Berkeley:
R: 580/710
M: 620/740
W: 590/710

% below 500:
R: 9%
M: 5%
W: 7%

UCSD:
R: 540/660
M: 600/700
W: 560/670

% below 500
R: 13%
M: 6%
W: 10%$

UC Davis:
R: 490/620
M: 540/660
W: 500/630

% below 500:
R: 25%
M: 13%
W: 22%

UCSB (2005, no writing results):
R: 530/650
M: 560/670

% below 500:
R: 14%
M: 8%

UCSC:

R: 500/630
M: 520/640
W: 510/620

% below 500:
R: 23%
M: 18%
W: 20%

Irvine (from 2005, no writing)
V: 520/620
M: 570/680

% below 500:
R: 14
M: 6

Riverside:
R: 440/560
M: 470/610
W: 450/570

% below 500
R: 48%
M: 34%
W: 45%

The odd thing is that UCSC’s ranking is so relatively low, given that it has as good to better numbers than Davis and Irvine. Santa Barbara, likewise, is much closer to the top schools than its “peers” Davis and Irvine.

In general, though, you can also see that the low scores are generated based on the composition of the minorities. UCSC has more Hispanics than Santa Barbara, which is what accounts for its slightly lower scores. UCSD, Irvine and Davis reflect their predominantly Asian populations, with high math scores and low reading. Riverside shows its Asian population in its relatively high math score, but also its 30% URM population in everything else.

Really, I see no reason to consider Riverside a UC. I think its numbers should be seriously called into question. Under no circumstances is it meeting the UC goal of educating the top 12%.

Those are very low scores for schools as selective as Berkeley and UCLA.

Cardinal, the “top 10%” thing has nothing to do with GPA or test scores per se. When people refer to the UC mandate of “top 12.5%”, they are referring to the “statewide eligibility”. That’s what Joanne is trying to tell you.

The test score requirement for Berkeley and UCLA is, er, flexible. That’s how they get away with committing affirmative action. Their GPA requirements are not–again, that’s how they get away with committing affirmative action.

So if you have scores in the high 600s and a 4.5 GPA with a few AP courses (tests or not), you stand a much better chance of getting into the top three UCs than you do if you have scores in the high 700s, a lot of AP courses with tests, and a 3.8 GPA.

I know very few UCSB students these days who got in with lower than 600 average scores. I know a fair amount of UC Davis students who got in with solid GPAs and high 500 scores. I don’t see much difference between UC Davis and UC Santa Cruz these days.

One of the real distinctions between the UC campuses is race. You have the hybrids (40-20 split), all of which are now Asian dominant, and the enclaves (over 50%), which are either white or Asian. Hybrids: Davis, Berkeley, UCLA. Enclaves: Irvine, UCSD, UCSB, UCSC. Then there’s Riverside, which is turning into a URM enclave.

Ten years ago, the UCLA, UC Davis, and UCSD were majority white hybrids. But the emphasis on grades as a work around for affirmative action rewards Asians more than it does whites, so UC Davis picked up the kids who used to go to Riverside, and UCLA and UC San Diego picked up the Asians who used to go to Irvine.

The Dept of Ed DATAQUEST computes the number of graduates fulfilling the A-G requirements (although any type of passing grade qualifies) the stat of A-6 complete as a % of 9th graders four years earlier stands out as a measure of excellence.

perhaps too strict an acid test is A-G grads compared to total budget: cost of finished product.

A student who takes the A-G college prep sequence needs only a a 3.3 grade point average to be eligible, even if the SAT scores are very low. If the high school’s standards for an “A” are low, poorly prepared students who take college-prep courses will be UC eligible. Only when the GPA dips below 3.3 do test scores count for eligibility.

Santa Cruz used to be one step above Riverside in selectivity, but it’s become harder to get in. It takes very high grades and very high test scores to get into Berkeley, UCLA and San Diego, with Davis not far behind.

I guess you tutor students in good suburban schools? What kind of GPA and SATs get you in the top 10% there? What are typical stats of your students who are in the top 10%, are rejected at UCLA and Berkeley and end up at UCD, UCSB or UCSC? (I’m curious in general, and also because I have a homeschooled son, who is now a HS junior, and I’m wondering about the competition.)

“Apparently”? Is that a joke? Without question, kids from the top 4% of low-performing high schools are nowhere close to the top 12.5% percent.

“A student who meets the minimum standard will get into UC Riverside, Merced and probably Santa Cruz.”

I can’t say much about Merced, as there’s not enough data, but it is simply inaccurate to link Santa Cruz with Riverside. Riverside is the dumping ground for the top 4% that can’t qualify anywhere else, and its numbers are lower than Cal Poly and a few other state schools.

Only 25% of its students get above 540 on either section of the SAT. That’s an appallingly low number.

Santa Cruz, in contrast, has numbers similar to UCSB–about 75% of its students get above 540 on either section of the SAT.

At UCSC, you need to have scores in the high 500s *and* a good GPA or scores in the 600-700s with a slightly lower GPA in order to get in. YOu will be unlikely to get into Santa Cruz with scores below mid-500s. In contrast, that’s pretty much all Riverside has.