The Ultimate Guide to Applying to the University of California (UC) Schools

Webinar Transcription

2023-10-04 – The Ultimate Guide to Applying to the University of California (UC) Schools

Anesha: Hi, everybody, and welcome to tonight’s webinar. My name is Anesha Grant. I am a senior advisor, at CollegeAdvisor, and I will be your moderator this evening. Tonight’s webinar is, “The Ultimate Guide to Applying to the University of California UC Schools.” Before we get started, I just want to orient everyone with our webinar timing.

I’ll present to you We’ll share some tips and strategies during that first half of the session, and then we will open up the floor to respond to your questions in a live Q and a on the sidebar. You can download our slides under the handouts tab, and you can start spending your questions whenever you get ready in the Q and a tab before we made our presenter.

I just want to have a quick note regarding questions. So we cannot give you an admissions assessment. We cannot tell you what your chances are of getting into any given you see, we can take questions on strengthening application components or your overall application. So please just keep that in mind as you submit your questions.

Now let’s meet our presenter, Aaron. Hey, Aaron, how are you?

Aaron: I’m doing well. Thank you. Hope you’re doing well as well. Um, my name is Aaron Brown, and, uh, I have worked at a couple of different institutions in California, uh, one of which not as relevant today, which is, uh, USC, a private school, obviously, in Los Angeles, uh, but then also I worked for the At UC San Diego, where I was in charge of running their application evaluation process for first year and transfer applicants.

So happy to speak with you about the process from a very insider’s perspective today.

Anesha: Awesome. Thank you so much. Before we get started, we’re going to start with a quick poll. So let us know what grade you’re in just so we can have some context about The direction of our, um, conversation today. Before we get started, one of the questions that I got in the registration, which was that I’ll post to you and see if you can answer, um, is which you see is the most fun you see if you can respond to that

Aaron: the most fun.

Hmm. I mean, I suppose, I guess it depends a bit on what you’re looking for, right? Um, you know, if you’re someone who loves the beach, then you may not love Davis, uh, so much. But, um, if you’re someone who’s interested in becoming a veterinarian, or perhaps working in the wine industry, then hey, Davis is going to be a great fit for you.

So I think it all depends on, uh, you know, your, your needs. particular definition of fun, but each of them has their own, perhaps, uh, opportunities for that.

Anesha: Yeah. Uh, yes, I, I can attest to that being true. Um, all right. Um, cool. I think we are just about done waiting for a few more folks to complete the survey.

I like Davis as well, but, um, I think that’s because I’m not a beach person. The sand is not my friend. Um, but, All right, we will go ahead and close our poll. I’ll just let you know that yes. Um, I think we’re kind of honestly even evenly split. I think it was about 25 percent with seniors and then 30 percent are juniors.

And then another 12-20 percent were sophomores with a few others. So I’m assuming parents in the room with us as well. Okay. All right. So I will stop talking. I’ll hand it over to you, Aaron, and I’ll be back a little bit later.

Aaron: Sounds good.

Okay, so first, a bit about kind of background, um, regarding the UC system. So there are nine undergraduate campuses spread across the state of California. So, uh, listed all there, uh, kind of from, from north to south. Berkeley being the oldest. And Merced being the youngest, um, founded a little bit less than 20 years ago.

We’ll oftentimes get questions about San Francisco, like UCSF. Um, like how do I apply there? Well, you can, but only for graduate school. It is a medical program. Only no undergraduate programs. And similarly, you may have heard of something called UC Hastings. And that is the law school, um, in San Francisco, again, only graduate programs, but those are the nine undergraduate campuses that make up the University of California.

So the UCs, uh, like to do things a bit differently. They are on their own application and so there is 1 application where you apply to all the, you see, essentially a common app for the UC system. The application fee. Is 70 or 80 per campus, and there’s one centralized application system, um, which is listed on the website or on the slide right there.

So it’s apply.universityofcalifornia.edu. It’s also where you will go if you have questions or concerns with the application in terms of the, um, uh, the kind of application platform itself. If you have questions there. After you submit your application that will go to each individual campus.

So before you get started on the UC application, it’s very important that you have at your side a copy of your high school transcript. Uh, you really can’t do much with the UC application without it. So make sure that if you don’t have easy online access to your high school transcript, then go and get one from your school registrar.

Okay. before you really start in on the UC application. Um, you might ask a guidance counselor for a copy of your school profile as well. That might be helpful as you kind of compile some of the background information about your school. Also helpful if you have a list of your activities or a resume for your reference as you begin the application.

So what are the main components of the application? It is. somewhat different than what the common application will look like and what we’ll ask for. In that most Essentially, all information actually in the UC application is self reported, is done by the student. Um, so you have your self reported academic history in the courses that you’ve taken and the grades you’ve received in those courses.

Uh, transcripts are not submitted as part of the application process. But if you are admitted, you would submit your final transcript at that point, uh, to verify that what you, put on the application, uh, matches your actual record. Your activities and awards, that section is probably most similar to Common App.

And then instead of a personal statement or essay, you have what the UC system refers to as the personal insight questions or PIQs. And we’ll talk much more in depth about those in a minute or two.

