UC applications skyrocketed this year, leading to an even more competitive admissions season than ever before. The LA Times took a deep dive into the reasons why and how you can prep for the next cycle.

1. Your Application Major Matters

Here’s the hard truth: every school has certain quotas to fill for majors. This makes sense because a multidisciplinary college can’t just become a comp Avi specialty school. They want a community full of students excited to contribute to each major department. According to the LA Times, UC Irvine “couldn’t accommodate more than 10% of biological science applicants.” 

“At UC Irvine, admissions officers had to review a record 108,000 applications for freshmen spots. Almost half of the students applied to just six of 85 majors — with biological sciences the top choice, selected by nearly 12,000 applicants. Other popular majors were business administration, nursing science, computer science and psychology.”

This doesn’t mean you should apply to a different major because changing your majors at UCs can be difficult if it’s a popular major in the STEM field. It just means you need to prepare yourself for some competition if you know you are applying to a popular major. So if you’re applying pre-med, you’re going to want relevant internships and great results in AP Bio. If you’re on the fence about what major you apply with, remember you can always apply as undeclared or choose the less popular version of the same interest - anthropology instead of psychology, for example.

Before you freak out, remember that a majority of students end up changing their major anyway (that’s why you don’t have to formally declare it until the end of sophomore year).

2. Your Transcript is Everything

Due to Covid’s effects on waiving the standardized testing requirements, UCs are looking to your transcript to see how you have challenged yourself. If you can take the higher-level class or AP and do well, go for it.

“Without standardized test scores to guide selections for competitive majors requiring strong calculus and statistics skills [...] reviewers took a close look at whether students took a progression of increasingly more challenging math classes, including college-level AP courses.”

You want your transcript to tell a story of how you’re challenging yourself. Why? If you challenge yourself in high school, it’s a signal that you can handle a challenge in college. So, taking a harder class and getting half a grade lower can potentially be more beneficial for you during rounds of admissions than taking the safe route. This is especially key for those of you interested in maths and sciences. They want to see you taking more and more advanced classes because the curriculum is rigorous in an undergraduate institution.

3. Show Your Grit

Colleges know that you are under extreme duress due to the pandemic. However, they are interested to see how you can make the most out of it. Were you able to follow a pattern with your interests?

“UC application readers also look for persistence, resilience and grit — low-income students who had to work multiple jobs, for instance, to support their families and still excelled in a rigorous curriculum.”

“At UC Santa Barbara, which received a record 105,640 applications, faculty told admissions officers they wanted active, engaged learners who involved themselves in their school and community. Even during the pandemic, did they seek out opportunities to learn through TED Talks? Did they volunteer for online tutoring or help family members stricken with COVID-19?”

Did you volunteer? Did you create a community in some way? How have you been tackling this unstructured time in a way that could really encourage growth in someone? Remember to take advantage of the new “Additional Information” Covid supplement in the Common App, and to always list any home-related chores in the Activities List that take up a significant amount of time like taking care of a sibling or cooking dinner for the family.

4. It’s Not You, It’s the Pandemic

UCs like UC Santa Barbara and UC Santa Cruz increased their waitlist spots purely because of COVID. The Director of Admissions at UC Santa Barbara, Liza Przekop, said, “Santa Barbara increased its wait-list offers to 14,000 from 10,000 last year as a hedge against pandemic uncertainty.”

So, if you didn’t get in off the waitlist, don’t blame yourself.

5. You Might Be Better Off Transferring

Vice Provost of Enrollment Management at UCLA, Youlonda Copeland-Morgan, suggested transferring as a meaningful pathway to getting to the UC of your dreams because the admissions rate is much higher at 24% compared to their undergraduate admissions rate of 12%. So if you have your heart set on a UC, don’t give up hope just yet! 

Whether your admissions results this year ended in cheers or tears, you’re going to end up where you belong. 

And if you’re just starting out? Take a deep breath and start prepping. You got this.