Dang, my kid didn’t get into any public CA University with a 4.2 GPA that was applied to.

[SlicedFeet]

Haaa, I’m fooked.

4.2 GPA, National Honor Society, Several AP classes and passed all the placement exams for them. Tons of extra charity groups.

UC schools applied - SB, Irvine, LA, Berkeley.

CSU - SLO.

The only option to possibly getting into a UC school is Merced because she is within the top 9% of her class.

Anyone know anything about UC Merced?

My advice for families looking to apply next year. Aim real low.

 

[ghost_of_lewis_samuels]

Haaa, I’m fooked.

4.2 GPA, National Honor Society, Several AP classes and passed all the placement exams for them. Tons of extra charity groups.

UC schools applied - SB, Irvine, LA, Berkeley.

CSU - SLO.

The only option to possibly getting into a UC school is Merced because she is within the top 9% of her class.

Anyone know anything about UC Merced?

My advice for families looking to apply next year. Aim real low.

Brutal.

I'm hoping that college doesn't exist by the time my little guy is of the age.

 

[stringcheese]

That's fvcked. Did you try sending a couple hundred K to any of the schools?
She shot pretty high. Top 9% of her class is...pretty good, but....

 

[SClem. local]

Same here. GPA way above 4.0... Tons of AP classes. SAT (I know they don't consider them anymore... Wtf) of 1460 without any prep. He's waitlisted on all UCs and was denied at UCSB.

 

[Lohena]

4.2 and only top 9%? Grade inflation is real or everyone is just a whole lot smarter nowadays.

 

[SClem. local]

My only thought is maybe schools got a huge increase in applications since so many people didn't go the past 2 years???

 

[SlicedFeet]

That sucks SClem. Local. It’s hard seeing your kid do the best they can while learning how to learn then get shot down.

So now we are looking at over $120k for just two years before a transfer can happen to a UC school.

She did get into Santa Clara $$$$, LMU, Penn State, U of Arizona, and U of Oregon.

Of course community college is free.

Crossroads.

 

[MathDebater]

Those were pretty much my stats when I graduated HS in 2008, minus the national honor society but I think I passed 8 AP tests (N3RD). I applied to all those schools, got wait listed to SLO but nothing else. I am biased as a CSU grad but I really don't think UC's are worth it unless you plan to do an advanced degree after college. The professors are so oriented towards research you get very little interaction compared to what I got.

Not sure what your CSU options are but depending on their major it's a boring campus but Cal Poly Pomona is a great school, my wife and a number of my coworkers went there for engineering and were hot commodities in the job market. If your kid is interested in engineering and living near the coast, SDSU (my alma mater) is a solid school and a bargain compared to CSU's.

 

[rice]

Haaa, I’m fooked.

4.2 GPA, National Honor Society, Several AP classes and passed all the placement exams for them. Tons of extra charity groups.

UC schools applied - SB, Irvine, LA, Berkeley.

CSU - SLO.

The only option to possibly getting into a UC school is Merced because she is within the top 9% of her class.

Anyone know anything about UC Merced?

My advice for families looking to apply next year. Aim real low.

It's so crazy. Our daughter had a 4.7 gpa and got into only one of the 3 UC's she applied to. But she's stoked; it's where she wanted and she's in her 3rd year now.

Our son graduated HS last year with just below a 4.0 and got into zero schools.

 

[john4surf]

California colleges deny locals admission for financial reasons…. Foreigners and out of state tuition pay the high administrative salaries. My daughter had to attend UC Riverside 2 years in order to get into her preferred UC Irvine. She was told by a counselor that was the only way…. She was one of few born in the USA English speakers although she got along well with her many Asian classmates at UCI. Sort of reverse discrimination perhaps? Dunno

 

[Norm']

Can you fake some rowing team pictures?

 

[crustBrother]

it used to be that some of the CSU (and even UC if i remember right) had deals worked out with the junior colleges where they had a certain set of classes at the jc that were guaranteed to transfer and they also gave preferred admission status to kids who took that path

is that still a thing?

 

[MathDebater]

it used to be that some of the CSU (and even UC if i remember right) had deals worked out with the junior colleges where they had a certain set of classes at the jc that were guaranteed to transfer and they also gave preferred admission status to kids who took that path

is that still a thing?

I believe so. I haven't talked in depth with him but one of my friends is doing a program that sounds like that into SDSU.

