Date: November 17th, 2025 1:40 PM
Author: chocolate stage
they changed admissions policy, forget how it worked but basically admitted way more retards from lower level HS
UCSD Admission Policy Changes (2019-2024)
1. Test-Blind Policy (Biggest Change)
Implemented: Fall 2022 admissions (permanent UC system policy)
What changed: SAT/ACT scores are completely banned from consideration—not even optional
Impact on admitted student profile:
Class of 2021: 86% submitted SATs, average was 1410
Class of 2024: 0% submitted SATs (not collected)
Result: UCSD lost its primary quantitative filter for academic preparedness. Without standardized tests, admissions rely entirely on GPA, essays, and extracurriculars.
2. "Holistic Review" Expansion (2020-2022)
What changed: UCSD dramatically increased weight on:
Personal Insight Questions (PIQs): 4 essays now count as much as GPA in some cases
Adversity score: Explicit consideration of family income, neighborhood poverty, school resources
First-generation preference: +20% admission rate boost
Impact: Students from low-performing high schools with strong personal narratives now outcompete those from high-performing schools with similar stats.
3. GPA Inflation & Grade Context
What changed: UCSD now uses "weighted GPA context":
The UC system automatically calculates weighted GPA for up to 8 AP/IB courses (adds 1 point each)
No longer distinguishes between manually calculated high school GPAs—so a 4.0 unweighted GPA and 4.6 weighted GPA may be treated similarly if your school offers fewer AP courses
Impact: Students from schools that don't offer AP courses have their weighted GPA weighted similarly to students from schools with many AP courses.
4. Expansion Policy (Most Controversial)
2021 UC Regents vote: Expand California resident enrollment by 6,230 students by 2024-25, while reducing out-of-state and international student spots
UCSD specific expansion: Added 2,500 in-state students in 2022-23 (11% increase)
Result: To maintain expansion pace, admission standards had to drop.
(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5799097&forum_id=2Ã#49438404)