Ecoalbergue is used in Spain too.

The UC system also includes five medical centers with several hospitals.

I count our lucky stars when my husband, after getting a lot of job offers from the Bay Area, finally got one here in Southern California. I already was aware of the academic pressures, then I looked into housing, and I was just kept praying like mad for something else to turn up. Our quality of life would definitely have suffered. How can you guys even live on one salary? We are in one of the top school districts in our area, but not the top district. My husband is South Asian, so our girls have a lot of friends who also are. I see all of the expectations, the pressure, the mad rat race first hand. I have offered my eighth grader to homeschool her but she isn't interested. She wants to go to school, play in the band, have school friends. She will be going to the lesser of five high schools in our district, which still leaves plenty of room for craziness but not as much as other schools. The kids on the AP/honors track routinely take 9-12 APs versus 12-15-17 at the other schools (some run on the quarter system and some AP classes are two quarters only, so you can end with a lot more credits). I am advising my daughter to only take the number of APs she can handle without unnecessary stress, in her academic areas of interest. I am emphasizing health, both physical and mental above all, and the fact that what you do in college matters more than where you go to college. Still, the truth is that she will feel the pressure, even is that pressure is not coming from home, because she knows that college admissions will read her transcript in the local context, so if she "only" takes 6 APs, she may be seen as a bit of a slacker or an unmotivated student. My only concern is that she may end up at a college with students who are not much of an intellectual fit for her, but I maybe worrying unnecessarily too!

And there are no guarantees that the current TAG agreements will stay. I suppose other campuses could go the same way as selectivity keeps creeping up and up and trickling down the pecking order.

Exactly. I have an eighth grader and I have no idea how competitive it will be for her in four years time. I shudder to think about it. For what is worth, my oldest did attend a UC, but one of the lower ranking campuses, although she did get in a couple higher ones, because she got a merit scholarship which gave her priority registration and some money. She had a couple of ECs that told her story very well, which she highlighted in her application, and then a couple more for mostly social reasons.

Yes, you are misunderstanding me. Maybe I didn't express myself clearly. When I say some kids can do that genuinely, I mean kids who do what they do because they genuinely want to do it, not because they have to check boxes. I have an example like that in my nephew.

I am not in the Bay Area but I understand what it must be like there because I see plenty of that here too. The thing is, there are genuinely people who can do all that and do it extremely well and not work up so much of a sweat. The problem is when you are pushed to the limits so you can keep up with those people. And, yes, parents for whom only a handful of colleges are worth it. It is very much in part a cultural issue, but it affects everyone who aims to have a shot at the UCs. It becomes a kind of academic/extracurricular arms race.

Again, URM status cannot by law be a factor in admissions at the UCs. ETA: Many other factors are taken into consideration. Full pay OOS and international applications are very welcome too.

No UC is allowed to look at race or ethnic background. They can and look at socio economic background, first generation status, and or any other disadvantaged status that may have affected the student's performance and achievement.

Yes, obviously nobody but the admissions people have the whole story, but I am not even talking about two different students. I am talking about one student getting rejected, waitlisted or admitted seemingly at random at different UC campuses, even at equally selective or not campuses.

Random is a word that gets used more and more when it comes to UC admissions. Why does a kid get wait listed at Davis and admitted at UCLA? Nobody knows!

Very sad. Around thirty years ago, I did some waitressing for a bit at Gonville and Caius College in Cambridge where he was a fellow, you could see him around in his wheel chair.

Oh! That's too bad you don't have that option.

The advanced math students at my daughter's school do one year of chemistry in ninth grade then go straight into AP Bio in 10th. They don't have a regular Bio class prior. The only prep is that they take Advanced Science in 8th. Another thing to look into is if he could knock the credit with a SAT Bio subject exam instead if that is more palatable?

Engineering is highly competitive. A friend's daughter just got rejected from SLO and waitlisted at UC Davis. She is top 10% at a competitive suburban high school, has a 4.3 GPA, 11 APs, high SAT scores, and good leadership and extracurricular involvement. Her major is Computer Science.

I made a twitter account with my real name and set it to public! I am usually a very private person. All other social media is set to the highest privacy settings available. In Twitter, I feel free to discuss politics, something that I don't engage in either on other social media outlets or in real life.

So sorry about your son. Life sometimes just isn’t fair. How awful to see your loved one in pain like that. Hugs and prayers.

She did ballet until two year ago, so she did have something. Now she has a part time job. That is something. I understand your concerns though. Is there anything that you can suggest that she may become interested in? Not so much for college admissions, but for her personal enrichment and enjoyment? Something that she might enjoy and take pride in? What is available in your area? I would look around and strongly recommend her to try something new.

The Middle Class scholarship exists but is very limited and basically underfunded. We received a tiny bit on my daughter’s freshman year and then no more.

Off the top of my head, it was well north of $300,000. She did apply to several universities chasing merit. Several were full out of state tuition and fees, so those add up quickly!

Fun! I did it a second time. I still got West London!

I got West London, 😆. I am not a native speaker, and I have lived about as long on the East Coast as the West Coast and also in England, but it was in Cambridge, East Anglia. So, close enough?

Yes, this is true. I have attempted it that way a couple of times with my school kids. It works initially, but the holidays, Thanksgiving week first, then Christmas break, always throw us off completely.

We try to follow the clock because my daughter goes to school. Not that her body adjusts instantly though! I am pretty sure this time change will be tougher than usual. She has turned 14 and I have been noticing how her circadian rhythm is shifting to feeling sleepy later in the evening and needing more to sleep in. I will try my best to make it easier on her, but there is only so much you can do. Fun!

At my daughter's school, the biggest perk I would say is that the honors program kids have professors instead of TAs in their discussion groups, that, and being housed with likeminded peers. The biggest disadvantage is less flexibility in course selection because you have to include certain courses.