You are lucky, this story is about the University of California system which is highly liberal. All of the campuses use the same criteria, and the same goes for the alternate state run system there the California State University campuses.
Indoctrination not Education is the mantra and they want good little Bundists who worship at the Liberal Altar. If you want to get passing grades you do what you are told and you get through, if you try otherwise it is a real steep climb if not impossible.
We are not actually lucky. We are resourceful. We are Californians who found a relatively conservative public university that offers big scholarships to out of state students. We keep trying to tell other Californians about the other options that are out there, but nobody yet has taken our advice and tried Mississippi State.
People have pre-conceived notions about the South, in California. Too bad for them!