?Colleges admitting students with low stats.

DunninLA
Thu, 21 Oct 2010 14:30:59 +0000

one I can think of is UCSD. They use a formula that combines GPA, 3 SAT Sections, 2 SAT Subject tests, to arrive at a formula driven score. To this is addes points for leadership, and this is my point, a HUGE amount of points almost by definition not available to middle or upper socioeconomic class members.

There are, for example, 900 bonus points assigned for these three selection criteria: Low Income, 1st Gen College, and bottom 40% high school. Assuming ECs, Leadership etc. are the same between two applicants, this 900 point boost equalizes in the points total an applicant with 3.7 weighted GPA and 5 X 500 test scores, with an applicant showing 4.0 weighted GPA and 5 x 650 test scores. If you add in the 300 points (we’re up to 1200 now) for participation in an Academic Enrichment Program, you will see that lots of kids wth high GPA and high test scores are passed over in favor of much lower GPA and much, much lower test score kids (and the difference is not 100 SAT points… the difference can be 600-700 testing points.

I guess schools can do whatever the choose, and if I thought about it for awhile I could see the social benefit to extending 900 (or 1200) points worth of non-merit help to such an applicant gain admission, but it does give pause.

Here is the current version on the UCSD website for freshman admissions criteria:--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Selection process
Drawing upon the broad guidelines established by the Board of Admissions and Relations with Schools (BOARS), the UCSD Faculty Committee on Undergraduate Admissions has approved the following procedures for freshman selection which are implemented by the Office of Admissions and Relations with Schools.

Step I: Academic review Maximum Consideration
Uncapped Grade Point Average (GPA) 4,500
Scores of all required exams 3,200
Number of “a-g” courses beyond the minimum 500

Step II: Additional academic factors
Eligibility in the Local Context (ELC) 300
Educational environment 300

Step III: Socioeconomic factors
Low family income 300
First generation college attendance 300

Step IV: Personal characteristics and achievement factors
Demonstrated leadership 300
Special talents/ achievements/ awards 300
Community and volunteer service 300
Participation in academic development preparation programs 300
Special circumstances/ personal challenges 500