The changes came in response to a court ruling that UGA illegally gave preference to minorities and children of alumni.
Applicants for the 2003 freshman class will be placed into three groups: academically superior, academically competitive and not competitive. There will be no accounting for race. The former admissions plan gave some borderline students a slight boost if they weren't white.
Students placed in the not competitive group will get a second reading by faculty reviewers to see whether an ``exceptional circumstance'' should let the student in, based on essays, community service and recommendations.
The intent is to help students overcome barriers to college without giving illegal preference based on race.
The university also will begin an early decision process, which lets students learn whether they were admitted in December instead of April, as long as they commit to attending Georgia if accepted. Selective private schools have long used an early decision process to gauge how serious applicants are about the school.
A longer application form is planned, giving students more room for essays and for a new requirement, a teacher recommendation.
In a statement, school spokesman Tom Jackson said most freshmen, about 75 percent to 80 percent of the class, will be admitted based on test scores and high school grades alone.
The admissions overhaul comes after years of lawsuits by white women who argued they would have been admitted if they were black or men. The school is predominantly female and gave male applicants a slight boost for several years.
http://accesswdun.com/article/2002/7/191844