Morgan Liggera
University of California admissions are more competitive than ever, with high school graduates in California at record high numbers – but will a decrease in high school graduates in the coming years mean an easier transfer into a UC?Not necessarily, said Elizabeth Atondo, transfer director at Pierce College.”They’ve been at maximum capacity for years,” Atondo said of the UC system, “and it didn’t affect the transfers.”Dr. Susan Wilbur, director of undergraduate admissions for UC, said that over the past 10 years, there has been an increase in students who are eligible for UC.”If more high school students become eligible for admission to the university, given our stated policy to offer a space to all eligible students, the university may not see a huge decline in applicants,” Wilbur said. “This, of course, remains to be seen.”The California Postsecondary Education Commission shows transfers from Pierce College to University of California schools up from 254 students in the 2005-06 school year to 315 students in 2006-07, the highest shown in the commission’s data bank.UC gives priority to California Community College transfer students, according to Claudia Luther, a media relations officer at UCLA. The Web site uctransfer.org also states that eight out of 10 applicants from community colleges are qualified and admitted to UC.”It is important to keep in mind that UC has not reduced the number of spaces available – rather, it is the larger applicant pools that are causing the constriction at campuses that are already in great demand,” Wilbur said. “Because each campus has experienced an increase in applications, the admissions rate may actually decline because more students are applying for the same number of spaces.”Two campuses, Merced, 250 miles northwest of Pierce; and Riverside, 80 miles east, have plans for expansion in the future that will allow for additional students, according to Wilbur.”UC-eligible applicants who have not been offered a space at the campus of their original choice, will be offered a space at one or both of these campuses,” Wilbur said.