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ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- After being in the forefront of the affirmative action debate, the University of Michigan is playing catch-up.

Higher-education leaders said this week that Michigan's new undergraduate admissions process reflects what selective schools have been doing for years, though it might offer some ideas to a handful of schools that also are revising their procedures.

The new system is similar to the one at Northwestern University, where 16 admissions counselors last year reviewed 14,100 applications for about 1,950 spots. Race is among many factors considered, said Keith Todd, director of undergraduate admissions at Northwestern.

"Most selective private universities already have a holistic [individualized] system," Todd said. "We want to enroll a diverse class but we also want to enroll a class of academically talented" students.

Michigan's new application and evaluation procedures bring the campus up to speed with how the college admissions process, especially at the Ivy League and most selective schools, has changed during the past decade as more emphasis is put on non-academic factors and each application is read by several people.

"What was adopted today has Michigan joining the mainstream of admissions procedures at almost all selective public and private institutions," said Sheldon Steinbach of the American Council on Education. "Only a handful of institutions in the country had a relatively similar admissions process to the Michigan undergraduate program."

At the University of Chicago, for example, each of about 9,200 applications is read by several people who evaluate test scores, transcripts, letters of recommendation, extracurricular activities, race and ethnicity, and other factors.

"Every item in every file is weighed differently depending on the shape of the file," said Ted O'Neill, dean of admissions at the University of Chicago. "We do take cognizance of race and we do have affirmative action admissions policies. "

Colleges have moved away from generic questions that ask students to describe why they wish to attend a particular college and instead ask specific questions such as those posed in the new University of Michigan application, experts said.

Michigan applicants can choose to write about how they would contribute to a diverse campus, their most memorable book--good or bad--a setback or ethical dilemma they've faced and how it was resolved, or an issue of local, national or international concern.

Most college and university officials have said their admissions programs already comply with the U.S. Supreme Court decision and they don't plan to make any changes.

A few schools such as the University of Illinois at Chicago medical and nursing programs, Ohio State University and the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, which all used point systems, have indicated they are finishing changes to how they choose a student body.

"We have to change some of our procedures. It is important that we give the individual total attention," said Michael Gargano, vice chancellor for student affairs and campus life at the University of Massachusetts, which received about 17,000 applications for 4,200 spots last year.

He said adding a personal interview will be one change in the new evaluation process.

Ted Spencer, University of Michigan's admissions director, said he studied other Big Ten and Ivy League admissions policies when designing the new application, and then added some "bells and whistles."

Now, he said, other colleges may want to look to Michigan. "We have an application that other schools will model," he said.

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