Gonzales and Ontiveros 1

Camilla Gonzales and Isabella Ontiveros

Ms. Ramirez

Cobra Academy P3B

25 October 2022

University of California, Irvine

University of California, Irvine is located in the city of Irvine close to the cities Santa Fe

and Huntington Beach. This university has more than 200 buildings, is 1,500 acres and offers

more than 85 major programs and 70+ minor programs. The application fee is $70 for domestic

applicants or $80 for international applicants (UCI). Domestic applicants are citizens or lawful

permanent residents of the United States and international applicants are citizens or permanent

residents of a country to which they intend to return other than the United States. The tuition cost

to attend the university is $11, 928.00, no matter if you are a resident or a nonresident. As we

know, universities offer for students to live on campus called “dorms,” an alternative to living on

campus is living nearby. For UC Irvine the cost of living expenses, living at home is $7,100.00

and cost of living on campus is $17, 412.00 (UCI). As a student in university you could find

yourself wondering if UCI administrators have a range of financial assistance programs to help

students to pursue their education. And the answer for this is yes, all eligible students and their

parents can receive some type of aid, regardless of the family's income (UCI). It determines your

financial aid eligibility by evaluating the family's ability to pay (UCI). Following up with this

75% of UCI's enrolled students are offered some form of financial aid to get the help they need

so they are able to pursue their dreams (UCI).

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What is expected and required from students from their high school years to be able to

attend UCI? The unweighted GPA in high school, which is calculated by your overall average

grade out of 4.0 without regard to the difficulty of your work. And the weighted GPA in high

school is calculated after adding extra points for honors or advanced placement courses (UCI).

You must receive a 3.0 GPA, 3.4 for non-California residents or higher in the 15 required “A-G”

subject courses with no grade lower than a C (UCI). An “A-G” subject course is a high school

course that must be certified through the UCI course approval process. The exams that students

need to take prior to applying to UCI are called MCAT Tests are required for consideration of

your application to UCI SOM (UCI). But since COVID 19 pandemic, UC Irvine will accept, pass

or fail grades, without prejudice, for courses taken during the COVID-19 pandemic. In the event

of testing site closures due to COVID-19 it will reconsider testing deadlines as appropriate but

GRI is still required to enter a university (UCI). Before the pandemic some exams were ACT

Composite Score, score should be 4.00 - 4.25, ACT English Language Arts, score 24 -31,

Evidence Based Reading & Writing, score 25 - 31, SAT Mathematics, score 600 - 720 and SAT

Essay, score 650 - 790 (UCI). One last thing that is required is a personal statement, this is a

statement of purpose about your work, your personal statement is about you – and how you'll

contribute to the diversity of ideas. An undergraduate personal statement is a chance to get

noticed for the unique talents and experiences you have. It's an important part of the application

process as it's an opportunity to explore passions, outside of your grades.

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Some majors or academic programs that UCI offers are computer engineering, nursing

science, business economics, spanish and chemistry. Computer engineering deals with all aspects

of computer systems, including design, construction, and operation (UCI). Some computer

engineers specialize in areas like digital systems, operating systems, computer networks, and

software (UCI). Nursing science is the undergraduate curriculum designed to provide theory and

research-based clinical experiences that integrate critical thinking, compassion, and caring

behaviors that build clinical expertise (UCI). Students who successfully complete the B.S. degree

in Nursing Science are eligible to take the national licensing examination (NCLEX) to become a

registered nurse (UCI). Business economics is the business economics major is for students

seeking a business orientation in their study of economics. The major in Spanish provides

students with a strong foundation in literature, linguistics, visual culture, and educational

practices of Spanish-speaking communities across Europe, Latin America, and the United States

(UCI). Students advance their Spanish proficiency across listening, reading, speaking, and

writing modalities while acquiring critical thinking skills, sociopolitical awareness and

intercultural competencies that are valuable to a variety of professional and academic careers

(UCI). Chemistry majors are a plan for careers in the chemical sciences or biology, medicine,

earth sciences, secondary education, business, and law. The curriculum is designed to satisfy the

diverse needs of these students and others who may have occasion to study chemistry (UCI). In

addition to this, there is a wide variety of graduate and PhD programs. This includes a

“professional degree supplemental tuition” or PSDT which is a “state supported program used to

maintain and enhance the quality of the program” (UCI). The goal of PDST programs is to

promote an educated workforce in an increasingly competitive environment, and are designed for

students of all levels including part-time or full-time students (UCI). Another successful program
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is the Professional Science Master’s or PSM for short. This program is intended to provide

students with the opportunity to pursue advanced training in science or mathematics while

developing work skills that employers highly value. This program is great for students interested

in careers in business, government and science. (UCI) Finally, there are also online programs.

