San Diego “”mdash; Tierra Moore applied to UCLA in the fall of 2008 with a 3.4 GPA. By University of California standards, her grades were subpar. But she had a story.
Moore was near the top of her class sophomore year when family problems intervened. Early in her junior year, her stepfather committed suicide.
After that, Moore’s grades plummeted. She used her personal statement to explain her circumstances.
On Wednesday, the UC Board of Regents voted to encourage a holistic admissions policy for all of its campuses, which means each application will be read by a single reviewer.
The policy was adopted by UCLA the year before Moore applied. Without it, Moore told the regents, she never would have been accepted.
UCLA switched to holistic review under Interim Chancellor Norman Abrams. Administrators at the time were worried that students like Moore were flying under the radar, Chancellor Gene Block said.
Moore, a third-year global studies and political science student, is now chief of staff in the Undergraduate Students Association Council.
Some campuses still break down an application into parts read by different people. That means grades are scored separately from personal statements, and points are added up at the end for a numeric total, according to Sue Wilbur, the UC director of undergraduate admissions.
UC Berkeley was the first to diverge toward using one reviewer for an entire application.
At a time of record application numbers, the UC hopes that using one reviewer per application will improve fairness and diversity, said Provost and Executive Vice President Lawrence Pitts.
Pitts acknowledged that the system is more costly and labor-intensive. Each reviewer must undergo a series of trainings to ensure quality control.
“This is a very expensive way to go about doing admissions,” said Dan Simmons, chair of the Academic Council.
When Regent Norman Pattiz questioned how to tell prospective students and parents what it takes to get into the university, Pitts said accomplishments are being considered in the setting of opportunity.
He also said that gaming the system will be more difficult.
Regent Eddie Island also emphasized that unqualified students will not suddenly become UC-eligible under holistic review.
“If you don’t have the qualifications to be UC-eligible, this program will not touch you,” Island said. “Keep that in mind.”