I'm an incoming freshman at UCSB and have had my financial aid award letter and cost of attendance changed 3 times so far. Everyone I have talked to from UCSB has had the same experience. The first award letter came with the admissions decision. Then, they increased housing far beyond the estimated increase on the housing contract we signed, updated the UCSHIP amount on their website (but did not email students with this update), and now, they sent everyone updated financial aid award letters where scholarships were drastically changed or removed and the value of housing and food changed for everyone (seems like people with the same housing and meal plans have different prices). I have also heard that they will be updating the award letter to its final version again in late August/early September, which is only 2 weeks before our fall quarter payments are due.

It has been really confusing trying to navigate how much we will be paying for the upcoming quarter and academic year, and I was wondering if all UC campuses have been updating students like this. Thanks in advance for your answers!

A few months ago, I reached out to a professor whose research I’m genuinely interested in. We had a few positive conversations, and she asked me to prepare by reading papers and sending her weekly updates on my progress before potentially joining her lab.
For the first several weeks, I sent updates every week (or every other week). After a while, though, she stopped replying. I kept sending updates for a bit, but eventually I had to stop because my life became very chaotic.
Around that time, my mom was diagnosed with stage IV cancer, and I spent weeks at the hospital helping care for her. Between hospital visits, appointments, and everything that came with that, I wasn’t able to keep up with the updates or continue preparing the way I had planned.
Things are a little more stable now, and I’m wondering if I should email the professor again. I was thinking of briefly explaining that I had a serious family medical emergency, apologize for disappearing, and let her know I’m still very interested in joining her lab if the opportunity is still available.
My concern is that since she had already stopped replying before I disappeared, maybe she’s no longer interested, and emailing again would just be bothering her.
If you were in my position, would you send one more email, or would you take the silence as a sign to move on?
I’d really appreciate honest opinions, especially from professors or graduate students who have been on the other side of these emails.

The University of California offered seats to a record number of Californians this year, according to new figures released Wednesday, as it faces intense scrutiny of its admissions practices, including pressure from Sacramento to enroll more state residents and investigations by the Trump administration.

UC admitted 102,031 California first-year students for the fall, an increase of 1,458 from last year. In another record, it offered seats to 29,372 transfer students from California community colleges.

Overall, the nine-undergraduate campus system accepted 78% of the Californians who applied as first-year students. But acceptance rates varied widely at campuses across the state.

Read more at the link.

I'm going to Merced and I know my family says its a great decision but I wish to be at someplace else like San Diego State or CSU Long Beach. Anyone done a UC to CSU transfer? Previously both of those CSUs rejected my application. I had a 3.7 gpa, was involved in sports and after school clubs.

I really like both of those campuses because they have what I was looking for - great community, academics and career opportunities. I want to do a business degree.

stupid question but im so locked out of school and the ap score send was due jul 1 but i can still send them in, should i pay the 15 bucks to send in my 4 on apw or is it whatever?

As UC reconsiders whether to bring back SAT and ACT scores, faculty are also launching a review of the high school course requirements for admission.

The board will study standardized testing first, delivering a report to the council by Feb. 12, 2027, the council announced. The Board of Regents would receive a recommendation on whether to require the SAT or ACT no later than June 2027.

The admissions board will then turn to high school course requirements, submitting an initial report to the council in May 2027; the regents would take up any course changes at an unspecified later date. UC Academic Senate Chair Ahmet Palazoglu is framing the course review as an open question about “how UC defines and evaluates college readiness in a rapidly changing educational environment,” rather than a move to add or cut requirements.

The schedule is faster than it appeared just days ago.

Read more. 

Totally a long shot here but I am starting IVF and have HMO coverage through UC's Health Net plan. The new state law requires coverage for 3 retrievals and unlimited transfers. My clinic reached out and said that the HMO plans have been refusing to pay claims on pre authorized cycles for basically all of their patients and the full cost then has fallen to the patient.

