UC Irvine Rescinds 500 offers of Admission (Los Angeles, Riverside: credit, transfer, schools)

[RosieSD]

I always warned my students that senior year grades matter. This year, more than ever. Regardless, I really feel for the kids and parents going through this -- it's too late to accept another college's offer.

The University of California at Irvine apologized on Friday for rescinding 500 offers of admission just before the start of the fall term. The Los Angeles Times reported that the last-minute reversals had elicited criticism from prospective students on social media.

The campus said the offers had been withdrawn because of transcript problems and bad senior-year grades, but students writing on social media said the reasons provided to them had been insufficient or nonexistent.

The Times reported that 7,100 of the 31,103 freshmen (out of 104,000 applicants) who were offered admission to UC-Irvine had accepted it by May. That put the university 850 students over its planned freshman class of 6,250.

UC-Irvine Withdraws 500 Admissions Offers 2 Months Before Fall Term – The Ticker - Blogs - The Chronicle of Higher Education


And, here's the letter UCI's Vice Chancellor sent out:

Important Messages


If your child has been caught up in this, there's still hope. About 50 out of 250 students who filed appeals to this have been reinstated. So, don't hesitate to file an appeal if you think your offer was rescinded in error.

[silverkris]

Oh yes, I just saw this. I always emphasize to my students to NOT let ones' grades go to pot in their 12th grade 2nd semester.

[davidt1]

UC rejects can do walk-in registration at state schools, I think. Community colleges are great for those unprepared to enter the UC system. There are trade schools too.

[RosieSD]

Originally Posted by silverkris

Oh yes, I just saw this. I always emphasize to my students to NOT let ones' grades go to pot in their 12th grade 2nd semester.

Remember when UC Irvine was the "safety school" no one wanted to go to? UCI got more freshman applications than Berkeley this year. The little secret is that UCI has always been a much better school than people gave it credit for.

[RosieSD]

Originally Posted by davidt1

UC rejects can do walk-in registration at state schools, I think.

Sorry, but this not true.

Community college is always an option and then try to transfer in two years. As would be taking a gap year and reapplying next year.

Nothing wrong with working for a year.

[phantompilot]

So when did looking at senior year grades become a thing? The UC system has never included senior year grades in the GPA calculation and applied it retroactively after admission offers had been extended and accepted. This sounds more like an excuse to solve their overbooking problems.

Not a big loss though. UCI kinda sucks.

[RosieSD]

Originally Posted by phantompilot

So when did looking at senior year grades become a thing? The UC system has never included senior year grades in the GPA calculation and applied it retroactively after admission offers had been extended and accepted. This sounds more like an excuse to solve their overbooking problems.

All colleges, including the UCs, ask for a final transcript at the end of senior year. Every offer of admission comes with the caveat that your admission is contingent on successfully completing senior year grades. While it's true that the UCs and Cal States only use 11th and 10th grade grades to make admissions decisions, they still look at your senior year grades at the end of the year to make sure you've completed the courses you listed on your application. They also look at final transcripts to make sure you've completed the required A-G coursework by the end of senior year.

The news here is that UC Irvine revoked admission for so many students this year. While I've seen many colleges and universities revoke a small handful of admissions offers, this is an unusually large number. And, apparently, UC Irvine also didn't handle the notification as well as they could have.

[silverkris]

Originally Posted by RosieSD

Remember when UC Irvine was the "safety school" no one wanted to go to? UCI got more freshman applications than Berkeley this year. The little secret is that UCI has always been a much better school than people gave it credit for.

Yes - and UCI's selectivity is much much higher in recent years than before, it's now 36.6% for Fall 2017

[RosieSD]

Originally Posted by silverkris

Yes - and UCI's selectivity is much much higher in recent years than before, it's now 36.6% for Fall 2017

Yes, I was surprised to see them neck and neck with UC Berkeley for number of freshmen applicants this year.

I also was surprised to see UC Riverside gaining on UC Santa Cruz in terms of number of applications. I've always thought that was a school that deserved more attention too.

[CA4Now]

Originally Posted by RosieSD

Remember when UC Irvine was the "safety school" no one wanted to go to?

Yes. Eons ago, in one of the college guides, UC Irvine was described as having "the personality of an empty locker." It was a commuter school back then. (Oops....I'm dating myself.)