Admissions Terms and Definitions

Apps
A count of all Applications submitted for consideration to UCLA. (Beginning in Fall 1986, applicants were allowed to file an application to more than one UC campus.)

Admits
A count of all applicants admitted to UCLA.

SIRs
A count of admitted applicants who have submitted a Statement of Intent to Register at UCLA.

Reg
A count of students who formally Registered and paid fees at UCLA as of the third week of classes.

New Freshman
The level of applicants in the Admissions System whose last institution attended was a high school. The number of new freshmen in the Admissions System may not be the same as the number of new freshmen in the Student Records System (SRS) because some students who matriculate at the freshman level have enough college units (acquired from Advanced Placement exam scores, college courses taken during high school, etc.) to take them beyond the freshman class level.

New Advanced Standing
The level of applicants whose last institution attended was a postsecondary institution. Applicants in this category are primarily junior level transfers.

Recentered SAT Scores
In April 1995, The College Board realigned the score scales for all tests in the SAT Program so that the average score for both the Verbal and Math scale would be 500 (the midpoint of the 200–800 scale). Over the years average SAT scores had drifted downward on the original scale from 500, in 1941, to 424 in Verbal and 478 in Math as of 1993. The primary reason for this drift was the dramatic expansion in the number of test takers (from 10,000 to over 1 million). Thus, the actual average scores were below the “intuitive average” of 500. In addition, the SAT I Verbal and Math score scales were no longer aligned—an average math score (478 in 1993) was “higher” than an average verbal score (424 in 1993)—when in reality each corresponded roughly to the 50th percentile (the exact percentile varies with the cohort of test takers from year to year).

Note on Grade Point Average (GPA)
Many entering GPA’s for freshmen applicants are greater than 4.0 because A, B, and C grades earned in UC-recognized Honors, Advanced Placement (AP), International Baccalaureate (IB) and college courses receive an extra grade point (A-5, B-4, C-3). These courses are alotted this extra point because they are designed to challenge students beyond the scope of the regular high school curriculum.

SAT/GPA Averages
In addition to GPA and SAT/ACT scores UCLA Undergraduate Admissions looks at several other factors to determine admission decisions, including:

• Quality, quantity and level of coursework throughout the entire high school career, including courses in progress/planned for the senior year
• Number of and performance in UC-recognized Honors, AP, IB, and college courses
• Participation in activities which develop academic or intellectual abilities
• Literacy in a language other than English, as demonstrated in an academically-oriented area
• Honors and/or awards on recognition of academic, intellectual or creative achievement
• Self knowledge of the applicant, as reflected in the Personal Statement.

Looking only at the average SAT and GPA for any given freshman class does not present a complete picture of an individual applicant’s qualification for admission to UCLA.