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Minority group admissions at UCLA decrease

By Daily Bruin Staff

April 4, 1996 9:00 p.m.

Friday, April 5, 1996

Application review process changes may have led to drop in
acceptance rateBy Rachanee Srisavasdi

Daily Bruin Staff

Due to a change in UCLA’s admissions process, the acceptance
rate of certain minority groups for the fall 1996 freshman class
decreased significantly from last year.

The number of accepted Latino, American Indian and Filipino
American applicants decreased, while the number of Caucasian and
non-specified applicants rose.

A change in the "comprehensive review" part of the admissions
process, as requested last year by University of California
President Richard Atkinson, is cited as one of the reasons for the
decline in admission of certain minority groups.

This is the first year all applicants who were not accepted
purely on academic merit underwent a comprehensive review. The
process includes considering factors such as awards, course load
and race. In the previous years, only underrepresented or
low-income applicants were considered in the comprehensive
review.

Another change in the admissions process is that race did not
carry as much weight as in previous years. An applicant’s race was
the last factor to be considered during the comprehensive review
this year. This was the first part of the admissions office’s
effort to eliminate race and gender preferences in admissions.

"We do not admit solely on the basis of race," said Rae Lee
Siporin, UCLA’s director of undergraduate admissions. "In this
review, minorities were not given an extra edge, and in essence
were put behind other students."

Of the total number of those who applied, UCLA saw an increase
in the number of applicants from all ethnic groups.

But overall, the UC system saw a rise in the number of Asian
American and Caucasian applicants, and a decrease in the number of
American Indian, Chicano and Latino applicants. The number of
African Americans applicants increased only slightly from last
year.

This year’s decrease in UC applicants is unexpected, considering
the number of African Americans, Chicanos, Latinos and American
Indians had increased in the preceding three years. Recent hype
over the regents’ decision to abolish affirmative action might have
dissuaded minority students from applying to UC campuses, Siporin
said.

However, according to Esther Hugo, a college counselor at
Westchester High School, minority students who do apply are often
assumed to have been accepted because of their race.

"There have been heated debates over affirmative action in our
classrooms," Hugo said. "Some students tell others that they got in
because they’re black."

Often, rejected students don’t take into consideration that a
minority applicant may have better grades or SAT scores, she
added.

Race is often an issue of contention when letters of acceptance
are mailed. For example, at Westchester High School, a record 24
students were admitted to UCLA, 12 of whom are African
American.

Some African Americans felt that rejected students assumed the
African American students got in because of their race.

"Mostly, white and Asian people who got rejected feel I got in
because of my race," said Kelly Boyer, an African American student
at Westchester High School. "But I know I deserved to get in … I
don’t really feel that bad about their ignorance."

Boyer added she had done better academically than other
applicants who were rejected, having a 3.6 GPA and an SAT score of
1130.

UCLA’s admissions process has recently come under critical
examination, following news reports that admission favors are
sometimes given to legislators, university officials and prominent
individuals.

This revelation has raised concerns about the fairness of the
university’s admissions processes, and whether the university is
turning away more qualified applicants because of back-door
requests.

Some admissions officials said the recent revelations were not a
surprise, yet placed more attention on the current process.

"It put more pressure on us this year," Hugo said, who also is
an admissions reader for UCLA. "We all knew it was going on, but it
seems more widespread than we thought it was."

Admissions officials defended the admissions process and cited
that back-door requests make up only half of a percent of the
actual freshman class.

"It raises questions for students who didn’t get in when it
really shouldn’t," Siporin said. "Students who applied have been
reviewed over and over."

Out of the record 28,000 applications received this year, UCLA
admitted about 10,600 students. The majority of those admitted will
choose to attend another college, while about 3,600 students will
make up the incoming freshman class.

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