So as you kind of think about that, um, how is your application kind of Um, how do you strengthen your application? How do they kind of look at your application? Um, the most important factor is going to be your academic preparation, um, specifically in the context of the school from which you are applying.

So, if you are a student, especially in California, they’re really looking at, are you one of the top students? in your high school because their mission in essence is to take the strongest students, uh, from high schools across the state. And of course, out of state as well, particularly within California.

Um, and so they’re looking really closely at how have you performed in the context of your school? So how does your GPA compare to other students at your school, the rigor of your curriculum in terms of the courses that you’ve chosen to challenge yourself with? And then How does that compare to what’s available at your school, uh, or what the most competitive students at your school may have done?

Much like, uh, private universities or institutions on the Common App, of course they’re looking at, you know, how have you made an impact on your school or in your community through your activities or any honors or awards that you’ve received. They’re looking at your personal insight questions to better understand who you are, right?

Um, and again, kind of following up on the impact, your intellectual interests, your academic path, those kinds of things. And as I said before, it all comes from you. No one speaks on your behalf in the UC application. There are no, uh, no letters of recommendation in the UC admissions process. It’s entirely student based, student reported, um, and so it’s exciting, I suppose, in that you have complete ownership over the process, um, but at the same time, it can be a bit kind of like nerve wracking because it’s all down to you.

Um, all the work comes from you.

Should you submit test scores to the, uh, to the UC’s? Um, the easy answer is no. Um, because the UC’s are test free. So they will not consider the SAT or ACT even if you were to submit them. So if you went on now to College Board and said, Send my scores to UCLA. Doesn’t matter if you have a 1600. They will not look at them as part of the admissions review process.

Some students, uh, with high scores don’t like that. Thank you. And some students with more average scores are thrilled by that. But that is what the process is. So they are not test optional. They are test free. They will not consider SAT or ACT scores when reviewing your application. They will, of course, look at AP exam scores.

If you have taken APs and taken the corresponding exam during, you know, freshman, sophomore, or junior year, they will look at APs. that you self report. They will look at predicted IB scores, if you’re in your senior year or if you graduated already, your final IB scores. And for any students following international curriculums, you know, the Indian boards, the British A levels, they will look at those exams as well.

And additionally, international students may also need to provide some type of score to demonstrate English language proficiency. And that can come through things like TOEFL, IELTS, um, Duolingo, um, you may also submit perhaps SAT or ACT at the end of the process, but that’s more for placement into certain courses, but in terms of admission.

It will not be, um, test scores will not be considered.

Anesha: I hope that there are some folks relieved by the test scores, um, not being there. And previously, previously, they also did accept the SAT subject exams, but those are no longer in existence. So just wanted to clarify that as well, um, as that was a question that came up last time for us. All right, we will go into a poll, uh, really quickly.

So tell us where you are in the application process Hopefully for our seniors out there, you are getting started doing yours. We hope that you’re researching, but thinking about some school sophomores, you too. But let us know where exactly you are in the process. Um, and I think the question that typically typically comes up when they realize that They’re not considering test scores.

Jace is, you know, how hard are they looking at my academics? Um, or, you know, what about my academics are they looking at? So I don’t know. I, I know you’re going to get into that a little bit later, but, um, if you could give us just a taste of like what, you know, without the testing, what then becomes most important on the UC application?

Aaron: Yeah. So, I mean, it’s a combination of factors, much like it is in most places. Um, But because you’re now removing that one quantitative element, the GPA becomes really important. Um, but also again, the, the GPA in its appropriate context. So, um, you know, kind of given the opportunities available to you at your school, um, you know, what kinds of advanced course offerings in terms of honors, AP, IB, those kinds of things.

So how has a student challenged themselves? And how have they performed in those courses? Those are going to be what’s really most key. Um, and just kind of a way so that you see calculates GPAs a bit differently. They do not include ninth grade. At all. Um, so again, some students are like, yay. And others are like, oh, but all of my A’s, um, sorry.

Uh, they do not look at ninth grade. It’s 10th and 11th. Um, and then they have what’s called a capped GPA. And in a way to attempt to be as kind of equitable as possible, understanding that schools have different opportunities, they cap the amount of kind of weights that they’re that they give for honors AP or IB courses at eight semesters, um, eight semesters of, of those advanced courses.

Um, and so many students blow past that weighting in terms of the numbers of those advanced courses they have, but their official UC GPA is capped. Now the reviewer will see an uncapped GPA. Um, they’re kind of instructed to really focus on a capped GPA. Similarly, they will also see, um, so although it’s not included in the GPA necessarily, they will look at, okay, well, how many AP or honors or IB courses did a student take?

Um, again, given what’s available at their high school.

Anesha: Thank you. Thank you for, um, taking that impromptu question and giving such a thoughtful response and detailed response. I hope that folks were able to take that in, um, during our poll. We will go ahead and close our poll. And just for context for you, I’m sorry, I’m talking to too many people.

Erin, um, that, um, 48 percent are in the process of researching schools, which just makes sense as to why they’re with us today. Uh, no one is almost done. So I’m glad that folks are still in the process of getting their application materials together. Um, and we’re evenly split between folks who have not started working on their essays and getting their materials together, but majority, about 50 percent of our folks are researching their schools.

