Page 3 - KnightTime News Winter 2019

KNIGHTtime News
In order for ED to work some of
its magic, then, all three of these factors must converge in order to have a more successful outcome for ED. In other words, it is not enough to apply to a school with an ED program that has a high percentage of ED admits. The student, also, has to be within the average admitted academic profile. Of course,
there is a lot more context your counselor can provide in individual conversations.
“Is it true that kids from
Menlo have a harder time getting into UC schools?” Another great question! There are going to be lots of layers to my response, so sit back and relax. I think one of the most important things to think about in response to this question would be the context of UC admissions. For example, as part of the University of California’s commitment to expanding access to students from diverse backgrounds, last year the UC system offered admission to a
higher percentage of first-generation to college (FGC) students. As a whole, the University of California’s incoming class for fall 2019 was 46% FGC. Something else to consider is that there is a larger push to take transfer students from community colleges; last year, Cal admitted 8,000 transfer students, close to 70% of
the transfer applicant pool. And I think Menlo’s UC numbers reflect that shift in the type of student that is admitted. Consider the following pieces of data: In 2017, 37% of
our applicants who applied to UC Berkeley were admitted compared
to 18% of applicants in 2018 (By the way, the national admitted average for UC Berkeley is 18%). UC San Diego, which also made a huge push for FGC students, admitted 43% of our applicants in 2017 compared to 11% of applicants in 2018. As you can see, the admission process will be harder for students who don’t meet this institutional priority.
Another layer that I would add to this question is the way in which the
GUIDING YOUR COLLEGE PROCESS
UCs review applications, and there are two parts to this layer: first, the UCs re-calculate GPAs in an effort to level the playing field. What this means is that the UCs only consider sophomore and junior year grades and they give a one point bump
for every approved AP or honors level course, up to 8 semesters. So,
if a student attends a school that allows them to pile on approved AP or honors courses early on, then the academic profile can look stronger and there is a bit of an advantage there. The good news for Menlo students is that some of our non- AP/honors courses are considered honors at the UC level; in other words, they recognize the rigor of our curriculum. The other part to this layer is that some campuses admit by major and others don’t. So, for a student who really wants to apply
to engineering, it’s going to be a
lot tougher applying to places that admit by major, like UC Irvine and UC Berkeley. It’s important to discuss major interests with your counselor because they can provide you with this type of context.
Finally, I would add that students need to seriously consider all nine campuses: our admit rate to UC Santa Cruz in 2018 was 70% and they have amazing programs. Our admit rate to UC Irvine was 43%
and they also offer some incredible learning opportunities. Take a look at all of our amazing public universities!
There are some more questions that I didn’t get to, but I think these were excellent submissions. Remember to see your college counselors when questions such as these pop up!
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