<p>What factors make Grove City College 'one of the most competitive' in the nation?</p>
<p>and</p>
<p>Why is the acceptance rate so high compared to other 'top christian and/or private schools' at 74%?</p>
<p>GCC’s model and competitiveness is driven by pricing strategy. It has a notably low sticker price(not necessarily low cost). That low tuition price tag and presumably low cost generates a substantial applicant pool which in turn drives competition for a fixed number of spots. </p>
<p>GCC wants to have the lowest perceived price among the many options on the Christian higher ed lot. Much of the pricing philosophy is a consequence of the founding fathers and the Pews, who were wealthy, “stiff necked” Presbyterians, and principal owners of Sun Oil, i.e. Sunoco. (There largesse is now parked in the Pew Foundation and Glenmede Trusts, ironically both mired in social engineering and liberal causes and institutions. The Pews must be thinking pee-U! And btw, they were vehemently opposed to GCC maintaining any major endowments, their idea being any college worth supporting should stand on its own. So GCC, despite what many perceive as the cause of the low price tag, is very minimally endowed and only in recent history began to raise any money from private sources.)</p>
<p>The outcome of these historical and economic approaches is that the college attracts a bright, virtually all white (in part due to the app pool and in part due to the college’s stance on refusing to accept federal funding that always leads to pressure to behave in certain ways that the market shuns.), student body, most all of whom claim Christianity and come from traditional, 2 parent homes in and around the region. One of the “raps” ( and I’m not sure it really is) is that the student body is homogenous, lacking “diversity.” But of course that is the “clarion call” of the higher ed world these days, and almost always relates to racial mix and fails to recognize the inherent diversity of any campus with 2,500 students. </p>
<p>But the end game of GCC’s strategy is … strong, bright, white students coming from fine homes that value faith, family, and education rooted in conservative, orthodox Christianity. In other words, kids who enter with lots of positive factors and graduate with the same, the kind of kids many employers need to drive their businesses and organizations. </p>
<p>The trade-off is that the college invests disproportionately fewer resources in elite faculty and their trappings, relatively little in financial aid (their notion is "hey, EVERYONE gets a bargain here and we’re not gonna dicker on price), few “frills.”</p>
<p>Anecdotally, GCC has been censured since 1963 by the American Association of University Professors for violations of academic freedom and tenure (there is none at the college). While any thinking person might applaud the factors leading to this, the point is that GCC does not play by the same faculty “rules.” Personally, I deem that to be a positive thing, although there have been situations where faculty have no doubt been treated unfairly and autocratically. But in any case, these and other factors that might include lower than scale wages, lack of professional security, poor retirement and other benefits, high teaching and advising loads,lack of sabbatical opportunities, little or no research and writing expected or generated, etc. ultimately contribute to the quality and nature of the faculty. </p>
<p>So you begin to see that there is much good to be said for the “competitiveness” but there are also downsides to this, at least relative to the bigger universe of higher education. There is no magic and no free lunch. But this model and its consequences does lead to an academically competitive student body in which pricing, values, and backgrounds are very important.</p>
<p>One final thought … many perceive, especially parents of daughters perhaps, that GCC is a “safe” and proper environment, relatively devoid of the evils of the world. Perhaps relatively, compared to Pitt, Penn State, maybe even Slippery Rock. But the beer and hormones flow, be assured. So it is not isolated nor sheltered too much.</p>
<p>Never heard of this university. Is it accredited?</p>
<p>In which case, it probably doesn’t matter. </p>
<p>At one point, GCC was considered “the” cheapest private school east of the Mississippi. That’s no longer true, but for many, its been a very fine option for securing a bachelor’s degree. </p>
<p>One additional anecdote that undoubtedly contributes to the competitive status … a rare place of its type, size that has an accredited engineering degree. Great students who apparently do well in both the work and grad school arenas, if rather ho hum faculty and facilities. All of which is merely a classic illustration of the computer metaphor … good info/students in/good output/graduates out. </p>
<p>May we assume you’re joking?</p>
<p>So Whistle Pig would you say I have an even better shot at acceptance if I plan on majoring in Political Science(as opposed to an engineering degree)?</p>
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<p>Yes, they are regionally accredited and often make the books of the top whatever number of colleges from places like Princeton Review, etc.</p>
<p>Kids I know who go there love the place and have done well getting into grad schools and with jobs in their field.</p>
<p>It is definitely a conservative school in spite of being linked to a rather liberal denomination. One would need to visit to know if it’s a good fit or not IMO. </p>
<p>If the acceptance rate is as high as has been stated (I don’t know if it is), my guess would be that it’s a rather self-selecting group due to conservative views. Everyone certainly doesn’t make it in. I know kids who wanted to go who were rejected, but they tended to have lower stats.</p>