During nine intense weeks between January and March this year, 30 "readers" including six Bay Area high school counselors and teachers, examined applicants essays, honors, activities, awards and work experience. It is part of a system of selecting students at Berkeley that has evolved after numerous faculty debates.
About half of those reviewed ultimately were admitted. Applications -22,727 for next fall-arrived at the university last November. By mid March, Berkeley had admitted 8,840 students, planning for a fall 1995 freshman class of 3,470.
Half were admitted because they had the best combined high school grades and test scores. After that, the process becomes more complicated, because almost all of the applicants have met the minimum UC entrance requirements. Only four percent of those admitted are accepted without academic eligibility, under an "admission by exception" process that recognizes athletic and other special abilities.
Admissions director Bob Laird said there are almost no other exceptions among the other 95 percent admitted.
Alumni or their children receive no special consideration. About 500 rejected students appeal their denials each year, according to Laird, but fewer than 25 of those appeals are granted. Laird also stressed that for the past five years those who qualify for affirmative action at Berkeley-currently African Americans, Latinos and Native Americans-have had no admissions guarantee even though they may be UC-eligible academically.
Rankings for admission-beyond the 50 percent of applicants who score highest academically-bring affirmative action into the picture through use of the following priorities, listed in descending order:
1) Low-income Californians with Native American, African American, Chicano (Mexican American) backgrounds and/or those who are disabled.
2) Latinos (not including Mexican Americans) from California, and non-resident Native Americans, African Americans and Chicanos (Mexican Americans).
3) Very low-income applicants and non-resident Latinos.
4) Low-income applicants.
5) Applicants from rural backgrounds.
6) California residents.
7) Americans from other states.
8) Foreigners.
Last fall, this complicated process yielded a freshman class that was 42 percent Asian, 30 percent white, 15 percent Latino, six percent African American and seven percent "other."
Although one goal is to admit more African Americans, Chicanos and Latinos,
Laird pointed out that other students from low-income backgrounds get a
boost through this process. Emphasis on socioeconomic status reflects an
effort to counter significant differences in family income. In the current
freshman class, for example, whites come from families with median incomes
of $75,000; Asian Americans, $55,000; African Americans, $37,000; and Chicanos,
$35,000.
-Carl Irving