Critics have recently scrutinized admissions policies at the University of California-Berkeley, claiming the system is too subjective and dodges a California ban on basing acceptance decisions on race.
In response to the concerns, a University of California panel will review UC-Berkeley’s policies.
UC-Berkeley employs a comprehensive review system when deciding whom to accept for admission, balancing socioeconomic factors with academics.
Critics of the policies have pointed to a report by John Moore, a member of the University of California System Board of Regents. Moore’s report suggests UC-Berkeley only accepted about 56 percent of applicants with SAT scores higher than 1400.
UC-Berkeley senior and student representative on the UC System Board of Regents Matt Murray disagrees with the recent onslaught of scrutiny.
“I think the system is a good thing,” Murray said. “Comprehensive review looks at everything the applicant has to offer, not just grade point average and test scores.”
David Stern, chair of the UC-Berkeley faculty committee on undergraduate admissions, said that when evaluating applicants no designated weight is given to any factors such as GPA or test scores. There are, however, a number of different factors taken into consideration, such as family income, leadership opportunities, employment and extracurricular activities.
“The difficulty is the general public doesn’t understand the process,” Murray said. “People question the system and criticize it when they really don’t understand it.”
Murray said the public is most misinformed about the two stages of admissions prospective students must pass in order to gain acceptance to UC-Berkeley. The first level is eligibility. Students who qualify at this level are guaranteed admission to one of the eight University of California campuses. The next stage is competitive admissions to the individual school, and UC-Berkeley is the most selective among these.
“There are a number of people who are qualified, but Berkeley does not have enough space for all of them,” Murray explained of the two stage process. “People forget that we have six other campuses that are world-class research institutions.”
In the past, the University of California System has granted the top 12.5 percent of California high school students’ eligibility for admission to one of the system’s eight undergraduate campuses. Because of the recent budget cuts, the system is threatened with the possibility of denying admission to all eligible applicants, something the regents began discussing last week.
The board also intends to look at the controversy surrounding the admissions process. It hoped to review these processes at all UC universities and the ways in which the comprehensive review system can be made clear to the public. Murray said if this is accomplished and the system is understood there will be less criticism of it.
The UC-Berkeley is no stranger to admissions debates. Many changes have been made to admissions in the recent past, most notably a California state law that put a ban on affirmative action.
Despite these changes over the past few years, Murray said he has not noticed a massive change in the student body since he arrived on campus four years ago.
“Admissions policies are complex because it is a complex issue. To oversimplify them would not be the way to go,” Murray said. “To make it simple and based on hard numbers is not necessarily the right thing to do in this case.”
