Webinar Transcript: Live Q&A with UCSB Freshmen Admissions Officer

We had the privilege of sitting down recently with Guillermo Vasquez, Freshman Admissions Counselor at UCSB, to talk about the recent adjustments to the admissions process made by the UC system and the unique challenges and trends within higher education in the year ahead.

Elton Lin: Good to see everybody. We're waiting for people to file in before we get started. We're excited to have Guillermo Vasquez come on with us again, from UC Santa Barbara. Really grateful for his time. 

So we really appreciate everybody from all over the United States – all over the world – coming and joining us. And let me introduce Guillermo Vasquez. He is an admissions counselor at UC Santa Barbara, and has been in the office for how long?

Guillermo Vasquez: Almost two years.

Elton Lin: Almost two years, okay. All right, sounds good. And I'll give you an opportunity to introduce yourself formally, but I want to share: if you have questions, go ahead and post them in the Q&A box at the bottom – and what we're going to do is that we want to try to create as much time for questions as possible. So we – Guillermo and I – will go back and forth probably for like 20 or 25 minutes, but we're gonna create as much time at the very end to answer whatever questions that you might have.

Especially in the very topsy-turvy admissions landscape from this past year, and also in light of many changes that have happened with the UC system, I'm sure there are going to be a ton of questions. So go ahead and post your questions in the Q&A at any time – and, as those of you who've been in our webinars before know, Anthony will come back at the very end, sort through all the questions, and we'll throw them at Guillermo and see what he has to say.

If you don't mind, Guillermo, why don't you take a moment and just introduce yourself, and what role you serve at UC Santa Barbara.

Guillermo Vaquez: So, as mentioned, my name is Guillermo Vasquez. I'm a freshman admissions counselor for UC Santa Barbara. Essentially what that position has me doing is that my job is to make sure that students like yourselves – or your students, if you're a parent – are well-informed about our university, which is UC Santa Barbara, as well as the UC admissions process. Also guiding students through the admissions process, from the moment that they're thinking of applying, all the way until the moment that they're enrolling at UCSB – and are pretty much being moved on to orientation at that point.

Aside from that, of course I do read applications as well. That’s also part of my duties as a freshman admissions counselor. So I do read applications. And I’m also a UC Santa Barbara alum – class of 2018. So if you have any questions about life on campus or Santa Barbara – as a university, or the area – I’m more than happy to answer those.

I’m also originally from the Bay Area – so I can definitely provide that experience as a first-generation Bay Area student going out to a UC campus. That's me.

Elton Lin: Awesome. Fantastic. Thanks, Guillermo.

Why don't we just jump right in with regards to this past year's admissions cycle? There have been a lot of changes. Perhaps most notably, the UC system going… last year the term was “test-blind,” but the proper term is “test-free,” right?

Guillermo Vasquez: Right.

Elton Lin: To be free from tests – that's really the sentiment that we all want. But considering that the UCs went test-free this past year, and issued a five-year transition plan to eventually go to their own, UC-created tests – which I'll come back to later.

But, first off, what have been some big adjustments that you and the team have had to make in light of going test-free?

Guillermo Vasquez: Sure thing. So when it comes to going test-free, as far as our team goes, and how we read applications, of course it's an adjustment – because that's one fewer thing that we're looking at, or that students are reporting. However, when it comes to the UC system, we have a holistic process that uses thirteen different points that we look at. It was fourteen when the SAT and ACT were part of the process, but now it's thirteen.

So in the grand scheme of things, there are still a plethora of other things – specifically, thirteen other things – that we are looking at when it comes to students. It generally boils down to the same things. We're looking at students’ academics – their academic prowess, and how well they're doing inside the classroom. And then we're also looking at, of course, how well they're doing outside of the classroom – through activities and involvements.

And their general context as well – which is also very important. We don't compare students to other students. We compare them to themselves. So, in general, when it comes to evaluating students, we still were able to make it work – because we have thirteen factors, rather than just testing, GPA, and then activities. That's not how we do it. We have thirteen whole things that we look at.

So as far as an adjustment: not a huge one. Of course, it is one, because SAT and ACT was an important component. But there are still many other things that have a lot of importance when it comes to the application process.

Elton Lin: So what I hear you saying is that certainly the SAT and ACT were a big factor, and they’ve been an important factor for a lot of years, but what you're saying is that there are certainly other factors. A host of other factors, especially because UC actually makes it very clear as far as what items they look at. But are you saying that removing tests had no impact, or are you saying that it just didn't have as much impact?

Guillermo Vasquez: “It didn't have a lot of impact” mostly means with regards to our office and how we read applications – that didn't change too drastically at all. However, of course it changed a lot when it comes to the admissions process for students, and on their end.

In my opinion, it allows for more students to be able to apply, because we don't have this exam that costs money to take, costs money to prepare for, and takes a lot of time to prepare for. It really did open up a lot of doors for more students to be able to apply and be successful in that process, because they don't have to spend X amount of hours for weeks on end, or their entire summer, studying for SAT or ACT prep.

In that sense, of course it changed the process a lot for students. I – as somebody who went through the process – can see that it was a huge change, because it would have been a huge change for me as well. However, when I say that it didn't change a lot, it's just more so on our end with regards to our process when it comes to reading applications.

For students I think it changes a lot, and in a positive way.

