Are you applying to any of the nine University of California (UC) campuses? If so, read on (and watch the video to the right) for some great tips on the UC application!
While Magellan counselors work with students all over the country, a good number of our team is based in California, so many of our students apply to campuses within the UC system.
When counselor Michelle Silbernagel was in California this fall for a national college admission conference, she and Magellan founder Evelyn Jerome-Alexander visited UC Irvine, and we filmed some short clips with advice on each section of the UC application.
Basics About the UC Application
The UC application has its own platform and is a little bit different from most other college applications. Here are a few important things to keep in mind:
- You can apply to any or all of the nine undergraduate campuses through this application.
- The campuses to which you apply do not know what other campuses you’re applying to, and each campus will consider your application separately from the others.
- You will self-report all of your high school courses and grades from 9th through 12th grade, plus college courses if you’ve taken any. You’ll also report any high school level math (algebra 1 or above) and any foreign language you took in 7th or 8th grade. The UCs will not receive your transcript during the application process (if you enroll at a UC campus, you’ll need to send your transcript after you graduate from high school).
- The UCs do not ask for or accept teacher or outside letters of recommendation.
- The application fee is $80 per campus.
- If you’re applying to UC San Diego, the application requires you to rank the residential colleges. What the heck does that mean? More about how to do this here.
More About Applying to the UCs
- We’ve shared lots of information in the past about the UC application process:
- This article breaks down all the factors the UC system considers in applications (it’s long, but it has important information for you to know if you’re working hard to earn admission to a UC campus!)
- This article is shorter and gives you some quick top tips on applying to the UCs
- Watch the short video in this post, and you’ll get some context as to why it’s so hard to get into the UCs! We know it’s frustrating, but California is a big state with a half million graduating high school seniors each year.
Resources for Completing the UC Application
Michelle and Evelyn mentioned two very important resources in the video above:
- This webinar from UC Santa Barbara Interim Director of Admission Cuca Acosta will walk you through the UC Personal Insight Questions (tip: they’re not essays!)
- You can look up your classes on this website to find out if the UC system considers them weighted for GPA purposes.
If you need some help with the UC application – or with any of your college apps – that’s what we’re here for! Magellan’s professional college counselors support our students, and their families, through all stages of their college admission journey. Feel free to get in touch if you’re feeling overwhelmed!