The letter had finally arrived. Months of worrying -- what seemed like an eternity -- were over.
It sat on the kitchen counter, already opened by an impatient mother. But neither the expression on her face nor the thin size of the envelope looked right.
"Dear Arman," the letter began. "I am delighted to offer you future admission to UCLA through our new Guaranteed Transfer Option."
Maybe it's a typo, Arman Matevosyan told himself. So the senior at Glendale's Herbert Hoover High School kept reading.
"By accepting this offer, you agree to start your college education this fall at a California community college and transfer to our campus when you reach junior standing."
Matevosyan was confused. Who said anything about a community college?
Then the 17-year-old remembered what his high school counselor told him a few weeks earlier.
Because of the state's budget crisis and a request from Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to reduce enrollment, the UC system is admitting 7% fewer students for the school year beginning this fall than it did last year.
As a result, nearly 7,600 have received similar offers to attend a community college, where they must complete required courses before transferring, though not necessarily to a UC campus to which they had applied.
This is the first time the UC system has turned away eligible students since statewide standards for the university were established four decades ago, said Hanan Eisenman, a spokesman for the UC system.
However, he said all California residents who met eligibility requirements but were not admitted were given alternatives, including winter or spring admission or the guaranteed transfer option from a community college.
Still, changes are tough for young people who wanted the extra academic prestige, the large student bodies from all over the nation, the big name sports teams and the more lively on-campus social lives that they feel UC schools offer compared with community colleges.
"It just completely knocked the pride out of me," Matevosyan said. "I did really well in school. It's kind of a blow to your pride that you're going to a school that pretty much anyone who graduates can go to."
High school counselors say students offered the guaranteed transfer alternative this year would have been accepted directly into a UC school any other year.