Elton Lin: And – I don't know how much you can go into this – but because for the SAT and ACT there was certainly a cost in both time and money, and perhaps a cost of some stress with regards to students, did the makeup of the applicant pool change? And, since you've been through a couple cycles, did you perhaps admit students that you thought you may not have admitted prior to this year?

Guillermo Vasquez: I don't know as far as the makeup of the entire applicant pool. That is not available to myself or you know, or freshman admissions counselors. As far as the makeup of our applicant pool, I think it stayed pretty consistent – as far as the applicant pool goes from what I was reading. However, of course that is a very small sample size – what I read personally, versus how many students applied total. So I can't necessarily say whether it changed the applicant pool significantly or not, just due to a lack of accessibility to data.

When it comes to the students that we admit, I would say the same thing. I'm not entirely sure. It looks like our numbers – as far as student makeup, and as far as admitting a diverse population of students from diverse ethnic and racial backgrounds – it looks like our makeup is fairly similar, this year at least.

That could be just because these announcements, when it comes to SAT and ACT, were pretty late in the game. Most students who were probably thinking of applying to UC were probably already taking the SAT or ACT, or probably already set on applying or not. Maybe in the future there will be a difference if we stay test-free. Maybe that'll change the makeup going forward. But due to a lack of data, and just based on what I've seen, I can't really say too much as far as what I've seen or what I have been able to see. But I'm hopeful for the future – as far as more students being encouraged to apply from more diverse backgrounds.

Elton Lin: Got it. What you're implying – if I may go this way – is that the applicant pool, and the admit pool, seem to be about the same – in the sense where you are making priorities for first generation, underrepresented students. And the diversity, with regards to taking all parts of California, and creating space for out-of-state students, is about the same. So it's not so much that testing has really changed that makeup with regards to students who are actually being admitted, right?

Guillermo Vasquez: Right.

Elton Lin: But I would also say… The term is – I don't know if students are using it, but families certainly are – “waitlist purgatory.” So many students have been waitlisted up and down the UC system. I think they're wondering: what's going on that's getting so many students to be put on hold, and having to make their decisions with uncertainty?

Guillermo Vasquez: Yeah, totally. I completely understand that. That's the thing that happens when we get more applicants than, unfortunately, we have room for. The number of people that we can admit pretty much stays the same. The campus is the exact same size. We have the exact same number of classrooms. And so our number of applicants can go up; however the number of admits will pretty much stay the same – unless we magically get a huge addition to the campus, which is not gonna happen.

But that's kind of the thing with this process. More students will probably apply, or can apply, because of the lack of restrictions through required testing. That's pretty much where we're at. More students have applied; we can't admit more than we normally can. We can't over-enroll – because then services slow down, and classes aren't as available. We want to make sure that the students who are admitted have a really good experience on campus.

When it comes to the waitlist, that also means that students will be waitlisted. Students who might be excellent students. We tell our students who are on the waitlist, “You're an excellent student. We wish that we had space for you. Unfortunately we do not.” And if space opens up, then we're able to admit students off the waitlist.

That's, unfortunately, the thing that we can't control about the waitlist. It really depends on student enrollment. For example, last year there was a lot of uncertainty because it was the first year that we had to deal with COVID. Students were not sure about going away to school, because maybe they couldn't stay on campus, or maybe they couldn't stay in the area. Especially when it comes to Santa Barbara, because we're not necessarily near a lot of metropolitan areas. So with regards to last year, we had a lot of waitlist activity, because a lot of students didn't want to enroll. If a lot of students whom we admit don't decide to enroll, then we go to the waitlist – so that we can reach the number of students enrolled that we are looking for.

This year it was kind of the opposite. A lot of students are looking to go back to school, or are more motivated to apply to our schools based on the test-free opportunity. So that means that waitlist activity is probably a little bit slower this year, because we're not needing to go to the waitlist as much, because more students are enrolling right off the bat from being admitted through the initial process.

Elton Lin: Got it. So you're not implying, but you're perhaps inferring that UCSB may go to the waitlist a lot less this year, compared to last year when students’ decisions about actually coming to campus were super in flux in light of COVID. Would you say students who opted to do a gap year or a gap quarter are putting some pressure on enrollment this coming year as well?

Guillermo Vasquez: No. I would say that that's definitely not a factor this year. I can say that because, when it comes to deferment, we only deferred students for a quarter. Which means that they didn't have to reapply. They didn't have to go through the admissions process once again.

With regards to students who were admitted and decided to defer, that was an odd issue. They either deferred and they came back for the winter quarter, or they just didn't enroll. As far as students not deciding to enroll, or taking a gap year and then reapplying… honestly, from the students whose applications I was lucky enough to read, I didn't read any of those.

I think that's something that a lot of people feared – especially last year. I was already getting those questions last year. And people are being kind of afraid of what that would look like with regards to admissions this year. But I can say that that's probably not what happened this year; it's just more students looking to apply right out of high school, with the fact that SAT and ACT weren’t required.

Not to mention that, though COVID-19 restricted our travel, and being able to reach students physically through college fairs or school visits, because we were virtual, students were able to visit even more schools virtually this year, and we reached more students. Which means that, perhaps, more students knew who UC Santa Barbara was – all around the country. And maybe they chose to apply because they knew about us.

