UCI Welcomes Transfers, Strives for Diversity

As a transfer student to UCI this fall, I was shocked when someone told me UCI had been or will be barring admission to transfer students (“UC Irvine Bars to Transfer Students Should Be Lifted,” Commentary by Hugh W. Glenn, Aug. 5).

Even though Glenn’s piece is an excellent argument why transfer students should not be barred from UCI, transfer students have not been barred in the past, are not presently barred, nor will they be barred from admissions in the future more than any other category of students.

UCI has three quarters--fall, winter and spring. Students normally apply for UC admission about nine months in advance of the quarter they desire to be admitted.

There are generally three types of applicants--freshmen, transfer and graduate students. Freshmen are admitted based primarily on their high school performance and transfer students on their community college performance. The admission criteria differ for freshman and transfer applicants. Freshman applicants have to have had a higher GPA than do transfer applicants, and UCI has more freshman applicants than transfer applicants.

UCI does not discriminate against transfer students any more than freshman students. In fact, in a way, UCI discriminates more against freshman students because freshman students have to have a higher GPA than transfer students and take an SAT test.

For the fall quarter 1992, UCI had many applicants. Because of this huge demand, UCI will not be able to accept both freshman and transfer applicants for the winter 1993 quarter and probably not for spring 1993.

Mr. Glenn’s article was an excellent piece on why universities should not have preferential admissions policies and how diversity cannot be fairly mandated.

I wholeheartedly agree with Mr. Glenn’s belief that universities should hire the best-qualified professors and accept the best-qualified student applicants, regardless of sex, race, age, ethnicity, etc.

KATHERINE E. STEWART, Costa Mesa