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November 2006 | UC Notes Home |
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UCLA Adopts Holistic Review of Freshman ApplicationsUCLA will take a new approach to reviewing freshman applications this fall, one in which each application will be read and considered in its entirety, rather than having separate sections read by different people. UCLA faculty made the change, beginning with the fall 2007 freshman class, because they believe a more individualized and qualitative review will provide a more accurate basis for evaluating each student's application through the comprehensive review process. It is the most significant change UCLA has made to its comprehensive review process since the policy was adopted five years ago by the UC Board of Regents. "Holistic review is another philosophical approach to implementing comprehensive review," said Jenny Sharpe, chair of the faculty Committee on Undergraduate Admissions and Relations with Schools. "It will allow us the opportunity to have applications reviewed in their entirety so that all of a student's achievements — from academic performance to leadership skills and community services — can be looked at in the context of their life experiences." Until now, UC Berkeley was the only UC campus to adopt a holistic approach to comprehensive review. While each UC campus draws on the same set of 14 criteria for selecting applicants through comprehensive review, each campus designs its own method for how those criteria are considered in their selection processes. The UCLA faculty admissions committee had been considering the change to a holistic approach for more than a year, spurred by concerns over the recent decline in African American high school students offered admission and the even smaller number who have chosen to attend. Just 280 African American freshman applicants were admitted to UCLA in 2005; that number dropped to 249 this year. Of those, 99 said they planned to enroll. Since 1998, when Proposition 209 took effect, UC campuses have been prohibited from considering race, ethnicity, color, national origin and gender in all operations, including admissions. As a result, the University saw steep declines in the numbers of underrepresented students who were admitted and enrolled across the system. Those numbers have rebounded somewhat in recent years, but African American enrollment at UCLA is currently at its lowest level since 1973. The changes to UCLA's admissions process will comply with Proposition 209, said Acting Chancellor Norman Abrams. But the campus also must follow the directive from UC Regents to enroll a student body that reflects the diversity of California's population. It is unknown whether the change to holistic review will lead to higher numbers of African American or other underrepresented students being admitted. What it will do, they say, is ensure that each application's academic review is based on a wide range of criteria, including classroom performance, motivation to seek challenges and the rigor of a student's curriculum within the context of high school opportunities. Academic achievement still will be given the greatest weight. But added emphasis will be placed on the school context and the resources available to the student. Details will be available on the UCLA admissions website. |
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also in this issue:UCLA Adopts Holistic Review of Freshman Applications |
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© 2006 Regents of the University of California Last Updated: October 31, 2006 |
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