Charts:
Preliminary Freshman Admission by Campus
Preliminary California Freshman Admission by Ethnic Group

The University of California admitted a record number of freshman students for fall 2003, but the proportion of those accepted to their campuses of choice has declined slightly as admission becomes more competitive at nearly all UC campuses.

A total of 60,439 California freshman applicants were offered fall or winter admission this year to one or more of UC’s eight undergraduate campuses. For fall, 50,291 students were admitted, an increase of 4 percent over fall 2002. An additional 3,676 students were offered winter admission, and 6,472 were offered admission through the referral process to a campus they had not selected on their application. All UC-eligible California students are guaranteed admission to at least one campus in the system.

At the same time the number of students admitted has grown, however, so has the number of applicants, resulting in a lower overall rate of admission systemwide. For fall, almost 76 percent of California applicants to the University were admitted, a drop of 2 percentage points from the prior fall (see charts page 7).

“While the University continues to offer more admission spots to a greater number of applicants, the fact that the college-age population and number of applicants to UC is also growing has resulted in greater selectivity among the highly qualified students who apply,” said Susan Wilbur, UC’s director of undergraduate admissions.

UC Davis, for example, admitted 56.9 percent of its California applicants this year, compared to 63.3 percent in 2002. However, Davis admitted 448 more students this year than in 2002. At UC Irvine, the admit rate dropped from 56.6 percent in 2002 to 53.3 percent for 2003, yet the campus admitted 1,141 more students than a year ago.

Across the system, 2003 freshman admit rates for California students range from 81.1 percent at UC Santa Cruz to 24.1 percent at UCLA.

Academic Quality Improves
The academic quality of the incoming freshman class continues to improve. Admitted students are taking more college preparatory courses and earning higher grades than in previous years. The average number of yearlong “a-g” courses students completed is now 23; the average systemwide GPA of admitted students has risen to 3.76; and the average SAT II score for Writing has climbed to 590 and for Mathematics, to 610.

Nine out of every 10 admitted freshmen are Californians. Including out-of-state and international students, there were nearly 78,000 applicants for freshman admission for fall 2003, the largest applicant pool in the University’s history. More than 55,000 of those students were admitted, also a record.

More Underrepresented Students
The number of underrepresented California students admitted for fall 2003 increased 7.7 percent compared to fall 2002. A total of 9,935 African American, American Indian and Chicano/Latino students from California were admitted, the sixth consecutive yearly increase.

Across UC, all racial and ethnic groups registered increases over last year except American Indians. The number of Chicano/Latino students from California rose 8.3 percent, and the total of African American students was up 6.9 percent. The number of white and Asian students each grew less than 1 percent.

A total of 8.6 percent of admitted California freshmen declined to state their ethnicity.

Most UC campuses registered gains in the number of underrepresented students, with the most notable increases occurring at UC Santa Cruz, Irvine and San Diego. But results for African American, American Indian and Chicano/Latino students varied widely from campus to campus. For example, UCLA experienced a significant drop in admitted African American students (from 316 in 2002 to 267 this year), while UC Riverside showed a large increase (from 647 to 767).

As a proportion of all admitted freshmen from California, underrepresented students make up 19.8 percent of the admitted class, compared to 19.1 percent last year and 18.8 percent in 1997, the year that preceded the implementation of Proposition 209’s ban on affirmative action in admissions.

All campuses except UCLA and Berkeley showed modest increases in the proportion of underrepresented students.
In addition, admission data show that first-generation college students increased from 33.1 percent to 33.7 percent of the admitted freshman class, and students with parental income of less than $30,000 increased from 21.8 percent to 22.8 percent.

ELC Making Impact
UC received almost 11,300 Eligibility in the Local Context (ELC) applicants for fall 2003, and nearly all are expected to be admitted. About 2,300 of these are from underrepresented groups.

Under the program, which went into effect beginning with students admitted for fall 2001, the top 4 percent of students in each participating California high school are designated UC eligible. Nearly all of the state’s public schools participated in the program this year (see article, page 8). As a result, more students from rural high schools and those who typically don’t consider the University applied and were admitted.

Helping Students Decide
The actual composition of the fall 2003 freshman class won’t emerge until after May 1, the deadline for students to notify campuses where they intend to register for classes. In the meantime, all eight undergraduate campuses are focusing their attention on encouraging admitted students to enroll.

Scheduled recruiting activities for admitted students include telephone calls, letters, home visits, campus receptions, informational programs and open houses at various campus departments.

Last year, 54 percent of all admitted freshmen enrolled.

Notification of admissions to transfer students will continue through May 1. If recent trends continue, more transfer students than last year are expected to be admitted and enroll in fall 2003.

The data in this article and the accompanying charts are based on UC application and admission progress reports for fall 2003 (as of 3/28/03).

PRELIMINARY CALIFORNIA FRESHMAN ADMISSION BY ETHNIC GROUP
	Fall 2002					Fall 2003
	Applicants		Students Admitted		Admit Rate %	Applicants		Students Admitted		Admit Rate %
American Indian	405	(0.6%)	292	(0.6%)	72.1	411	(0.6%)	282	(0.6%)	68.6
African American	2,757	(4.4%)	1,620	(3.3%)	58.8	3,061	(4.6%)	1,731	(3.4%)	56.6
Chicano/ Latino	9,968	(16.0%)	7,316	(15.1%)	73.4	11,314	(17.0%)	7,922	(15.8%)	70.0
Asian American	20,190	(32.4%)	16,350	(33.8%)	81.0	20,619	(31.0%)	16,466	(32.7%)	79.9
White	23,446	(37.7%)	18,500	(38.2%)	78.9	24,211	(36.4%)	18,744	(37.3%)	77.4
Other	1,104	(1.8%)	752	(1.6%)	68.1	1,213	(1.8%)	833	(1.7%)	68.7
Decline to State	4,383	(7.0%)	3,539	(7.3%)	80.7	5,581	(8.4%)	4,313	(8.6%)	77.3
TOTAL	62,253	(100.0%)	48,369	(100.0%)	77.7	66,4210	(100.0%)	50,291	(100.0%)	75.7

also in ucnotes/news:
Record Numbers Admitted
DAP Informational Sessions Coming
UC Summer Programs Open to High School Students
ELC and DAP Instructions On the Way
Subject A Exam Set for May 10
More Students Choosing Summer Sessions