Following the University of Wisconsin-Madison's lead, the UW System will adopt a "holistic" approach to admissions starting in 2007. The new standards will consider race, income and community involvement along with GPA and ACT scores to determine whether or not an applicant is admitted.
The revisions will place more emphasis on students' personal statements, socioeconomic background and perceived correspondence to the specified university's mission statement.
We believe a holistic admissions policy will be sound — it would increase ethnic and ideological diversity and acknowledge that it takes more than stellar grades and a knack for standardized testing to be a successful college student. It is our unique life experiences, after all, that make us valuable links to our patchwork college communities.
However, the explicit implication of race in the admissions process is unnecessary and gives an unjustified advantage to some students.
The holistic approach will include optional personal statements regarding experiences in and promotion of diverse environments. Thus, an effective implementation of these standards would lead to greater diversity on its own, making the consideration of race a counterproductive exercise.
If a policy excluding race failed to increase diversity, the UW System should not take the easy way out by force-feeding minority applicants. Rather, the state must address the inequities in its public secondary schools, and admissions boards must ensure they are giving proper weight to meritorious activities outside of the classroom.
While creating more diverse learning communities will benefit the UW System, it must take great pains to ensure the admissions process is not unfair and all qualified applicants are judged by the same standards.
