Hail, hail to the University of Michigan for continuing to maintain diversity on its campus. On Thursday, U-M announced its new undergraduate admissions policy, which eliminates the controversial point system and emphasizes essay writing. The old system was based on a 150-point scale which included residency, race, grade-point average and other factors in determining admittance to the university, with the university awarding 20 points to racial and ethnic minorities.
In June, the U.S. Supreme Court outlawed the point system in a landmark 6-3 decision. The court also upheld a policy under U-M's law school in Grutter v. Bollinger, which allowed race to be a factor in admitting students but did not award a numerical ranking. Michigan should be commended for moving past its flawed point system and providing a new one that still emphasizes the need for diversity on campus but does not have to award points to do so.
Starting in January, potential Wolverines will have to write two 250-word essays, one 500-word essay and answer questions about his or her family's educational background and socioeconomic status. Each application is reviewed twice, with each reviewer not knowing the decision of the other.
If a consensus is not reached by the first two, a third review is conducted by a committee of faculty members.
More than 20 employees were added to the admissions staff to read the applications, but for a school that nets thousands of applicants worldwide, it will take a significant amount of time to determine who will get in and who will not.
That period of time could be harmful to indecisive students, who might turn down other schools in hopes of getting that thick acceptance letter from Ann Arbor. But other students who know the value of a good education should be able to withstand the wait. Even though the essay-writing system is still in its premature stages, MSU has adopted a similar system. It is suggested that students applying for the 2004-05 school year submit a 250-word essay. The essay will be mandatory in 2005.
With the new essay system there are no quotas or preferences. Essays give school representatives a chance to discover a more detailed profile of the applicant. It gives the student a chance to prove that he or she can benefit from what the school has to offer. If the system proves to be effective in creating further diversity on campus, other schools should take a page from U-M's book and institute the essay system. Pro-affirmative action groups are already monitoring Michigan's policy, making sure that admissions numbers are balanced. With U-M faculty also having a chance to review applications, it shows that professors are taking an active part in who they'd like to see in their classes one day.
Diversity on campus is crucial for institutions such as U-M and MSU and is a goal officials, faculty and students should continue to strive toward.
