UC’s new application process is encountering some surprising controversy for a seemingly innocuous change: allowing schools to ask students for letters of recommendation.

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Why some Asian Americans are on the front lines of the campaign against affirmative action Currently, the University of California makes the vast majority of admissions decisions by looking at grades, classes, test scores, extracurricular activities and essays.

But under a new policy, the UCs will be able to ask some applicants for more information — for instance, an updated transcript that includes first semester grades the student earned after initially applying, or a questionnaire asking about special talents or home environments. Perhaps a student doesn’t have many extracurricular activities because she’s watching her younger siblings after school, for instance.

Those changes are generally being viewed positively. But the notion that students may be asked for letters of recommendation is eliciting concerns. “For many students like myself who attended large overcrowded public high schools, there are obvious concerns around the ability to access quality letters of recommendation,” said Paul Monge Rodriguez, the student member of the board of regents that oversees the system and a law student at Cal.

The new policy is partially an attempt to standardize how the schools operate.

Some of the schools don’t request letters. Berkeley, though, has asked around a third of its freshman applicants to file letters for the last couple of years. The school argues that the letters help application reviewers make a sharper distinction between applicants who might appear pretty similar at first. And Berkeley points to a recent study (conducted by one of its own professors) that indicates using the letters ultimately helped improve diversity. The state prohibits UC from using ethnicity or gender to make admissions decisions and some of the system’s most competitive campuses have faced criticism for a lack of diversity.

But the study also indicates many students who are invited to file letters don’t, suggesting they may not have access to someone they feel can write a letter on their behalf.

That’s a concern Jim Chalfant, chair of UC’s academic senate and a professor at UC Davis, acknowledges. “This was a starting point,” he said.

Ultimately, the regents voted last week to let campuses ask no more than 15 percent of freshman applicants for letters, and only when they need more information to decide whether to admit the student.

Chalfant supports the change and views it as a way to offer students who would otherwise likely not be admitted a second chance.

But several regents, including Eloy Oakley, head of California’s community colleges, expressed concern during the regents meeting that overworked public high school counselors and teachers may not personalize letters for their students, while those at elite private schools will more easily find time to do so.

Chalfant is interested in studying exactly what the letters add. If schools find that the letters help answer certain types of questions, the standard UC application could simply be updated to include those questions. “We need to do a lot more analysis,” he said.

Susan Cochran, chair of UCLA’s academic senate, said she’s fine with the change, but added, “at UCLA, we haven’t found a need for the letters.”

Monge Rodriguez, the student regent, just hopes UC keeps students from all backgrounds in mind. “Additional information included in a letter could be helpful,” he said. “It’s just a matter of whether that tool is available to everyone.”