This is what equity looks like. Almost half UC students are the first generation college students. Then they look for poor kids with Pell grants to give social mobility. They did away with SAT and ACT test scores, so kids are chosen on GPA only. So many schools inflate grades. Then add racial diversity. There aren’t many spots for white upper middle class students. They voted for this. They didn’t think it would effect their kids.
Grades are probably harder to get at a good private school. The students from Brentwood can probably still get into good private and out of state public colleges, but not UCs.
Precisely the same thing is happening all across the country right now. White kids are getting into “elite” colleges at a fraction of the rates that existed for decades. And those who do get in are overwhelmingly for athletics. Pushback over affirmative action led to the dropping of objective criteria (SAT / ACT scores) so now the schools are free to admit anyone they choose. And this is the result.