And so I know they’re excited to learn a little bit more from you. about the UC schools. All right, I will hand it back over to you and be back a little bit later for our Q and A. Thank you so much, Aaron.

Aaron: Awesome.

Okay. So, um, now I’m going to go kind of section by section through the different pieces of the UC application. Um, and so you kind of can understand, you know, well, why are they asking me this or what is this for? How is this used and kind of things to consider when looking at the application. So the first thing is the, which It’s pretty straightforward, as its name implies.

It’s what’s about you? Essentially, the personal kind of demographic information, you know, what names do you use? Are there other names by which you are wish to be called? Um, contact information, you know, will they, are you allowed to get text messages from them? You know, that kind of thing. Um, they will also ask gender, um, and race, And you might see like, well, but I thought they couldn’t consider it both because the UC’s haven’t considered it for quite some time, but also in light of the Supreme Court case this past summer.

Yes, it’s not directly considered in review. And in fact, in most of the application review systems at the UC schools, Um, Kind of how it’s presented to the reader that information is suppressed so they can’t see your gender or your racial ethnic backgrounds, but they do want to know it. Um, and so that’s mainly for them to understand.

Okay. Well, our, our recruitment. Kind of plans working in the way that we had hoped, uh, at the end of the process, you know, how many students of particular group did we admit? Um, how many came, et cetera. So it’s really just used for kind of reporting purposes. Um, but. It will not be used in direct review of your application.

Similarly, there’s a question about, um, your parents income, and you might be like, well, why do they need to know that? It’s all about establishing eligibility for certain scholarships. So, you know, don’t worry that, you know, how high or low your parents income is has no bearing in your admission decision.

It’s all about perhaps eligibility for certain scholarships and also we’ll ask. It’s about kind of your statement of legal residence, um, which has to do with tuition. Um, and so it might ask, you know, do you wish to be considered for in state tuition? You’re like, yeah, of course I do. Um, but you’re checking that box really doesn’t have any bearing on, on, on that determination.

Each individual campus has, um, what’s called a residency deputy, um, and they’ll handle that determination as to whether you are an in state or out of state student for, um, Okay. Tuition paying purposes,

so then you’ll be go, you’ll move on to the campuses and majors section. Um, and this is kind of where it’s like the common app for you. See, right? So you’ll just check off all the boxes of the campuses to which you’ll apply. Um, you’ll choose the majors. to which you apply at each of those campuses. Now, all of the campuses will allow and encourage an alternate or second choice major.

Berkeley kind of was a holdout there, but they have now come on board with the alternate major. I would say broadly, Most UC’s don’t read by major, so the major that you choose will not necessarily impact your choice or your chances of admission. Now, that isn’t the case of all of them, or even across the different schools, but I would say, you know, broadly, it kind of, you know, from my experience at UCSD, they didn’t admit by major.

I just had a conversation with the UCLA rep the other day, um, and. She said that if you apply to their College of Arts and Sciences, it’s not admitting by major. They just submit you to UCLA and then we’ll put you into a major afterwards, based on your selection. But if you are applying to anything in the School of Engineering, or in any of their arts based programs.

that require portfolios, things like film, um, you know, theater, et cetera. Of course, then you will be considered, um, in the context of your major. And most schools will allow for the opportunity to apply and potentially be admitted as undecided if you truly have no idea. But I will say that especially engineering programs or any arts based programs, they’re quite competitive for an internal transfer.

So I wouldn’t want you to apply undecided when you really want computer science. This is my way to get in and then I’ll apply to computer science later. Probably isn’t going to happen. So apply to your first choice interest, um, give yourself an alternate or second choice major that you’re comfortable with.

And then we’ll see how the process plays out. And then of course, if you do choose San Diego, you need to rank the colleges. They have a college system, um, like a number of private schools across the country. Rice is an example. Um, they modeled it after Oxford and Cambridge and their kind of college system.

It’s a way to, in essence, kind of take the larger school and make it smaller. Um, so you essentially live. In your college, um, there’s kind of college traditions and activities and things like that. You can be any major and any college. Um, you know, so you want to choose it based on kind of okay. Does the theme of the college resonate with me?

Um, you know, perhaps the location on campus. Uh, look. You know, their facilities, also the general education pathways, the kind of broad liberal arts core courses that you take outside of your degree, those do vary by college. So it’s kind of important to take a look at those and see like, oh, Revell has a lot of math and science as part of their GE, and I’m an English major, not for me.

I must. You want that, right? So just take a look at those kinds of things because that can definitely have, you know, impacts your experience once there.

So then we start to get into the academic piece, and that’s where it’s important to really kind of pay attention. So you’re going to add your high school. It’s going to ask you to add things about, like, when did you attend? What’s the grading scale? What’s your GPA out of? Is it 1 to 7? Like IB? Is it a 0 to 4?

Is 100? You know, what is that? Then you have to actually manually enter your courses and grades by each academic year. So ninth grade, 10th grade, 11th grade, and your courses in progress in 12th grade. And yes, I said ninth. Again, it’s not counting in your GPA, but they do see those grades because they want to make sure that you meet the UC eligibility requirements.

