Are you dreaming of going to a Bruins home game, or reading The Daily Bruin newspaper at the Kerckhoff Coffee House? Do you dream of studying STEM, Nursing, Theater or Music while residing only 30 minutes from glamorous Hollywood? If so, UCLA may be just the school for you! Rated the #1 public university in the US, and 15th for all public/private schools, University of California Los Angeles is home to 140 majors and six colleges.
Admission to UCLA, however, is no easy task, as acceptance rates remain ivy-league low. The call of the LA sunshine beckons over 149,000 students competing for about 6,500 offers of admission as of 2022. To illustrate the growing popularity of this research institution, let’s look at the admit rate trajectory. In 1980, 75% of students applying were admitted. By 2000, this dropped to around 28%, and in 2024, a staggering 9% of applicants made it to freshman orientation!
So what can a student do to maximize their chances of admission? Let’s break it down by category.
What Does UCLA Care About?
As an institutional priority, UCLA values education, research, and service. Students should come into their postsecondary education with a willingness to discover and be creative, as well as a mind to engage in the greater good. The ideal UCLA student espouses education as a lifelong value, and is civic minded enough to apply their educational experiences to the service of community and the world.
UCLA students have shown leadership and an upward trajectory in academic rigor and achievement during their high school careers, and they shine especially bright in one or more extracurriculars. In these, they engage meaningfully and deeply. Promoting diversity is also an institutional priority here, as 25% of students are first generation, and 30% enrollment of underrepresented minority students.
How does the UC Application differ from the Common Application?
Students will not be able to apply to UCLA or any of the UC system schools using the Common Application, and while the short answer questions are made known on August 1st, the application window is from October 1-December 1. All applications are evaluated as ‘regular decision’; early action/early decision are not offered.
Students will be asked to self-report their grades on the UC application (Academic History section), but official transcripts are not submitted until a student commits to the university. In addition, there is no need to report test scores or submit letters of recommendation, as these will not be considered if submitted. UCLA and its CA counterparts are truly test blind, so be aware that the other legs of the application stool need to hold more weight than at other universities. Don’t expect to be called in for an interview, as they don’t do these either.
The writing requirements are different as a singular main essay/personal statement of 650 words is not a thing, but four “Personal Insight” questions (read: short essays) of 350 words each are required. Students choose 4 of the 8 prompts provided for the UC Application. Be aware, however, that for certain majors, ranging from Architecture to Musicology to Nursing, require major-specific essays that are due in December or January, depending.
How are Applications Evaluated?
Each UCLA Application will be read by two different reviewers, and each will spend an average of 7 minutes on the review. The process is holistic, and there are 13 factors that admissions officers consider. They are:
Grade-point average
Performance in and number of courses beyond minimum a-g requirements
UC-approved honors courses and advanced courses
Eligibility in the Local Context (ELC) – CA residents only
Quality of senior-year program of study
Academic opportunities in California high schools
Outstanding performance in one or more academic subject areas
Achievements in special projects
Improvement in academic performance
Special talents, achievements and awards
Participation in educational preparation programs
Academic accomplishment in light of life experiences
Geographic location
The “VERY IMPORTANT” designation on the UCLA app belongs to academic rigor, GPA, and the essays.
For “IMPORTANT,” consideration is given to talent/ability, character/personal qualities, extracurricular activities, volunteer experiences, and work experience.
“NOT CONSIDERED” are demonstrated interest, interviews, test scores and letters of recommendation.
Let’s break down the VERY IMPORTANT things first.
GPA and RIGOR
GPA for the CA applications is calculated in a very specific way using the A-G curriculum. The following is what these letters stand for:
A - History
B - English
C - Math (geometry is required)
D - Science
E - Foreign Language (ASL is included)
F - Visual/Performing Arts
G - College Prep Elective (2 semester)
Although most high school curriculum guidelines include these topics, the UC’s are unique in that they only count classes from the summer before 10th grade, 10th grade, summer after 10th grade, 11th grade, and summer after 11th grade. (My apologies to the freshman year!)
