UC admits fewer low-scoring applicants
By Adrienne Lynett
April 5, 2005 9:00 p.m.
Fewer students with low SAT scores were admitted to the
University of California in 2004 ““ especially to UCLA ““
according to UC admissions data for this year’s freshman
class.
The information released by the UC Office of the President
showed that in 2004, the UC admitted 26.6 percent fewer students
with SAT scores of 1000 or below than the previous year.
UCLA admitted 191 such students, compared with about 350 in
2003. This change represents a difference of 45 percent, which is
even more than the systemwide change.
The data comes a year after former Regent Chairman John Moores
raised a stir when he released a report stating that the UC had
admitted what he said was an inordinate number of students with low
SAT scores.
Moores alleged the UC was considering race in its admissions
practices and cited the report as evidence.
UC officials have repeatedly denied that the university
considers race in admissions.
Officials at both the UC Office of the President and at UCLA
said the difference between 2003 and 2004 was due to a smaller
total number of accepted students.
“The major difference between those two years (is that)
the enrollment number target was less (in 2004),” said Keith
Stolzenbach, faculty chairman of UCLA’s admissions committee.
“We’ve admitted substantially fewer
students.”
But the drop in the number of students scoring 1000 or less on
the SAT was far greater than the decrease of total students. The
total number of students admitted systemwide dropped by 6.7
percent.
Susan Wilbur, the director of admissions for the UC, attributed
the drop in enrollment to state budget cuts.
“We were able to admit fewer students last year because of
the state’s enrollment reductions,” she said.
Wilbur added that there were other factors that contributed to
the drop in low-SAT score admissions. One was a decrease in
applications received, which meant fewer applications in every
category ““ including from students scoring 1000 or less on
the SAT.
Another factor was a generally better prepared pool of
applicants, she said.
“Of the students that did apply, they were better prepared
than the previous year,” Wilbur said.
Fewer students applying overall combined with students
submitting more competitive applications contributed to the
decrease in students admitted to the UC with SAT scores of 1000 or
less.
While she admitted some university faculty would be pleased by
the decrease in low-scoring students as a means of improving the
caliber of the student body and thus of the university as a whole,
Sylvia Hurtado, faculty director of the UCLA Higher Education
Institute, warned that a decrease in low-scoring students probably
correlates to a decrease in low-income students.
“Students are coming better prepared, but they’re
also coming from higher-income backgrounds,” Hurtado
said.
Still, this apparent trade-off is mitigated by the comprehensive
process undertaken by UC admissions officials, Hurtado added,
saying that officials consider not only test scores but also GPAs,
high school course load and personal profile information.
“Universities have typically used scores to determine the
quality of the student body,” she said. “But there are
a number of criteria to determine talent.”
Hurtado said that the UC, as a public institution, has a
responsibility not only to improve quality but also to provide
adequate access to college-age students ““ regardless of
income level.
“We have to really think very hard about whether
we’re providing enough access to lower-income
students,” she said.