Did you take four years of English? Uh, you take your performing and visual arts requirement, those kinds of things. If you are applying at a high school in California, congratulations, it’s quite easy. Schools, um, have what they call A through G course lists, which are A through G or the UC kind of, um, curricular requirements to be eligible for admission.

And each high school uploads their A through G course list for approval to UC, and then that’s living in the application. So you just simply say, I’m taking honors algebra two or AP U. S. history, and your school should have those things. And so you’re all set there. Um, you just check off the courses and add your grades.

Um, as an out of state or international student, you must manually enter your courses and select which A through G subject area you feel it most closely aligns with. It’s really important to be accurate here. Um, Because if you are admitted again, they will ask for your final high school transcript and they very closely compare what you put on the application with what it says on your transcript.

And if those don’t align, they raise an eyebrow and they ask you why, and it’s very likely that your admission is rescinded. So, um, it’s not the time or the place to round B pluses up to A minuses. Um, you know. They one error, they might just say, Hey, you know, they were doing this quickly and they messed up multiple and probably gonna have your offer pulled.

So take, take the time, make sure that you’re looking directly at your transcripts and putting things in.

Okay, so then next is going to be the activities and awards section. Again, this is most similar to the common app. Um, they want to understand, you know, what are you doing with your time, both in school and kind of formal school activities, you know, whether that’s, you know, bands or clubs or things like that, out of school, uh, you know, volunteering in your community, playing on a club sports.

Team or things like, do you have a part time job? Um, do you care for your siblings or grandparents? Do you drive your younger brother to, you know, his soccer practice? Um, there are spaces for 20 different activities and or awards. So a little bit different than common app, right? Where you have 10 spaces for activities and five specifically for awards.

You see has 20 for both combined. Also, they have Base for 350 characters for you to describe your activities, which, you know, more than double what the common app gives. So exciting. Um, so use that space, right? Elaborate on your activities. Um, you know, talk about impact that you made, right? Um, how many people joined that club that you started?

How much money did you raise for that fundraiser? How many goals did you score as the leading goal scorer on your soccer team? Spell out acronyms. Um, You know, you have the space in these. use it, um, because one of the factors, you know, in review is looking really closely at your activities. Is the student involved?

Um, have they made an impact? Do they have kind of passions that they’ve pursued? What are they doing when they’re not studying? And this is where you will include that information.

There’s a scholarships and programs section, which is right next. And so you can actually apply for scholarships right in the UC application. Um, know that, you know, to be eligible, you have to also file the FAFSA. Um, and generally international students, unfortunately are not eligible for any sort of scholarships from UC.

There may be some, so you can look. Um, but for the most part, They’re not, um, and similarly, most applicants or most scholarships are for California residents. or those who’ve gone to a California high school. Campuses may have some, um, scholarship programs for some of their like really strong, uh, out of state admits, um, as a way to entice them to enroll, um, that you would perhaps be considered for automatically, but you can look at this list and check the box next to those where you know that you’re eligible, um, for automatic consideration.

And so now the PIQs, uh, so. These are the only written materials in the application, you know, outside of the descriptions of your activities. Um, and they really are quite different than the writing that is asked of you in the common app. So there are eight prompts from which to choose. You will select four and write.

Your responses are 250 to 350 words per response. There is absolutely no preference. as to which prompt you choose. They are weighed equally in review, so it’s not like, oh, this student wrote about number two. So, whichever one you feel compelled to discuss. And the way to approach these questions is, especially because they’re shorter, right?

I mean, you know, they are not as long as a common app personal statement. You want to be much more direct. Handle this as if it is. an interview. And in person, someone is asking you a question. So if someone were to ask, tell us about a community that you’re a part of and what that’s meant to you. You wouldn’t start, well, it was 20 seconds left in the game.

I’m dribbling down the court as sweat drops down my brow. You wouldn’t do that in that kind of in person setting. So that’s not what they’re asking for here. Talk about. Yeah, so basketball is a community that I’m a part of, and I’ve learned this by being a part of this community, right? So very direct, very straightforward, none of the flowery language, um, that’s not its purpose.

So kind of, it’s a bit of a shift in mindset, um, you know, vis a vis the Common App materials. Um, ultimately, After having read the PIQs, the readers are kind of asked the question, did you learn anything new about the student? Anything compelling? What’s the takeaway? Um, and that’s what they’ll be writing their notes on.

There are some optional. Writing pieces, um, so there’s an optional up to 500, 550 word, uh, additional comments section, um, essentially the same as additional info in the common app. Um, so if you weren’t able to fit in activities or things like that, you can explain it there. There’s also an academic comments section.

So, you know, say there’s a particular trend in your grades, you know, maybe first semester sophomore year, you had really poor grades, uh, and then they’ve gone up. And so in that academic comments section, you could write, well, you know, unfortunately my grandmother was really sick and I had to help around the house and that kind of thing.

So, um, you know, use those. As you see fit, but they are not required.

Anesha: Awesome. Thank you so much. You are like always really structured and right on time. So I really appreciate that as a moderator. Okay, that is the end of our presentation. Thank you so much, Aaron. We hope that you found the information helpful. Just a reminder that you can download the slides under the handouts tab.