It could be a number of factors, again. It is really hard to tell right now, because of the lack of data; because it's so fresh. As far as the admissions process, it isn't completely over just yet, and it won't be until probably July for our cycle and our offices. So it's hard to say. But I can probably say, based on what I've seen, that it was most likely not gap year students who made this major increase with regards to applications to the entire UC system.

Elton Lin: And what was the increase this past year in the number of applications for UCSB?

Guillermo Vasquez: It was close to twenty thousand.

Elton Lin: Okay. So if I'm not mistaken, last year's pool was somewhere in the 70,000-80,000 range, right? So plus 20,000 – it's almost 100,000 applicants! So a 20% increase.

So what I hear you saying is that you're thinking the gap year, gap semester, or deferral request isn't making an impact on this year's class. But what is making an impact on this year's class is that there's a 20,000 increase in the number of applicants!

There's perhaps a pent-up frustration about making sure that you get to college this coming fall. People are submitting their applications very early. And it just looks like – we haven't actually said this – but perhaps there are fewer students who are going out-of-state? More students who are staying closer to home? Certainly California students like staying in California.

All that playing into the factor of more students coming in, and thus, potentially, fewer pulls off the waitlist. Is that correct?

Guillermo Vasquez: Right. And that's how any campus will operate, or any waitlist will operate – off of just how many students are enrolling, and how many students we need on campus. The more students submit their intent to register and fully enroll on our campus, the less that we can go to the waitlist. So if anybody's on the waitlist, or experiencing that on the waitlist, that's most likely why. Regardless of campus. I could probably say that's just the nature of waitlists: if we have room, we're able to admit you; unfortunately, we don't have room. We cannot admit you, unfortunately.

Elton Lin: Got it.

So I want to get into – and it’s kind of interesting, because I think we had this conversation last year – I wanted to go through all the basic processes with regards to how applications get reviewed. But I think we're kind of skipping over that and getting into the nitty-gritty. And I also want to get to the questions sooner this time than we did last year.

But I want to maybe come back to two things. Number one is: with no SAT or ACT… prior to last year, AP scores were included on the application, but by and large AP scores weren't necessarily considered in the review rubric. But this past year, with Collegeboard getting rid of SAT subject tests, there seems to be this sway towards taking a more defined look at AP scores. How do AP scores factor in the review for the UC system?

Guillermo Vasquez: Good question. So when it comes to AP scores, for our university of course it's one of the factors that we look at. And I would say, honestly, with regards to APs, one of the things that is more of a factor is less so the AP test and more so taking an AP class and doing well in it.

I think that – number one – that shows students taking courses that are more rigorous. If they're able to succeed in them, it helps a lot, because it shows that they're taking almost college-level courses, or college-level coursework, and being able to be successful in it, which is something that's really indicative of the student's academic prowess.

The other thing is that, of course, AP classes can raise your GPA, because they have that nature of being able to bump your grades through the weighted function. So that can be very beneficial as well.

AP tests, of course – they count and they matter, and they are one of the points that we look at. They do play a factor. Essentially, being able to take and pass an AP test definitely counts. But I would say most – as far as if I were an applicant – most of my effort would be making sure that I do well in the class. That means I get a bump in my GPA – and if I get an A, that gets bumped up, and that can maybe help me out with rounding out other grades. And then it also shows college readiness, because it's a higher level course.

AP tests are also great because – if you know that you're going to college, and you're going to be admitted somewhere – that's going to be really helpful as far as giving you college credit, and giving you a leg up. You can maybe graduate earlier. Maybe have some requirements that you don't have to take during your time in college.

But as far as the admissions process goes… AP tests, of course, they're one of the factors that we look at. Honestly what I would suggest to students is just make sure that, when you're taking that AP class, you're doing your best and you're getting the best grades out of it, because that's going to be a big help as well.

Elton Lin: So what you're implying, which I think a lot of people in the audience probably understand, is that performance in difficult coursework – “academic rigor” is probably the proper term for it – but the student’s ability to just excel in AP-level, or perhaps honors-level courses, and really show that they're ready to tackle a college-level workload, is still the most important – aside from whatever particular score you might get on an AP test. So in the end it's really about the AP class. 

Guillermo Vasquez: Right. I mean, that’s the main thing. If you want to do well on the AP test, you probably have to do well in the AP class to begin with. So my suggestion to students is always to make sure that you can show that academic rigor, and that you don't just put that off and only study for the AP test.

Because, at the end of the day, if you get a C in an AP class, yeah, that might be bumped up, but you might have hurt your GPA a little bit more than making sure that your GPA is sound, and you know the material. And then when you go to the AP test, that will show, and you'll do well. And then that will – on top of that –help you out as well.

Elton Lin: This is interesting. I'm kind of glad we went in this direction, because there are certainly students of ours… We work with a smaller percentage of students who come on to work with us when they're seniors, but there are a lot of students who self-study for APs and have not taken the AP class. How do you look at that? There's a group of students who've taken the AP class and did really well. There are students who've just self-studied for the AP test. How do you compare those two students?

Guillermo Vasquez: That's a good question. And for those students who self-study, that can still be really good as well. More of the example that I was making was for students who are taking the class and are having that ordeal of, “Do I want to study for the test and not do so like great in the class, or do I want to do great in the class?”

