High school students began learning the fate of their acceptance
or denial of admission to UCLA last weekend, but the status of
thousands of UC freshman applicants lies somewhere in between with
the Guaranteed Transfer Option.
High school seniors and their counselors have been angered by
budget cuts to the university, as the UC will reduce freshman
enrollment for fall 2004 by 10 percent, redirecting 3,200 eligible
applicants to California community colleges for their first two
years.
“I’ve already heard some students saying “˜Oh
my God, why did it have to be my year?'” said Ami
McColl, a college counselor from University High School.
“It’s already competitive enough to get in. Of all
the things to cut, education should not have been one of
them,” said Nancy Budar, a San Pedro High School
counselor.
Students on the cusp of admission that are not being admitted in
the fall are being fed into the California community college system
with the promise of transfer to a UC campus afterwards if all
requirements for admission are met.
“The fact that we will not be able to take some of these
students this year is a very large disappointment,” said
Susan Wilbur, the UC director of undergraduate admissions, in a
statement. “We are doing our best to accommodate as many
UC-eligible students as we can.”
This is the first time in four decades the UC has not been able
to offer enrollment to all students that have met admission
criteria. In the past, eligible students not granted admission to
one of the UC campuses to which they applied were offered admission
by another UC campus through a referral process.
Even with the promise of guaranteed transfer, many high school
students are disappointed after working hard to gain admission to
the UC.
Students are not very keen on going to a community college after
meeting requirements to gain admission to a UC. Many high school
students will likely accept offers to California State universities
or private schools instead of accepting the GTOs, McColl said.
Honey Koletty, a Carson High School college counselor said,
“It’s going to be a huge disappointment for kids that
know that they’re eligible. What’s going to happen is
that private colleges are going to become much more attractive.
Private colleges are going to come in and pick up the
slack.”
Some high school counselors are also worried about the impact
the large influx of UC-guaranteed transfer students will have on
the community college system.
“I don’t know how it’s going to be possible
for them to access the classes they need. I’m not worried
about (GTO students) because they get priority enrollment.
I’m worried about the other kids at the community
college,” McColl said.
Budar said, “The community colleges don’t know how
they are going to accommodate all the kids being pushed out of the
UC system.”
UC- and CSU- eligible students flowing into the community
colleges will strain the underfunded system further, causing
difficulty in finding classes and an increase in the cost per unit
to $26.
Guaranteed transfer students are given counseling as well as
priority enrollment to ensure a smooth
transfer to the UC. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s proposed
budget provides $1.6 million for GTO students’ academic
planning.
Schwarzenegger’s proposed budget also would waive unit
fees at community colleges for UC-eligible students.
Budar said the proposal of waiving fees is like a
“consolation prize,” adding that it will help some
students financially but will not decrease the letdown felt by
students that gained eligibility for admission.
Most of the kids taking advantage of the GTO will be doing so
for the monetary benefit, McColl said.