Dear bloggers,
I want to personally apologize for not posting anything prior to today. I knowing being preoccupied with other activities is no excuse, but I set a goal to wake up early today (Saturday) and post like crazy so you can comment. Please enjoy!
Just a reminder: Today is the last day to send in your SIR (Statement of Intent to Register) to the college that you would like to attend next year. Coincidentally, this post is about college admissions, specifically in the UC (University of California) system.
Anyways, as we have all heard from college meetings with our counselors, teachers, or college representatives, colleges try and create diverse communities to better represent minority students who have worked hard and achieved the grades and test scores necessary for admission. Despite Proposition 209, which simply states schools can not discriminate against or giving preferential treatment to any individual group in public education on the basis of race, sex, color, ethnicity, or national origin there have been an increasing number of hard working minorities who have achieved the grades and test scores necessary to be admitted.
Although the UC system has aimed at increasing student diversity, starting with the freshmen class of 2012, there will be a new policy which will reduce guarantee of freshman admission from the top 12.5 percent to 10 percent of California high school graduates, which means more out of state applicants would be granted admission. The new policy also eliminates the requirement to take subject tests (SAT II's).
The UC Academic Senate has proposed three new stimulation studies all of which do not promote diversity, although UC President Mark Yudof assures that they do (read the article to see the data summaries on these three stimulation studies).
Also, when some of the Academic Senate leaders were questioned about the policy, they said that the new freshmen eligibility and admission policy is about fairness, which would give more high-qualified students the chance to apply to the UC system and receive a full review of their applications. Again, this means more out of state applicants.
What do you (bloggers) think about the new policy, even though it doesn't necessarily apply to your undergraduate years, it may apply to your graduate years, if you so choose to go to grad school. Also, keep in mind that the UC system gets paid approximately $50,000 for out of state applicants who choose to attend their school. In addition, is it fair for the state of California to charge its citizens with high state taxes even though there is a declining rate of California students being admitted to its public universities?
Sorry this post was so long...
-Brian Kawamoto (AKA the wiser one)
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12 comments:
Well I think this is really interesting, but I really don't find it too surprising. It's obvious that accepting more out of state student would not only increase diversity, but really help the UC in terms of how much money they are making on tuition, I mean the out of state difference is huge! I feel like this is definitely worse for California high school students who will be trying to get into these schools in the future, but maybe once the UCs get some of the "diversity" they're looking for they will start to accept more in state students again? It also appears that the trend is that more CA students are going out of state, to schools similar to UCs and still not too far from home, or going to private schools. I think with this new policy that trend will increase in the coming years.
The college search process is only getting more difficult and all I know is I'm glad we have already all gotten through it. I feel bad for my sister who has to do it in three years, as APs are becoming more like necessities and the bar keeps getting higher.
As far as grad school goes I'm not too worried about it now because undergrad and graduate admissions are totally different, and you never know what else might change in 4 years.
The thing in my opinion is that California's budget woes are sort of skewing the UC system's priorities. Naturally, financial stability and diversity are goals common to most universities. However, UCs are intended to serve the people and students of California, in my opinion. If campuses are boosting themselves by accepting more and more out-of-state applicants, then they are functionally a lot more like private schools. Desperate times, desperate measures, certainly, but I suspect that if the UCs continue this trend that the outcry in response will be unmanageable for them in terms of PR.
Although you mentioned that there will be a reduction in freshman admission guarantees, I wonder how that will affect the top 4%, which is the next step up from being part of the ELC top 12.5%. Also, I think this only goes to show how colleges are getting more and more competitive every year, though I can certainly see why out of state students would be more favorable to Ucs than California residents. The fact that colleges are getting harder and harder to get into makes me weary for the future. Looking down the road, I want my kids to go to a good college; it might be much harder for them if college admittance keeps dwindling every year. In terms of the California taxes, I don't think it's necessarily fair that CA residents continue getting taxed for less CA residents using the UC system, but at the same time I also don't think that the UC system can afford getting less funding. When I myself go to a UC next year, my primary concern is being able to select classes that I need- the problem is that with the UCs in a financial crisis, classes are getting harder and harder to get into because there is less of them.
It's unfortunate to keep hearing about all of these grievances that are continuously occurring within all the UC systems. I understand that the state budget is not going so well throughout the country, and that's obviously a factor to all stuff going on i within the UC system. Its a shame that so many people have worked hard to meet their requirements for college, and are still not getting in due to the harsh times within the economy.
