By Justin Hsieh
The University of California (UC) announced this morning that it would temporarily relax its undergraduate admissions requirements to help students affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. The changes, meant to compensate for lost academic opportunities, will apply to the recently admitted class of 2020, the class of 2021 applying this fall and “future years as applicable.”
The decision, made by the University’s governing Board of Regents, came in response to closures, shifts to remote instruction, adoption of “pass/fail” or “credit/no credit” grading and cancellation of standardized testing and college entrance exams for schools across the country. The details of changes affecting high school students are explained below.
Suspension of Letter Grade Requirement for A-G Courses
To be minimally eligible for admission, UC typically requires students to complete certain courses with a grade of C or higher to satisfy its A-G requirements. For courses completed in the winter/spring/summer of 2020, however, courses completed with Pass (P) or Cred (CR) grades will also satisfy the requirements.
This change applies to the recently admitted class of 2020 as well as to students currently in 9th, 10th or 11th grade. The University will not use Pass (P) or Credit (CR) grades in calculating GPA, for which it will continue using all A-G courses passed with letter grades in grades 10 and 11.
Suspension of Standardized Test Requirement for Class of 2021
Students applying to UC are normally required to submit scores from either the SAT with Essay or the ACT with Writing. Students applying for fall 2021 admission (the class of 2021) will not be required to submit standardized test scores, although students who do have scores will still be able to submit them.
“Campuses will adjust their internal processes accordingly to ensure that no student is harmed in admissions selection should they not submit a test score,” the University said.
The University also said that suspension of the standardized test requirement is a “temporary accommodation driven by the current extraordinary circumstances” and not a permanent change in admissions policy. Whether standardized test scores will be used in admissions for the class of 2022 and beyond will be determined by the Board of Regents in May.
No Rescission of Admission Offers Over Transcript Deadlines
UC requires transcripts to be submitted by July 1. Admitted students in the class of 2020, however, will not have their admissions offers rescinded if they or their school miss the deadline, and they will retain their admission status “through the first day of class until official documents are received by campuses.”
The University also announced accommodations for transfer students, as well as saying that it would continue to require English proficiency tests from international students and would still award UC credit for AP exams as consistent with previous years.
“We want to help alleviate the tremendous disruption and anxiety that is already overwhelming prospective students due to COVID-19,” Board of Regents chair John A. Pérez said. “By removing artificial barriers and decreasing stressors – including suspending the use of the SAT – for this unprecedented moment in time, we hope there will be less worry for our future students.”
