UC
regents set to alter admissions
More weight given to outside activities
Tanya Schevitz, Chronicle Staff Writer
Thursday, November 15, 2001
©2002 San Francisco Chronicle
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The University of California is poised to change the admissions process today for incoming students -- some of whom have already submitted their applications, which are due by the end of the month. Some students and counselors, who have spent the past four years preparing to be judged just on academics, were taken by surprise that a broader set of standards is likely to be put in place.
Their dismay was shared by some UC regents, although a majority is expected to approve the "comprehensive review" proposal today. "I'm concerned that students in high academic ranks did not know to emphasize life achievement and personal adversity," said UC Regent Velma Montoya. A committee of the regents voted 13 to 2 yesterday to approve the new admissions policy, which would allow all of UC's campuses to judge undergraduate applicants not only on academics but also on their special talents or activities and the adversity they had to overcome.
That vote sets the stage for today's vote by the full board. Until now, each campus had to accept between 50 and 75 percent of students based on academic criteria. That meant for the top students, admissions officers did not look at the full application and essay. TAKES EFFECT IMMEDIATELY The rub is that the change would go into effect immediately -- in the middle of the application period, which runs from Nov. 1 to Nov. 30.
University officials say the top students will still get in, but some students who have been focusing purely on academics and not outside activities fear they could be at a disadvantage. College counselors at many high schools were told in September that the policy was being considered, but some at low-income schools are in the dark. "I haven't even heard of it actually," said Ken Songco, a college counselor provided by the nonprofit ACE Educational Services at McAteer High School in San Francisco.
He said counselors always encourage students to broaden their applications by doing things outside the classroom. But he would have emphasized it more, both for this year's seniors and the juniors, if UC had informed the school of the coming change. "You have to tell students early," he said. Across town at Galileo High School, counselors have been warning students of the probable change. But senior Johnson An, 17, who has a 3.5 grade point average, said the few months' warning was too little.
He didn't get involved in extracurricular activities and instead focused on academics for the past three years. "We didn't know about it, so a lot of people didn't do any extracurricular activities. They should have announced it and postponed it a year or more," said An, who is applying to UC Berkeley, UC Davis and UC San Diego or UCLA. "It makes me nervous. I'm scared I won't get in." Critics say the fast pace of the change and the subjective nature of the new admissions criteria make it difficult for students to know what is expected of them.
But UC President Richard Atkinson said that, as it always has, the university is looking for students who challenge themselves. "What we are trying to transmit is a message to high schools and kids: Take hard courses, we will take that into account. It is the message that is important, not the procedure," he said. ADVOCATES CALL POLICY FAIR Supporters of the policy say all UC eligible students are guaranteed a spot in the system -- and that those from the most disadvantaged schools are the very ones the new policy is intended to help.
They say it is only fair to look at students in the context of the obstacles and hardships they faced, to ensure that campuses reflect the state's population. Some critics say students from affluent families and the best schools will suffer because application readers will favor students facing hardship. But State Schools Superintendent Delaine Eastin, who is a regent by virtue of her office, said the process will just help to address some of the disparities. Without it, she said, UC will lose some of the students with the greatest potential who don't necessarily shine in an assessment of academics alone.
"We'll miss Abe Lincoln if we're not careful. We'll certainly bypass Oprah and we'll miss Whoopi Goldberg and we won't bring Edison and Einstein forward, " she said. "Because all of those people I have named have dysfunctional families or serious learning disabilities." However, the new policy has come under fire from critics who say it will lower academic standards. They also say it is a way to admit more blacks and Latinos without affirmative action, which was banned in admissions by the 1996 voter-approved Proposition 209.
"I really hope that the regents carefully considered if they want to go down this road and embarrass the university again for discrimination on the basis of race," said Sharon Browne, an attorney for the conservative Pacific Legal Foundation, who said comprehensive review could open the university up to litigation. Although Regent Ward Connerly spoke against the policy, he voted for it in the end -- after the board added an amendment he proposed making it clear that comprehensive review "shall not use racial preferences of any kind."
"Anyone who thinks that the board is sanctioning race preferences should know that is not what the board intended," Connerly said. University officials have said that the new policy would have little or no effect on the racial composition of the university but that the new process would yield a better class of students. Regent David Lee said that does not make sense because UC's campuses, particularly Berkeley and UCLA, are already considered among the best in the nation.
"Why do you want to change it? The system works," he said. He charged that the university is moving quickly to make changes in its admissions policies because it is being pressured by Latino legislators to get more underrepresented minorities in the door. "When are the Latino, Chicano legislators going to be happy with the numbers?" he asked. "That is when we are going to stop with the changes."
E-mail Tanya Schevitz at tschevitz@sfchronicle.com.
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