And you can start submitting your questions in the Q& A, which some folks have just a reminder. Again, we cannot give you an admissions assessment. So please do not ask us about your chances for any given, um, you see. And if you’re having any challenges, many questions, you might have to log out and log back in through the link you received in your email address.

Okay, our first question for you, um, you had mentioned earlier when I asked you about, um, uh, grades, uh, you mentioned capped GPA. Can you repeat what that means, um, for? For 1 of our students out here. Sure.

Aaron: So when the UC looks at your GPA, they’re kind of formal calculation of it is up on what they call a capped GPA.

It’s an attempt to be kind of equitable understanding that schools across the state and the country and the world that will have different opportunities for advanced courses. And so what they’re capping is kind of the extra weight that you get. From AP honors or IB courses. So, um, they cap that at eight semesters.

So in essence, in 10th and 11th grade, you get eight semesters worth of kind of bump to your GPA from those advanced courses. And that’s it. Any extra that you take don’t affect your GPA, but they will see the number of those advanced courses that you’ve taken. Um, and they will see. You know, kind of how that compares to what’s kind of typically done at your school.

So, you know, for a student who’s like, well, but I’ve taken all these APs. I don’t get any credit for it. No, you do. It’s just not in your formal UC GPA.

Anesha: The next question was talking about athletic recruitment. So it just asks, how do these schools weigh athletics and athletic achievement? I guess it’s not about recruitment, just about being an athlete. Okay.

Aaron: Yeah. Um, you know, just the same as any other school does, right? So, um, you know, if you’re really involved in athletics, great.

Put that down in the application, you know, talk about, um, you know, the hours that you spend, You know, training and in practice. Um, you know, what have you gained out of being, um, an athlete? Are there any particular kind of accolades or accomplishments that they should know about? Most UC schools are So, of course, you’re looking to play sports.

Um, that’s a very, very competitive process that, you know, um, you know, you would definitely want to start at least junior year, uh, kind of interacting with coaches. Um, but you know, they’re happy to understand your athletic accomplishments and how that relates to you as a. Potential candidate.

Anesha: Uh, the next student I’m focusing, continuing to focus on extracurriculars ask how important are passion projects to UC schools?

And if, if it is important, what kind of product projects do they like to see?

Aaron: Um, I mean, I don’t know if I would say that there are any more or less important than anything else that you might choose to do. Again, they’re just broadly looking to see that students are active and engaged, that they’ve found things that they’re passionate about and really pursued those during their time in high school.

So if that is kind of your own unique passion project, awesome. If that’s more kind of traditional activities at your school, awesome. Great. If you, you can’t do that for whatever reason, that’s fine too. Um, so, you know, I would say if you want to, you know, pursue your own project or your own research or something like that, um, great do that, but also I don’t think you need to feel compelled to do that.

Um, you know, to have a chance of being admitted.

Anesha: And then staying kind of on that topic, do you see, take notice of demonstrated interest? Not at all quick. Yes or no. Okay. Next question. Do honors classes matter in university? Do honors classes give you college credits or take the place of a high school?

Aaron: So, usually, I mean, they matter in the sense that.

If you’re, especially for California high school, you, and you have UC approved honors courses, right, where they’ve kind of vetted it and said, yes, this is an advanced course. That’s going to get that extra weight in that capped GPA. It matters in review of your application, but no, you’re not going to get college credit for it in the way that you would.

for certain AP exams or IB exams.

Anesha: Shifting to a few questions about the PIQs and you were talking about perhaps avoiding, um, certain topics. Uh, so the student asked about, should I stay away from athletics or even travel in my PIQs? What are some topics to avoid?

Aaron: Yeah. You

Anesha: know,

Aaron: so it’s, it’s kind of this interesting sort of semantic distinction of like, well, Yes, certain topics are common.

As a reader, it is very likely that you’re going to see a lot of sports PIQs over the course of a day. When you’re reading 60 applications a day, a good number of them are going to mention athletics. But, it’s all about how the student communicates the importance of the topic. of athletics to them in their lives, how they respond to the particular question, um, again, what’s the takeaway?

Did the reader something, learn something new about them? And if that comes from soccer or basketball or football or whatever, great. Um, you know, I wouldn’t just say I played sports and I was good and I liked it and, you know, Okay, well, so what? Um, but you know, what did you learn about being a team member?

Um, you know, has that perhaps carried over into other elements of your life that, you know, the lessons you learned from being an athlete? Um, is there just like, you really have a passion for it and it just drives you to be successful? Cool. Great. Absolutely. You can talk about that. Um, it’s, it’s all about.

What you convey, um, travel and especially like service oriented travel.

I would just be careful with that. Um, in how your tone comes across, um, so often it’s, it’s well intentioned and well meaning I think for the most part, but students, you know, who go on a service trip, there’s this tendency to come back and write. And they’re like, you know, I went and I did this thing and I saw These people that I helped were, are happy too.

And you’re just like, that’s not really like what we’re trying to say here. Right. Um, so I would just say like, watch tone in any of those kinds of essays, right. Um, be mindful of kind of the, um, what you’re communicating about yourself and your background and kind of privilege. But if you want to talk about that, you can, but you know, just be careful with that.

