and possible scholarship recipients heard about their decision. Most decisions will be put in March. Last year it was March 15.


My niece (a student in a public high school in California) was admitted to Cal a few weeks ago.


Curious what kind of stats/achievements she had that made her such a standout. I assume 4.0 unweighted and full grade bumps, but what in addition do you think? National awards, rigorous academics (did she ace AP Calc BC, AP Physics C, currently in multi aria law calc?). Please don’t give any info that would identify her, but truly curious.



It's much easier to get in the UCs in state than out of state.


I am a UC grad and CA ex-pat. My in-state friends that are parents say the exact opposite.



Have they attended a tour recently? The UCs specifically have higher GPA requirements for out of state families.
it is a 3.4 GPA v. 3.0. No one getting into the UCs that out of state students are applying to is getting in with a 3.4 GPA, with the possible exception of a recruited athlete.


You say that but the accepted students have a much higher GPA
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Only selective high achiever students and possible scholarship recipients heard about their decision. Most decisions will be put in March. Last year it was March 15.


My niece (a student in a public high school in California) was admitted to Cal a few weeks ago.


Curious what kind of stats/achievements she had that made her such a standout. I assume 4.0 unweighted and full grade bumps, but what in addition do you think? National awards, rigorous academics (did she ace AP Calc BC, AP Physics C, currently in multi aria law calc?). Please don’t give any info that would identify her, but truly curious.



It's much easier to get in the UCs in state than out of state.


I am a UC grad and CA ex-pat. My in-state friends that are parents say the exact opposite.



Have they attended a tour recently? The UCs specifically have higher GPA requirements for out of state families.
it is a 3.4 GPA v. 3.0. No one getting into the UCs that out of state students are applying to is getting in with a 3.4 GPA, with the possible exception of a recruited athlete.


You say that but the accepted students have a much higher GPA


I was responding to a post that said the requirements are higher for OOS. They are but it is a meaningless difference because accepted students are much are all higher than the minimum in state or out of state. Which is a long way to say, we are saying the same thing.
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