Admissions

 

More than 4,800 freshmen representing a broad section of talents, interests and passions entered UCLA in fall 2008 from among the 12,660 high school students who were admitted. UCLA had received a record 55,437 freshman applications — more than any other university in the country.

 

These students are enjoying the increased opportunities and personal choices of a large campus while at the same time having the opportunity to interact in small academic settings. Among the innovative programs offered to freshmen are Freshman Clusters, which involve students in a stimulating multidisciplinary exploration of a challenging and timely topic, and the Fiat Lux seminar program, which provides valuable forums for students and faculty to engage in critical thinking together.

 

The 2008 freshman class is prepared for the challenges. It is academically outstanding — 84 percent came to UCLA with fully weighted grade-point averages of 4.0 or better — and it is ethnically and financially diverse. The percentage of underrepresented students — Native Americans, African Americans and Chicanos/Latinos — rose to 21.7 percent (1,024), up from 19.5 percent (871) last year. Of particular note, the number of African American students this year increased to 233, or 4.9 percent, from the previous year's 210 students, or 4.7 percent.

 

Nearly one-third of the freshmen from the U.S. are the first in their families to attend college, and nearly a quarter are from low-income families — those with earnings of $44,000 a year or less. (Thirty-seven percent of all UCLA undergraduates are federal Pell Grant recipients — the highest percentage of any of the top research institutions that are part of the prestigious American Association of Universities.)

 

"UCLA's 2008 freshman class exhibits the highest academic standards and leadership qualities while also displaying a wide range of diversity," UCLA Chancellor Gene D. Block said. Block praised the many supporters of UCLA — students, alumni and friends — who enthusiastically engaged in activities aimed at encouraging students to enroll. The university is deeply committed to a student body that reflects the diversity of California.

 

 

In November 2001, the UC Regents adopted the comprehensive-review admissions policy for freshman admissions, effective for fall 2002. Starting with the 2007–08 freshman class, UCLA began using the "holistic" method of reviewing applications, in which applicants are assessed in terms of the full range of their academic and personal achievements, viewed in the context of the opportunities and challenges each has faced. More information is available at www.admissions.ucla.edu. Also, in November 2008, online chat rooms — conducted by the Undergraduate Admissions and Relations with Schools staff and tour guides — were set up to answer any questions that prospective students and their families had about the admissions process.

 

 

UCLA'S admission process consistently brings in a well-prepared student body that clearly takes advantage of the academic opportunities offered to them. The persistence rate from first to second year for the freshman cohort that entered in fall 2007 — the latest information available — was 96.7 percent, and the average GPA of those students was 3.2. The average number of units they completed was an impressive 45.7.

 

UCLA has a proud legacy of accomplished students and alumni, including politicians Tom Bradley, Yvonne Braithwaite-Burke, Ben Cayetano, Laura Richardson, Linda Sanchez, Antonio Villaraigosa and Diane Watson; Nobel Peace Prize winner Ralph J. Bunche; jurists Janice Rogers Brown, Robert Takasugi and Lance Ito; journalists Ted Chen and Tritia Toyota; mathematician Richard A. Tapia; author Jonathan Kellerman; singer Marilyn McCoo; entertainer Carol Burnett; artist Judy Chicago; film directors Francis Ford Coppola, Frank Marshall, Alexander Payne and Penelope Spheeris; actors, directors and community activists Rob Reiner and Tim Robbins; and athletes Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Arthur Ashe, Carlos Bocanegra, Gail Goodrich, Jackie Joyner-Kersee and Jackie Robinson and Bill Walton.

 

 

UCLA has participated in academic preparation and other outreach programs for more than 30 years, in response to a UC study that reported that Native American, African American, Chicano, Latino and low-income students were not receiving college preparatory information early enough to prepare them sufficiently to be eligible for admission to the University of California. The UC established the academic preparation programs, and the state funded them. However, in recent years, the state has cut outreach funding by more than half. UCLA, like all UC campuses, has had to reduce programs because of these large state budget cuts, but it has been able to maintain a strong level of stability for academic preparation programs because the Chancellor's Office has helped fill in the funding gap.

 

UCLA continues to be a strong participant in the Early Academic Outreach Program (EAOP), which operates in more than 90 high schools and middle schools in Los Angeles County to help make college possible by working with families, educators, schools and communities to promote and cultivate a college-going culture.

