April 20, 2004

UCSD Announces Freshmen Admissions
Data For Fall 2004, Winter 2005 Quarters

By Pat JaCoby

The University of California, San Diego has admitted 17,151 freshmen for the Fall 2004 and Winter 2005 quarters, down 416 students from the previous year. The drop of 2.4 percent at UCSD is in accord with the Governor’s budget directive that the University of California reduce freshmen enrollment by 3,200 students this year.

The admitted UCSD students were selected from a total 41,327 freshmen applications, with 16,376 admitted for the Fall quarter and 775 for the Winter, 2005 quarter. Scholastic achievements continued to rise as the group of admitted UCSD students attained a mean high school grade point average (GPA) of 4.05 and an average composite Scholastic Assessment Test (SAT I) score of 1300.

Of the 17, 151 freshmen, 6,951 were identified as Eligible in the Local Context, meaning that they are UC eligible students who were identified as the top four percent of their high school graduating class. The average GPA of these ELC students is 4.17 and their composite SAT I score is 1,290.

More than 1,800 of the newly admitted freshmen are from San Diego and Imperial Counties. The most popular majors chosen by this class, in order, are biology, bioengineering, chemistry, political science and economics. All UC campuses are continuing to see more women than men among the newly admitted classes, with UCSD recording 57.2 percent females compared to 42.5 percent males. Approximately 23.2 percent admitted to UCSD for 2004 represent the first in their family to attend college.

The decline in overall admissions translated into lower admissions for almost every demographic group. Data for the admission of underrepresented students in the Fall 2004 and Winter 2005 UCSD freshman class shows a 4.9 percent decrease in the number of underrepresented students, compared to the overall campus drop of 2.4 percent. A total 297 African-Americans, 1,606 Mexican Americans, 483 Latinos and 83 Native Americans were admitted in the 2004-2005 class.

Admitted freshmen have until May 1 to indicate whether they will attend UCSD.

Mae Brown, assistant vice chancellor for Admissions and Enrollment Services, noted that Fall 2004 marks the first time that the University of California has not been able to accommodate all eligible students for entrance as freshmen. Many students who could not be accommodated in the fall could take advantage of a new Guaranteed Transfer Option, she said. Under this program, as proposed by the Governor, students would be provided two years of free instruction at a community college followed by guaranteed admission to a UC campus.

Editor’s Note: The UCSD figures reflect the total admitted pool count as of April 14, 2004 and will differ from earlier data compiled by the UC Office of the President and included in the Office of the President’s April 20, 2004 news release on admissions. A complete set of tables is available online at http://www.ucop.edu/news/studstaff.html

Media Contact: Pat JaCoby, (858) 534-7404