Anesha: Thank you. Yeah. Um, I appreciate what you mentioned about, uh, just like common versus um, like avoid, right? You know, like I think, yes, admissions officers are tired of reading about sports, but if you can write thoughtfully about sports, then do so. And I think also on a writing tip, the so what question is often missed.

I think students can describe things, but not tell us why at the end of the thing that thing matters to them and why we should care about it, you know, as a reader or from the reader perspective. So I really, really, I just wanted to emphasize the so what question of like, now that you’ve, you’ve written your essay, are you answering?

Why in the so what of of this essay? So it’s absolutely, um, but thank you for for raising that. Um, the next question still on essays a little bit more specific topic, but the student asked, is it okay to talk about mistakes I’ve made that may not look great so long as they show personal growth.

Aaron: Yeah, absolutely.

Um, I mean, I guess I suppose at some level it’s what was the mistake, right? I mean, like, did you hit someone with your car? Like, uh, you know, but if it’s like, yeah, like I, you know, made some other kind of mistake or something, but you can show growth from it. Sure. That’s fine. Um, you just obviously want to talk more about the growth and where you are now than about the mistake itself.

But,

Anesha: um, all right, so I’m going to ask some more questions, but I’m going to pivot really quick for a, a quick PSA. So for those in the room who aren’t already working with us, thank you for your questions. We know you have a lot of them and the admissions process can be very overwhelming, not just for UCs, but for the Common App, our coalition, for all of the things.

And so our team of over 300 former admissions officers and admissions experts are here to help you and your family navigate the process. Through one on one advising sessions, you can take the next step by signing up for a free 45 to 60 minute strategy session with an admission specialist on our team by using the QR code that is on the screen during that conversation.

And we’ll talk about extracurriculars help you strike out or outline an application strategy, discuss how everything aligns with your potential college list, enter any additional tools that you’ll need to stand out in a competitive admissions. Alright, so we’ll leave the QR code up on the screen and we will get back to our questions.

Um, my next question for you, I feel like it’s a quick yes or no, but I’ll ask it. Do all UCs inform the results at the same time?

Aaron: Uh, no, surprisingly. Um, so all of the applications are due at the same time. Um, so their application is open, uh, now, actually. So starting, uh, next week. October 1st, you can submit the UC application and you must submit it by November 30th.

Um, and, uh, they just have one kind of process. There’s no early action. There’s no early decision. It’s just regular. Um, and again, that must be turned in by November 30th. They will all release. by April 1st, um, by kind of how they get there is campus by campus. Um, but I would say typically they start releasing in, in early March, um, through until mid March.

Anesha: Um, the question is, do the UCs offer early admissions, which I know is no. So I’m going to just expand it to say, does it matter when I submit my application?

Aaron: It does not. So whether you submit it today or on November 30th, they will be reviewed just the same way. They don’t have rolling admission. There’s no benefit to applying early.

Um, I will say, you know, the UC again hosts their own application platform. Um, and they always try to plan for the increased server traffic around the deadlines. Um, but sometimes that doesn’t work out. My first year, the application crashed on the deadline. Um, now of course. They’re not going to penalize a student, even though, yeah, maybe you shouldn’t have waited until four hours before it was due.

But like, they gave extensions. But there was a lot of really freaked out students. Um, don’t put yourself in that situation. I would say try to apply by like the 28th. 27th to avoid that, like, major rush, um, on the application servers. But broadly, no, it doesn’t matter when you apply.

Anesha: Um, and then I guess somewhat connected to the idea of submitting early are, is the question of, like, which majors or what majors are impacted?

So if you could tell us a little bit about impaction, and then, um, If you spoke a little bit about specific majors, perhaps falling, um, falling under that. So yeah, talk about impaction and the major. Sure.

Aaron: So that’s kind of like a fairly you see specific term. Um, basically it’s just majors where the interest far outstrips the capacity.

Um, and so broadly, you know, they’re, they’re trying to admit. To a particular program, but, you know, in certain programs, oftentimes in engineering and many of the natural sciences, um, there’s just way too many qualified students versus the seats they have for computer science as an example. So, it’s possible that you might be admitted to the school, but not to your.

Major of interest, or you might just be straight denied because computer science was super competitive. And you applied 1st choice, computer science and 2nd choice, you know, electrical engineering slash computer science. Um, I will also note that. Again, those majors remain competitive, even once you’re a student on that campus.

So like at UC San Diego, as an example, computer science, you have to say you want to switch from another engineering discipline, even or another school or kind of faculty on campus already at UCSD, you have to take some prerequisite courses, achieve a 3.5 GPA or higher, which is a lot harder in college than it is in high school.

Um, and then it’s a lottery. Because it used to be that like the GPA requirement was going so high that it got to a 4.0 and they still didn’t have enough spaces. So they’re like, well, this is ridiculous. So they moved it to a 3.5 and made it the lottery. So it’s not guaranteed. So I would say. Apply to your first choice major.

If you get it, great. If you don’t, it’s possible, but do not make a decision to attend one of these schools with the idea that you’re going to transfer into your first choice major. And when you get there, it could happen, but you need to absolutely be okay graduating in a different major.

