As UC Santa Barbara’s freshmen prepare to begin their first year of college, the Nexus looked at what got them here.
The Nexus compared this year’s freshmen class of 2022’s admission statistics to those of their predecessors and found that the class of 2022 had slightly higher average grade point averages (GPA) than those admitted the previous year, according to preliminary data from the UCSB Office of Admissions.
Freshman admits in 2017 had average GPAs of 4.25, while the average GPA of admitted students in 2018 was 4.28. Between 2014 and 2018, the average high school GPA of admitted freshman students has increased steadily from the initial 4.15.
Data courtesy of the UCSB Office of Admissions. Hayley Tice / Daily Nexus
GPAs and S.A.T. scores, however, do not necessarily reflect the full experiences and qualifications of the freshmen class, according to Lisa Przekop, the UCSB director of admissions.
The campus also looks at extracurriculars, community service, awards and employment when determining whom to admit, Przekop said.
“The students coming to UCSB are excellent and continue to reflect both academic quality and substance outside of the classroom,” she said in an email.
The average S.A.T. scores of those admitted increased between 2014 to 2016 but decreased by 48 points between 2017 and 2018, according to the data from the UCSB Office of Admissions.
Data from 2017 and 2018 reflect scores on the new S.A.T., which is out of 1600 points, while 2014-16 scores show the old S.A.T., which was out of 2400 points.
Data courtesy of the UCSB Office of Admissions. Hayley Tice / Daily Nexus
The middle 25 to 75 percent of admitted students in 2018 who took the S.A.T. received S.A.T. Evidence Based Reading & Writing scores between 630 and 720, while S.A.T. Mathematics scores were between 640 and 780, according to UCSB’s freshman admission profile from University of California Office of the President (UCOP).
The middle 25 to 75 percent of students who took the A.C.T. received a composite score between 28 and 34 and an English Language Arts score between 26 and 31.
Additionally, UCSB’s freshman admission rate decreased from 36.3 percent to 32.4 percent between 2014 and 2018.
However, UCSB’s admission rate for transfers increased from approximately 48 percent to 57 percent over the same period, according to admissions data from UCOP.
The average GPA of transfer admits remained nearly flat. It increased .02 points from 3.57 to 3.59 between 2014 and 2018, according to the data from the UCSB Office of Admissions.
The middle 25 to 75 percent of high school GPAs for admitted freshmen to UCSB were similar to statistics from UC Irvine, UC Davis and UC San Diego.
Data courtesy of UCOP. Hayley Tice / Daily Nexus
Download the data on freshmen and transfer admits’ GPAs and S.A.T. scores here.
Damn – getting hard to get into these days. Despite what anyone says – the golden age of UCSB was in the mid to late 90’s.