Janani Ravikumar
Staff Writer
For the 10th year in a row, the number of applicants to the University of California has risen for the freshman class of 2018 and transfer class of 2016. A total of 80,893 prospective undergraduates, both freshman and transfer students, have applied to UC Santa Barbara for Fall 2014, a new record and milestone for the campus.
According to a press release from the UC Office of the President, a total of 99,761 Californian applicants applied for freshman admission to UC, marking a 0.6 percent growth from 2013, despite a drop in the number of California high school graduates. In a 19 percent increase from last year, 2,841 more non-residents applied, and 4,785 international students (20.8 percent more) applied.
Among the Californian applicants, the number of Chicano-Latino students grew from 32.1 percent to 32.7 percent, maintaining their position as the largest ethnic group among California freshmen. The number of students who identified as White, African American, or Pacific Islander was down slightly this year, however. On average, transfer applicants applied to about four UC campuses each this year, though the number of transfer applicants was down by 0.5 percent.
In 2013, the overall UC freshman admission rate was 38.8 percent, with 24,248 acceptances out of 62,416 applicants. Of these admits, 80.1 percent were California residents. The admits had an average high school GPA of 4.01, an average ACT composite score of 28, and an average SAT score of 1915, according to UC’s official site.
Among transfer students, 6,192 out of 12,287 applicants were admitted, giving an acceptance rate of about 50 percent for transfer students. 94.7 percent of the admitted transfer students were from California community colleges.
According to a press release from UCSB Public Affairs, at UCSB alone, 571 more Californian prospective freshmen applied, a 1.1 percent increase from 2013. 1,170 more out-of-state freshmen applied, a 22.2 percent increase, and 2,613 more international students applied, a 38.9 percent increase.
In a 70 percent increase over the past five years, 20,167 freshmen applicants were African-American, Native American, or Chicano and Latino students, and 65.5 percent of all domestic applicants are of a racial or ethnic minority group. Members of ethnic minority groups made up 27.2 percent of the transfer applicants, a 0.7 increase since 2013.
The number of applicants to UCSB has been rising over the past few years, and the admission rate has been dropping to accommodate for the increasing number of applicants. As such, the average GPA and SAT scores have been increasing as well. For 2014, the admission rates are expected to drop slightly, and the average GPA and SAT scores among freshman applicants are expected to rise, fitting with the pattern for the past few years.
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