Anesha: So, when it comes to at least selecting, um, a major in the application, select what you want, but then some students were asking, is it to my advantage to go in undecided?

Aaron: In the sense that you keep a lot of options open, yes. But again, don’t do that if your intention is to graduate from UCLA in computer science. Like, well, I’m going to get in and then I’m surely once I’m on campus, they’ll take me to computer science, right? Um, so, so yeah, apply to the program that is your first interest because that’s how you’re going to put together a more compelling application.

Um, give yourself a second choice. But if you get admitted to that second or alternate choice, you need to be prepared that that might be the degree that you ultimately receive.

Anesha: I’m going to be selfish as a moderator and ask a question specific to a student that I have. Um, but I do see everyone’s questions.

I will get to all the questions that are out there. Um, I’m just, uh, so one of my students had a strategy of like, Okay. If I don’t get into UCLA this year, I’m going to go to community college and then reapply next year. Um, is that, is that an effective strategy? Will they be applying as a transfer at that point?

I know some UCs have transfer agreements with certain CSUs or community colleges, um, yeah, and trying to continue to figure out how to game the system with impacted majors. Um, what would be your thoughts about transferring or starting elsewhere to try to get into the UC of your choice?

Aaron: So, you know, I mean, the UCs being public schools, um, are huge transfer destinations.

Um, a third, in essence, of their students started elsewhere. Um, most of them at California community colleges. Um, so if you’re an out of state student, that can be a pathway, um, into UC and perhaps, you know, more directly into UC at a much cheaper rate by the time that you’re admitted. Um, And so, and also if you get denied to UCLA or Berkeley or, you know, Irvine, that’s your first choice and you get denied and you’re like, Oh, the door is closed forever.

Absolutely not. Transfers are a huge part of the UC process. Um, the one thing is that they do not take sophomore transfers. So you have to apply as a junior, um, in terms of the number of credits that you have. So it’s very unlikely that you could. graduate high school, do one year of community college and be eligible.

Typically you need to, maybe with a bunch of AP credits and a ton of courses over the summer and winter intersessions, maybe, but typically students are applying after two years of either community college or another four year institution. Um, and the thing that’s cool about the transfer process is it’s much more straightforward.

Um, it’s basically like. Take these prerequisite courses, get this GPA, probably going to get in. Um, now again, the major piece, um, so say you’re applying to computer science, um, they’re going to be very specific and kind of prescriptive with, you must take these, you know, prerequisite courses. Um, and even then they may not be able to guarantee that, Hey, you have a three, seven, you did all the pre-reqs may not be able to get in, but there is absolutely a, I would say a higher chance of your being admitted than there might be at the freshman level.

Anesha: Thank you for that note about like you have to come in a junior standing and not sophomore standing because that that was a, that was a lesson learned for me. Um, okay. So, uh, getting back to everyone else’s questions, what have you seen in applications that grab your attention? What do you feel like has stood out on a UC application?

Uh, you

Aaron: know, in some way, I think I definitely, I like, and I understand the question, but I also think it’s, um, Each student’s different, right? And so what stood out for one student isn’t going to be your story, isn’t going to be something, or isn’t going to be a way that you can stand out. Um, so what I think is most important is be authentic, be yourself, really reflect, you know, take a lot of time in this, be serious, um, be vulnerable where you can.

Um. But, you know, I think typically kind of common denominators would be outside of obviously academic strength. Um, intellectual curiosity. This is a university, they want students who are excited about ideas about learning, um, discovering new things. So talking about that and the application, um, you know, in a way that really is compelling and authentic, I think definitely can stand out.

And then, you know, again, students who really thrived in the context of their environment, whatever that looks like.

Anesha: Okay. Um, okay. Uh, the next question is, do you have to live on campus for the first year?

Aaron: You do

Anesha: not.

Aaron: You can.

Anesha: Don’t have to. And I just, my personal curiosity is housing guaranteed? No.

Aaron: Each, um, my Favorite and always unhelpful admissions answer of it depends.

Um, UCLA shockingly, uh, guarantees housing for all four years. What?

Anesha: Oh, that is super shocking. Yeah.

Aaron: They have a real estate. Okay. That’s great. San Diego guarantees it for two. Uh, so, you know, it really, it depends. Um, you know, you can oftentimes stay in housing longer, even if it’s not a guarantee because those spaces exist.

You just may not You’re not guaranteed to get it, but some students are like, I want to move off campus for various reasons. So, again, it depends.

Anesha: Um, cool. Can you explain more about breaking the UCSB application? I think this might be conflating UCSD and the general UC, but someone was saying if I want UCLA as my 1st choice. Is there a way to note that?

Aaron: Nope. Um, yeah, so essentially you’re just like checking the box alphabetically, um, you know, when you’re applying.

So there’s no way to indicate on the UC application, hey, you know, Berkeley is my first choice. Um, unless you only apply to Berkeley and say in the application, Berkeley is my first choice, but clearly you would not want to apply to Berkeley and LA and say, Berkeley is my top choice because then UCLA might say, well, good luck, um, being admitted at Berkeley.

