<p>Look, the UCs don’t use race as an admissions factor. By law they can’t and they don’t. However, as I mentioned before, they do look at the ‘whole’ applicant in the context of scores, first gen, economic background, etc. It’s possible that with the addition of these other factors some individuals might be accepted when based on scores alone they might not have been. There’s some logic to this whereby a score of 1900 achieved by someone with a difficult background might actually statistically be more successful than someone with a 2100 from a priviledged background. These other factors apply regardless of race however and I don’t doubt that there are a number of Asians, whites, and others who have been helped by this contextual review although those at the end of the spectrum whereby they’re awarded admission points due to these other factors will benefit most from this type of review. And yes, it’s possible that someone with a 1900 plus these additional points might ‘displace’ someone who has a 2100 but none of these points. Who’ll appear to be displaced by this? It’ll likely be more noticable in the largest represented groups. For the top UCs that’s ‘Asian’ followed by whites.</p>
<p>One might argue that this primarily benefits URMs and statistically that might be true but keep in mind that the points are awarded without regard to race - i.e. if a Vietnamese or Chinese or white is a first-gen they’ll be awarded those points just as any other race would be. Ditto with the other factors.</p>