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Comment by animal_spirits | Hacker News Reader

Why does UCSB admit so many students it obviously can't support? That seems to be a big issue. I saw it happen when I was at Purdue too. They started putting bunkbeds in the _public_ dorm lobby because they couldn't support all the students they admitted. Its ridiculous that universities are doing this to their students.

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I think part of it could be the 9% guarantee[1] which mandates that the top 9% of California high school students be offered a place at at least one UC.

[1]: https://admission.universityofcalifornia.edu/admission-requi...

If that was the problem then the UCs could just cut down their international student admissions to compensate. No, the problem is that the UC system as an organization is fundamentally broken, corrupt to the bone, and has all but lost sight of their intended purpose of creating and proliferating knowledge.

This is a strong claim, without any evidence to back it up. There may be some truth here, but against most metrics, UCs are among the top research institutions in the world with amazing contributions to science, medicine, etc. etc.

Could you explain where you're coming from?

I thought the poster was quite clear. If the UC system can't support the top 9% of their high school population in-state, and exacerbate the problem with overadmissions, then it seems clear there is a systemic failure somewhere that someone doesn't want to admit.

I'd say follow the money.

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