UC Merced and UC Riverside See Application Surges
Move over, LA and Berkeley! The past year there was a noticeable shift in campus interest within the University of California landscape, with UC Merced and UC Riverside experiencing impressive surges in freshman applications. Merced saw a remarkable 50 percent leap, and Riverside having a nothing-to-sneeze-at 22 percent increase.
Known for historically receiving fewer applications compared to other UCs, both Merced and Riverside implemented new incentives to increase their number of applicants. Merced admissions officers, for example, waived the $80 application fee for students who wanted to submit a late application to the school. Meanwhile Riverside extended their application deadline for students who had applied to other UC campuses but hadn’t yet considered Riverside.
These and other strategic moves over the years appear to be paying off. Since 2019, Merced and Riverside have seen 89 and 43 percent climbs in their application numbers, respectively. Despite these gains, both campuses still have a smaller total number of applicants in comparison to top UC campuses like UCLA and UCB. Regardless, the growing interest in Merced and Riverside signals an exciting shift where increased demand could pave the way for more competitive admissions there in the years to come.