All nine of the University of California campuses received over 160 thousand applications for Fall 2012 admissions. This figure represented an overall 13% increase over last year, with a 19% increase for freshman admissions and a 4% decline in transfer applicants. The 93,000 resident freshmen applicants included a diverse pool:
- 44.5% – first-generation
- 39% – family income less than $44K annual
- 30% – Latino background
UC has its own separate application and not a member of the Common Application. A change that may have attributed to this year’s increased number of applicants is that UC eliminated the requirement of two SAT subject tests. (Wow, that must have really put a dent in the College Board’s revenue stream!)
Approximately 33,000 out-of-state prospective freshmen applied to the UCs. It will be interesting to learn whether the admissions rate for non-residents is more favorable given the funding shortage in California. Reports indicate that non-residents currently comprise about 7% of the overall student body versus a mandated cap of 10%. Last year, the more popular campuses for non-residents were Berkeley, which admitted about 22%; UCLA, 15%; and UCSD at 12%. Perhaps if you’re a non-resident, you should add Davis, Riverside, or Santa Cruz to your list. 🙂 Either way, I’m keeping my fingers crossed for all my highly qualified resident and non-resident applicants to the UC campus of their choice!