UC college admissions are broken

His SAT is higher than the average at UC schools but he got rejected. That is wrong. He is a taxpayer. What does the budget do for him?

This

The UC's were free until Reagan changed that model. They were also the best university system in the country by far until the cuts started coming. UC Berkeley still has the best overall graduate programs in the country. If you're a conservative, you should love that the UC system has not been able to consider race for the past 25 years plus. At Cal, they are ranking you within the area of the intended major and they used to form an index score from core course GPA from 10th grade through half of 12th grade, plus the SAT and I think three of the subject tests. I got into UC Berkeley in comp sci/electrical engineering back before the race-related admissions went away, because this formula really suited my strengths, though I went elsewhere to get further away from home. The OP's case would have to look not at GPA and SAT in overall classes but within the selected major. For engineering that would be really high. A 4.2 GPA is a weighted gpa on a higher scale and so is essentially meaningless. I hear of kids with 5.3 GPAs, 6.2, 4.8, all sorts of nonsense. Unweighted GPA is much more meaningful, but even then you're comparing apples to oranges, kids at different quality high schools taking different levels of classes. Unweighted GPA has been inflated so much over the years that it is far less meaningful as a way of differentiating between students. Still, GPA correlates far more closely with college grades than SATs. Both are susceptible to parental influence and tutoring advantages. In either case, you're making a prediction about the student and whether you are filling up the various spots in different departments and programs at your college or university. Those predictions are highly fallible. I have seen this in graduate admissions. The grades are about the same. The test scores vary a lot. But it is the internal qualities that make the difference among those who have some writing ability, the work ethic, the originality, the perseverance, the toughness.

Have you checked out the UC TAG program (transfer admission guarantee)? Two years of community college, maintain a 3.4 gpa, save loads of money, guaranteed admission to a UC campus for the last 2 years and the degree.

Choice of major will play a role, as do the PIQ (essay) responses, which need to show some sort of alignment with the student's academic goals. There are 13 points of holistic review... did your kid take the most rigorous course load at his HS? Strength of senior schedule? CA has too many college-bound kids and not enough spots. Recent laws are forcing UCs to admit more in-state students. Housing is a major problem and getting classes are too. The UCs are not all they are cracked up to be... try UC Tucson or UC Eugene instead...

Saying that they're "not able to consider race" is a lie. They have found alternatives to get around it.

^This is the most constructive post I’ve seen in this thread.

OP, I am very sorry about your kid.that’s insane. Truly sucks. I am a white male from a pretty traditional / privileged background and had a similar SAT score but worse GPA but got accepted to 4 UCs back in the day. Not sure what has changed with admissions. I did get rejected by Cal and UCLA though FWIW. Ultimately went to UCSB and had a great experience.

Are there any extenuating circumstances here? I certainly can’t explain what happened but I do think the community college / JC route to a UC is not a bad idea. I had classmates / teammates that went that route, had a great college experience, and did very well ultimately (now doctors, lawyers, executives, etc). I know it’s not as prestigious/ cool but you can save some $$$ and still do very well in life. There are also some good schools in the CSU system as well as some have said. Best of luck to you and your kid.

Instead of copying J I, training, your son should have been lowering his 40 yard dash time and your son should have been working on his 225 bench pressing reps.

L.B.J. was poor and attended a lower ranked Texas public university. L.B.J. turned himself into a multimillionaire. Stop whining. Tell your son to make the most of it.

#Equity

not going to lie sir your sons resume is good but not great. also if your son seemed like a "box checker", someone who fills out the stats sheet, that is a turn off for a lot of good schools. sounds like thats what it is.

Two years at juco then slide into Berkeley. Save $75k and still get a Berkeley degree.

Check out U of A and SDSU. The schools aren't Berkely or UCLA, but they are good options. I have extended family at both and the kids are enjoying their college experiences. U of A gives excellent merit money for kids with high GPAS and SATs.

Not sure if they could transfer into a UC school if they use UofA or SDSU as a springboard. Something perhaps to research.

Hey Kobbs do yourself and the 10 people who upvoted you a favor and delete your comment. Why, because the dad made a big deal about not being waitlisted and not using SAT’s so… I’ll bet your reading skills work in a “sane red state”.

There are two other UC campuses your son could have applied to and 23 (!) CSU system campuses. CSU schools charge $7-11k for in-state tuition which is a pretty amazing bargain. Don’t act like you’re somehow getting ripped off when your son didn’t apply to over 75% of the in-state public four year schools.

Something like half a million seniors will graduate from high school in California this year and they all want to go to Berkeley, UCLA, Santa Cruz, Santa Barbara, or San Diego. UCLA alone gets 150,000 applications for a 6,000 person freshman class. You’ve got 50,000 seniors graduating in the top 10% of their classes and probably way less than 20,000 seats for them at the five most popular campuses. If you have brilliant ideas on how to solve that problem they would be great to hear.

A 1420 SAT (which is literally not even considered at any UC) and a 4.2 is pretty mid for any of the decent UCs, especially for any engineering major, and even more especially for a CS major. Think about it, most high schools in California have 10-30 people with a 4.2 or above. Multiply that by thousands of high schools, and you’ll see that a 4.2 doesn’t really place you as special.

Additionally, unlike a lot of other schools, UCs care way more about how well rounded of a person you are. Great you achieved a 4.2 as an upper-middle class kid who was interning at big companies due to their parents connections, well there’s another kid at your school who got a 4.0 while being dirt poor and having to work their way through school. UCs will take the latter in a heartbeat.

Prove it, hotshot.

Back when I was applying to college I had all that. 1450, 4.2, all the extracurriculars, etc. I didn’t get into any of my top choices. The kicker is that this was 2001 when it was less competitive than it is now.

People just need to cope with the fact that great but not outstanding students are a dime a dozen. You get further by really excelling at one thing rather than being decent at all of them.

Yeah I know. Because they're white.