With admissions difficulty on the rise, many Cathedral Catholic High School students are reticent to apply to University of California schools.

“I didn’t even bother applying to any UCs because of how hard they are to get into,” Alexa Vadnais ‘16 said.

Through the years, UC admissions selectivity has skyrocketed. There are many causes linked to this recent reality, but not many solutions have been proposed.

“Over the past decade we’ve had more students graduate high school than ever before,” Mr. Dave Silva, a Cathedral Catholic High School counsellor, said. “And as one of the most affordable options, there are also way more students applying to UC schools.”

Nearly all CCHS graduates apply to college, and a popular choice on many students’ college lists is the UC system. Only one application has to be filled out, which can be submitted to as many UC schools as desired. In addition, letters of recommendation are not required, resulting in one less step students must complete during the application process.

Besides the simple application process, another reason for the UC system’s popularity is its national reputation.

All UC institutions of higher learning, with the exception of UC Santa Cruz and UC Riverside, are ranked within the top 15 public colleges in the nation, according to the U.S. News and World Report. UC Berkeley, one of the most selective of all of the UCs, is ranked number one, beating every other public college in the U.S.

“So many students apply solely for a school’s name instead of judging where they would fit best,” CCHS Director of Counseling Mrs. Ashley Bascom said. “Most of the students we help are applying to more than 20 schools, rather than four or five as was tradition in previous years.”

Regardless of how many schools a student applies to, ultimately he or she can only attend one. The increasing amount of applications  schools receive only creates more inflation in the admissions process.

According to the University of California press report, a total of 206,000 students applied to UC schools last year, an amount that continues the UC system’s tradition of attracting record numbers of applicants, which has happened for 12 years in a row.

However, as the amount of applicants increase, the pool of those admitted has decreased.

The admission rates have shrunk at these schools, as shown in the same report. The average admission rate to all UC schools is a low 38 percent, which means only 78,280 applicants out of 206,000 applicants were accepted last year.

However, that percentage is much smaller when broken down by school. For example, UC Berkeley’s rate is a miniscule 16 percent.

Attempts to remedy the selectivity have been made recently, though this has not been extended to all UC institutions.

“Personally, my biggest complaint about the UC system is how unpredictable their admissions are,” Mr. Silva said. “A maximum 500 word essay on the application is not enough to get to know a potential student.

“But UC Berkeley in particular has started requesting letters of recommendation, which should counteract that.”

Currently, it is difficult to predict whether this trend will catch on at the other schools.

“Students definitely are feeling the pressure, especially those [students] with a less than stellar GPA or standardized testing score,” Mr. Silva said. “We need to be realistic, colleges are always going to be selective, but the UC’s admissions, though skewed, should not discourage students from applying as much as it recently seems to.”