UC’s Admission Guidelines

Your editorial, “Testing On a Level Field” (Oct. 3), left readers with a distinctly false impression of the University of California’s new guidelines for undergraduate admissions. UC is not going to admit students simply on the basis of grades and test scores alone.

UC agrees that academic merit and achievement come in many forms, and test scores and grades alone don’t always provide a complete picture of a student’s potential for success in college. That is precisely why UC’s new guidelines move away from using formulas for student admission and toward a more comprehensive and rigorous assessment of the individual student’s academic achievement and potential.

In addition to assessing grades and test scores, UC will examine the quality of a student’s academic record, including honors courses, classes completed beyond the minimum specified for UC admission, outstanding performance in academic subject areas, the quality of classes taken during the senior year and improvement in a student’s academic performance, especially during the junior and senior years of high school.

The guidelines seek to identify California’s highest achieving young people from a broad range of social and economic backgrounds. The purpose is not only to identify achievement on an individual basis but also to build a vibrant, diverse learning community on our campuses.

C. JUDSON KING

Provost and Senior Vice President

Academic Affairs

University of California