UC Admissions Drop Slightly for Fall, Remain High Overall for Cal High Students

Despite high anxiety during this year's college admissions process, nine out of 10 California High students who applied to University of California colleges won acceptance for next fall.

Because of its much smaller population, minimal information is available about Venture School students, though they managed to pull in a perfect 100 percent for fall 2010 -- all nine students who applied to UC schools were accepted. 

Cal High's senior class has 575 students this year, compared with 125 at Venture. 

Student privacy laws restrict the amount of information the University of California will release about schools with few candidates. If fewer than five students apply or are accepted, no information is available. That was the case for Venture for most of the years studied in this analysis.

Eighty-nine percent of Cal High students who applied to schools in the UC system got in, according to data provided by UC's Office of the President. It's the lowest UC acceptance rate the school has seen since 2004, the first year examined for this report. 

Every year since 2004, when 85 percent of Cal High students succeeded in getting accepted, rates have rested around 92 or 93 percent.

Both schools' admission rates far exceed the overall rate for California freshman, 72 percent.

Michelle Sampson, a counselor at Cal High, said more of her school's students got into Berkeley this year "than ever before," and that "quite a few" got into Davis. (The UCs have not yet released this data for fall 2010.)

"We still have students applying (to UCs). But a lot more students are applying out of state and we don't know why," she said. "It's stressful because of rumors flying around that the UCs are accepting more transfers and students from out of state. It's stressing some students out, but it didn't stop them from applying."

Because of the rough economy, counselors said, more students applied to state universities and the community college system.

"I think they're more worried about getting in anywhere just because of the budget cuts. It has been rumored to be more difficult," she said. 

She'd heard of some cases where parents told their children they simply couldn't afford a four-year college in the fall, which limited students' choices to community colleges for at least two years. 

She said she didn't, however, notice this year being any more emotional than other years, despite the uncertainty.

"They're emotional no matter what because of the pressure to get into a good school, and I think that's always been an issue," she said. "I don't see any difference."

According to the university, the fall 2010 admissions cycle included the largest number of applicants in its history: 100,428, compared with 98,119 for fall 2009 and 95,444 for all 2008.

Admissions pose a particular challenge, Sampson said, to students in the "medium GPA range," though she added this has been the case for the past five years.

The percentage of Cal High seniors who apply to UCs has fluctuated since 2004 from a low of 29 percent to a high of 37 percent. The numbers have been up and down with no discernible trend. This year, however, 6 percent more of the class applied to UC schools compared with last year. Thirty-one percent of the current senior class was admitted to the UC system, up four percent from last year.

(All school district data are preliminary, because final class size numbers, upon which admission rates are based, will not be available until June, when graduation takes place.)

Cal High's enrollment figures for fall 2010 are not yet available but, for 2009, had dropped to 14 percent of the senior class, its lowest level within the period studied.

(California's Master Plan for Higher Education, adopted in 1960, requires the university to admit the top 12.5 percent of the state's high school graduates; California State University is to admit the top one-third.)

From 2004-05 to 2008-09, 500 Cal High students enrolled at UC schools. 

Historically, seniors at Cal High are most likely to enroll at UC Davis, according to statistics from 2004-05 to 2008-09, the most recent detailed data available from the university. Berkeley was the second most popular destination, and Santa Cruz the third. Merced, the newest UC, was last on the list.

Venture counselor Marsha Mak said her students had a particularly successful year with UC Berkeley, which accepted six Venture seniors for fall 2010. Usually, just two are accepted. She said she noticed students applying to more schools overall, and "a lot more private schools, it seems."

Venture, which was founded in 1981, is based primarily on independent study and homeschooling. 

"For whatever reason, they don't fit into the traditional setting. We have actors and athletes. Some work almost full time," she said. "Some are dealing with illness. Some are done with the drama of high school and want to move ahead. Because it's independent study, they can do that."

The majority of Venture students end up at community colleges, Mak said. 

"The students who come to us and are bound for four-year colleges, they're just very academically sound and bright," she added. "They just tend to get into the colleges."

Data from UC's Office of the President provide demographic information about both high schools. According to the 2008 data, Cal High had a much larger Asian/Pacific Islander population compared with Venture (22 percent compared with 7 percent), and Venture had a slightly higher white population (65 percent compared with 62 percent). Venture had higher numbers of black and hispanic students, and students who report multiple ethnicities.

There were some differences as well in the education level of parents for students in both schools. Cal High parents, 48 percent, reported having obtained college degrees, compared with 38 percent of Venture School parents. Another 31 percent of Cal High parents reported completing graduate school; for Venture, 27 percent had graduate degrees.

The Office of the President announced its 2010-11 admission data in April, including the unwelcome news to many California families that the state would provide funding for 1,500 fewer in-state students in the fall. Officials said out-of-state and international admissions had grown, and made up most of the 2,064 more applicants admitted this year compared with last.

This spring, 72 percent of fall 2010 California freshman were offered admission, compared with 73 percent for fall 2009 and 76 percent for fall 2008.