Students are permitted extra points for AP/IB, honors and transferable college credit courses. The kicker is that students are only permitted to have 4 of these ‘extra point’ classes for the 10th grade, and 4 for the 11th. Grades of D and F grades are not eligible to weight, and for out of state students, school designated honors courses do not count for weight.
No application is considered with a GPA below 3.0, (3.4 out of state) but to be competitive for UCLA, plan to be well above a 4.0. In fact, the middle 50th percentile boasts GPA ranges of 4.40-4.73, so while rigorous courses aren’t specifically required, practically, they are. Academic rigor counts. There is no way around it.
The Writing
UCLA prefers students who are excellent writers, and student’s essay responses are very important indicators of their self-knowledge and reflection. Though specific advice per-question is outlined in another blog, suffice it to say that no question carries more weight than another. Students should, however, follow the general advice of providing new information in EACH section of their application. Choose your prompts wisely! They are:
1. Describe an example of your leadership experience in which you have positively influenced others, helped resolve disputes or contributed to group efforts over time.
2. Every person has a creative side, and it can be expressed in many ways: problem solving, original and innovative thinking, and artistically, to name a few. Describe how you express your creative side.
3. What would you say is your greatest talent or skill? How have you developed and demonstrated that talent over time?
4. Describe how you have taken advantage of a significant educational opportunity or worked to overcome an educational barrier you have faced.
5. Describe the most significant challenge you have faced and the steps you have taken to overcome this challenge. How has this challenge affected your academic achievement?
6. Think about an academic subject that inspires you. Describe how you have furthered this interest inside and/or outside of the classroom.
7. What have you done to make your school or your community a better place?
8. Beyond what has already been shared in your application, what do you believe makes you a strong candidate for admissions to the University of California?
Think of the diversity of your answers this way: prompts 1 and 7 are asking about the outside world and its impact on you, prompts 2 and 6 ask about your inner self, or who you are as a person, prompts 3, 4, 5 and 8 have to do with your achievements and accomplishments. I would suggest tackling one prompt from each of these categories, and the fourth one highlighting something that isn’t specified elsewhere on the application.
Activities and Awards
This section is the cousin of the ‘Activities List’ section of the Common App. While it is possible to use the verbiage of your CA activities list here, the character count is more forgiving, depending on how the activity or award is categorized. Character limits range from 250-600 characters, and there is room to list up to 20 things. This, dear reader, is a blog in itself, but to satisfy curiosity, the categories are:
Award or Honor
Educational Preparation Program (per the UCs: any programs that have enriched your academic experiences or helped you prepare for college)
Extracurricular activity
Other Coursework (per the UCs: courses other than those required for UC admission/courses that do not fit in UC’s A-G subject areas)
Volunteering/Community Service
Work Experience
The same general advice applies to describing these activities: be brief, lead with verbs, abbreviate where appropriate, and don’t write in complete sentences.
What are the Acceptance Rates for UCLA, and Per College?
For the graduating class of 2027, UCLA had the following acceptance rates:
In State: 9.46%
Out of State: 8.62
International: 6.09
Incidentally, in-state students not only enjoy a higher admit rate, they also pay significantly less than out of state students, with a price tag of $42,000 for Californians, and a $76,000 cost for others.
Each college within UCLA has published data for acceptance as well:
The College: 11%
Samueli School of Engineering: 5.5%
School of Theater, Film and Television: 3.2%
Herb Alpert School of Music - 21%
School of the Arts and Architecture - 4.8%
School of Nursing: .8%
If these statistics indicate one thing, it is that EVERY portion of your college application will need to absolutely shine if you want a competitive application at UCLA. Almost every academically superior student in the state of California applies there, so when building a balanced college list, this school will be an EXTREME REACH for every student, based on these admit rates.
To summarize, UCLA is a beautiful school with wonderful academic rigor and superior research opportunities. If UCLA is on your list, it would be advantageous to hire an expert to guide you through the UC Application process so that your application stands out among the masses. Book your DISCOVERY CALL with Access College America today to learn more about our comprehensive college planning services. We also assist with building a balanced college list, which will be essential to every UCLA/Ivy League applicant.
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