 

In October 2006, the UCLA Office of Undergraduate Admissions and Relations with Schools added the position of associate director of recruitment to enhance UCLA's efforts throughout California to prepare high school students for college. Among other things, the Bruin Ambassador program, launched in January 2007, selected, hired and trained more than 40 UCLA undergraduates who, along with professional staff recruiters, visit more than 300 public and charter high schools in the Greater Los Angeles area. Their purpose is to communicate with high school counselors, provide information about UCLA admissions and identify prospective UCLA students.

 

Bruin Days and Nights — regional meetings that are held throughout California for high-achieving and disadvantaged students — are being held again in San Diego, Sacramento, the Bay Area, Santa Barbara and Orange County. Hundreds of students are expected to participate. Also, a Northern California recruiter now coordinates activities in the northern part of the state.

 

BruinCorps deploys UCLA students to tutor children in underresourced communities throughout the Greater Los Angeles area and sponsors a College Career Center project in area high schools, middle schools and community-based organizations. BruinCorps members and volunteers participate in service events and site projects that address a variety of critical community needs.

 

The Vice Provost Initiative for Pre-College Scholars, known as VIP Scholars, is a partnership between UCLA and the Los Angeles and Pasadena school districts to help prepare historically disadvantaged students in grades 9–12 to become competitively eligible for admission to UCLA. The VIP Scholars summer program includes a three-week residential program preceding the 11th grade and a five-week residential program preceding the 12th grade that allow students to take college-level courses for credit and engage in a range of social and cultural activities. The VIP Scholars program also encourages pursuit of graduate and professional education.

 

The UCLA Center for Community College Partnerships develops and strengthens academic partnerships between UCLA and California community colleges, particularly those with large disadvantaged student populations. The center aids community colleges in developing a "transfer culture," working closely with administrators, faculty and staff to strengthen and diversify curriculum, create strong academic support programs, improve students' academic competitiveness for admission to the university and increase the diversity of UCLA's transfer-admit pool. Among the center's programs is the East Los Angeles College Summer Immersion Program, a collaboration among the Youth Opportunity Movement, East Los Angeles College and UCLA. This intense 16-day academic program requires participants to successfully complete a three-unit University of California/Cal State University-transferable course within a two-week period.

 

The Student Initiated Access Committee (SIAC) brings together UCLA students to work with students in grades K–14 in educationally disadvantaged areas. Among the activities are one-on-one peer advising, tutoring, skill-building, field trips, parent dinners and workshops. SIAC students join with various student organizations to host large-scale events promoting college preparation.

 

The Academic Advancement Program (AAP) is a program that encourages and promotes academic achievement and excellence by providing students with tutoring; summer bridge programs for freshmen and transfer students; academic, personal and career counseling; graduate mentoring; scholarships and stipends; and research opportunities.

 

Peter Taylor, a former UC regent and former president of the UCLA Alumni Association, has led the African American Alumni and Community Support Task Force in its work with friends and alumni of UCLA to increase African American admissions in ways consistent the restrictions imposed in 1997 by California's Proposition 209, which banned the use of race, ethnicity, color, national origin and sex in the operation of public education, including admissions. The task force works with the community to identify and encourage more African American students to apply to UCLA. It also works with friends and alumni on "yield" activities — that is, ways to encourage African American students who have already been admitted to actually enroll at UCLA.

 

The California Community Foundation, a leading philanthropic organization in Los Angeles County, established a scholarship fund to support renewable scholarships for African American freshmen admitted to UCLA. The UCLA Urban Collaborative works with UCLA through four parent groups — Advocates for African American Students, serving the San Fernando Valley; the Council for African American Parents, serving the Pomona and Diamond Bar areas; the King-Drew Parent Association at the King-Drew Magnet High School of Medicine and Science, serving the Lynwood and Watts areas; and Young Black Scholars, serving Los Angeles County. UCLA provides admissions counselors to make presentations about UCLA at community sites. It also offers information about financial aid.

 

Students also reach out to other students. For example, the UCLA Afrikan Student Union hosts an annual education conference to promote and encourage student empowerment among youth of African descent in an effort to increase the number of African Americans at institutions of higher education, including UCLA.

 

Other groups that perform outreach and bring schoolchildren to the campus for a wide variety of programs include the American Indian Student Association, the Asian Pacific Coalition, Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlan (MEChA), the Muslim Student Association, the Pacific Islands Student Association, the Queer Alliance, Samahang Pilipino and the Vietnamese Student Union.