But for students who self-study, those are things that we love to hear about as well. And students can certainly tell us about that in the UC application – in their activities, awards, and honors section where they have twenty different slots to tell us about different things. If you self-study for an AP exam, you can tell us about it. You can tell us about that process and a motivation for it, and of course what you got out of it.

And that helps a lot, because that's another thing that shows your academic prowess. It shows that you're very much dedicated to your academics. And then, if you get a great score, that even more is able to back that up. Because when it comes to seeing how well students do as far as their academics, or seeing students’ passion in academics, and the rigor that they take on in academics… of course it's shown mostly in grades, typically, and then their GPA, but it can also be shown in the things that you do outside of that.

I would equate that to taking on a research project, or maybe joining an organization and then doing a lot of studying and robotics or something like that. All of these things can add up in a variety of ways. The main important thing that I always tell students is that you tell us about these things in the application, because if you just tell us, “Yeah, I self-studied and I took the AP test; this is what score I got,” that doesn't tell us a lot. Especially if all you're doing is reporting the score and that's it. If it's a test that you studied for yourself, and you worked really hard at it, tell us about it. We want to know!

You can write a personal insight question response about it if it's that important. It's all about telling us about these different things so that we can know more about you, and that these things matter to you. And then it'll show. But, of course, it's just important for students to tell us about it in the first place.

Elton Lin: Got it. I want to make sure we create enough time for Q&A, because I could probably dig into that topic for another thirty minutes! But maybe last question: there is a public timeline for when the UC wants to produce their own standardized exam, but if you don't mind giving us some input or insight on how that's going? And is that really going to happen, where the UC is going to put out their own tests? Perhaps dominate the standardized test landscape, if you will – it seems like quite an interesting power move. What are some updates we need to hear about that?

Guillermo Vasquez: Sure. So just for anybody who doesn't know, the background is that a UC's plan was two years of test-optional, two years of test-free. Last year would have been the first year of test-optional – but we've been test-free, of course. because of the COVID situation. And then this year coming up for 2022, we are also going to be test-free. So we're essentially test free till 2024.

The idea that UC had was that we were looking to replace the SAT and ACT requirement with our own tests of our own making. To be honest, I have no idea what's going on with that. That's all at the UC office of the president – they make those decisions, and they are the ones who are making those kinds of moves. We don't really know. It might be that they made progress. It might be that they haven’t. I have no idea, to be honest – and I'm pretty sure that most people who are working on UC campuses don't know either.

It's just because so much has been in flux. There have been so many different things that have been going on – especially surrounding the SAT and ACT, aside from just the decision that we made. So I'm not entirely sure what that will look like. All I will say is if you're looking to apply to the UC system, just keep an ear to the ground. Follow the UC office of the president on Instagram or Twitter or Facebook and wait for an update to see what they say. Because, honestly, we don't know. Sorry.

Elton Lin: Thanks, Guillermo. That's a fair response.

Guillermo Vasquez: Yeah.

Elton Lin: I get it. We'll see when we see it.

Okay, why don't I bring Anthony back on to join us? There are a good number of questions, and we're gonna make our way through them, right, Anthony?

Anthony Su: Yeah, we'll try to cycle through them. I'm going to go back and tackle GPA first. There are a lot of questions around that. And then go back to the thirteen points as well.

I think one point of clarification for GPA: a lot of families are asking, “How does freshman year factor into this? How does senior year factor into this? Community college courses? Dual enrollment?” Can you clarify a little bit of that, Guillermo?

Guillermo Vasquez: Sure. I'll give you the spiel.

So when it comes to GPA, for those of you who don't know, the way that UC calculates GPA is, of course, a little bit different. The way that we calculate it is that we only use what we consider A through G courses to be a part of the calculation.

A through G courses are a core set of courses. Most likely, if you're a student in high school, you're taking them – no worries there. The only thing is that we only use the A through G courses that you took during your 10th and 11th grade years of high school – as well as the summer schools in between, so if you did summer school after 9th, 10th, or 11th grade, it also gets used if you took an A through G course during that period.

So honestly, if you think about it, it's just the middle section of high school, except freshman and senior year grades. Those grades, of course, we still ask you to report, and we will still look at them; however, they don't get used in the calculation of the GPA. We do look at those to make sure that you're taking A through G courses, and to make sure that we're seeing what types of courses.

Again, we're looking at the rigor of courses that students are taking. So if you're already taking AP courses your freshman year, we want to see that, and we want to be able to know that. Same with senior year. We also, again, want to make sure that you're still being competitive with the course load that you're taking your senior year. I know a lot of seniors like to take their senior year as, “This year I’m taking a bunch of classes off,” or free periods. But we still want to see you challenging yourself. So we still look at those.

Now with regards to AP/IB, and transferable college coursework – and, for students in the state of California, UC-approved honors courses – it does bump up your GPA. Up to eight semesters worth. So there is a maximum… it doesn't just go up until infinity if you take all of the AP tests or all of the AP classes!

So that's how that gets calculated and used, and how we look at freshman and senior year grades, in a nutshell.

Anthony Su: Right, awesome. Pretty comprehensive summary, Guillermo. Hopefully clarifying how those factors come in, but really looking at that middle section.

A lot more questions about the thirteen points. I think this is also from you mentioning earlier, “Hey, I would love to hear about research projects as well.” I guess the family was thinking, how would you rank the thirteen points?

