By: Ciara Whipple; Staff Writer
As college admission decisions roll in, we have noticed an unprecedented percentage of students not being accepted into the UC, CSU, and private school systems. Specifically, the highest achieving students who exceed the expectations of their desired schools were denied acceptance.
With the worldwide spread of the Covid-19 pandemic, students all over the world were stripped of a real high school experience. The 2019-2020 school year was an anomaly of mentally and academically staggering proportions. The following academic year was entirely online, which prevented many students from continuing their extracurricular activities and more, which could have strengthened their college applications and helped them stand out. In addition, there was an increase in students who took a gap year, resulting in a surge in freshman applicants in the subsequent year.
In an interview with the Director of Admissions at UC Santa Barbara, I was able to develop a better understanding of some of these reasons. UCSB received a 5% increase in applications for the 2022-2023 school year than in previous years. There was very little anticipated change in the size of the freshman class, resulting in a much more competitive selection process. There was also a significant increase in the number of students applying for engineering and computer science majors, making the selection process for these majors more competitive. As a result, many students did not get the acceptance letters they felt they deserved and had worked hard to receive. With the uncertainty of Covid over the past few years, many students who graduated high school in 2020 and 2021 did not immediately enroll in college. Instead, they waited to enroll this year, at the same time as the 2022 graduating class. The vast increase in applications resulted in more students being turned away from schools where they felt they had a great chance of being accepted.
Students need to be aware that in 2008 one-third of California high school students qualified to be admitted to the state’s two public university systems (UC, CSU). Today this number is half of all graduating high school students. This increase leaves a gap for those who qualify vs those who are ultimately accepted. The average high school GPA of admitted UC students is now over a 4.0 at most campuses. However, this should not discourage students from applying to said universities. We as students need to look at colleges in the same manner that colleges are looking at students. Take into consideration the facts that may not be easily quantifiable on a report. Look at the overall focus of the school, the atmosphere, graduation rate, and satisfaction of the current students. Similar to all of us, “grades” alone do not always paint the full picture. Look at colleges that may not have “perfect scores” but still speak to you. Taking into consideration your overall feel of the school, will it meet your physical, mental, academic, and social standards and goals? Sometimes a school considered the “best choice” may not be the best choice for you. It is also important to remember that sometimes not getting your top choice will end up being a benefit to you in the long run. Embrace your college, go in with an open mind and give it your full commitment and you may realize the college that picked you was the best decision for you.
It is also important for students to not get discouraged by the increase in rejections from their desired schools. Instead, students need to focus on a more varied list of schools to apply to and broaden their selection process to schools they may not have been initially interested in. Planning college tours, speaking to current students, and considering the environment that you work well in are very important. It is also critical to continue to do the activities that you enjoy outside of school and work hard academically to prepare yourself for the best chance to get accepted to your desired college.
Colleges will continue to be very selective in their acceptance process. Students should continue to do their due diligence to research colleges and majors that speak to them. Start the process early and visit schools you may only be somewhat familiar or interested in, you may be pleasantly surprised by schools that were not initially on your radar. In addition, it is also critical to know that you can get your desired job in a variety of college routes. Don’t be discouraged by a rejection letter, it simply wasn’t meant to be at this time it will not necessarily have a negative impact on your success as a student or professional. Keep learning and growing and your success is limitless!
