Due to uncertainty about both the final budget to be passed in Sacramento and in the yields of this year’s freshman classes, all UC campuses are implementing wait lists. UC Irvine last year piloted a wait list for the class of 2013, although this will be the first time that systemwide wait lists will be used in the history of the UC. Although the number of applicants who will be placed on wait lists remains unknown, this move should help UC’s meet their enrollment targets more precisely, and hopefully allow more of the record 134,029 applicants to gain admission to a UC.

Click here to read the full Regents announcement and to learn more about the record number of UC applications for the fall of 2010.

Updated 2/9: UC’s have announced that UCLA and UC Merced will not implement waitlists this year but that all other campuses will waitlist applicants to cope with a projected overenrollment of 15,000 students.

* Budget cuts contributed to the competitiveness of UC admissions last year, and this year will be no different. At this year’s UC Counselor Conference, Sue Wilbur, director of undergraduate admissions for the entire UC system, estimated that UC’s would reduce freshman enrollment by about 2,300 students across all campuses (including Berkeley and UCLA). This translates into about a 4% drop in freshman admission offers systemwide for the Fall of 2010.

* Budget and admissions cuts will also translate to changes in admissions policies at traditionally open campuses: UC Riverside and UC Merced. In past years, freshman applicants who were UC eligible but were not admitted to a campus of their choice were automatically referred to UC Riverside and UC Merced for consideration. Both campuses emphasized that their ability to admit from this “referral pool” will be limited this year, and students shouldn’t rely on this option as a fall back. If students want UC Riverside or UC Merced as a campus option, their best chance is to apply directly to UC Riverside or UC Merced during the November filing period.

* A UC education will be more expensive this year, with the average, estimated cost of attendance at just over $26,000 per year. Because of budget cuts, fees may continue to rise, classes may be cut, faculty reduced, and library hours curtailed.

* UC’s do not support the College Board’s Score Choice program for SAT scores. It has always been UC’s policy to select a student’s best single-sitting SAT score and two highest SAT Subject Tests from different subject areas. Sending all scores to the UC’s allows them to ensure they are seeing the student’s best scores, and waiting on scores in order to exercise Score Choice delays UC processing of applications.

* One story that has circulated in the media is that because of the budget, UC’s will be looking to admit more out-of-state students, as out-of-state students pay considerably higher fees. Although some state universities have announced this intention (see more about UMass Amhert’s announcement), Sue Wilbur emphasized that for now, the UC system is not contemplating this move. UC’s mandate is to enroll the maximum number of eligible California residents first, and only then if spots remain available, offer admission to out-of-state students. Systemwide, less than 3% of total enrollment is comes from out-of-state students, which is considerably lower than other public universities. Likewise, UC’s do not have regional preferences in admission; unlike CSU’s, they draw equally throughout the state.

* Essays remain an important consideration in comprehensive review of an applicant. Students should use the first person (“I” and “me”) in their personal essays, communicate different aspects of themselves through the two different prompts, and be sure they answer all parts of the prompts. For example, UC’s first prompt for freshman applicants asks, “Describe the world you come from — for example, your family, community or school — and tell us how your world has shaped your dreams and aspirations.” Students should be sure to not only describe their world, but also answer the second half of the prompt: how that environment they have identified has influenced their future plans and goals.

Prospective students and families can learn more about UC admissions through the undergraduate admissions website and through UC’s StatFinder tool, available at http://statfinder.ucop.edu/. For more news about UC campuses, including budget updates, visit the UC News Room.

Whether or not the suit has merit, it does open up a conversation about what college is, or should be, for. In their statement, Monroe College replied that, “it is clear that no college, especially in this economy, can guarantee employment.” Four-year colleges are institutions of higher learning, and while Census data shows that the earning power of college graduates is higher than that of only high school graduates, colleges at best can provide career assistance, not guaranteed career placement.

Some have argued that this article reinforces the idea that a bachelor’s degree is becoming increasingly less meaningful, that in order to secure a professional job with a living wage, students have to attend graduate school. But one of the New York Times blogs took up this issue not too long ago:
http://roomfordebate.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/06/30/what-is-a-masters-degree-worth/. The argument that an M.A. now is like B.A. years ago, or that a B.A. now is like a high school diploma years ago, misses a more important point. Why do students graduate from colleges with educational experiences that do not adequately prepare them for the “real world”? To take it a step further, why are students allowed to graduate from high school with meaningless educational experiences? Standardized testing pass rates are on the rise in New York City, for example, but the feel-good news misses the fact that the number of students who are advanced or highly proficient is shrinking.

If anything, the suit may be indicative of a larger problem in the U.S. educational system; students shouldn’t have to go to graduate school to get an education that prepares them for jobs. Advanced degrees hold value when they provide students a skill set that can’t be taught in college, or when they’re used as a means for students to change career paths. But if a generic master’s degree is a band-aid for what should have been taught in high school and undergraduate college, then perhaps it’s time to demand better of our school systems.