UC Admissions Data Released

The University of California released admission data for incoming freshman applying for the 2009-2010 school year this morning. UC Berkeley accepted 21.6 percent of applicants for fall, compared to 21.5 percent last year. Factoring in acceptances for the spring semester, the admission rate rose to 29.5 percent.

The percentage of accepted out of state students remained comparable to past years at 7.6 percent compared with 7.8 percent last year. International students saw an increase to 4 percent from 3.5 percent.

Although the rise in the number of applications was less than previous years, the university still saw a 2.9 percent increase and received a record 80,820 applications. Additionally, there were 2,300 fewer spots open to students system-wide, as decided by the UC Board of Regents in January to balance the budget.

Although UC Berkeley's student body was not curtailed, most campuses that were report a decreased acceptance rate. The most dramatic change was at the Santa Cruz campus, which accepted 10.6 percent less students than last year.

Increased selectivity has also affected the California State University ,system which admitted 10,000 fewer students this year due to budget cuts.

High school senior Irene Cheng was accepted to UC Berkeley and considers it a top choice. Although the San Diego native decided to stay on the wait-list for Harvard University, Stanford University, and Johns Hopkins University, she said would not go to any of the campuses even if admitted.

"I don't think I'm going to get that much better of an education for $30,000 to $40,000 more," she said.

Jared Ginsburg of Irvine must similarly consider finances in his decision. Despite his admittance to UC Berkeley, he said that George Washington University is actually a less expensive option once financial aid is factored in.

"I'm struggling whether it's worth it to graduate with a higher loan"," Ginsburg said. "The economy is definitely driving the decision."

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