March 4, 2002 Outreach efforts pay off in UC applications By Jennifer McNulty Outreach coordinators at UCSC's Educational Partnership Center are walking a little taller these days on the news that their work with local high school students paid off. In fact, the region in the state with the largest increase in applications to a UC campus last fall was the Monterey/San Benito/Santa Cruz County region, according to new figures from the UC Office of the President. With a 12.5 percent bump in applications, the tricounty area was ahead of San Diego/Imperial Counties and Riverside/San Bernadino Counties, which saw increases of 11.2 percent and 9.8 percent, respectively. Overall, UCSC applications from prospective freshmen and transfer students jumped 5.9 percent for fall 2002 admission, compared with applications for fall 2001. But the EPC is most proud of its success with "students in our own back yard applying to UC campuses across the state," said EPC director Carrol Moran. "This year, we made a special push at our partnership in the tricounty area," said Moran. The EPC's "senior strategy" began with a painstaking analysis of thousands of transcripts, which yielded the names of 451 high school seniors who were potentially eligible to apply to UC Santa Cruz. "These students had taken all of the required courses and had GPAs higher than 2.75, but they needed to take the appropriate tests, write their personal statements, and submit their UC application by November 30," explained Moran, whose outreach staff conducted two phone-a-thons, 15 workshops, and 418 individual counseling sessions to contact each of the students. By the end of November, the extra effort had produced 396 test-takers, 292 UC applicants, 261 applicants to California State University campuses, and 72 private college applicants. "It's gratifying to see the efforts result in more students applying to college," said Moran. Return to Front Page