UCI is readmitting 290 students whose offers were withdrawn for not meeting submission deadlines

The others will be judged on a case by case basis

With just two months before the start of the new academic year, hundreds of prospective anteaters suddenly found their offers withdrawn, seemingly with no explanation.

As rumors began to swirl on social media of 800 students being rescinded from UCI, the university began to scramble for answers. The official number of nearly 500 withdrawn offers was met with anger and resentment from the new class of 2021.

Luckily after much protest and petition for the school to answer for the high amount of rescinded students, 290 students are being reinstated. An email from Chancellor Howard Gillman was sent out on Wednesday with a statement attempting to reassure the Irvine community.

He emphasized that any students who met the academic standards and received a provisional offer would be accepted. The academic standards are:

No Ds or Fs their senior year; a senior-year grade point average of at least 3.0.

In the statement, he added that even for students failing to meet those requirements they would be reviewed on a case-by-case basis.

He said: “The stories of our students whose college dreams were crushed by our decision to withdraw admissions to hundreds of students are heartbreaking. And unacceptable.

“This process is not working. We are a university recognized for advancing the American Dream, not impeding it. This situation is rocking us to our core because it is fundamentally misaligned with our values.

“I must step in and change our direction. Effective immediately, all students who received provisional acceptances into UCI will be fully admitted, except those whose transcripts clearly indicate that they did not meet our academic standards. Those standards are: No Ds or Fs their senior year; a senior-year grade point average of at least 3.0; completion of all A-G requirements outlined by the University of California; and required test scores as indicated on the students’ admission portals.

“Even for students whose transcripts show that these requirements were not met, we will establish an expedited process to allow students to make the case for extenuating circumstances, and otherwise will work with students to identify other possible pathways into the university.

“We’re trying to understand how we under-estimated the number of students who planned to enroll this fall. We’re also trying to understand why we chose to notify students in an insensitive way or couldn’t answer their telephone calls adequately. I intend to find out so this will never happen again. I directed our internal auditor to review the admissions process and suggest areas for improvement. I plan to have a preliminary report within 60 days.

“In closing, the students and their families have my personal, sincerest apology. We should not have treated you this way over a missed deadline.

“We will welcome all of our wonderful students who worked so hard to satisfy the requirements for UCI admission, and as we move forward we will do everything we can to earn the trust and loyalty of our community.”

 

Still, this high amount of number is still unclear to Chancellor Howard Gillman who stated that “the process is not working.” As a way to improve the admissions process, he has directed an internal auditor to review the admissions process and suggest areas for improvement.

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