Getting in: The not-so-secret admissions process

Myth: Minority students get in with lower grades than some white students who are rejected.

As noted above, this can be true, and it’s one of the most controversial aspects of UW-Madison’s admissions policies. To foster campus diversity, the university does give some preference to qualified students in targeted minority groups, and, as a result, students who are African-American, Latino, Native American, or Southeast Asian do sometimes get in with the same academic numbers as a white student who is postponed or denied.

“A student’s race is never, on its own, a deciding factor. But if we can build more diversity into our student population, we want to do that, because we think it provides a better quality education for all the students here.”

Patrick Farrell
Provost

That doesn’t mean those students aren’t qualified to attend UW-Madison. The vast majority of students who apply these days are: they’ve demonstrated a capacity to handle the curriculum and would likely do just fine as UW students. There just isn’t room for them all, and so each year, a lot of otherwise deserving students aren’t admitted. What university officials don’t like is the suggestion that academic numbers should be the only factor in selecting which of those qualified applicants to enroll.

UW-Madison operates under the principle that students learn most when they’re surrounded by a diverse group of peers who can challenge their presumptions and offer unique perspectives. When forced to choose among a bunch of qualified applicants, the university’s admissions policies do give an edge to students who could add something unique to the educational environment.

“A student’s race is never, on its own, a deciding factor,” says Provost Farrell. “But if we can build more diversity into our student population, we want to do that, because we think it provides a better quality education for all the students here.”

The use of race in admissions, however, is a deeply divisive practice that faces a cloudy legal future. Opponents claim racial preferences are counterproductive and inherently unfair, and voters in Michigan, California, and Washington have approved ballot initiatives banning their use in state institutions. In fall 2006, Wisconsin lawmakers created a special legislative committee to study the issue, and the group has sought input from Ward Connerly, a vocal critic of affirmative action who helped mobilize public opposition in California and Michigan. In July 2007, Wisconsin Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen issued an informal legal opinion that an admissions policy can use race as one of many factors when assessing an individual application for freshman admission.

At the same time, university officials are hearing warnings from businesses that increasingly value multicultural fluency in their employees. “When we talk to employers about what skills they want to see in our graduates, the ability to work with people from different backgrounds is very high on their list, sometimes even higher than some of the technical and academic skills that we spend a great deal of time and energy having students learn here,” says Farrell. “Our students need to be prepared for that, and I think we would be enormously handicapping their future if we can’t provide that kind of experience for them.”

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