Guillermo Vasquez: Sure. First off, just so that everyone has it, in the chat I will post a UC admissions website where you can find the thirteen factors that we're talking about. One important thing to note is these thirteen factors we all use; however each UC campus will essentially dictate which ones they want to put more emphasis on: which ones they want to put more weight on and which ones they want to put less weight on.

So my answer here is that each campus is a little bit different. And, of course, this is all based on what faculty on that campus want to see out of the students that are going to be admitted to that campus.

I would say, generally, it comes down to a couple of different things. Number one is that you're doing well academically. Number two: that you're taking advantage of experiences or opportunities that are given to you, academic or not. And then, on top of that, just giving us context about your specific situation, living situation, experience, etc.

I can't go into specifics about what specific factors we use more or not.

Elton Lin: You can’t go into that?

Guillermo Vasquez: That's how the bread gets made, which we don't go over!

But, honestly, it just boils down to the same thing. And honestly, if I could tell you specifically, down to the nitty-gritty, what it is that we look at, it doesn't really matter. It really does boil down to really simple things. Doing well academically. Challenging yourself academically within what is available to you. Of course, taking advantage of experiences and opportunities that are available to you.

And then telling us about it on the application. That is the number one thing that students forget about – telling us about these things in the application. If you don't give us the context, or give us the specific information, we don't make assumptions. We don't make predictions. It has to be right on the piece of paper, and it has to be detailed for us to know exactly what that experience is.

It boils down to really simple things, to be honest.

Elton Lin: Just before Anthony goes on to the next question, because I think you've mentioned that a few times… and there is this sense of our students not communicating their context well. Are you sensing that there are things that are being missed in the storytelling? Give us a little bit more info on that.

Guillermo Vasquez: Yeah, of course. I'm more than happy to. That's one of the focuses that we want this year for our office – to make sure that students understand this clearly.

Context is the number one thing when it comes to the UC application. Again, we don't compare you to other students; we compare you to yourself. For example, let's say that you're a student who maybe… I'll give you an example from my own life.

I grew up as a first generation student in a high school that was under-resourced. If I were to go into the application and not really talk about the limited amount of opportunities available to me – didn't really talk about how, for example, I had to do X, Y, or Z. Let's say my parents couldn't afford to pay for me to be part of a soccer league or something like that. So, instead, I just played on my own or did street soccer or something like that. And I didn't make that clear. Or if I go to a school where academic opportunities are limited – as far as the number of APs, or the number of opportunities for IB or honors courses – and I don't mention that… Some of that stuff we can know. If you're in a high school within the state of California, we can generally know, based on our own data, how many APs typically schools have in the state of California. But still…

A more clear example is a student that I was talking to and helping. This student came to the U.S. during middle school, from Mexico. Didn't have a lot of command of the English language at the time. Went through the admissions, and then went through the process of going to schooling here in the U.S., and was able to become very proficient – goes to a great private school. Just did really well academically. Now if they were just to be like, “Yeah, I came here in middle school, and at first I struggled a little bit in middle school, but I got over it and then I did great,” that's different than saying, “Yeah, I came here in middle school. I had very little or no command of the English language at that point. I had to do summer school. I did extra work on the side. I made sure throughout high school that I was working on this… etc.”

That gives us more context and more detail about that specific challenge. Maybe it limited the amount of classes that you were able to sign up for. Maybe it limited the opportunities that you had. Maybe you took up time from your day. Same with students who have to work and don't get to do clubs and organizations. If you don't tell us that, and we see that there's a limited amount of clubs and organizations that you are a part of, then I can't really do anything with that.

I'm going to be able to see that you didn't sign up for a lot of clubs and organizations. You didn't do a lot of extracurricular activities. Maybe you did well academically, or on par, but you didn't have a lot outside of that. Now if you didn't tell me that you weren't able to do those things because of X, Y, or Z reason, I can't then adjust how I'm reading your application to be like, “That's why they did this. That's why they did that.”

That's the number one thing: you have to make things clear, even if it's something that's very simple. Some students like to talk about different challenges that they've had. If you don't give us specifics about how that was a challenge – how that made it challenging within your academics, extracurriculars, etc. – doesn't hold as much weight as if you were to explain that.

Elton Lin: So just using your example: that example of that student who immigrated and did not know English in junior high, but eventually went to a private school and did really well. If they didn't explain that context, all you would know is that they went to a private school, and you might actually misread that application assuming that they're perhaps from a more well-resourced family. You wouldn't actually know what their broader story was.

So if I hear what you're saying correctly, if they're coming from a high school in California, you do have an understanding of what classes they have access to. But outside of that you really have no understanding of the context?

Guillermo Vasquez: Exactly. And even within the same high school, every student is different. That's why we don't compare every student to each other. Like I said, some students might be more privileged, and might be able to do abroad trips. Might be able to do X, Y, Z opportunities. Might be able to go do research because their parents have connections. Might be able to intern at certain offices because their parents have connections. And that's fine, but other students might not – and if they don't give us that context, that hurts them.

And those students who are well connected, or have a better upbringing – that's fine. Just make sure that you're giving us the full context. There are no negative points in the application process, or anything like that. If you're more privileged or anything, we just want to know, and get to know you.

