Talent and Inclusion Admission Program

The Talent and Inclusion (T&I) initiative is an alternative admission program for students of excellence who: come from private subsidized or public schools, that belong to the top 10% of their promotion grades or have participated in the PENTA UC program.

It offers leveling instances, academic and psychosocial support, and the possibility to access economic scholarships besides the support plan offered without distinction to all new students. However, this accompaniment is provided with greater intensity to T&I students through continuous monitoring that allows for identifying possible difficulties and providing support on time.

Students are selected based on their career motivation, resilience, perseverance, social commitment, and leadership, among others, allowing talented students to access the UC School of Engineering, even if they could obtain a National Admission Test score below the cutoff. The program diversifies students’ abilities, capturing talents that are often not recognized by standardized tests.

In 2011 the program started as a pilot initiative in the UC School of Engineering, and in the following years, T&I expanded to all UC careers. Today, more than 1,000 students have entered Engineering as part of the program, and more than 200 have already graduated.

How to apply?

Applicants must go to https://admision.uc.cl/vias-de-admision/talento-e-inclusion/ and upload their backgrounds. They must upload certificates of school dependency, school performance, and socioeconomic forms.

Once the socioeconomic background, dependence, and school performance have been reviewed, evaluation committees comprised of academics and professionals review the questionnaires and motivation letters of the applicants. Finally, postulants get ranked according to career motivation, resilience, perseverance, social commitment, and leadership.

Finally, the first 50 applicants below the National Admission Test cutoff score are enrolled. There are also another 50 students coming from the regular admissions that are to be part of the program, resulting in a total of 100 T&I students per year.

Impact of Talent and Inclusion

Since 2011 more than 1000 students have been part of the program, 220 of whom are already graduated, and today are contributing to Chile from our discipline. 46% of T&I enrolled students are women, a figure considerably higher than the 25-30% female enrollment in general admission in recent years.

A study carried out by academics from the UC School of Engineering shows that, although the performance in the first semesters may be lower for students below cutoff score than the rest of their classmates, this difference disappears over time. Everything above proves that students that belong to the T&I program have the necessary tools and skills to succeed in their careers, despite not achieving the cutoff score on the admission tests. More information on the study developed at: https://doi.org/10.1080/03075079.2016.1263291