Hot off the press!  We've had a chance to review the Fall 2017 admissions data released yesterday by the University of California and thought it would be helpful to summarize it and share our key findings.  

Overall freshman admission rates are up for non-residents and down for residents as the University of California continues to settle on a new normal that accommodates a larger mix of out of state and international students.   If you're an out of state or international student, pay close attention...there continues to be a window of opportunity to take advantage of favorable odds at several UC campuses.

Click on Continue Reading for the details.

Key Findings

• Systemwide, the overall freshman admission rate decreased slightly from 63% in 2016 to 62% in 2017.   Systemwide, the overall freshman admission rate decreased slightly from 63% to 62% as the number of admitted students flattened against a 3% increase in applications. The average admission rate for California residents decreased from 68% to 63% year over year, while out of state and international admit rates improved from 51% to 54% and 63% to 67%. UCLA took the top spot in terms of selectivity this year over Berkeley, while Santa Barbara, San Diego, Irvine, Davis, Santa Cruz, Riverside and Merced remained unchanged at spots 3-9. 

• Flattened in-state admissions. After last year's marked increase of over 9,000 in-state admits, in-state admits flattened in 2017. Admits were granted to nearly 1,200 fewer students relative to 2016, but are still up 8,000 relative to 2015 figures. Between first-time freshman and transfer admissions, UC believes it is on track to enroll an additional 2,500 California residents this fall and 10,000 by the 2018-19 academic year.

• Continued opportunity for non-residents. Despite the adoption of a new policy to limit new UC non-resident enrollment, a “new normal” continues to materialize to bring greater diversity and full-pay tuition to UC campuses. Non-resident admissions held steady at 34% of total admits, up from 30% in 2014.  Out of state and international admit rates improved year over year from 51% to 54% and 63% to 67% respectively, and the systemwide admit rate for international students is now higher than for California residents overall (67% vs 63%).

Highlights by Campus

• Berkeley.   The overall admission rate held steady at 18% in 2017.  Non-resident admits grew from 32% to 38% of the mix during the year, as nearly 1,000 additional out of state applicants were admitted. The 22% admit rate for out of state applicants now exceeds the resident admit rate of 20%.  

• Davis.   The overall admission rate grew from 42% to 44% for 2017 as admitted student growth outpaced applicant growth (7% vs 4%). The admit rate for California residents declined from 38% to 36% as applications grew 3.5% while admitted students remained flat. California residents represented 60% of the total mix of admitted students, down from 64% in 2016 and 73% in 2014. Out of state and international admits grew 12% and 25% year over year and were admitted at rates far in excess of California residents (72% and 60% vs 36%).

• Irvine.   The overall admission rate declined from 41% to 37% on a 9% growth in applications. Admission rates declined across the board for residents and non-residents. Out of state and international admission rates at Irvine remain higher than the resident admission rate (47% and 45% vs 33%).

• Los Angeles.   The overall admission rate declined from 18% to 16% on 5% application growth and a 6% decline in admitted students. The resident admit rate declined from 18% to 15% while non-resident admit rates generally held steady. The mix of out of state and international admits grew from 41% to 44% of total.

• Merced.   The overall admission rate declined from 74% to 72% as admitted student growth outpaced applicant growth for the year (9% vs 6%). Virtually all of the 900 additional admitted students in 2017 were California residents. The mix of out of state and international admits remained steady at 6% of total.

• Riverside.   The overall admission rate declined from 66% to 57% on an 11% decline in admitted students. Residents and non-residents all experienced declines in admit rates, and the mix of California resident admits remains high at 88% of total.

• San Diego.   The overall admission rate declined from 36% to 34%, fueled by 5% application growth. The California resident admit rate declined from 34% to 31%, while the admit rate for out of state applicants increased slightly from 49% to 51% and admit rate for international students held steady at 33%. Together, out of state and international students constituted 39% of the total admitted mix.

• Santa Barbara.   The overall admission rate declined from 36% to 33%, powered by a 6% growth in resident applications and 10% growth in international applications. The admission rate for California residents declined from 37% to 32%, while the admit rates for out of state applicants increased from 38% to 43% and international applicants held steady around 31%. Overall, out of state and international students accounted for 31% of the mix of admitted students, up from 28% in 2016 and 22% in 2014.

• Santa Cruz.   The overall admission rate declined from 58% to 51% in 2017 on the strength of 8% applicant growth and a 5% decrease in admitted students. The number of admitted residents declined 14%, while out-of-state admits grew 13% and international admits grew 33%. The mix of out of state and international students grew from 22% of total admits in 2016 to 29% of total admits in 2017. Admission rates for out of state and international applicants are significantly higher at this campus than the resident admit rate (83% and 74% vs 45%).

Implications

• New normal continues to materialize.   Last year's spike in resident admissions appears to be a short term phenomena as the University of California establishes a new admissions normal. Although 2017 resident admission figures still represent an improvement over 2015, it's clear that more room is being made for non-residents at selected campuses.  

• Opportunity persists for out of state and international applicants.   The search for improved diversity and full pay applicants to counter rising expenses should continue to create opportunity for non-residents interested in a UC education.  Not all campuses have reached their non-resident enrollment limits, and in contrast to a declining admission rate for residents this past year, out of state and international admission rates are on the rise.

• Admission rate advantages exist at Davis, Irvine, San Diego and Santa Cruz.   Decided admission rate advantages persist for out of state and international students at Davis, Irvine and Santa Cruz. An out of state advantage exists at San Diego as well.