Um, so yeah, there’s really nothing you can do to say, Hey, of the UCs I’ve applied to, There’s no ranking. There’s no way to say this. 1 is my top. You’re considered for all of them equally. There is this kind of persistent myth that you can only get into either Berkeley or L. A. or that somehow they all kind of.

talk and there’s this cabal that decides which UC you get admitted to. If you apply to all of them, they will all independently review your application. The readers do not know if you’ve applied to other UC campuses and they do not care.

Anesha: I feel like that always makes the PIQ number eight really tricky.

Because it feels like an ask for specificity about like what about a UC makes you, you know, interested. And I, students always struggle with that one, um, because they want to say something specific, but that is applicable to as many UCs as possible. Um, yeah. Yeah. Uh, well, somehow we might have confused someone else because they asked, what does ranking schools mean?

Aaron: Yeah. So again, you can’t rank the different campuses, but if you are applying to San Diego, you must rank. Their colleges, right, which is the way that they organize, um, their school in terms of living and gym education and things like that. And so you do rank them in terms of an actual one, two, three, four, et cetera, order.

Um, and so do the research. They have a link to the page that takes you to their kind of colleges page, um, and see, okay, what’s the theme? Like, what’s the vibe of this particular college versus the other, what are the courses I have to take? Um, How do those differ from another college? Um, do I like these courses?

Do I not like these courses? Hey, this one has a view of the beach versus this one is over by the freeway. Okay, cool. Like, you know, that kind of thing.

Anesha: Uh, so just for clarity, I think ranking, just in case ranking is the word that is troubling people, ranking means to just put the schools in a particular order based on your preference.

Um, so you cannot show preference for the UC application. Generally you can request a preference for the UC for UCSD. Um, so just wanted to clarify that in case it was a language or a vocab, um, challenge with understanding what the word ranking means. Um, okay. Uh, what are the chances, uh, or someone just said, what about scholarships?

So, uh, how does financial aid work, um, at UC?

Aaron: Yeah. So essentially there’s kind of. two or almost even three distinct kind of like aid processes. Um, so if you are a California resident, you will need to fill out the FAFSA. You will likely also need to fill out the Cal Grant application. Um, and you know, that way you will be considered for financial aid from each individual campus, as well as the state and federal governments.

Um, and then, Students applying from out of state can submit the FAFSA and eligible then for federal aid like the Pell Grant, but they are not eligible for state aid. So anything that’s, you know, funded by California taxes, as you might imagine, your parents didn’t, and you didn’t pay California taxes, so they’re not going to give that money to you.

Um, so Cal Grants and kind of institutional aid from kind of a need based perspective, unfortunately, you’re not eligible. Anything, all you would get Would be the Pell Grant, um, and potentially federal loans. International students don’t even have that. Um, now all students will be considered for some merit based scholarships.

Most of that money is going to Californians. Um, and then there are some scholarships that will be, you know, in the range of maybe 5 dollars. Um, that will go to kind of like, the most competitive, the strongest, um, out of state or international students admitted. By particular campus. Um, but if you’re looking at that price tag from an out of state or international context, and you’re like, I’m going to need half to 3 quarters to all of that to be aid honestly, that’s very unlikely to happen.

It would have to be through other sources, other scholarships, other opportunities. At most, you might end up with 000 of scholarship from a particular institution. And that’s, of course, not guaranteed either

Anesha: going back to our ranking question. The student asked, why does UCSD use ranking?

Aaron: So they’re only using it.

It has nothing to do with admissions. It’s an entirely separate process. So, essentially, you’re admitted. Because, you know, your application is awesome. Then, UC San Diego, in particular, has colleges. And that’s how, again, where you live, what your general education pathway is like, things like that. They don’t just put students in them randomly.

You are asked to kind of put your preference of colleges in order. to rank them based on your preference. And then their goal is to try to put students into, you know, at least one of their top couple of choice preferences, um, when they’re admitting students to a particular college.

Anesha: Uh, this is a random question, but we’re at the last minute.

So I’ll ask it. Do you know if UC is getting a D1 men’s ice

Aaron: hockey team? I don’t. No, I haven’t heard any rumblings of that. I know that, you know, TLA for sure has a club hockey team. Um, I, I haven’t heard anything about D1, but maybe.

Anesha: Um, all right. Well, that, those are all of our questions, even my own selfish questions.

So we will leave it there for today. Thank you so much, Aaron, for coming out and giving us your time and being thoughtful and thorough as always. Of course. I also just want to Um, share with folks that we will have some more webinars coming up. And so please join us, um, in the future. So we will have tomorrow, October 5th, we’ll have a session talking about understanding application deadlines.

So, for folks who are not applying to you, or applying to you season, other schools that are have questions about early action, early decision, regular decision, et cetera, rolling, please join us tomorrow. We’ll have an overview on the whole list. Application review process on October 8th, which I think almost all universities are using these days.

So if you are curious about how your application is being read, join us on October 8th. Um, on October 10th we’re gonna focus in on Ivy Leagues with a panel comparing Ivy League colleges, and we will have a financial aid deep dive. So for any folks concerned about scholarships and funding, you can join us on October 16th.

Um, but thank you again, Erin. Hope to see everybody soon. Until next time, have a great evening.

Aaron: Thanks. Bye everyone.