Pew Research asks Americans what criteria should be used to determine college admission

Applying to College
1

http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2019/02/25/most-americans-say-colleges-should-not-consider-race-or-ethnicity-in-admissions/

Percentages saying should be major factor / minor factor / not a factor in college admission:

67/26/07 high school grades
47/41/11 standardized test scores
21/48/30 community service
20/27/53 first generation to college
08/34/57 athletic ability
08/24/68 whether a relative attended the school (legacy)
07/19/73 race or ethnicity *
05/14/81 gender

  • Majorities of white (78%), black (62%), Hispanic (65%), and Asian (59%) respondents said race or ethnicity should be "not a factor" in college admission.

The survey sample is presumably much different demographically than the posters on this forum. In terms of how that relates to opinions on the above criteria, probably the biggest difference between the survey sample and posters on this forum is that most posters on this forum appear to favor using legacy as a factor in college admission.

2

@ucbalumnus

Wow. That’s surprising data. Thanks for sharing.

I would also share it in the scandal “thread-nado”.

3

What parts of the survey results do you find surprising?

4

Lots but most glaring

73 percent of all respondents do not believe race should be a factor.
Only 8 percent believe athletics should be considered .
53 percent do not agree with first gen preference.

5

Actually, it is 8% believe that athletic ability should be a major factor, while 34% believe that it should be a minor factor.

6

You’re definately the data guy! That’s what I meant but your clarification is better.

7

To summarize, the survey respondents overwhelmingly believe that academic performance should be the primary factors, and everything else is icing on the cake.
… this is not all that different from what the colleges say, right? Is there any kind of average of that CDS data table to compare to the survey?

8

Of course asking the general public might well be giving different results than the results you’d get from asking parents of kids applying to college (who would be expected to favor criteria that might advantage their own kids).

The article already notes that people who’ve already attended college have somewhat different answers (favoring more factors than just pure academic merit) compared to those who haven’t.

9

Agree. I think kids going to college soon or now would be a more interesting group to poll. Most wouldn’t want a campus with a severely skewed gender pool. Younger people often want a more diverse student body (first gen & race/ethnicity both impact that).

I’m surprised to see as much support for standardized tests. I happen to be in favor of them, but that seems to be a fairly unpopular view on CC.

10

If the survey respondents are a cross-section of Americans, then they may well think of their nearby directional state U when asked generally about “college.” At most such universities, which educate the majority of 4-year students in the US, high school grades and (minimal) test scores are the whole enchilada, and most high school grads who want to enroll are admitted. If that’s your model, there isn’t any reason to think that the other factors are necessary.

11

The legacy and athletic ability judgments are depressing. I accept it but nearly 10% agree with it?

12

After a little bit of web scraping and programming…


Factor                  VI=3     I=2     C=1    NC=0     Unk     Avg
HS course rigor        52.1%   15.6%    8.7%    7.3%   16.1%    2.34
HS GPA                 63.0%   11.8%    4.3%    1.0%   19.7%    2.70
Standardized tests     47.5%   19.5%   13.1%    3.8%   15.8%    2.31
Class rank             16.3%   19.9%   21.4%   24.1%   18.1%    1.34
Recommendations        14.2%   23.3%   29.1%   16.8%   16.4%    1.41
Essay                  15.4%   22.2%   24.1%   21.3%   16.9%    1.38
Interview               6.1%   13.1%   31.7%   31.9%   17.0%     .91
Level of interest       6.0%   10.5%   27.8%   31.8%   23.7%     .87
Extracurriculars        3.6%   21.9%   35.4%   21.8%   17.0%    1.08
Volunteer work          1.1%   10.7%   41.7%   27.5%   18.8%     .82
Particular talent       6.2%   16.9%   37.5%   22.2%   17.0%    1.08
Character/personal     13.9%   15.4%   29.2%   22.6%   18.6%    1.25
First gen to college     .5%    3.3%   30.3%   42.2%   23.5%     .50
State residency          .7%    2.2%   15.2%   64.6%   17.1%     .26
Geographic residence     .4%    1.7%   21.5%   57.3%   18.9%     .32
Legacy                   .3%    3.8%   39.6%   39.1%   17.0%     .58
Religion                5.7%    2.2%    6.1%   68.9%   16.9%     .33
Race/ethnicity           .1%    1.7%   18.0%   62.8%   17.2%     .26
Work experience          .5%    5.4%   42.8%   32.3%   18.8%     .68

Each row is a characteristic listed in the CDS for whether it is very important (VI=3), important (I=2), considered (C=1), not considered (NC=0), or unknown (not filled in by the college). The average is based on the non-unknown numeric values (this average is not weighted by anything like college size).

Perhaps it is not surprising that HS GPA, HS course rigor, and standardized tests are the most important factors.

Of those factors used in the Pew Research survey, the closest analogs’ order of importance is:

HS GPA
Standardized tests
Particular talent (~ athletic ability) *
Volunteer work (~ community service) *
Legacy
Race/ethnicity
(gender N/A in CDS factors)

  • These are switched in order between what colleges use on average versus what the survey respondents said, although they may not be exact equivalents.
13

HS GPA, standardized test scores, particular talents (or the opportunity to develop/nurture them), legacy - all factors highly correlated with the wealth of the students. Even for community service, it could be difficult to do if the kids have to have part time job.
Poor kids always lose out.

14

Personally, I would put first generation above community service. I know people will clamor about their kids devotion to XY or Z cause, but so many kids volunteer because they feel like they have to for the college app.
First generation college student is impressive to me - probably because I was one! I think these students deserve a boost.

15

However, actual college admission policies listed in CDS suggest that first generation to college is one of the least considered factors, below legacy but above race/ethnicity and geographic residence.

Yes, there is more consideration for aristocratic inheritance (legacy) than offering opportunity (first generation to college) on average, though it obviously varies by college.