<p>*You’re confusing holistic admissions with affirmative action. They’re not the same thing. Proposition 209 was a blow against affirmative action; URM enrollment went down as a result of it (at least at top schools like UCLA and Berkeley) while Asian enrollment increased. AA is ‘discriminatory.’ ‘Holistic admissions’ is not *</p>
<p>I know that they’re not the same thing. I’m not confused.</p>
<p>The point is that publics aren’t really free to use true “holistic methods” because then accusations of “veiled AA” come in. If the UCs used true holistic methods (an end run around Prop 209), then new lawsuits would be filed because the Asian numbers would likely drop and the URM numbers would increase.</p>
<p>Blue…I agree that many Calif graduating URMs aren’t qualified for UCs. I should have included a source for that stat…sorry. It’s not mine. However, their argument is that the current non-holistic methodology for admittance to a UC keeps out URMs. </p>
<p>Personally, I support the current formula for admitting. I think admitting unqualified students just leads to more drop-outs, unfinished degrees, wasting tax payer money, etc. I think the TAG program is great. Let those with inadequate K-12 education get their foundation in a good calif CC, and then move on to a UC or CSU. </p>
<p>As mentioned, implementing Prop 209 caused URM numbers to drop…because the admittance formula had to become less holistic (subjective) and more objective. Those who are complaining that there aren’t enough URMs in the better UCs want a more holistic admissions policy, but that won’t square with Prop 209.</p>
<p>The only acceptable “end-run” around Prop 209 is to weight GPA more heavily than test scores so that nearly all the seats don’t get filled with Whites and ORMs. That said, the URM distribution is not even amongst the UCs. the lower tier UCs have nearly half URM enrollment, while the middle and upper tier UCs have far less. Again, I understand why, and I don’t support putting unqualified students into seats where they will likely fail when pitted against much stronger students. </p>
<p>Can you understand that?</p>