This column is the latest in the series ‘Emptying the Nest’ about raising children in their final year of high school. Read the previous part, Mourning the last day of school here.
One of the reasons my children exist is because of the University of California system.
It was Gov. Pat Brown’s master plan for higher education, designed to guarantee college access to every high school graduate in the state, that convinced the father-in-law to his wife that they should move to the United States from their small Indiana hometown. Planned community in Lakewood.
Of course, there were a million factors that led me to meet my husband of 26 years. But one thing is for sure: it wouldn’t have happened if he had stayed in Indiana.
So I have many reasons to be thankful for the UC system. Why I try to remember as I go through the heartbreaking experience of trying to be accepted into my family for the third and final time.
As millions of parents and students know, the college admissions process is becoming increasingly terrifying. Long gone are the days of my childhood when, after a reasonable assessment of my budget and abilities as a student, I could apply to a handful of schools in and out of state, including mandatory “reach” and “safety.” It is expected to be accepted in many places.
Research is now a years-long process that requires spreadsheets of tuition and potential aid, acceptance rates (usually for a student’s preferred field of study), and housing availability and costs.
Over the past 20 years, public college tuition and other costs have typically increased by more than 100 percent, without accounting for inflation, according to U.S. News & World Report. For public colleges and universities, in-state tuition and fees increased by about 133%.
And forget about a few college applications. Most counselors now advise students to apply to at least 10 with a few safeties. These “reach” universities now include most UCs, even for California graduates.
I know many people whose children attended even the most popular members of the system: UCLA (acceptance rate: 9%), UC Berkeley (11.6%), UC San Diego (26.8%), UC Irvine (28.8%), and UC Santa . Barbara (32.9%).
But I know more people who, years later, are baffled that their 4.0+ child, who was captain of the volleyball team/president of student council/founder of a thriving non-profit, wasn’t even put on the waiting list.
How does Reddit even ifYou can get into most UCs. Most experienced high school guidance and private college counselors advise high-achieving California students not to consider attending the UC of their choice unless it includes Riverside (76%) or Merced (91%).
Both schools are great if you have a strong program in your child’s area of interest. But this is not the case with the third child.
After watching her high-achieving older sisters receive multiple UC rejection letters while getting accepted on scholarships from out-of-state colleges — my son was accepted to UC Davis but chose the University of Missouri — my youngest child initially vowed to take a detour. I did it. The whole painful experience. But she realized that most of the best schools for her chosen major were UCs. So she applied to five of those schools and two California state schools, one of which only accepted 34% of applicants.
The time she spent preparing for each presentation — writing essays, writing portfolios, sourcing letters of recommendation — essentially became a part-time job. She already has it, along with all the extracurricular activities needed to prove she’ll be an asset to colleges that accept tens of thousands of dollars in tuition, housing, and fees.
She also applied to numerous out-of-state and private colleges, none of which she could afford without significant support. When did $70,000 per year become the norm?
But both of her top choices are UC, so there is hope here. She has a high GPA, good AP scores, and a true passion for her desired field of study. More importantly, as anger grew over high rejection rates among California applicants, UC attempted to increase the overall student body by capping out-of-state student seats at 18% on most campuses.
As Teresa Watanabe of The Times reports, this year UC recognized its largest and most diverse freshman class ever, including a 4.3 percent increase in the number of California first-year students. UC officials hope to add 3,600 more students next year, but budget constraints may make that impossible even with proposed tuition increases.
But the fact remains that the beacon of a system that drew my husband’s family and thousands of other families like them to California within a generation is but a dream for most.
UC was originally intended to be a research center providing advanced education to the top 12.5% of the state’s graduates. CSU was supposed to provide broader learning to the top 33.3%. The state’s population growth, which has more than doubled since 1960, and the ever-increasing gap in high school education make these simple calculations impossible.
But for families who have invested their tax dollars in the state, sending children who meet UC’s historical standards to the campus that best matches their educational priorities doesn’t require years of planning and manual worry about getting into MIT. Or getting into the Ivy League.
Increasing admissions should be a top priority for a state experiencing its first major population decline in decades. UC should develop more three-year programs like UK universities, offer more off-campus semesters abroad or at home, and strive to enable graduation in four years.
And if it would be too costly to build a new campus or expand an existing one, the state would have to focus on building Cal State’s programs and reputation. Under the master plan, only UC could offer a doctoral degree, a sign of research focus and prestige. However, starting in 2005, CSU began offering it in certain programs. Two years ago, that number expanded.
Cal Poly, San Diego State, and Long Beach State are already on many “best” lists, but with 20 other campuses in the system, California may need to reexamine its master plan with a greater focus on ensuring fewer campuses than tiers. It’s time. Ambitious, qualified high school graduates must leave the state to gain admission to the college of their choice.
What’s important is that our collective view of college must change. As you go through over and over again, all those “best” lists do as much harm as good and undermine the idea that the lower the acceptance rate or higher the tuition, the better the school. This isn’t always the case.
After their father-in-law used the California university system to attract the family to the Golden State, all three children attended Long Beach State, San Francisco State, UC Irvine and UCLA over the years. My husband enrolled at Berkeley, but ultimately chose San Francisco State University because of its writing program. At that time, the system was less hierarchical and movement between campuses was more frequent.
The final application has been sent from my house. Now comes the painful wait (just in time for Christmas!). And once again, I told my child that if a particular college didn’t want her, it was their loss, not hers. But she hopes California will let her because she is the first child who really wants to stay in California.
