UCLA application readers consider a wide range of factors when
they evaluate applicants ““ though race isn’t one of
them, said two high-ranking campus admissions officials.
Both officials sought to explain why UCLA admitted several
hundred applicants with low SAT I scores and turned away over a
thousand applicants with significantly higher scores in 2002,
according to a UCLA report released on Tuesday.
Vu Tran, director of admissions at UCLA, said some of the
disparity between who was admitted and their test scores could be
explained by the wide range of factors readers weigh when they
evaluate applications.
“The students in the very low range (of SAT scores) were
admitted essentially because they still demonstrated academic
excellence in spite of environmental conditions,” he
said.
Generally, SAT scores rank last on a reader’s priorities
to determine who should be accepted and who should be denied, said
Keith Stolzenbach, faculty chairman of the Academic Senate’s
admissions committee.
“In fact, the SAT I is not weighed in that process as
heavily as (grade point average) or SAT II scores,” he
said.
Besides looking at academic details of an applicant’s
life, such as what sort of courses he or she took in high school
and how many, readers also consider two other things independent of
test scores: “life challenges” ““ or difficulties
an applicant faced growing up ““ and “personal
achievement,” or extracurricular activities.
In some cases, scoring high marks in these categories can more
than outweigh a poor SAT score.
“If someone has really had low academic ratings, then the
other factors would have to be extremely high,” Stolzenbach
said. “I have looked at these people … they all have the
highest rankings in the other categories we looked at.”
But Tran said one aspect a reader does not consider ““ or
even know ““ is an applicant’s race.
“In training (the readers), we stress the point, make it
very clear, that race and ethnicity cannot be a factor,” he
said.
Applicants can voluntarily state their race on a UC application,
but this information is blacked out for the readers.
Tran also said that when rejected applicants appeal their
denial, the university admissions office can usually explain their
reasoning.
“We have always been able to provide a satisfactory answer
to those questions,” he said. “We could pinpoint always
exactly why (they were denied).”
Tran said he remembered one student who had high SAT scores but
was denied admission because he only took three classes during his
last semester in high school.
“People think that by the time they apply they don’t
have to try anymore,” he said.
Typically, applications are seen by at least three different
readers, all of whom weigh a separate aspect of the application.
One reader evaluates the overall application, one looks at grades
and test scores and a third considers personal achievement and life
challenges.
The three readers score the applications and then decide whether
or not the applicant should be admitted.
Such an admissions procedure is in keeping with comprehensive
review, a UC-wide policy that lends additional weight to factors
other than an applicant’s test scores.
Some contend that comprehensive review sacrifices the UC student
body quality because it does not guarantee admission to those with
the highest SAT scores.
However, Tran disagrees that UCLA’s quality is degrading
because of comprehensive review.
“If you look at our average SAT score of 1333, that is
awfully high,” he said.
With reports from Adam Foxman, Bruin contributor.