That is really what it boils down to: the application is basically an interview for us to get to know you. And the more information you provide us, the better we can get to know you and the better we can review your application. So make use of that additional info box. If you have the space, definitely.

However, I do want to add: no links at all in the additional information. We want to make a point of that – because when we review an application, we cannot leave the application. So no links. If you are a successful Youtuber or TikTokker, tell us about it; do not link it to us.

Anthony Su: I like my TikTok!

Elton Lin: Anthony is a successful TikTokker. But you're not gonna know because you can't go to his TikTok.

Anthony Su: Right. I'll just have to tell you what the screenplay of that TikTok looks like!

But, anyways, context is critical.

I think we also had a bunch of questions regarding out-of-state admissions. That's kind of a tangent that I want to touch here: whether that is evaluated differently compared to in-state. And I guess also, Guillermo, while you're mentioning context… What other additional information would you want to request for students who are applying from somewhere in New York or Pennsylvania – or I think we also had São Paulo, Brazil today – from all these places?

Guillermo Vasquez: To answer the second part first, because that'll be a lot quicker: first off, we evaluate students from out-of-state and in-state essentially the same. And with this I'm speaking within my experience as a UCSB freshman admissions counselor, not in the entire UC system. But even within the UC system, we don't really review students differently. We don't typically need anything extra from those students – other than tell us about your experience being a student in São Paulo or wherever it is that you might be listening to us from!

But the only real difference, especially for UCSB, is the GPA requirement. Instead of it being a 3.0, it will be a 3.4. Aside from that, the other thing to really just consider is to make sure that you're looking over the A through G requirements – that you're aware of what they are, and that you're actively trying to complete them. These are essentially baked into the California high school curriculum, so for California students it's not something that they typically need to worry about. But for students out-of-state sometimes it can be.

Mostly the art requirement, because there is a one-year art course requirement: visual or performing. And for students outside of the state of California, sometimes it's not a high school graduation requirement, and sometimes students don't know that this is a requirement for the UC system until they're already applied.

For students who are in that situation, if you can take a community college course, or an online course that is transferable, take it. That way you can satisfy that requirement. If you're an out-of-state student who didn't know about this, or completely unable to because of lack of resources or a lack of availability, all that we ask is you to tell us directly. Don't try to be like, “Oh, maybe they won't notice.” The system will notice. So, instead, tell us about it. Tell us about why you weren't able to complete that specific art requirement.

And if you weren't able to, and we think you're an awesome student in the UC system, we may be able to admit you based on exception. So keep that in mind. If you have the opportunity to take that requirement, complete it, but if not, tell us about it.

Now with regards to that idea that sometimes students think that out-of-state students have a better chance… honestly, when it comes to UCSB, it's the exact same chance. We don't get nearly enough applicants from out-of-state for it to really matter. With regards to out-of-state students, or with regards to the UC system, we do have an obligation to first and foremost serve California students as a public institution within the state of California. We don't make that private; it's very much public, as a public university. So, of course, we do have to maintain a certain amount of California students at our universities. And it is a very high percentage. About eighty-something percent. I can't remember off the top of my head. But most students are.

When it comes to UCSB we don't get nearly enough students from out-of-state, or international students, applying for it to really make a difference in the admissions process. So if you're an international student or an out-of-state student, if you apply to UCSB you're not going to be judged any differently than any other student.

Elton Lin: Perhaps even more important is the whole point about context.

Guillermo Vasquez: Exactly.

Elton Lin: Because if it's international, you really have no idea what's going on, right? You're just less familiar, right?

Guillermo Vasquez: I wouldn’t say no idea, because we're very familiar with students from all over the world. We visit and do college fairs all over the world. So I wouldn't say not familiar – but definitely, I will say, I won't be as familiar personally. So as far as me reading your personal insight questions, give us some context.

Anthony Su: And one quick clarification. I think you were saying a 3.4 GPA was a minimum for out-of-state. Is it like a hard measure – that if you're under that, you can't apply? Or is there any leniency there?

Guillermo Vasquez: It is a minimum eligibility requirement. And it is, like I said, a 3.4 UC-weighted. So it's based off of how we calculate the GPA.

Students are still able to apply if they are under that – because, again, we have the admit by exception. If it's really extraordinary circumstances, and we still think you're an amazing student in the UC system, you might still be admitted. However, that is a lot less likely. But it's not a hard stop where the application closes and you're not able to finish your application. You're still able to apply, of course, but it's something to keep in mind.

Anthony Su: Got it.

And then questions about majors. How does that come into consideration – when there are a lot of students vying for one major, compared to another major that may not be as popular. Is that an important context to have when looking at student applications?

Guillermo Vasquez: That's a really good question. I can only answer within the context of UC Santa Barbara, because every single UC campus is different. At UC Santa Barbara, the way that it works for our campus is that we have a college system where we have three different colleges.

Our largest college is our college of letters and science. It holds eighty of our ninety plus majors, and over 90% of our students. You'll find majors from the hard sciences like biology, chemistry, and physics all the way to the humanities, and everything in between. Those eighty-ish majors are not impacted. So if you apply to UCSB and select your major from that pool of college of letters and science majors, that will have zero effect on your admissions process. Whether you're applying into our most popular major, which is biology, or one of the majors that don't get as many applicants, that's not going to make a difference.

