#California Colleges

[thebestucollegeadmissions]

California Dreaming: We Need To Talk About California Colleges

California is a very popular college destination. Most often, the colleges students bring to the conversation are the ‘UCs’ or the University of California colleges.

If places like Berkeley, UCLA, or UC San Diego are on your mind, here are three things you need to know about admission to the UCs –

Know what’s expected & plan ahead

The UCs have specific high school course requirements, aligned to the California state requirements. They refer to these as the “A-G” requirements and you’ll want to make sure that you are planning ahead throughout high school to meet these to be considered as an applicant. Most students who are taking a rigorous program in high school are on track to meet these. The one that we find most catches students off guard is the arts requirement. The UCs require that an applicant has completed two semesters in the same artistic discipline – dance, music, theater, visual or interdisciplinary arts. The courses can be taken in different years and on different topics (think ceramics and painting) but must be within the same discipline.

Each of the nine undergraduate-serving UC campuses has its own admission review process, and acceptance rate, but they all use the same UC application and a student cannot apply with the Common App. The UCs are transparent about the criteria used to evaluate applicants. You can learn about the 13 points used in the comprehensive review process here and even understand how the UCs calculate GPA and assess the rigor of your classes. Heavy emphasis is placed on strong grades in advanced (AP or IB) coursework in grades 10 and 11. An out of state student with less than an A average in grades 10 and 11, or just a couple of AP or IB courses may find UC admissions to be extremely challenging.

Understand the out of state story

As a public university system, UC has a mandate to admit and enroll California residents, with 2021 legislation passed to significantly reduce non-resident enrollment by 2030. Each year, the most competitive campuses such as UCLA, Berkeley, and San Diego are all reducing out of state enrollment. This means each year it is becoming more challenging to gain admission from outside of California. If you view the published non-resident numbers for UC campuses, you will find that the current non-resident enrollment in most cases hovers around or just below 20%. However, these statistics encompass two different populations: out of state US students, and international students. Because international applicants are often expected to be ‘full pay’ students, the international student population makes up a much larger portion of non-resident enrollment. This means being a US student from outside of California is often the most narrow entry into these popular and competitive institutions that already purport admitted student GPA averages at and above 4.0.

What else to consider

Students who are considering University of California schools should make sure they are eligible and solid applicants in the pools for the UC campuses they are applying to. The application is involved and lengthy, so it’s worth identifying several campuses where you will submit to make this application worth your while. Beyond this, consider the California State system; though many of these schools are also quite competitive, several offer higher acceptance rates for out of state students than their UC counterparts. Give serious consideration to private colleges in California too. There are many excellent options at a range of different admissibility levels. As private institutions, some of these will offer merit scholarships that make tuition more affordable. As always, we encourage students & families to look beyond the sweatshirt ‘name brand’ schools to explore the many fantastic colleges that align with your values and offer the opportunities, experiences, and community you seek.

TBU Advisors are experienced in supporting students to navigate their college choices and personal best fit. If you’d like to explore working with a TBU Advisor, get in touch here. We look forward to connecting with you.

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[melgillman]

I have some pretty big personal news to share: next week, I am moving to San Francisco to start a new job as department chair of the Comics BFA and MFA Programs at California College of the Arts!

I've been teaching at CCA since 2015, and it's been an absolute delight getting to work with the incredibly talented students and faculty there. I'm thrilled to get this chance to help lead this program I love very, very dearly.

San Franciscans -- I will see you very soon! And if you hear some weird noises from the docks, don't worry, that's just me

[athleticperfection1]

USC Track & Field

[reasonsforhope]

"In a historic move Friday [November 8, 2024], Sacramento State announced its new Native American College, a first of its kind in the California State university system. 

The college, a co-curricular institution housed at Sacramento State, will support Native-based education with a focus on leadership and career building. It will offer a diverse range of programs that integrate "tribal values, traditions and community engagement," according to a press release. 

This marks Sacramento State's second ethnic-based institution. The university launched the the nation's first Black Honors college earlier this year. 

The announcement was made at the California State Capitol by President Luke Wood and Dr. Annette Reed, an enrolled member and citizen of the Tolowa Dee-ni' Nation, who will be the first dean of the Native American College. 

Reed said students will have access to faculty mentors, advisors, outreach coordinators and more who have the expertise to work closely with Native American students and can support them holistically. 

She hopes this historic initiative will address low enrollment of Native students pursuing higher education across the state and in the country. Native American students face significant barriers to enrolling in higher education, such as financial constraints, feelings of isolation, historical trauma and lack of culturally relevant curriculum. 

"And so I'm hoping this impacts the students where they go through as a cohort. They can create networks, they can be able to have more of a support system going through and beginning together and hopefully graduating at the end together," Reed said.

Reed recalled taking her first class on Native American studies in 1980. She would later on serve as the director of Native American studies at Sacramento State and chair of the Department of Ethnic Studies. For her, advocating for Native American education was a natural top priority. 

