DOCUMENTS Click
here to see complete a complete overview of the new freshman
selection process File is in Adobe Acrobat format (pdf).
Click here to see complete enrollment statistics for fall 2006.
File is in Microsoft Excel format (xls).
UCLA’s new holistic admissions process is near final
approval, and information about the new admissions criteria and
application-reader training has been released.
The UCLA Academic Senate approved the new process rapidly this
summer, and borrowed UC Berkeley’s holistic admissions model
in an effort to expedite approval and implementation of the new
process.
Some of the changes, which will be applied to applicants for the
incoming class of 2007, include an increased emphasis on personal
and academic achievements within the context of the opportunities
available to students in high school, as well as planned outreach
and recruitment efforts from student and alumni organizations.
UCLA’s process is experimental and will likely be
modifying the process in the future, said Tina Park, Undergraduate
Students Association Council external vice president and a member
of the University of California Academic Senate Board of Admissions
and Relations with Schools.
For this year, significant changes were made to both the way
applications are scored and how application readers are trained,
said Janina Montero, vice chancellor of student affairs.
Within the new selection criteria is a passage outlining a shift
in the philosophy of admissions, changing the focus to include both
academic qualifications and a student’s ability to contribute
to the diversity of the UCLA community.
“In addition to a broad range of intellectual interests
and achievements, consideration will be given to evidence of an
applicant’s ability and desire to contribute to a campus that
values cultural, socioeconomic and intellectual diversity,”
according to a new statement released by the UCLA admissions
office. Other criteria include academic achievement, standardized
test scores, personal qualities such as leadership ability and
tenacity, participation in academic enrichment programs and
involvement in community service agencies or a job.
Once a prospective student submits an application it will be
read in its entirety by two highly trained application readers,
Montero said.
The specifics of how an application will be scored are not
available, but the highest importance will still be placed on
academics, Montero said.
Now application readers will be able to evaluate academic
performance within the context of a student’s socioeconomic
background and the opportunities that were available to that
student in high school, she added.
The application readers will receive two weeks of training,
during which time they will evaluate numerous sample applications
from last year’s applicant pool, Montero said.
The readers are individuals who are familiar with UCLA, such as
alumni, or people who are very familiar with the college admissions
process, such as current or former high school counselors, she
said. About 160 application readers will be trained and each will
look at 600 to 800 applications.
Because of the new process, applicants will receive their
decision letters on April 1, not sooner, as they have in the past,
Montero has said.
The recent changes in admissions followed a flurry of national
media attention highlighting the discrepancy between UCLA’s
enrolled numbers of underrepresented minorities and their
representations in the state.
UCLA administrators have said the shift to holistic admissions
reflects a new philosophical direction for the UCLA Student Affairs
Office and is not in response to community pressure.
Community members as well as campus organizations, however,
expect an increase in the number of underrepresented minorities at
UCLA as a result of the new holistic approach.
Ana-Christina Ramon, research coordinator for the Ralph J.
Bunche Center for African American Studies at UCLA, said after
looking at admissions processes for several universities she had a
few policy recommendations for UCLA and the UC.
She said more of an emphasis should be placed on essay
questions, to make sure UCLA is accepting students who are not only
diverse in race, but also in thought and world views. Ideally she
said there would be a change in the essay questions on the UC
application to better reflect this idea.
“These are real people that have differences and things
going on in their lives,” she said, adding that the
disparities in K-12 education make it difficult for the UC to admit
students who suffer from socioeconomic disadvantages ““ mostly
minorities.
Montero added that the UC may change the application essay some
time in the future. Montero and Park also mentioned K-12
educational disparities as a reason for low numbers of
underrepresented minorities.
“Being highly selective doesn’t mean we should not
admit minorities. (High school) campuses getting less funding have
a higher percentage of people of color,” Park said.
Because of the disparities in K-12 education, Ramon said there
should be more of an outreach to under-funded and under-performing
high schools to get UC-eligible underrepresented minorities to
apply to UCLA.
Montero agreed, but said there is little her office can do to
reach out to minority students because of the limits of Proposition
209. Montero added that various student and alumni organizations
are planning outreach efforts to increase the yield of
underrepresented minorities such as a call center to reach out to
students who are admitted to UCLA.
“Outreach is very, very important,” Montero said.
“Our budget for such programs has decreased three-fourths
from 2002 levels.”
To see copies of the latest admissions figures and documents
referenced in this story, please visit dailybruin.com.