Book excerpt: This year UCLA denied admission to more applicants than applied to Harvard, Princeton, and Yale combined. As impressive as your own achievements may be, you are being evaluated relative to tens of thousands of other applicants, not just from California, but some of the highest achieving students both nationally and internationally. Therefore it is important that you maximize your own qualifications. It is very likely that there will be literally thousands of students with academic achievements similar to your own. By understanding the criteria the Universities of California use to evaluate applicants you will be in a better position to increase your chances of being accepted. You don't have to be the most outstanding candidate in all of the evaluation criteria, but you will need to demonstrate why you should be chosen for admission to a UC despite the fact that you are not at the top of all their categories. This book leads you through the process of applying to the UCs, from explaining the broad range of selectivity to choosing which campuses to apply to; it systematically covers all the factors that weigh into the UCs? admissions decisions used in their selection process. Numerous tables and charts uncover the often hidden statistics of who gets admitted and who doesn't. Being armed with this information along with the author's many insights will assure any applicant that all their bases are covered.' ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT? TEST RESULTS? PERSONAL STATEMENT? SPECIAL TALENTS? OTHER FACTORS WITHIN YOUR CONTROL