Author Joy Bagnol-Estudillo Launches a Comprehensive Guide to Understanding UC Admissions Requirements and Improving Your Acceptance Rate

After becoming an accidental expert in all things University of California admissions, author Joy Bagnol-Estudillo recently released her tell-all roadmap to an acceptance letter, A Mom’s Guide Applying for Admission to University of California Campuses. With post-COVID information and updated statistics, this special edition is specifically tailored to Generation Z students and their parents.

A Mom’s Guide Applying for Admission to University of California Campuses is more than just a handbook on the application process. Instead, Bagnol-Estudillo dissects each stage and offers actionable insights to improve applicants’ chances of success. From the removal of the SAT/ACT scores to answering Personal Insight Questions (PIQs), this guide is designed to educate students about best practices and help them make informed decisions during a pivotal moment in their lives.

Bagnol-Estudillo’s methods may be insightfully unconventional, but they are not unproven. After all three of her children were accepted to University of California, Berkeley, she realized that there needed to be far more substance to a successful application than just GPA and test scores. In fact, Bagnol-Estudillo challenges many college-related myths, like the incorrect assumption that numbers matter over all else, and that she explains in detail “it’s a numbers game” in getting accepted. Additionally, she advises that what and how you say it in your application, using context are what “adds value” (admissions lingo talk) to your application.

With 2021 admission rates plummeting, the University of California system is becoming increasingly competitive. UCLA set a record for its all-time lowest acceptance rate at 10.7% of freshman applicants. Parents and Generation Z students who are considering a University of California school can tremendously increase their odds of success with this insightful, easy and quick-to-read breakdown of the application process.

A Mom’s Guide Applying for Admission to University of California Campuses is meticulously researched and updated for the modern Gen Z student. While other college guides offer generic advice or outdated personal essay prompts and recommendations, Bagnol-Estudillo has taken great care to include relevant advice like being a social media influencer on TikTok and Twitch is a very unique activity to list as your ECs. She offers suggestions that will appeal to Generation Z students who will be applying to colleges this fall. This is the only book on the market that specifically targeted Generation Z  (broadly defined as those born between 1997 and 2012).

As the University of California application period (November 1–30, 2021) approaches for the coming year, A Mom’s Guide Applying for Admission to University of California Campuses is an essential reference guide to any college planning session.

Joy Bagnol-Estudillo is a mother, and college counselor for students in the San Francisco Bay Area. After helping her three children navigate the complex University of California application process, she earned her Specialized Certificate in College Counseling from the UC San Diego Extension Program. Bagnol-Estudillo has been an outsourced University of California Freshman Comprehensive Review Reader for six years and has read over 6000 UC admissions applications.When she isn’t writing, she enjoys spending time with her husband, Ken, their three children—Caitlin, KJ, and Zach, and maltipoo Benita.

While in the middle of writing this book. Bagnol-Estudillo was diagnosed with breast cancer, underwent surgery, recovered and managed to finish the book. She will donate $1 proceeds of each book to www.pinkribbongirls.org who delivered meals to her and her family during this time. 

A Mom’s Guide Applying for Admission to University of California Campuses is available for purchase on Amazon Books and Kindle.