By Benjamin Minch, Staff Writer
The one thing that college applicants to University of California schools (UC schools) have gotten good at is waiting. It has been almost five months since applications were first submitted, and still, not all replies have come back yet. Many, including myself are upset that these replies cut it so close to the Student Intent to Register day of May 1 as it doesn’t give you much time to decide or tour around.
While most schools have an application deadline of Jan. 1 alongside some sort of early admission opportunity, the UCs don’t follow this measure. There is no such thing as early admission or early decision for UC schools, which is odd given how long it takes them to return applications. To give the schools some credit, there is a lot of applications to review, a record of 221,000 unique applications to all the schools. The huge number of applicants would be justifiable to have longer waiting times, but this could be solved with hiring more reviewers or requiring less questions on the applications.
This elongated process, however, is spurred on by the “high school culture” today of applying to so many different schools. Many students that applied to one UC, also applied to all of the other ones, even though they didn’t really want to go there. This is caused by a fear that colleges will reject them and they need “safety schools,” schools to fall back on if they don’t get into their top choice. Many however, don’t see it as a viable option to go to a community college for two years and then transfer into their dream school after that, which would allow them to attend a college that they want to attend. This is an especially viable option as the president of the UC system is even pushing for guaranteed admission for transfer students of community college.
This system of applications needs to stop because it is affecting waiting times, and is costing applicants a lot of extra money, causing the UC system to be a money magnet.
On top of these long wait times, I feel as though the UC system treats them like people they are obliged to talk to. This is seen in the emails they send you when you are accepted. I cannot say if this is universal, but this email appeared in my spam folder and only said “congratulations” in the header. This was partnered by a huge button to register as though they are trying to click-bait people into registering early without benefit. This email was so unprofessional, that I was skeptical at first if it was even telling the truth, or rather a scam in order to troll hopeful applicants.
In contrast with one of the private schools I applied to, the UC application was very underwhelming, as I received a nice letter and packet from the private, along with a $50 gift certificate for their store. It made me feel valued by the university, something that I think should be universal based on how stressful and difficult the application process is.
I see it very disrespectful to have to wait so long for an acceptance because it doesn’t allow hardly enough time for touring schools you got into and for weighing your options. And while I’m not throwing shade on the schools themselves (they are fantastic schools), the admission team needs to step up their game in order to provide an optimal experience for the applicants.
