On the surface, the 1974 Buckley Amendment, giving students a chance to see confidential material in their files, seems a totally positive move for the students. But it may result in a change in admissions procedure that would be detrimental to all but those students with outstanding academic records.
Admissions is not an exact science and officials say they use recommendations, school reports and interviews to fill out the objective data of test scores, class rank and grades to make a flesh-and-blood picture of a candidate.
Admissions officials contend that the Buckley law aggravated a trend in bland teacher and school recommendations, weakening their usefulness in providing that full picture. The more imprecise recommendations become, the more Harvard will be forced to rely on that objective data.
L. Fred Jewett '57, dean of admissions and financial aid, says increased reliance on objective data could make admission of non-traditional students--those coming from a background lacking in strong academic reinforcement--more difficult.
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