UCI's Division of Continuing Education and Division of Teaching Excellence and Innovation

provide extensive support to students who wish to pursue online and hybrid master's degrees at

UCI. These programs are ideal for international students who want to enroll and help with things

like covid precautions or retention rates. Retention rates measure the number of students who

enroll in a college or high school and successfully complete their studies through to graduation,

hence the convenient online programs. UCI’s retention rate is 94%. This also ties into graduation

and admission rates. Admission rates measure the percentage of applicants accepted (or

admitted) into a certain college or university in a given year and graduation (Tophat). An

institution's graduation rate is the percentage of students enrolled in the same cohort who

graduate in six years for four-year programs or three years for two-year programs. Upon

enrolling, this rate indicates how many students complete their degrees on time. UCI’s

graduation rate for 2020 to 2021 was 83.3% while their admission rate was 29.9% in 2020,

making UC Irvine a successful school.

UC Irvine also offers sport programs, some of the most popular sports would include

men’s baseball and basketball. In addition to playing in the NCAA Tournament nine times, the

men's baseball teams have also participated in the College World Series twice. Popular women’s

sports include water polo and golf. A total of seven "Big West Championships" have been won

by women's water polo and six NCAA appearances have been made by women's golf, while five
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Big West titles have been won and three NCAA appearances have been made by women's water

polo (Faulkner). When it comes to sports, UC Irvine needs a mascot to represent the pride they

have for their school and teams. “Peter the ant-eater”, a funny looking character created by

players on UC Irvine's first ever water polo team, Pat Glasgow and Bob Ernst who had been

inspired by an ant eater character in Johnny Hart’s comic “B.C” in 1969 (Wilson). Only 4 years

after the school was founded in 1965. Making UC Irvine one of the youngest member of the

Association of American Universities compared to other schools in the same association. Being

part of such a prestigious association, UC Irvine has actually been ranked among the nation's top

10 public universities by U.S. News & World Report (UCI). Throughout its time as a school

many traditions have been created and celebrated. Some popular traditions include the “Zot”

tradition, “Midnight magic” and “The rainbow festival”. Zot!- This tradition has to do with their

school mascot, Peter the Ant-eater. Coming back to Johnny Hart‘s B.C comic and his anteater

character who would famously make a “Zot” sound. UC Irvine students used this Zot chant to

cheer on their teams at games even before they had an official mascot, and continue to do so in

modern day. Another fun and sport-like tradition is the “Midnight Magic”. This takes place in

their Bren Events Center. Here they would celebrate the start of the womens and mens basketball

season by “player and coach introductions, scrimmages, a slam dunk contest and a three-point

shootout. Where Students and fans are treated to entertainment, food and prize giveaways.”

(UCI) It originated in the 70’s and is still celebrated to this day. Lastly is the “Rainbow festival”

which is basically a cultural fair open to students and the community and offers different

speakers and workshops. It was established in 1984 and was inspired by civil rights movements.

Students at UC Irvine have lots of school spirit and a love for nature as well. There are more than

24,000 trees planted on campus and money magazine has ranked UC Irvine as the top university
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for beach lovers. Funny enough “Ocean's Eleven” and “Planet of the Apes'' were filmed on

campus. On the topic of movies and filmmaking, David Benioff is one of the school’s famous

alumni that graduated in 1999 and is the “Game of Thrones” co-creator and showrunner. It's hard

to compete, but other notable alumni include class of ‘87s Michael Chabon, a Pulitzer

Prize-winning author and Darren Fells who graduated in 2008 and is a notable NFL player

(UCI).

In conclusion we believe that UC Irvine is a great school for students because of the wide

variety of majors to choose from and pursue and the community that has been built there. UCI is

one of the best schools in the country and is a diverse college that offers resources for students

with disabilities and provides the attention these students may need professionally. This is

important because everyone should be able to pursue an education. Overall this is a great school

academically because of all the opportunities offered but also because of the alumni. Many

traditions and different events outside of the exhausting studying and schooling, unite these

students, making UC Irvine a great college experience academically and outside of regular

schooling.
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Works cited

Answering questions for your UC personal statement. UC Essay Coach. (n.d.)., October

12, 2022

https://www.ucessaycoach.com/blog/answering-questions-for-your-uc-personal-stat

ement

Faulkner, Barry “UCI Athletics Reveling in Its Shine.” UCI News, 5 Aug. 2019, October

12 ,2022 https://news.uci.edu/2019/06/03/uci-athletics-reveling-in-its-shine/

“Graduation Rate Definition and Meaning.” Top Hat, 16 Sept. 2019, October 11, 2022

https://tophat.com/glossary/g/graduation-rate/

Home | UCI. (n.d.). October 11, 2022, https://uci.edu/

Majors & minors: Office of Undergraduate Admissions: UCI. UCI Office of

Undergraduate Admissions. (n.d.). October 13, 2022, from

https://www.admissions.uci.edu/study/majors-minors.php?type=Major

“Notable Alumni.” University of California, Irvine, October 11, 2022

https://uci.edu/university-facts/notable-alumni.php

The making of a mascot. (2015, November 19). UCI News. October 11, 2022,

https://news.uci.edu/2015/11/17/the-making-of-a-mascot/
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Types of Graduate Programs. (2022, October 20). UCI Graduate Division. October 11,

2022, https://grad.uci.edu/admissions/for-faculty-staff/a/types-of-graduate-programs/ /

“UCI Traditions Tutorial.” UCI News, 7 Apr. 2015, October 12, 2022

https://news.uci.edu/2008/10/01/uci-traditions-tutorial/