Readers React: ‘Dear Cal’ letters allow Berkeley to make better admission decisions

To the editor: For decades the University of California system, Ivy League schools and other academic assemblages have been pondering the question, “GPA, SAT, ACT — is that all there is?” (“Can a Dear Cal letter get you into Berkeley?,” op-ed, July 26)

Could there be more to a student than grades and success on tests? What about creativity, leadership, imagination and ingenuity? If we want to create the shapers of tomorrow’s world, shouldn’t we also consider these intangible things?

Op-Ed article author Ben Wildavsky and others who are skeptical of UC Berkeley’s new policy of accepting letters of recommendation must realize that grades and test scores are simply not the only or best indicators of success.

One can study and be tutored endlessly to pass a test or get a grade. But to be successful in the 21st century, other, innate academic skills are necessary. Who better to relate these critical attributes than those individuals who best know the young student: their teachers, pastors and counselors?

To ignore these indicators for college entrance might thwart a future generation’s Steve Jobs from starting the next technical revolution.

Bob Bruesch, Rosemead

The writer, a teacher, is a member of the Garvey School District Board of Education.

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