 

[donuts]

Haaa, I’m fooked.

4.2 GPA, National Honor Society, Several AP classes and passed all the placement exams for them. Tons of extra charity groups.

UC schools applied - SB, Irvine, LA, Berkeley.

CSU - SLO.

The only option to possibly getting into a UC school is Merced because she is within the top 9% of her class.

Anyone know anything about UC Merced?

My advice for families looking to apply next year. Aim real low.

i have a good friend, her kid was always a recalcitrant student. the mom sat on her though...very pretty girl. she wanted to go to ucla for some reason. i started a thread here a few years back for any feedback - ucla vs. usc, for any info you cali creeps might’ve provided... her mom gave her an extensive tour of unis where she was thinking of applying... i remember they both rated ucla really highly for the cafeteria food available.

at first she got put on the wait list for ucla, and got an automatic acceptance to berkeley. ucla accepted a bunch of her highschool courses for uni credit. she graduated from ucla in three years (save $$$!)

she’s working in tech. i asked her a couple of months ago if she thought she got a good education for the buck at ucla ?... “nooooo, not really....”



edit: my friend is nyc chinese...

 

[San Gabriel Valley local]

Our third son is a senior this year, and having gone through the process twice before, this year was by far the most brutal and competitive, whether applying to public universities or private universities especially historically 2nd or 3rd tier universities. The common themes we are seeing, all anecdotal of course, in terms of who are getting into the UCs are females who will be majoring in STEM, female Hispanics with GPAs above 3.5 but below 4.0, or students with oddball majors that never fill up. Otherwise at the top of the class among students with very similar profiles -- unweighted 4.0, multiple APs, high AP scores, extracurriculars, volunteering -- it's a random crap shoot with anomalies like students getting into UCLA but rejected at all the other UCs. I think the best path to a UC at this point is through the community college system, there are certain ones that are reliable feeders to the top tier UCs. Save $$$, less stress on the kids in high school and less heartache in March when the UC admission letters are sent out.

Haaa, I’m fooked.

4.2 GPA, National Honor Society, Several AP classes and passed all the placement exams for them. Tons of extra charity groups.

UC schools applied - SB, Irvine, LA, Berkeley.

CSU - SLO.

The only option to possibly getting into a UC school is Merced because she is within the top 9% of her class.

Anyone know anything about UC Merced?

My advice for families looking to apply next year. Aim real low.

 

[stringcheese]

We've really made a mess of this education thing

 

[silentbutdeadly]

@SlicedFeet what high school does she go to?

I know kids that got into schools with lower GPA/test scores from non affluent high schools than better qualified (on paper) kids that came from nice area schools

 

[caelho]

My kid went the jr college route, even though he had a 4.5 gpa. When he finished, with straight a's again, he applied to SB, san diego and calpoly slo, and really wanted to go to san diego. He got denied by all except cal poly only because he went the jr college route here, all the psych programs from the other schools were super impacted. I would say do some research on the college you want to go to and find out how impacted the major your kid is interested in.


@San Gabriel valley local l said it better.

 

[Sharkbiscuit]

Of course community college is free.

Crossroads.

If she got offered a full ride to any of those I'd very strongly consider it. Maybe not Penn State; East Coast + that winter might be much on a California kid. Happy Valley is in BFE nowhere.

Arizona and Oregon sound ripe - if it's a full ride.

Otherwise, I'd do the Community College thing.

I got into Florida applying in September of 1997 for 1998 Summer B admission, with barely a 3.0 (unweighted but I was in some AP classes).

My buddy's daughter got deferred from FSU with like a 4.3 weighted, went for Summer B, and was able to get in.

In the 70s/80s the state schools here were trying to up the size of their student bodies. Roundabout the time I was in/graduating from Florida, they decided to cap it and let the applicant quality rise as Florida's population did. I mean once the student section is getting you a few false start penalties each home game you've milked the size thing and it's time to up the quality.

 

[grapedrink]

California colleges deny locals admission for financial reasons…. Foreigners and out of state tuition pay the high administrative salaries. My daughter had to attend UC Riverside 2 years in order to get into her preferred UC Irvine. She was told by a counselor that was the only way…. She was one of few born in the USA English speakers although she got along well with her many Asian classmates at UCI. Sort of reverse discrimination perhaps? Dunno

There should be a class action suit against the state for this. Unreal.