Dear bloggers,
I want to personally apologize for not posting anything prior to today. I knowing being preoccupied with other activities is no excuse, but I set a goal to wake up early today (Saturday) and post like crazy so you can comment. Please enjoy!
Just a reminder: Today is the last day to send in your SIR (Statement of Intent to Register) to the college that you would like to attend next year. Coincidentally, this post is about college admissions, specifically in the UC (University of California) system.
Anyways, as we have all heard from college meetings with our counselors, teachers, or college representatives, colleges try and create diverse communities to better represent minority students who have worked hard and achieved the grades and test scores necessary for admission. Despite Proposition 209, which simply states schools can not discriminate against or giving preferential treatment to any individual group in public education on the basis of race, sex, color, ethnicity, or national origin there have been an increasing number of hard working minorities who have achieved the grades and test scores necessary to be admitted.
Although the UC system has aimed at increasing student diversity, starting with the freshmen class of 2012, there will be a new policy which will reduce guarantee of freshman admission from the top 12.5 percent to 10 percent of California high school graduates, which means more out of state applicants would be granted admission. The new policy also eliminates the requirement to take subject tests (SAT II's).
The UC Academic Senate has proposed three new stimulation studies all of which do not promote diversity, although UC President Mark Yudof assures that they do (read the article to see the data summaries on these three stimulation studies).
Also, when some of the Academic Senate leaders were questioned about the policy, they said that the new freshmen eligibility and admission policy is about fairness, which would give more high-qualified students the chance to apply to the UC system and receive a full review of their applications. Again, this means more out of state applicants.
What do you (bloggers) think about the new policy, even though it doesn't necessarily apply to your undergraduate years, it may apply to your graduate years, if you so choose to go to grad school. Also, keep in mind that the UC system gets paid approximately $50,000 for out of state applicants who choose to attend their school. In addition, is it fair for the state of California to charge its citizens with high state taxes even though there is a declining rate of California students being admitted to its public universities?
Sorry this post was so long...
-Brian Kawamoto (AKA the wiser one)