"People always ask me, 'What is Native American studies?' It is history. It is looking at culture. It's looking at teaching sovereignty, federal Indian law. It's teaching social work, art. It's teaching about Native cultural expression, it can be literature," Reed said. 

The Native American College will introduce two new courses, according to Reed, which will be focused on Native American leadership. 

"It means that maybe some of the ones that start in Fall 2025 will end up here at the Capitol. Maybe they'll end up being the future senators or assembly people or the future of people in business. They might be leading our nation as tribal chairs, they might be going into the medical field," Reed said. "But whatever field they go into, leadership is really key." 

Students who want to be in the Native American College can apply after being accepted into the university's general application process. All students will be required to minor in Native American Studies, with an emphasis on Native American leadership."

-via ABC 10, November 8, 2024

[bigguccielwopo]

Kendrick Lamar made a speech at the Compton College graduating class of 2024

[humanoidhistory]

Electrophysics Research Building at John Muir College, San Diego, 1966, designed by Mosher and Drew. Photo by Robert Mosher.

(UC San Diego)

[doctorsiren]

every time I mention Ace Attorney around my (defense lawyer) father, he asks if I’ll be going to law school now

the best bit was me telling him that if I did that, I would be fulfilling the Phoenix Wright prophecy because I’d be dropping my art degree to pursue law

[filmap]

College James W. Horne, Buster Keaton. 1927

Stadium 3911 S Figueroa St, Los Angeles, CA 90037, USA See in map

See in imdb

[rooolt]

and he’s more concerned about going to college with his boy best friend than he is about going to college with his literal girlfriend,,,,,,,,,,,, which could mean nothing

[menlove]

some of the gayest things i did w my girl besties as a kid that haunt me daily even though i'm almost 25

laying on the hot cement of the playground watching the clouds, talking about which boys we'd date in class, and i look over at her and notice how the sun is turning her black hair slightly red in the sun and sigh and say "i wish i were a boy, 'cause then i'd date you"

made a new best friend a little after her who was a year younger than me and i wanted to live inside her skin, a little bit, and went over to her house constantly. i drew her silly art, those weird emo blobs from the mid aughts, and she hung it up on her door. we joked about being married a lot. when i had to move away across the country, one night i was staring up at the moon while listening to a love song and started sobbing wondering if she was also looking at the moon. i never texted her again.

when i was 12 i fell in love with a girl for the first time i knew about. i had just gotten over being weirded out by gay people & when the kids in class started whispering about us being dykes, my teacher called home about it. i cried my eyes out in a red pickup truck with my mom as i told her i was in love with her, but it was fine because she was straight. i was drinking a red slushie.

once with that same girl, we went on a field trip to a nearby science museum. it was within walking distance and she held my hand the whole way, even though we were too old for it. at some point i started swinging her hand and knocking into her and laughing and eventually she just picked me up, put me on her back, and carried me the rest of the way while we laughed. at the museum, she kept finding me and holding my hand again. i went home that night, so giddy, and just kept thinking about her hand in mine and didn't even care about what the rest of the kids were whispering

in february, before that, she'd asked me which girl i had a crush on in class because i'd posted about it on tumblr. it took me a half hour to finally tell her it was her, blushing to my ears as we walked around the perimeter of the playground (we were at a small private school with less than 100 students, so even the middle schoolers got to use the playground), refusing to look at her. she told me she didn't feel like that, but i was still her best friend and she wasn't mad at me or weirded out. if one of us were boys, she said, maybe it would've worked out. her mom moved her back to california at the end of the school year. i never saw her again and she wasn't allowed to talk to me. she messaged me once, years later on here, to tell me i was pretty in a prom dress i'd tried on. she blocked me later.

i wrote down a story about her, a year later, for 8th grade english class. in it, i imagined that she'd never left, and that she'd kissed me while we laid in the grass, mixing up my stories and my life. my teacher looked at me with such a soft sadness and told me it was very beautifully written. she wanted me to submit it to a contest. it won.

[zombieplaguedoc]

your f/o(s) know you enough to sense when you’re beginning to get upset, when you’re starting to grow anxious, sleepy, frustrated...

and when that happens, they’re more than happy to pull you away from whatever is causing you distress — could be a quiet reminder for a quick break, gentle tug on your sleeve, or (if you’re especially stubborn) them physically picking you up to take you somewhere else.

they’d be more than happy to envelop you in a warm hug while sweetly whispering words of comfort in your ear. you can listen to them awkwardly laughing at themselves when they crack a lame joke in order to try and cheer you up, or hum you a sweet tune to lull you to sleep in their arms for much needed rest.

they might suggest some new activities to get your mind off things, or just sit down with you in order to discuss a solution for whatever issues you may be having.

whatever it is you might need at the moment? they’re more than happy to provide, so long as it makes you feel better.

Antis dni, this post isn't for you

[athleticperfection1]

USC Swimming

[relaxedstyles]

[taweetie]

[carsonjonesfiance]

Democracy is when Bernie wins and fake democracy is when anyone else wins, am I an expert in political sciences.

[inthedarktrees]

Loomis Dean, “College Fashions.” Life, Nov 1948