<p><a href=“http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/27/education/27grad.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin[/url]”>http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/27/education/27grad.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin</a></p>
<p>Front page article in today’s Times about a low-income student graduating from Amherst. Tony Jack is a great example of why President Marx is trying to increase the number of low income students at Amherst, to give them the opportunity to succeed that Tony had.</p>
<p>I met him at admitted students day, he was so friendly and put me at ease right away. Glad to see him get recognition for his achievements.</p>
<p>yea...he was awesome. too bad we won't see him next year.</p>
<p>I think he may be around next year. It sounds like he may be working in some capacity at the college.</p>
<p>love the message of his essay.</p>
<p><i>For now, he loves Amherst so much, he is staying around as an alumni fellow, organizing events on campus.</i></p>
<p>So he is going to be at Amherst. Not sure how much students will be seeing him, but he'll be around.</p>
<p>Yeah, it's a great article, I read it the other day :)</p>
<p>Too bad he is an exception statistically</p>
<p>Meaning what?</p>
<p>Meaning that, unfortunately, most of the students accepted under Marx's program are having difficulty adjusting to school academically even by the 4th year</p>
<p>I wondered how long it would take for a response like dendankin. Can you elaborate and provide concrete data on your comment. Amherst has the highest graduation rate for AFrican American students next to Harvard (96 versus 94). It is nationally known for it great satifaction among Black students as well as graduation rates. If you look at this week's US News and World Report (June 4th issue) on Black student graduation rates at major institutions, you'll see that Amherst (not discussed since the article was on elite universities) is light years ahead.</p>
<p>But do they have info like that based on income? Because as that article states, a lot of the african-american students are upper/middle class.</p>
<p>Now wait, you are putting words in my mouth. I said nothing about African American graduation and Academic standards. I was talking about socioeconomic</p>
<p>Umm - I thought that the Marx program for students from low-income families had not even been implemented yet so how can anyone say whether or not they fail at a greater rate than other Amherst students? The young man described in the NYT article is simply an example of the type of student that Marx would like to see at Amherst in much larger numbers in the future.</p>
<p>"Hall is right to be worried. If you think that, on average students with 1360 SATs do as well as though with 1560s, then you don't know what you are talking about. People like Marx like to tell stories about specific students who come to Amherst with low scores and then thrive, winning academic awards, writing excellent theses, being named to Phi Beta Kappa. And such stories are certainly true. But they do not represent the average result. In fact, the typical academic performance of 3s is certainly worse than that for 1s, even during senior year (by which time any disadvantage in terms of preparation should have been alleviated)."</p>
<p>This is taken from a very controversial and informative eph blog</p>
<p>I do not have more reliable statistics for this, if anyone does , please post them.</p>
<p>Go to the Amherst website and read the CAP report. It makes it very clear that they seek to recruit QUALIFIED low-income students. It makes no mention of lowering the admissions standards for low-income students. This misinformation was spread by an incorrect and poorly researched Business Week article. </p>
<p>There is no intention on the part of the Amherst admissions office or Marx himself to lower admissions standards, only to more aggressively seek out and recruit the low-income students who ARE qualified.</p>
<p>So do your research...</p>
<p>No, you do your research.</p>
<p>"Qualified" for a regular applicant is different from "qualified" for a low income applicant. The standards are not lowered if you believe in the assumption that there is "hidden, undiscovered talent" which the applicants could not develop because of their socioecnomic background. </p>
<p>Although Tom Parker says
"the college's new initiative will be implemented without lowering these standards."
<a href="http://64.233.167.104/search?q=cache:knfWowxJOS8J:www.browndailyherald.com/news/2006/03/22/CampusWatch/Amherst.Opens.Arms.To.LowIncome.Students-1712420.shtml+tom+parker+amherst+initiative&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=3&gl=us%5B/url%5D">http://64.233.167.104/search?q=cache:knfWowxJOS8J:www.browndailyherald.com/news/2006/03/22/CampusWatch/Amherst.Opens.Arms.To.LowIncome.Students-1712420.shtml+tom+parker+amherst+initiative&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=3&gl=us</a></p>
<p>He also says
"Let's be upfront: If we're going to do this, we're going to give up some SAT points. Right now, at institutions like Amherst, the credentials [of admitted students] are in the stratosphere. We know the sacrifice we need to make. And it's not going from 1500 [on the SAT] to 1200. It is going from 1500 to 1380 or so. To me, that is still a very smart kid. "</p>
<p>yes, you can say that going from 1500 to 1360 is not a big deal, but a kid with 1360 would not get a job if he doesn't go to amherst, he would get a scholarship as syracuse, or some other top 50 school. Why is it then specifically Amherst's "moral responsibility" to recruit kids from different socioeconomic backgrounds.</p>
<p>I've read every article regarding the new plan...</p>
<p>Anywho. Regarding the "why?", you may want to, as suggested, read the actual CAP report. Here, I'll link you! </p>
<p>It explains why they think that recruiting kids from different socioeconomic backgrounds is important. A snippet: "While the College has, without fanfare, led higher education in developing and maintaining need-blind admission and full-need financial aid, the socio-economic profile of the student body remains much the same today as it was twenty-five years ago. Though we compare favorably with our peer institutions, we still enroll less than a quarter of our students from below the top quintile of family income. As a result students from households earning up to the US median family income find themselves part of a small economic minority at the College. </p>
<p>Amherst’s current socioeconomic imbalance undermines our historic mission and puts artificial constraints on the learning community that we form here. Consistent with the College's charter to educate bright, indigent young men, Amherst should aspire to strengthen our leadership position among selective private colleges and universities in admitting talented low-income students (e.g., those eligible for Pell grants).Recent initiatives by the Office of Admission suggest that this portion of the applicant pool can be expanded while maintaining the College’s high academic standards, a finding that we hope will be validated by further cycles of admission."</p>
<p>And, if you cared enough to check, a 1380 is still within the middle 50% of Amherst's SAT profile. So there isn't much of a compromise.</p>
<p>Furthermore, while Tom Parker admitted that in certain cases a hundred or so points may be sacrificed, there is no basis for saying that ALL, or even most, low-income students will be any lower than the rest. Believe it or not, but there are poor people who are intelligent and capable of scoring a 1500 on the SAT! Who'dathunkit?</p>
<p>1380 is also in the middle 50% for Princeton, for a reference.</p>
<p>one thing that you don't understand. when you say that "1380 isn't much of a compromise" it isn't much of a compromise for the school, but it has a strong effect on kids who don't get in with 1500's. Isn't much of a compromise? but what is a compromise? indeed, if we are saying that "compromise shouldn't be there" (i assume you imply it by saying that it isn't much of a compromise which is good) this is like saying isn't much of a crime....its like saying that you'r a little pregnant. it's either there is compromise or not, its either you are discriminating or not.
So maybe now you say that compromise is good or acceptable...then the discussion is gonna take a little different turn.</p>