Earlier this month UCSD sent out 16,338 offers of admission to prospective members of the class of 2006. Of 40,962 applications, about 40 percent received admission offers. UCSD received the second-most applications of all the UC campuses, behind only UCLA.
Last year 37,661 applied to UCSD and 15,226 received admission offers.
“”In terms of the admitted students, we were pleased with the quality of the applicants we received,”” said Mae Brown, acting assistant vice chancellor for enrollment management.
The average GPA was 4.03 and the average S.A.T. composite score was 1282. Last year’s admits had an average GPA of 4.04 and an average SAT composite score of 1304.
The most popular intended majors of the admitted students reflect the appeal of the sciences and engineering. Biology, bioengineering, economics, computer science and psychology were the most popular choices.
UCSD hopes to have about 4,100 choose to matriculate. Prospective students have until May 1 to send in their intent to register.
This year began UC’s new admissions policy of “”comprehensive review.”” With the new program, instituted by the UC Regents, each campus determines its own criteria to consider outside academic achievement. This replaces the former system where 50 to 75 percent of students were admitted based solely on a student’s academic record.
“”We think it is a good process, a very fair process,”” Brown said.
New considerations in this year’s admissions process have allowed a variety of factors to be considered. Those factors include socio-economic background, community service, leadership, special circumstances and talents, parents’ education and school environment. The factors are quantified into a point system.
“”We have, for example, identified what the definition of a major role in leadership is, such as did the student have considerable responsibility,”” Brown explained.
Significant leadership experience, such as being a student body president or an editor in chief of the school paper, earns an applicant 300 points. Other leadership experience, such as being a president of a club or a minor editor for the school paper, is worth 150 points.
However, Brown emphasized that a student’s GPA, course selection and standardized test scores are still of primary consideration.
“”The most considerable weight in the admissions process goes back to strong academic achievement,”” she said. “”That carries the most significant weight in all our admissions policies.””
Additionally, UCSD admitted 5,806 students who were identified as “”eligible in the local context.”” The ELC initiative proposed by Richard Atkinson, president of the University of California, targets UC-eligible students identified by their high schools who are in the top 4 percent of their class. This program is open to all California high schools.
The ELC students admitted to UCSD have an average GPA of 4.17 and an average SAT composite score of 1273.
With regard to diversity figures, UCSD registered the most significant gains of all the campuses. This year, 14.4 percent of admitted students come from historically underrepresented groups at UCSD. Last year the same indicator was 11.5 percent.
“”We are very pleased with the ethnic diversity of the class,”” Brown said. “”We’ve been working very hard really not only through recruitment but also to really make UCSD appealing to a diverse group of students — ethnic diversity, cultural diversity, economic diversity.””
For this year’s admitted students, 78 identify as American Indian, 330 identify as African American and 1,939 identify as Mexican-American or Latino.
Of the 5,806 admitted ELC students, about 28.4 percent come from historically underrepresented groups.
Overall, Brown was pleased with the product of this year’s admission process.
“”We have admitted a wonderfully strong class in terms of academic performance,”” she said. “”And we’ve admitted a very diverse class.””