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Facts, figures about fall’s new faces

With Welcome Week under way, we take a closer look at freshmen, transfer students

Steve Zylius / University Communications

UCI recaptured the Guinness world record for largest dodgeball game Tuesday with 6,084 participants. It's the third time the university has held the title; annual attempts to reclaim it have become a Welcome Week tradition.

UC Irvine is welcoming new students with a week’s worth of fun events and activities, including a midnight “back to school” shopping trip to Target, a chance to break the dodgeball world record, an evening concert in Aldrich Park and a rally in support of the men’s soccer team. The festivities will give students a chance to make friends and explore the campus before the rigors of the academic quarter kick in.

It’s an impressive cohort of newcomers: There were a record 70,000-plus applicants to UCI for fall 2012. From this group, 5,175 freshmen and 1,810 transfer students were admitted. They come from all 50 states and 83 countries. Here, courtesy of the Office of Admissions & Relations with Schools, are a few facts and figures about them:

• 86 percent of freshmen are California residents.
• 14 percent are from out of state and around the globe, demonstrating a growing international interest in UCI as a campus of first choice. Times Higher Education’s recent ranking of UCI as fourth worldwide among universities less than 50 years old is further evidence of our global appeal.
• 91 percent of incoming transfer students are California residents.
• The average freshman GPA is 3.89, compared with 3.87 last year.
• Freshmen show strong interest in newer academic programs, including business administration, computer game science, public health and biology/education.
• 32 percent of in-state freshmen are from underrepresented minority groups: 3.6 percent are African American, compared with 2.9 percent last year; and 22.8 percent are Chicano, compared with 20.4 percent last year.
• 41 percent of freshmen are from low-income backgrounds, a testament to the University of California’s commitment to accessibility – as demonstrated by aid programs such as the Blue & Gold Opportunity Plan – and the availability of federal and state aid programs.
• 53 percent of freshmen are the first in their family to pursue a four-year degree.

• The average GPA of incoming transfer students is 3.43, compared with 3.40 last year.
• Transfer students show strong interest in newer academic programs, including business administration, public health and pharmaceutical sciences.
• 23.6 percent of transfer students are from underrepresented minority groups.
• 55 percent of transfer students are the first in their family to pursue a four-year degree.

— Laura Rico, University Communications