Admission to UCLA and Berkeley

PANDA_IHB

PANDA_IHB

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It seems that UCLA had more applicants (55,000) in 2008, than Berkeley (48,000). Is it more difficult to get accepted as an undergrad to UCLA than it is to Berkeley these days? When i was a high school student, I remember that I really wanted to attend UCLA. During my senior year, I applied out-of-state for UCLA's business/econ major and was not accepted. I ended up attending University of Michigan and majored in business there.



I remember they had a proposition 209, where it was tougher for Asian applicants to be admitted to UCLA than if you were to select hispanic or black on the application. Does that still exist today when considering admissions? How much tougher is it for an out-of-state student to be admitted compared to a Californian high school senior, or a Californian community college student transferring into UCLA? Is there such a thing as a back door major in UCLA like agriculture compared to a more competitive major like business/econ or engineering?



It is pretty amazing seeing that there are 33% Caucasion students compared to 40% Asian students for the freshmen class of 2005. I believe when i applied back in 1994, the student body was more 55% Caucasion students and 25% Asian. The demographics of the student body certainly have changed a lot over the past fifteen years.
 
I'm not sure how they decide admissions, but <a href="http://www.latimes.com/news/la-me-freshman2-2009feb02,0,5752009.story">this LA Times article</a> makes you wonder.
 
[quote author="PANDA" date=1234097809]It seems that UCLA had more applicants (55,000) in 2008, than Berkeley (48,000). Is it more difficult to get accepted as an undergrad to UCLA than it is to Berkeley these days? When i was a high school student, I remember that I really wanted to attend UCLA. During my senior year, I applied out-of-state for UCLA's business/econ major and was not accepted. I ended up attending University of Michigan and majored in business there.



I remember they had a proposition 209, where it was tougher for Asian applicants to be admitted to UCLA than if you were to select hispanic or black on the application. Does that still exist today when considering admissions? How much tougher is it for an out-of-state student to be admitted compared to a Californian high school senior, or a Californian community college student transferring into UCLA? Is there such a thing as a back door major in UCLA like agriculture compared to a more competitive major like business/econ or engineering?



It is pretty amazing seeing that there are 33% Caucasion students compared to 40% Asian students for the freshmen class of 2005. I believe when i applied back in 1994, the student body was more 55% Caucasion students and 25% Asian. The demographics of the student body certainly have changed a lot over the past fifteen years.</blockquote>
I went to UCLA from 1994 to 1997. When I started UCLA, I believe that caucasions had a majority at slightly under 50% vs. an asian population of just over 30%. I believe there were less than 20,000 applicants at the time. By the time I finished, the gap was down to 10%. I also remember when I applied the average GPA of all incoming students was 3.6ish and the average SAT score was 1,220. I believe the average is now close to 4.0 GPA and 1,350 on the SAT...how times have changed. It kinda makes me wonder if I would have been accepted today with my grades in HS. I got accepted to both UCLA and Berkeley and went to UCLA. The in-state tuition at the time was like $1,380 per quarter (slightly more than $5k for the year).
 
[quote author="ABC123" date=1234099776]I'm not sure how they decide admissions, but <a href="http://www.latimes.com/news/la-me-freshman2-2009feb02,0,5752009.story">this LA Times article</a> makes you wonder.</blockquote>
I hate to say this but there were a handful of students that I knew who were marginal admits at best and ended up quitting UCLA only to go back to community college because they felt overwhelmed.
 
[quote author="usctrojanman29" date=1234104200] I also remember when I applied the average GPA of all incoming students was 3.6ish and the average SAT score was 1,220. I believe the average is now close to 4.0 GPA and 1,350 on the SAT...how times have changed. </blockquote>


I would be surprised if the average isn't above 4.0 now. Either way Panda, unless your kid is top 5% in his/her class, I think you just apply to both and cross your fingers. But always just remember now getting into one of those two schools is not the end of the world. Just like Panda not living in Irvine isn't the end of the world either :)



Just for reference, when I applied (and didnt get in) to SD State for Fall 2002, it said on my rejection letter "the average GPA for the students accepted into SDSU this year was 3.62" I just seem to remember in high school, if you had straight A's that didnt cut it for UCLA or Berk. You had to have straight A's including A's in a few AP classes. Theres also a different SAT out so the scores now changed a bit from that 1600 scale.
 
I remember my acceptance to Cal in the mid-late 90's. I think it is fair to say that absent some grade/score inflation that I am unaware of, I'd never get in today... things were competitive then, but now it seems like they are out of control. Go Cal!



As for 24inIrvine's rejection from SDSU... That place was a party school. I used to go down there once in a while. 3.62 incoming GPA? I can't believe it.



And yes, the changing demographics is interesting.
 
