Thousands of students admitted to UC Davis for fall 2002 are touring the campus and getting answers to their questions about studying and living in Davis during the campus's Welcome Week, now under way.
They are among the more than 21,000 California students who have been or will be admitted to UC Davis under a new selection process that, in addition to academic achievement, considers a broad variety of factors.
Of the 16,970 California freshmen admitted, about 4,550 are expected to enroll at UC Davis. An additional 4,800 applicants seeking to transfer from a California community college have been or will be admitted by early May, and about 1,900 are expected to enroll.
"The academic and personal accomplishments of our admitted freshmen are very impressive," says Gary Tudor, director of undergraduate admissions and outreach services.
He adds that he was particularly pleased with the number of core courses completed beyond the 30-course minimum required for UC eligibility. "This means that students, parents and counselors are thinking carefully about the right way to prepare for UC."
Among UC Davis applicants who stated their ethnicity and were admitted as freshmen, the overall proportion of those from traditionally underrepresented groups de-clined three-quarters of a percentage point.
Systemwide admissions numbers for UC are accessible at a Web site of the Office of the President at http://www.ucop.edu/news/ studstaff.html. Admission numbers for UC Davis were confirmed as of Tuesday afternoon, before Dateline went to press.
Selection process
UC Davis received 26,504 applications from California freshmen, up 4.24 percent overall and 4.03 percent among underrepresented groups, and 4,636 applications from transfer students, up 0.74 percent overall and down 0.82 percent among underrepresented groups.
For the first time, the applications were evaluated by a "comprehensive review."
While the 15 criteria used in the selection process are weighted toward academic achievement, such accomplishments are considered in the context of the opportunities and challenges an applicant has experienced. And an applicant's personal achievements - from demonstrated leadership to special skills and talents - are used to assess merit and likely contribution to the campus community.
About 110 specially trained faculty and staff read an average of almost 240 freshman applications each. "It was a challenge, but our faculty and staff really rose to the occasion," Tudor says.
At UC Davis, comprehensive review replaced a tiered system that had selected 60 percent of the class on academic criteria and 40 percent on academic criteria and personal factors.
Mix of admitted freshmen
Californian freshmen from historically underrepresented groups - African American, American Indian, Chicano and Latino - accounted for 15.52 percent of this year's admitted students who stated their ethnicity, compared with 16.28 percent last year.
The percentage of Asian American students increased to 39.66 percent of this year's admitted students who stated their ethnicity, compared to 39.53 percent last year. Caucasians this year represented 43.22 percent of admitted students who stated their ethnicity, compared with 42.25 percent last year.
This year, a smaller share of admitted students declined to state their ethnicity - 7.84 percent of all those admitted, compared with last year's 8.18 percent.
Changes in numbers
The number of admitted California freshman students identifying themselves as members of historically underrepresented groups increased by 1.42 percent, from 2,393 last year to 2,427 this year. There were increases among Latinos, from 466 to 489 (4.93 percent); African Americans, from 404 to 416 (2.97 percent); and American Indians, from 105 to 110 (4.76 percent). Chicana/o student-admit numbers de-creased from 1,418 to 1,412 (0.42 percent).
Students identifying themselves as Asian American this year increased from 5,810 to 6,203 (6.76 percent).
The number of students identifying themselves as Caucasian increased by 8.84 percent, from 6,210 to 6,759. Those who identified themselves as being from other ethnic groups decreased 11.97 percent, from 284 to 250, and accounted for 1.60 percent of all admitted students stating their ethnicity. Those who declined to state ethnicity in-creased from 1,309 to 1,331 or 1.68 percent.
Admitted freshmen have until May 1 to indicate their intent to register at UC Davis, and admitted transfer students have until June 1.