Evening Out College Admissions

Applying to College
1

<p>Hey everyone!</p>

<p>I was thinking about how people say that it's unfair people of certain races have higher chances for colleges, and in certain fields, females have a better chance than males. Other people say stats are more important, and others say essays are more important. Shouldn't colleges take into account both stats and essays and why does race and gender even matter?</p>

<p>My question is would it would be better to include race, gender, and your name on a college application, or remove them from the application (because names give a sense of race, social security could be used instead)?</p>

<p>Wouldn't this even up the odds a lot? Although it would hurt people of certain races, it would help many other people.</p>

<p>Another idea would be is to rank college applicants to make it easier. For example, there are a few major stats, like GPA, PSAT, SAT/ACT, SAT II's, rank, and volunteer hours. The GPA could be converted into a college specific GPA (like UC GPA) and they can add that number to the PSAT, SAT/ACT (ACT would be converted to SAT score), SAT II's, rank, and volunteer hours, and divide by 2 for Stats Score A. Then, they could look at the essays/EC's/Awards, and grade each on each on a scale of 1-1000 for a total of 3000 points and add that to the Stats Score A. Then, order everyone from highest to lowest, if the college accepts X people, then take the top X people and accept them. That way, both essays and stats have an even pull on whether you are admitted or not. </p>

<p>Also, what is everyone's opinion on legacy and 1st generation college applicants? I think that legacy shouldn't matter because how well a parent does doesn't always correlate to how well their child will do, but on the other hand, a 1st generation college applicant should get a boost because they were the first ones in their family to have the passion, integrity, and will to study well for college while other relatives didn't. </p>

<p>For athletes, my opinion is that they shouldn't get accepted unless they have okay good essays/stats, because it's understandable for a drop in grades when you're always playing sports, but colleges should find some way to asses their academic ability because it's not fair for someone who's been studying for their whole life to get rejected only for some athlete to get accepted so the school rakes in more money through athletics. A college/university is for education, not for sports. </p>

<p>As for income, they could have a formula. Something like the sum of the parent's income/by number of kids, if this number is < than 1 year's worth of tuition, they get a better financial aid, if it's < than 2 year's they get aid, but less than the < 1 year tuition and so on. Once you get to the point where each child could go to college for minimum 4 years, there's really no need for financial aid. </p>

<p>I wanted to know other people's thoughts on my ideas.</p>

<p>Thanks!</p>

<p>~twoplusthree</p>

2

<p>We could talk about this all day until we get blue in the face. The world is unfair and it always will be. If it were up to me everyone would be given an ID code when they apply…everything will be thrown into a pile, and then the college chooses the ones they like and identifies the individuals with that ID code after they decide. This would make things fair. Though I am a minority, I do not believe in Affirmative action…we will end that discussion right there. As for Legacy, I don’t care. They make such a small percentage of accepted people and frankly, I would want my kid to have a better chance at an Ivy if I made it there too. Also, unless your family donated a ton of money, legacy applicants still have to meet all the statistical requirements to get considered, and, again, it is SUCH a small number it doesn’t even make sense talking about it to a huge extent. As for 1st Generation, I don’t like that, that is just me. I don’t think something you can’t control should make you more apt to get accepted than someone else, that is all, hey isn’t that discrimination in a sense? I agree wholeheartedly with the athlete thing. Why would a college think that achievements based on fleeting attributes (athletics) to be something to take into significant account when deciding who to bring in? Sure athletics show that you are a well rounded or determined individual, but that should be all it brings in. This is why college in America is becoming less meaningful, it has turned from academia to sports and partying.</p>

<p>College tuition and aid can stay as they want. Universities make the call what they want to do with their money.</p>

3

<p>Just to let you know, this is how a majority (if not all) the U.C.s calculate admissions eligibility. They have a formula based on grades, standardized testing, income, sports, E.C, and everything else under the sun. It is all converted into points.</p>

4

<p>One of the other parents here has described admissions at selective colleges and universities as being like casting a high school musical. So many dancers needed, so many singers. One tall handsome guy to be the male lead, one short guy to play the male lead’s pal. One attractive soprano for the female lead, and one not-quite-as-attractive alto to play the female lead’s pal. Not to mention someone to play piccolo in the pit band, and someone fearless to hang the lights from the auditorium ceiling.</p>

<p>Gender, ethnicity, geographic diversity, first generation, 15th generation, all of these factors contribute different things to the life of the college. Don’t worry about the traits that aren’t yours any more than you would worry about not being an alto at play casting time. You are who you are. Be your own best you.</p>