In that sense, in my eyes, that's a plus – because, if I'm a student who's maybe interested in one of these really popular majors, I don't have to worry about, “Maybe I should change my major, maybe I should pick something that nobody really wants to apply into…” These thoughts. For UCSB, you can just pick what you want and go with it.

Though a place where that is not the way that things work is for our college of engineering. Our college of engineering, admittedly, is the smallest college of engineering in the UC system. Our five majors are very much impacted. So, of course, it is a lot harder to get into a college of engineering major than a college of letters and science major.

So keep that in mind. Of course, when it comes to the application process, I still recommend you to apply into the major that you want. So if you're somebody who wants to go to UCSB and you're thinking of applying into engineering, pick it as your first choice major. However, as the alternate major, pick something in the college of letters and science that you're also interested in. That way, if you're not necessarily admitted into the college of engineering, we re-review your application for that alternate major in the college of letters and science – and it essentially gives you a second shot at getting in.

Does that make sense?

Anthony Su: Let me double check. College of engineering: definitely that is going to be a consideration. College of letters and science: major does not matter as much; it is not impacted at all.

Guillermo Vasquez: Yeah.

Anthony Su: Okay. Perfect.

Elton Lin: And I think you’re qualifying that statement with regards to UCSB, because I think, recently, there are other UC campuses that have made different decisions with regards to specific majors. Like the UC Irvine director of admission said in that L.A. Times article that certain majors even within the college of arts and sciences perhaps might be weighted a little bit differently. But you're speaking specifically about UCSB.

Guillermo Vasquez: Completely, 100% only about UCSB. And that's just because other than UCs have different college systems. Some of them don't even have a college system; they have a completely different system.

Talk to every single UC campus that you're looking into or thinking of applying to, because they will tell you exactly what their college is like. We're all different. We're all very similar, but also very different at the same time.

Anthony Su: Go email those admissions officers! Maybe we need to do more webinars.

Elton Lin: All right, let’s do them!

Anthony Su: Let's see – other questions… Regarding things like COSMOS or research programs at UCSB, I think people wonder: is that an important factor in admissions? Is that important to emphasize on your extracurricular resume?

Guillermo Vasquez: If you've done anything at a UC campus, definitely tell us about it – and tell us about it in detail. It doesn't have to be the main thing that you tell us about. You don't have to write a whole PIQ about it. Unless you want to, and it was that important to you – then definitely. But definitely tell us about it, especially if you're having experiences where you're having these great experiences on a UC campus, and you're already familiar with the campus in that sense. It's always good for us to know, because it definitely can make an impact – as far as you challenging yourself and taking advantage of academic opportunities, or just extracurricular activities in general. And then they're specifically on our campuses – which shows that you're very much getting used to, or are interacting with, the level of academic challenge that comes with the UC system. You're familiarizing yourself with this, which is really good.

The one thing that I will say when you're talking about these, however, is the number one thing that we do tell students to not do – and that is to name a specific UC by name, as far as saying that that's where you want to go. If you did a program at UC Davis, San Diego… tell me, “I went to UC San Diego, and I did X, Y, Z, and it was great.” However, the one thing that every UC will tell you is: don't say, “I went to UC blank and that's where I want to go,” or, “I want to go to UC blank.” Because if you apply to more than one UC, we're all going to see it. It doesn't look that great. Not that it'll take points away from you because in the UC application, nothing takes points away from you. But just keep that in mind that, if there is a particular UC campus that you're more looking forward to than the others, don't make that clear to us!

Anthony Su: There are also questions regarding limited extracurriculars and online school. Is it possible that, because of a lot of students going through online school, you'll see extracurriculars play a lesser part in admissions? Or how would you get that additional information, besides people writing in their additional information section? How else would admissions readers go into that?

Guillermo Vasquez: The number one thing is just to tell us about it. That can be one of the personal insight questions. If you're very passionate about a subject, you can tell us about it in the personal insight question. Otherwise the additional comment section is the perfect place to do so.

And, like I said, context is important. We don't judge students against other students. So if you were somebody who was able to, even during these times, do a lot of extracurriculars – maybe you did a lot of online stuff – tell us about it. We want to hear about it. But if you're somebody who was limited because of the fact that everything was virtual, and you weren't able to do your normal things – maybe you were an athlete who would typically travel up and down the state to compete – tell us about that too. We want to learn about the things that you were able to do and the things that you weren't able to do – both are equally important. The additional comments section is the perfect place to do it. Or a personal insight question, if you're that passionate about it.

Anthony Su: Awesome. Let's see… only got a little bit of time left and – I apologize – there are still like thirty questions to look at. Unfortunately we can't get to everything today.

Elton Lin: I think one question that is unique to UCSB is the college of creative studies, which is very unique to UCSB. Anthony, I don't wanna co-opt, but…

Anthony Su: Go for it.

Elton Lin: Yeah, what makes an ideal applicant for college of creative studies? And perhaps you might want to share a little bit about the college, and why it's unique to UCSB as well?

Guillermo Vasquez: Sure thing. The college of creative studies is our third college that we offer at UCSB – it is number three of three. Essentially, the college of creative studies is really special because it offers a very different educational experience. For students within that college we offer eight different majors, which include things like biology, chemistry, physics, art, music, writing, etc. Just to name most of them I guess!

