In response to a study reporting admissions discrepancies for
the University of California, Berkeley, Chancellor Robert Berdahl
wrote a letter to defend the university’s admissions process
and cited “fundamental misunderstandings” in the Los
Angeles Times article that revealed the study.
Berdahl’s letter to UC President Robert Dynes, dated Oct.
6, explained the process Berkeley uses when reviewing applicants
and said the presentation of the data in the Times was
misleading.
“Although faculty and staff from UC Berkeley spent many
hours talking with authors of (the Times article), the reporters
failed to include essential contextual information necessary to
understand some of the data cited,” he stated.
The Times, citing a confidential document prepared at the
request of Regents Chairman John Moores, reported Saturday that
last year Berkeley rejected many students with near-perfect SAT
scores while admitting almost 400 students with scores less than
1000. The best possible score on the SAT is a 1600.
Berdahl’s letter describes the university’s
admissions policies, saying an applicant’s grade point
average and SAT II score are weighed more heavily than the SAT
I.
Berdahl’s letter said applicants with higher test scores
are “much more likely” to be admitted than those with
lower scores, but that there are exceptions.
He pointed to a correlation between high family income and high
SAT scores, saying that “it is likely that some students with
otherwise strong academic and personal qualifications will present
relatively low SAT I scores” because of an economic
disadvantage.
This outcome of admitting financially underprivileged students
““ even though their test scores are lower ““ is
consistent with other selective universities across the country,
Berdahl said.
Berdahl said Berkeley investigated applicants with high SAT
scores who were rejected and found that, in virtually every case,
there were factors other than the applicant’s SAT score
working against them.
The chancellor said some rejected students had below-average
GPAs or were out-of-state students who had to meet higher
admissions standards. Others applied to one of three highly
competitive majors in the College of Engineering or could have
withdrawn their applications and been mistakenly counted as
rejections.
The letter also said the students with low SAT scores who were
admitted all showed “impressive overall academic and personal
achievements,” and that a review of the students’
performances of their first year showed that none left Berkeley for
academic reasons.
Also in the Times article, Richard Black, Berkeley’s
assistant vice chancellor of admissions and enrollment, told the
Times a “substantial portion” of the 400 students were
from minority groups, raising questions about whether Berkeley is
considering race as a factor in its admissions.
The 1996 voter initiative Proposition 209 prevents state
agencies, including the UC, from considering race in admissions and
hiring practices.
UC Regent Ward Connerly, who spearheaded Proposition 209, said
Berkeley might be using admissions policies to circumvent the
initiative. But he still supports comprehensive review “as
long as nobody is cheating and trying to get around the
law.”
In 2001 the UC regents implemented comprehensive review to
increase student diversity within the limitations of the
initiative, adding more weight to applicants’ personal
achievements and life challenges alongside academics.
“We have comprehensive review because applicants are
people, they are not numbers,” said UC Student Regent Matt
Murray.
Also on Oct. 6, Dynes wrote a letter to the UC regents in
response to Berdahl’s letter, saying he has plans to
establish a study group composed of regents, faculty and members of
his administration.
The group would review the admissions processes at the
UC’s eight undergraduate campuses and would also discuss a
variety of enrollment challenges anticipated in the coming
months.
Dynes’ letter echoed many of the same points as
Berdahl’s, noting all UC campuses consider
“predominantly traditional academic criteria, such as grades
and test scores, but also other measures of achievement and
promise.”
With reports from Brad Greenberg, Bruin Senior
Staff.