Admission rates of EC students into the University of California, Los Angeles reached 47 percent for fall 2009, according to the UCLA Web site.
Out of the 451 student who applied, about 210 were admitted. This made the college No. 3 in total admissions and No. 1 in admission rate.
“I think our admit rates are high because we offer a lot of workshops so that students are well prepared and strong applicants. We were able to do things like read personal statements and do application work shops,” Sue Oda-Omori, transfer counselor, said.
Oda-Omori also said that almost half of the students who were admitted into UCLA were members of the Honors Transfer Program (HTP) on campus. She said admits of those in the HTP were high but, although the program is very large, the counselors help as much as they can.
“The HTP was of huge assistance. It required that I had two scheduled appointments with the honors counselor to draw out my academic plan, and I think that’s what got me on track,” Meg Panlaqui, sociology major, said.
Although the college had one of the highest admission rates listed, it also had the lowest amount of applicants. Santa Monica College had more than four times the amount of EC applicants and Pasadena City College had almost twice the amount, according tothe UCLA Web site.
Oda-Omori said that she believed there were several reasons as to why the college had the fewest applicants.
“I think some of it has to do with the demographics of our campus and student population. It also seems like a large number of students are geared towards Cal States and it may be because of the costs,” she said.
Another reason Oda-Omori said she thought the amount of applicants from EC was low was that some students feel UCs are out of reach because of the “false myth” of what it takes to be admitted.
She said many students worry that they’re not good enough academically and even though UCLA is considered to be one of the most competitive universities, the administration does not just look at a student’s GPA.
“UCLA does the most comprehensive review. (In addition to looking at GPAs) they factors like campus involvement, first in family to go to college, preparation for the major, extracurricular activities, working and going to school, and personal experiences,” she said.
The fact that UCLA does not only look at GPA encouraged many students to apply this fall, which may help increase the amount of applications turned in and maybe even raise the admission rate to an even higher percentage.
“Hopefully, the admit rate of our school does go up some more this year, especially because I, as well as many others I know, are applying. I also think that if the rate goes up even higher than it already is, it would refelect really well on the school,” Panlaqui said.
Oda-Omori also mentioned that EC’s current admit rate and future admit rate, if it goes up or doesn’t go down much lower, has a positive effect for both students and the college.
“It’s a testament to our students being well prepared so that’s attributed to our counseling and our teaching faculty and that’s good for the school because it draws more students here,” Oda-Omori said.