The Big Surprises | Pepperdine and Santa Cruz

For the last few years, Pepperdine had waitlisted competitive students; perhaps in an attempt to make it more difficult to get into and, by extension (I suppose), somewhat more prestigious. (Of course, a lower acceptance rate is not sufficient for a school to be characterized as prestigious.)

Students that were accepted to NYU, UT Austin, and top-tier UCs were waitlisted or just flat out rejected last year. This year, it seems as though Pepperdine has had a change of heart-- more of my students have been accepted this year than last, many of whom fit the profile of my students who were waitlisted or even rejected.

On the other hand, Santa Cruz, a great school but a safety school for the 1900-ers and 3.8-ers, is quite selective this year, waitlisting and rejecting competitive candidates. Is this because they feel as though these candidates would opt to attend the UCIs or UCDs and want to save room for the 1600-ers and 3.5-ers? Or is it because Santa Cruz is THAT impacted?

UCLA admissions decisions roll out this Friday, which will be interesting.

Perplexed,

J