You have /5 articles left.
Sign up for a free account or log in.
The University of California is about to start accepting letters of recommendation from undergraduate applicants. Most highly competitive private institutions do so (and many require such letters), as do many public flagships. Berkeley will accept one letter from a teacher and one from someone else for each applicant. In an essay in The Los Angeles Times, Ben Wildavsky notes some of the discussion about this new policy. Some see it as an end-run around California's ban on considering race in admissions, since letter writers may play up the disadvantages faced by black and Latino applicants. Others, however, think the letters may favor those who are wealthy and well connected, and who may be more likely to attend high schools where teachers have lots of experience in writing such letters, and time to do so.
