Of the 13,020 freshman admits this year, UCLA’s Office of Undergraduate Admissions expects about 4,700 to matriculate into the university next fall.
With 82 percent of accepted students from California, UCLA has collaborated with the other UC campuses this year to reach out to residents from a larger geographical area, said Vu Tran, director of undergraduate admissions and relations with schools at UCLA.
Through a series of workshops in October called “UC For You,” the University of California was able to provide information to prospective students from various regions of the state. The workshops took place at the Berkeley, Merced and Los Angeles campuses and gave guidance to students and parents about the basics of the UC application, financial aid and selection process.
Although UCLA accepted nearly the same number of applicants as last year, the university received more than 1,000 more applications for fall 2010. Compared to last year’s 21.4 percent California freshman admit rate, UCLA was slightly more selective this year, admitting 21 percent. About 40 percent of freshman admits matriculated for fall 2009.
While this year’s admits hailed from different geographical regions and came from various walks of life, they held one trait in common. Each exemplified excellence as students on their high school campuses, said Susan Wilbur, UC director of undergraduate admissions. Coupled with the 1,500 admit reduction this year, the number of strong applicants gave UCLA admissions a greater competitive edge.
“The academic quality of applicants increased tremendously,” Tran said. “We turned away many UC-eligible applicants, but it’s not about UC-eligibility as it is about the competitiveness of the applicants.”
According to released admissions data, admitted freshmen averaged 4.18 in GPA, 2020 in SAT score and a score of 29 on the ACT. Admits took an average of nearly 50 college-preparatory courses, surpassing the UC-required 30 courses.
A majority of students were also active in their schools, as student body presidents, sports team captains or participants in competitive academic organizations, such as Academic Decathlon and Science Olympiad.
In spite of the 32 percent fee hike by next fall, high school applicants remain strongly interested in the university because of its high rankings and strong programs, Tran said.
While seven of the nine UC schools opened up a waitlist, UCLA opted out, Tran said. The purpose of a waitlist is to aid in reaching enrollment targets, and admissions officials were confident that the campus will meet its enrollment target of 4,190 California residents.
“We know we will reach our target, and we wanted to avoid anxiety for applicants as much as possible,” Tran said. “The suspense is not a good experience.”
Transfer decisions will be released by the end of April.