California Public Colleges 103: The University of California (UC) System
In California, college is complicated. Understand our 3 systems and how to get the best education out of each.
This is Part 3 in a 3-part series. Part 1 covers the California Community Colleges and Part 2 covers the California State University (CSU) system.
Part 3: The University of California — Internationally recognized research and educational institutions, the reputation of the 10 UC campuses proceeds them. Nine of these campuses are available to recent high school graduates if they can get in: admission rates at the top campuses — 12.4% at UCLA, 16.8% at UC Berkeley — rival the admission rates of the most elite schools in the country.
Why Go: UC’s mission is “teaching, research, and public service,” and folks often argue about which mission comes first. Unlike the California State Universities, the UC schools are large research institutions with budgets to match. Each campus provides excellence in any number of areas, some known, others less known: UCLA in medicine and the arts, UC Irvine in premed and writing, UC Santa Cruz in cell and molecular biology and (you’d never guess) computer game design. From research on job burnout at UC Berkeley to green gas production at UCLA to Santa Barbara’s study of oil platforms, UCs regularly make news.
Having research and innovation happening on campus makes attending a UC an exciting experience for any student who strives to be a part of world-changing work.
The research focus is evident at a UC, and students whose path includes graduate school and other post-baccalaureate study will have their undergraduate work tailored to those goals. A quick comparison of majors at a UC and a CSU demonstrates the difference: a UC bachelor’s degree in ecology, for example, includes primarily high-level biology, physics, and chemistry courses, whereas a similar degree at a CSU includes interdisciplinary courses in management and policy. Likewise, in other fields like computer science (and even English), a UC education will have more emphasis on theory and less on application.
A student’s intentions after their bachelor’s degree will have a strong influence on whether they feel like their UC education is the right fit for them; those who need a strong undergraduate resume for their post-undergrad applications won’t be disappointed at a UC.
Despite regular student strikes, the UC system continues to provide one of the most affordable high-quality educations in the nation. The base tuition rate for California residents ($12,570 for any campus) is a steal compared to similar-quality private schools. After getting blowback in recent years about the low number of California acceptances (most agreed that UC was chasing cash from its $30,000/year non-resident rate payers), UC has responded by increasing admissions for in-state residents, making acceptance at the schools (a little) more likely.
Caveats: I speak frequently with students who go to UCs, and many return telling a similar tale: despite their universal prestige, UCs aren’t really for everyone.
In departments that focus on graduate work and research, freshman often pay the price. Entry-level courses may be taught in lecture halls with 300-400 students, an experience unfamiliar to most high schoolers. (Students do report that professors are friendly and helpful if a student makes use of office hours. Graduate students are the most accessible support for these super-sized classes.) To add to the challenge of lecture-based instruction, most UCs are on a quarter system (only Cal and Merced are semester), which allows little time to learn the expectations of a class before midterms hit. With just a handful of tests that make up a grade (sometimes just a midterm and a final), errors in understanding either the content or the testing expectations of a course may not be reparable before the course is over. If they have regrets, the quarter system and the anonymity in class are the most common reasons.
Especially in majors which feed into highly competitive post-baccalaureate fields (biology for premed, for example), students comment on the intense atmosphere at UCs. While some relish the chance to finally prove themselves on a larger stage, others experience the “big fish little pond effect”: accustomed to being the “big fish,” they are shocked by the large UC pond, surrounded exclusively by students who are as good as they are — and better — where the only choice is to “sink or swim.”
Not every high school student will have trouble adjusting to the environment. Highly competitive students who want to make a name for themselves will need that bigger field on which to play; these students will likely enjoy the high-powered atmosphere. A strategic student may find their way to an amazing UC experience, too, by choosing a smaller major or finding a small program that lives within larger departments. I spoke with an entomology student from UC Davis who enjoyed a highly rewarding experience in the 30-person department; she felt that her speciality buffered her from what might have been a more difficult experience in the raging sea of general biology majors.
Getting in: Rumor has it that UCs are impossible to get in to, but in the system as a whole, admission rates vary from highly to moderately competitive. Admissions rates at Santa Cruz and Riverside hover around 50%; UC Merced accepts three-quarters of its applicants. For students seeking a UC education, now is a great time to go to a middle-range UC whose general reputation hasn’t quite caught up with its actual excellence.
To be UC-eligible, California students must have a minimum 3.0 GPA. All UCs use a 14-point comprehensive review to determine admission, though how that review is applied varies by campus. Hard data includes GPA in academic (a-g) courses, SAT/ACT scores, and performance in honors/AP/college-level classes. Subjective data includes the student’s performance against their school’s offerings (see my post on rigor), the strength of the student’s senior program (no senior slackers!), a trend of improvement, special talents and achievements, and “academic accomplishments in light of a student’s life experiences and special circumstances.”
Further, UC makes an effort to serve top-tier California residents through two programs: they provide an admissions bump to students who are “eligible in the local context” — the top 9% of their local school — and by guaranteeing a spot for students who, based on GPA and SAT score, are ranked in the top 9 percent in the state (“if space is available”). They also have commitments with the California Community Colleges to encourage junior-level transfer and have multiple transfer pathways to support these students, though some campuses are more transfer-friendly than others.
In exchange for their persistence in sometimes challenging undergraduate settings, UC students benefit from research opportunities with talented professors as well as strong preparation for post-graduate experiences and high performance in their professional careers.
For more on California’s college systems, read Part 1: The California Community Colleges and Part 2: The California State Universities.
Kelly Mogilefsky is a high school English and AVID teacher in a Middle College Program and an Independent Educational Consultant. Learn more about her services at Mogilefsky Consulting.