Personally, i think this just sucks. Kids work ridiculously hard in high school, many California kids with the dreams or goals of going to one of the UC's. Most kids dream schools include UCLA, but with the budget cuts, and decreasing amount of students accepted, that dream seems like it is becoming less and less of a reality. Not only are the UC's accepting less and less, but they are increasingly accepting more out of state high achieving students. WHile we like to think that this is purely merit based, I wonder who would be accepted if two identical candidates, one from california and one from colorado applied? The UC system seems to stand to make a lot more money from that out of state student. Just saying. Similar to this, at San Diego State, they just cut an entire dorm due to budget restraints, and are now guaranteeing freshman housing, something they didnt do before. This just means that with less housing available, just how many kids ARE NOT going to be accepted as compared to previous years. This seems like the UC's are beggining to act like a Private School, in order to help with their financial situation, but I think its priority should be to serve California. I just hope that next year as I myself am off to a UC i am able to get into the classes that I need.
-Jane Hayashi-
Although, it reduces GUARANTEED freshman admissions from 12.5% to 10%, in general, even if you do place within the top 12.5% of your class, your chances of getting into one of the 9 U.C. Campuses are still generally high. Having guaranteed admission simply means having that sense of security before all the admission decisions come out that one of the U.C.s will have to take you. There are plenty of people at Aragon and other various high schools who may not be in that top 12.5% but still end up getting acceptances into the UC system by the time March rolls around. Of course having guaranteed admission does provide you that sense of security.
As for having more out-of-state students, the plan could be beneficial. Out of state students will pay more tuition which could generate more revenue for the system as a whole and improve this current financial crisis going on with the UCs. Currently about 99% of the students within the UC system are California residents. They just have to keep in mind the idea of trade offs. You don't want to be so generous to out of state students that you start turning into a private schools and ignoring the students in California, at the same time, you want to have enough that you can improve your current economic condition. Hopefully after this idea improves the economic situation of the UCs, they can go back to focusing more in California residents. Keep in mind that California still has one of the best public education programs in the nation. There are still the CSU campuses and City Colleges as alternatives.
Yes this plan may be unfair to the California students who strive to get into UCs only to get denied, but not all of it is due to the cutbacks. Schools everywhere are getting more competitive academically, and sometimes the UCs have to try to keep up.
I agree with Lizzy. Even though there is a higher percentage of Californians at the UCs, it seems like more and more students are trying to attend out of state schools now. Furthermore, there have been budget cuts here and there for the UC system which is a major disadvantage. In order to receive more money, it is probably likely that the UC system will accept more out of state students.
Just as Lizzy said, I also think the admission process for grad school is much different than undergrad admissions.
I'm not sure where 99% came out of, but the University of California site mentions that over 90% of the admitted class are Californians. Although Brian mentioned that there is a 2.5% reduction in the amount of secured seats, I honestly think that this is the least worry that Californians have.
I actually spoke with one of my friends that live in Texas, not too long ago. Out of the state, UC Berkeley is seen as an extremely prestigious university, comparable to some Ivy's. The competitiveness to get into UCB and UCLA from out of state is much higher than the competition in California. I feel like the increase in competition because of a 2.5% decrease in secured seats is unwarranted.
On the other hand, because of the budget cuts, each UC will have to lower their seat capacity by about 100 per school for the next 5 years. 9 UCs x 5yrs x 100seats = 4500 seats gone. Now this is what we should be worried about.
The increase in the percentage of out-of-state students in the UC system definitely means more much-needed money for the UCs. Maybe CA students whose spots in the system would be lost to out-of-state students should be given the option to pay the out-of-state tuition, thus helping the UC system profit and still serve some of the students of California. However, this would put those who can't afford out-of-state tuition at a huge disadvantage. It's really unfortunate that the budget crisis has hit the education system so hard.
Well, the UCs have to be doing this for a reason. And a 2.5% decrease isnt all too bad. However, they can gain alot of extra money from the out of state students and can fund class with it. It's a lot smarter to take more out of state students and be able to fund classes than to take more from state students and not being able to fund classes. Many students would not be able to take the classes they need to graduate and the whole college process would take much longer thus costing a lot of families a lot more money.
I agree and believe this is quite intersting but had seen something crazy like this coming. The UC system comes up with the most clever and unthinkable ideas!!! I Just hope that they can really pull off with this one and people who are wanting to apply to UC's really step up their act!
My friend from Georgia goes to UCB and pays $55,000 a year. It's kind of ridiculous, but then again it makes me see why the UC's want to accept more out of staters. I think I read somewhere that it was easier to get into a UC if you live in California already, so reducing the "guarantee" from the top 12.5% to 10% of students in California high schools so that more out of state students can get in kind of levels out the playing field. I think it really should just be based on merit. Anyway, I agree with Michael that accepting more out of state students could be beneficial. If most of them are paying $55,000 like my friend, the UC's would be making so much money of off them. This could help the students at the UC's get a better education (even if there are less of them). It could be worth it.
Sort of a minor point but I'm a little bit upset that the incoming classes aren't going to have to take SAT II's.
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