However, students who go into these majors aren't specifically studying biology in general or music in general. This college is designed for students who are very passionate and dedicated within a specific area of study, or a specific topic within these majors. For example, a student within the music program might be specifically passionate about producing or composing jazz music, or a student in the biology program might be specifically passionate about studying certain types of cells or bioluminescent fish, or whatever it may be that they're really passionate about.

And what this program allows students to do is it gives them a faculty mentor – that's one professor that will be there for you during your time at UCSB – that will help you pick specific classes that will help you learn more about the specific topic that you're really interested in. That way you're not going through the typical major process that you would at any other university where, for a major, you would go through a list of courses for that major, just checking them off the list. These classes that you're taking are more targeted and more specific to make sure that you're getting the knowledge you need.

Because, at the end of the day, these students are not just required to complete their courses with an appropriate set of grades. They're also required to either create something brand new, or publish new research and new findings within the things that they're studying. So it's almost like a master's or a doctorate program in that sense – which is really great for these types of students who are already working really hard. Maybe they're doing research already in a field, or are already passionate and creating brand new things with their art or music or writing. It gives these students a new educational freedom.

Now as far as what we're looking for, we're looking for students with experiences in these fields. And, of course, students who are going to be ready to put in the work to make sure that they can reach that end goal. I got to tell you, I was an undergraduate student at UCSB, and there's no way that I would have wanted to do research in any field and publish something brand new! And that's fine. That's most students. However, we do offer this very unique opportunity for any of you students who might be already doing research, or already in contact with professors. Maybe you're already creating in your field, as far as your writing, your art or your music. And, essentially, we're looking for you to tell us about it.

So you'll fill out the UC application. The only other part of it is that there is a supplemental application. We'll ask more information about your involvement in that field, and what you do – just getting more familiar with your work. And that's pretty much it. That supplemental application gets emailed to you once you submit your UC application, so it's not anything that you have to be super on top of, as far as you having to seek the application out. It will be sent to you – so just keep an eye out for it. But it really is this very special type of college within the UC system – very unique, I would say as well.

Anthony Su: Elton, thanks for catching that.

The last question for today: what would you recommend for a freshman who isn't sure what they want to do yet – just starting high school, thinking about college in the far future? Any words of advice for that student, or students in general, going through and thinking about these upcoming few years?

Guillermo Vasquez: Sure thing. First and foremost, don't sweat it too much. You're a freshman – number one. Freshman year is all about just making sure you're making the transition to high school all right. If you're a freshman right now, you're probably at the tail end of your freshman year, so hopefully you've adjusted well enough, and you're getting used to what, academically, high school is like.

From there, honestly, what I would say is continue to challenge yourself, but make sure that you're not biting off more than you can chew. I had that personal experience where I decided to take AP calculus AB my sophomore year of high school, because I thought that I could, just because my friends were doing it. And I didn't do so well my first time around! So challenge yourself within the realm of your abilities – because that can end up hurting your GPA, especially as you go into your sophomore and junior year. So keep that in mind. Challenge yourself, but maintain and protect that GPA. But still challenge yourself.

Other than that, just take advantage of the opportunities that are available to you. If you have opportunities available to you – and you think that you'll enjoy them, or maybe they'll challenge you or teach you something new, or help you as far as your development and your growth – do it. If it's something that isn't, don't do it. Pretty straightforward in that sense. I would just say just don't be afraid to be involved. Don't be afraid to put yourself out there.

High school's hard – I know. It's a difficult set of years. Just make sure that you're making the most of it for yourself, and that you're challenging yourself academically in the classroom. That's really, as a freshman, all you really have to think about!

From there just start to look at different colleges. See what you like, what you don't like. You don't have to worry about major, to be honest. I didn't know until my senior year, and even then I changed majors twice while I was at UCSB. So it's not something that has to be in your head: “I want to study this.” Especially because if you end up being somebody who wants to be a biology major, it's not like we're going to require you to do a bunch of biology-related things as part of your extracurriculars in order to make you a good candidate for that major!

So take advantage of the opportunities that are available to you. Make sure you're doing well in the classroom. And continue to challenge yourself.

Anthony Su: Great. And, again, apologies that we can't make everyone's questions. But hopefully, Guillermo, if you're fine with it, I can send your email if people have continued questions. I'll send a follow-up email to everyone who's registered so they have your information – if that's okay.

Guillermo Vasquez: Yeah, I'll give you an email address to send it to, rather than my specific email.

Anthony Su: Okay, sounds good.

Elton Lin: We'll send it to your personal email, and your phone!

Anthony Su: Make sure he gets it!

Elton Lin: Hey, Guillermo, thank you so much, again, for joining us. Thank you so much for everybody who joined us from all over the world, and all over the United States. Really appreciate all your questions, and your participation.

Just an FYI: we'll be bringing on Boston University, and Santa Clara coming up. Who else is coming up? Anybody else coming up, Anthony? Maybe Northeastern?

Anthony Su: Just those two for now.

Elton Lin: All right, we're working on it. So not to co-opt Guillermo's time here, but we're bringing out some other people and we would love to have you join back in with us.

Thanks so much, Guillermo. Really appreciate your time. And enjoy your summer!

Guillermo Vasquez: Yeah, thank you for having me. Thank you everybody.

Anthony Su: Thanks Guillermo.

Elton Lin: All right, take care.