Editing University of California (section)

=== Freshmen ===
Before 1986, students who wanted to apply to UC for undergraduate study could only apply to one campus. Students who were rejected at that campus but otherwise met the UC minimum eligibility requirements were ''redirected'' to another campus with available space.<ref name="RobinsonNina">{{cite book |last1=Robinson |first1=Nina |title=Undergraduate Access to the University of California After the Elimination of Race-Conscious Policies |date=March 2003 |publisher=University of California Office of the President |location=Oakland |url=https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED476308.pdf |access-date=August 28, 2020 |archive-date=June 17, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210617080734/https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED476308.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Trombley2">{{cite news |last1=Trombley |first1=William |title=Enrollment Drop Poses Crisis at UC Riverside: Faced With Loss of 50 Faculty Positions, Campus Has Begun Strong Recruiting Drive |work=Los Angeles Times |date=November 6, 1972 |page=B1}} Available through [[ProQuest]] Historical Newspapers.</ref> Students who did not want to be redirected were refunded their application fees.{{citation needed|date=August 2020}} UC Riverside chancellor [[Ivan Hinderaker]] explained in 1972: "Redirection has been a negative rather than a plus. Some come with a [[Chip on shoulder|chip on their shoulders]] so big they never give the campus a chance. They poison the attitudes of the students around them."<ref name="Trombley2" />
[[File:Jacobs School of Engineering, UCSD.jpg|thumb|[[Jacobs School of Engineering]], at San Diego, is one of the top-ranked engineering schools in the country.]]
Therefore, in 1986, the undergraduate application system was changed to the current "multiple filing" system, in which students can apply to as many or as few UC campuses as they want on one application, paying a fee for each campus. This significantly increased the number of applications to the Berkeley and Los Angeles campuses, since students could choose a campus to attend after they received acceptance letters, without fear of being redirected to a campus they did not want to attend.<ref name="RobinsonNina" />

The University of California accepts fully eligible students from among the top one-eighth (1/8) of California public high school graduates through regular statewide admission, or the top 9% of any given high school class through Eligibility in the Local Context (see below). Part of the eligibility process is completion of the [[California A-G requirements|A-G requirements]] in high school. All eligible California high school students who apply are accepted to the university, though not necessarily to the campus of choice.<ref name="ELC">{{cite web |title=Undergraduate Admissions: Local Eligibility |url=http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/admissions/undergrad_adm/paths_to_adm/freshman/local_eligibility.html |publisher=University of California |date=May 31, 2007 |access-date=March 6, 2008 |archive-date=February 22, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080222022133/http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/admissions/undergrad_adm/paths_to_adm/freshman/local_eligibility.html |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=The Master Plan Renewed |url=http://www.ucop.edu/acadinit/mastplan/MPComm1987.pdf |publisher=University of California |date=July 1987 |access-date=April 9, 2009 |archive-date=July 6, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080706161153/http://www.ucop.edu/acadinit/mastplan/MPComm1987.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> Eligible students who are not accepted to the campus(es) of their choice are placed in the "referral pool", where campuses with open space may offer admission to those students; in 2003, 10% of students who received an offer through this referral process accepted it.<ref>{{cite press release |url=http://www.ucop.edu/news/archives/2004/sep03.htm |title=Freshman admission of GTO students |publisher=University of California Office of the President |access-date=March 21, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080706191621/http://www.ucop.edu/news/archives/2004/sep03.htm |archive-date=July 6, 2008 |url-status=dead }}</ref> In 2007, about 4,100 UC-eligible students who were not offered admission to their campus of choice were referred to UC Riverside or the system's newest campus, UC Merced.<ref>{{cite web |last=Agha |first=Marisa |title=UC system fall '07 freshman admission numbers up |publisher=The Press Enterprise |url=http://www.pe.com/localnews/highereducation/stories/PE_News_Local_C_ucadmit06.3bbf195.html |date=April 5, 2007 |access-date=August 22, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070623114519/http://www.pe.com/localnews/highereducation/stories/PE_News_Local_C_ucadmit06.3bbf195.html |archive-date=June 23, 2007 }}</ref> In 2015, all UC-eligible students rejected by their campus of choice were redirected to UC Merced, which is now the only campus that has space for all qualified applicants.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.mercurynews.com/california/ci_28421818/uc-admission-rates-fall-lowest-levels |title=UC admission rates fall to lowest levels |first1=Sharon |last1=Noguchi |first2=Sophie |last2=Mattson |newspaper=[[San Jose Mercury News]] |date=July 2, 2015 |access-date=July 2, 2015 |archive-date=July 4, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150704031125/http://www.mercurynews.com/california/ci_28421818/uc-admission-rates-fall-lowest-levels |url-status=live }}</ref>
[[File:UCLA School of Law library tower 2 (cropped).jpg|thumb|right|[[UCLA School of Law]] is one of the top ranked law schools in the United States.]]
The old undergraduate admissions were conducted on a two-phase basis. In the first phase, students were admitted based solely on academic achievement. This accounted for between 50 and 75% of the admissions. In the second phase, the university conducted a "comprehensive review" of the student's achievements, including extracurricular activities, essay, family history, and life challenges, to admit the remainder. Students who did not qualify for regular admission were "admitted by exception"; in 2002, approximately 2% of newly admitted undergraduates were admitted by exception.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/news/compreview/exception.pdf |title=University of California. ''Admission by Exception''. |access-date=April 9, 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080830010032/http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/news/compreview/exception.pdf |archive-date=August 30, 2008 }}</ref>

The process for determining admissions varies. At some campuses, such as [[UC Santa Barbara|Santa Barbara]] and [[UC Santa Cruz|Santa Cruz]], a point system is used to weight [[Grading in education|grade point average]], [[SAT]] Reasoning or [[ACT (examination)|ACT]] scores, and SAT Subject scores, while at [[UCSD|San Diego]], [[UC Berkeley|Berkeley]], and [[UCLA|Los Angeles]], academic achievement is examined in the context of the school and the surrounding community, known as a holistic review.

[[Race and ethnicity in the United States Census|Race]], [[gender]], [[Nationality|national origin]], and [[Ethnic group|ethnicity]] were not used as UC admission criteria due to the passing of [[California Proposition 209 (1996)|Proposition 209]]. This information was collected for statistical purposes.

Eligibility in the Local Context, commonly referred to as ELC, is met by applicants ranked in the top 9% of their high school class in terms of performance on an 11-unit pattern of UC-approved high school courses. Beginning with fall 2007 applicants, ELC also requires a UC-calculated GPA of at least 3.0. Fully eligible ELC students are guaranteed a spot at one of UC's undergraduate campuses, though not necessarily at their first-choice campus or even to a campus to which they applied.<ref name="ELC" />

In 2021, the University of California freshmen class was its most diverse and largest ever, with 84,223 students.<ref name=Diverse/> Latinos were the largest group at 37%; Asian Americans at 34%; white non-Hispanics at 20%; African-Americans at 5%; and 4% composed of American Indians, Pacific Islanders or those who declined to state their race or ethnicity.<ref name=Diverse>{{Cite news |first= |last= |author-link= |title=UC system admits largest, most diverse undergraduate class |newspaper=[[Associated Press]] |date=July 20, 2021 |url=https://apnews.com/article/education-race-and-ethnicity-79f7d0e7eb812ce36538b9e112c38956 |via= |access-date=June 29, 2023 |archive-date=June 29, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230629181451/https://apnews.com/article/education-race-and-ethnicity-79f7d0e7eb812ce36538b9e112c38956 |url-status=live }}</ref>