Public policy major Eliana Melmed is passionate about increasing college equity and access. In her senior thesis, which won the Taub Thesis Prize, she examined the effects of test-optional admissions policies on racial and socioeconomic diversity. Her thesis is especially timely this year. She states in her paper that “due to inaccessibility of testing sites during the COVID-19 pandemic, hundreds of institutions have adopted test-optional policies for the 2020-2021 admissions cycle. There is now an urgency to better understand the ramifications of test-optional adoption as these newly-test-optional schools determine if they will maintain the policy.”
In addition to working on her thesis this year, Melmed also authored the children’s book Who Are Our Heroes?, which celebrates the heroes of the pandemic.
On campus, Melmed was engaged in a plethora of activities. She was a student visit coordinator, junior admissions counselor, volunteer at the Neighborhood Schools Program, member of the Moot Court team, and a visual media editor and writer for the College Editorial Team.
One of her fondest UChicago memories took place during the 2019 polar vortex.