Minority applicants from Marquette, Mich., who earned a 2.7 GPA at Detroit Country Day high school could have their GPA boosted to a 3.7 when their application contents are reweighted during the University's intricate admissions process.
The admissions procedure refigures an applicant's GPA and takes into account more than grades and test scores.
Fractions of points are added and subtracted from a student's GPA for various reasons, which can leave the numbers looking much different than on a student's official high school transcript.
According to procedures used to evaluate the incoming fall 1997 pool of applicants, admissions clerks first narrow down the GPA to the grades received in core academic classes such as math, English and science and throw away elective classes like music
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| EMILY NATHAN/Daily Admissions Counselors Sylvia Carranza and Shannon Wolfgang look at an application yesterday. |
"What (University admissions officials) call your GPA is probably going to be lower than what it is," said Walter Harrison, vice president for University relations.
A system called SCUGA, which takes into account five criteria: an applicant's curriculum, unusual factors, geographical region, alumni relations and the quality of the applicant's high school, is then used to add points to the applicant's GPA.
In the first stage of SCUGA's application assessment, applicants can receive as much as a .5 addition to their GPAs, depending on what high school they attended. The quality of the school is determined by the number of advanced placement courses it offers, its average SAT and ACT scores and the percentage of graduates who go on to college.
According to SCUGA guidelines, applicants coming from one of Michigan's more than 60 "better than average" high schools have .1 added to their GPA. "Exceptionally strong schools," of which there are only 8-15 in the country, including Detroit Country Day, have their GPAs boosted by .4. Applicants from "truly outstanding" schools receive a .5 boost to their GPAs.
Next, an applicant's curriculum during grades 9-12 is evaluated based on the number of academic honors and advanced placement courses the student completed. A "very weak academic program," which would lack AP and honors courses and consist of less than 15 academic courses during grades 9-12 and three or fewer academic courses in the senior year would prompt officials to subtract as much as .2 from an applicant's GPA. A "fantastic program," consisting of eight or more AP classes and at least 20 academic courses during grades 9-12 would result in adding up to .4 to an applicant's GPA.
The "unusual" factor bumps up an applicant's GPA based on activities, work experiences, awards, personal essay and other information included in the application.
The GPAs of students who give a "contribution to a diverse class" are boosted by .5. Such applicants include those from the following categories:
Harrison said race is used as one of many factors in order to ensure a diverse student body.
"It's certainly not as big a factor as GPA," Harrison said. "It's not even close."
Other non-academic factors, including leadership and service awards and personal achievements, can earn an applicant a .1 or .2 addition to their GPA.
An extraordinary essay can add .1 to an applicant's GPA, while an extremely poor essay can subtract .1 from the GPA.
"The most important part of an essay is what it teaches you about the person," Harrison said.
Out-of-state applicants from western states beyond Missouri, Iowa and Minnesota, excluding California, and southern states below Virginia and Tennessee, except Florida and Texas, also have their GPAs increased by .1.
In addition to their in-state advantage, applicants from northern Michigan, rural areas and small communities that are separated from culturally more sophisticated areas have .1 added to their GPA.
In-state applicants whose grandparents, parents or siblings are University alumni also are given an advantage, with a .1 addition to their GPA. Out-of-state applicants with alumni relations are treated as in-state students. There is a higher rate of acceptance among in-state students than out-of-state students.
Another section of the application, which contains comments from high school counselors, can indicate problems with a student that are not represented in grades.
Admissions counselors use different grids with GPA listed on a vertical axis and ACT and SAT scores listed on a horizontal axis as one way to determine whether students will be accepted, waitlisted or denied. The grids are used as a rough way to determine the fate of a student's application, but are not the sole predictors of admission, Harrison said.
Admissions clerks do the preliminary calculations of the application, but Admissions counselors ultimately decide which students are admitted, Harrison said.
Director of Admissions Theodore Spencer said he could not comment on the admissions process because of the pending lawsuits against the University.
Other schools
When compared nationally with its peer institutions, the University's admissions procedures are highly intricate.
Penn State University does not take into account the quality of an applicant's high school, have a required personal essay or take race into account during the admissions process, said Patrick Smith, assistant director of communications for admissions at Penn State.
"The majority of our evaluation is based on academics," Smith said.
Smith said that without race-based admissions, Penn State has been able to maintain a student body that is 10 percent minority students. By phoning and recruiting minority applicants, Penn State has achieved a diverse student body, Smith said.
"Based on the way we do things here, we have been relatively successful," Smith said. "We've come a long way, but we could go further."
Michigan State University only uses socioeconomic status as a factor in the admissions process for students applying to the school's College Achievement Admissions Program, which is designed to give opportunities to disadvantaged students, said Lisa Chavis, MSU associate director of admissions.
"In the past, we looked a little more at ethnicity, but now we do it strictly from socioeconomic background because we feel that's the fairest way," Chavis said. "I think socioeconomic is the way to go. It's really fair."
Neither Penn State or MSU use alumni relations or geographical location as a factor in the admissions process.
Student opinions
While many University students say they feel diversity is an important part of the college experience, some said they were surprised to find out how much of a factor race and socioeconomic status play in the admissions process.
"That's a complete surprise to me," said LSA sophomore Brian Macias, after finding out about the advantages SCUGA gives to minorities.
Macias, who is Hispanic, said minority advantages are useful, as long as they don't allow unqualified applicants to get accepted to the University.
"If it's getting to the point where they're taking whose underqualified rather than someone who is qualified based on race, then I think something needs to be done."
Macias said it is important to look at socioeconomic factors.
"If you have to work every day after school, obviously your extra-curricular activities are going to suffer," Macias said. "Just because a person has more opportunities, I don't think it makes them more qualified to come to this school."
Macias said he doesn't think applicants with alumni relations should be given preferences.
"It brings in money for the University as if daddy's son accepted here, they're probably willing to write a fat check in their name," Macias said.
But LSA senior Jon Bauer said it is reasonable to give alumni's relatives advantages.
"Alumni are the ones that give back to the school, so I guess the school feels it should give back to their children," Bauer said.
Macias said it is unfair to give advantages to applicants from underrepresented geographical locations.
"That's ridiculous," Macias said. "As far as a state issue, I don't think that plays a role in whether you're qualified."
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