The thing that was interesting about the 1994-1995 UCLA application was that you were required to state what your race is as where my other college applications did not require it. My other college applications would have one check box for Asian/Pacific Islander where as UCLA's application wanted to know what type of Asian you were : Taiwanese, Korean, Japanese, Chinese etc. I did find that to be a little odd. Did proposition 209 allow hispanic students to compete with other hispanic students and asian students to compete directly with other asian students for a spot in admissions? Did UCLA have a quota of how many asian, white, hispanic etc. they can accept each year? I'm just curious.
 
A former student came back to visit. This boy was top of his class, and an IB school. 4.0 GPA 1500 SAT and Asian. He also started several charity organizations and was responsible for raising over $100,000 for CHOC. His extra curricular activities were outstanding. He was not accepted to UCLA or CAL. Really makes you wonder what the qualifications are and how they change from year to year. He was accepted to UCI and USC and decided to go to UCI. I think the major has a lot to do with it, he was shooting for Pre Med. Makes me wonder where I would have been accepted in today's world, I'm actually glad I don't have to find out but this makes me worry a bit for my kids.
 
If my kid got into USC and rejected to UCLA. I'd force him to attend community college and transfer into UCLA or CAL. No way in my right mind is Panda going to pay Ivy league tuition for a school like USC. I've read that it much easier to get into UCLA and CAL this way.



Tmare, even when I was in high school, my counselor and several of my Cali friends told that UCI was a strong up and coming school. UCI definitely did jump up in the ranks in the past 15 years. I can definitely see UCI ranking higher than UC San Diego in the next 5-7 years.
 
My husband feels the same way about SC. There is no way, he says, we are paying for USC tuition. Of course, being a CAL guy, he also says he won't pay for Stanford, but if my kid got into Stanford, I'd have to veto him on that one.
 
[quote author="tmare" date=1234156984]My husband feels the same way about SC. There is no way, he says, we are paying for USC tuition. Of course, being a CAL guy, he also says he won't pay for Stanford, but if my kid got into Stanford, I'd have to veto him on that one.</blockquote>


Panda couldn't agree with you more Tmare. You and I are seeing eye to eye. If my kid got into Stanford. Panda would sell three of his Irvine homes if that's what it takes to pay for his son's Stanford tuition.
 
Sell three homes to send your child to Stanford? Wow. Just make sure he/she applies to Cal, and keep two of the houses. Now if you start saying Yale (undergrad), then even as a Cal grad, I'd probably be with you. If we start talking about post-graduate... well, that is really where the "private" school makes a difference. Save the $$ for helping with a big name private post-graduate school - makes a big difference in getting a good paying job. But for undergrad education, save the cash and the cashe' - you can't beat a Bear.



Also, on the junior college transfer thing and then going to a Cal or UCLA: a very smart financial move.
 
The reality is that if you don't get into the top 10 undergrad schools, there's no point in spending over $100k for tuition for an undergrad degree from a private school which will result in the same paying job as you would get from a public school. That's exactly why I went to UCLA and not USC. Grad school is a whole different ballgame though. Public and Private schools have grad school tuition costs that are very comparable.
 
[quote author="usctrojanman29" date=1234160915]The reality is that if you don't get into the top 10 undergrad schools, there's no point in spending over $100k for tuition for an undergrad degree from a private school which will result in the same paying job as you would get from a public school. That's exactly why I went to UCLA and not USC. Grad school is a whole different ballgame though. Public and Private schools have grad school tuition costs that are very comparable.</blockquote>


probably depends on your field. maybe this is true if you have a local career or apply to a non-competitive grad school. But it won't get you into med school, or the top law or bus schools.
 
I barely got accepted to a crappy college let alone think about Berkeley and UCLA. My HS GPA was 2.1. Yup...lol



It would have been cool to attend a high end university...oh well.
 
Here is my next question: Out of all the people you know, who is more successful? A Trojan or a Bruin? I knew one friend from Cali who had a 2.9 GPA and 980 SAT score and ended up going to SC. Another childhood friend who had a 3.8 GPA and 1340 SAT ended up going to UCLA. Suprisingly, my Trojan friend is far more successful than my other Bruin friend by a wide margin today? Isn't that weird?
 
[quote author="PANDA" date=1234240643]who is more successful? A Trojan or a Bruin?</blockquote>


Depends. If they go into the NFL - Trojans. The NBA - Bruins. :)
 
[quote author="Irvine_Lurker" date=1234243193][quote author="PANDA" date=1234240643]who is more successful? A Trojan or a Bruin?</blockquote>


Depends. If they go into the NFL - Trojans. The NBA - Bruins. :)</blockquote>




A degree from UCLA is on par with a certificate from the Learning Annex
 
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