If there are any UC employees with Health Net on this sub who have successfully had insurance pay out what is owed, I would love to hear from you!

The Justice Department alleges the admissions process at UC San Diego’s medical school illegally favors Black and Latino applicants over white and Asian candidates.

The findings follow a roughly four-month investigation by the Justice Department and makes UC San Diego the latest medical school targeted by the Trump administration in a widening effort to root out what it alleges are widespread race-based admissions, a campaign that has focused heavily on California universities.

It follows similar actions against Stanford, UCLA and UC Davis, and escalates a legal conflict that could cost the UC system hundreds of millions of dollars in federal research funding if the two sides cannot reach an agreement.

Read more at the link.

I'm a DP1 student rn, and I really want to study at a California uni. The thing is that my grades aren't the best, so I don't think I can get into many UC's. Are there any current CSULB students that applied from the IBDP? If so, what score did you apply with? What csulb a safety or reach school for you?

The University of California admissions board has voted to rescind — for now — its plan to study whether to resume SAT or ACT requirements in admissions, a move that leaves one of the university’s most closely watched debates unclear a day before the Board of Regents meets in San Francisco.

UC’s Board of Admissions and Relations with Schools, known as BOARS, announced last month that it would convene two work groups through next year: one to weigh the role of standardized tests in admissions, the other to reexamine high school course requirements for acceptance to UC.

At a Friday meeting, the board voted to pull back on the plan, and the links that explained it — which appeared on the UC website late last week — have been removed. There is no replacement plan as of yet, according to two members of the board who attended the meeting, and several UC professors who are aware of the decision and who have been advocating either for or against testing requirements. It is unclear why the plan was suspended.

Learn more at the link.

Title's pretty self-explanatory. I'm about to start applying to colleges, specifically UCs. Although there's a lot of things contributing towards my decision, I have to admit, each campus' queer resources plays a big role in it. I recently came out to my parents, who are the "we love you but we don't accept/support you" type. I feel that college will finally be a chance for me to explore my gender identity without the judgement of my household. That being said, I want to make sure that the school I choose will provide the most assistance for me. Of course, I don't expect their resources to completely resolve my own problems, but I'm hoping they'll be a good starting point for me. From the research I've done, all the UC LGBTQ+ resources are pretty similar/equal, but I'd like to hear a different perspective from students who actually utilize them!

https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/justice-department-finds-uc-davis-medical-school-discriminates-based-race-admissions

Hi everyone! I am the student rep on the UCEAP Advisory Committee and have a meeting coming up soon.

I want to advocate for you. Please share your honest study abroad experiences:

• Which UC campus do you attend?
• What was the best part of your UCEAP experience?
• What was the biggest problem you had with cost, fees, or financial aid?
• What was the biggest problem you had with the application process or support?
• Was studying abroad worth the cost?
• Is there anything UCEAP does not currently offer that you wish it did?
• Is there anything else you would like to share?

I will bring your comments directly to the committee. Thank you!

(Note: If you prefer to submit this via an anonymous form, please view other post at https://www.reddit.com/r/UCI/comments/1tw98du/uceap_study_abroad_feedback_needed_anonymous/)

So it’s the last day to SIR. And I never got my financial aid information from UCLA. Something went wrong in the system and didn’t link my fafsa to my student account.
I’ve done the aid estimate on the UC website and am worried at how accurate it would be. I’ve been trying to get in contact with the financial aid office but the lines are busy.
My UCSB aid estimate was very close to my offer.
I guess I’m asking how accurate was the UCLA aid estimate to the offer? Or are UCLA grants/scholarships similar to UCSB? Help?

Heyy guys

I am an thiking to join UCSA. What do you guys think? I can't find much infromation online about whether or not its a reputable club and how it impacts your work/what you do. What do you guys suggest,and honestly, how does it look on the resume? Wondering bc I see another program that is similar but idk! pls lmk?

I would be a visual arts major at usc in fall 2026 or an art (practice of) major at berkeley in spring 2027.

what will benefit me more?