Elite Colleges Expand Their Horizons
Interesting article in the NY Times about elite colleges taking socioeconomic status into consideration with regards to college admission criterai, accepting lower scores from those from lower economic standings. I have mixed feelings about it, but in general, I think it's great, both for those who get the benefit of being admitted to elite schools, and for those who will now interact and get a wider perspective of the world because they will meet students from all different sides of the street. I have to say that one of the things I valued the most of my undergraduate classes was that the students had all kinds of backgrounds and I learned a ton from just hearing about it, I wouldn't have wanted a homogenous student body - it would have been boring.
posted by Shoshana @ 11:28 AM
4 Comments:
I'm sure the people who worked harder and got higher scores appreciate getting passed over because theyre not poor.... this is almost as rotten as affirmative action. monetary racism........whats next? letting people in because theyre physically handicapped?
And I'm sure the people who work their butts off, trying to earn money to help support their families while also getting through school, think it's really fair that the kids whose parents can pay thousands of dollars for prep courses and exceptional private educations get those high SAT scores. I have mixed feelings about whether it's fair to accept lower scores, but whatever you say, the playing field is not even, so it's difficult to compete regardless.
um...ultimately THAT IS fair....if we're accepting based on merit then what does it matter WHY some kids KNOW the material better? Is it fair that some people are sons of more educated people and have a better background? Is it fair that some people have higher Iq;s and study less? Ultimately these kids KNOW the material better and got better socres. So if merit is the only factor, how can discriminate based on other factors? That would be unfair to someone out there no matter how you slice it. All they have to do is say that they have their own preferences in admitting, which they do...social equality and diversity among them. and thats fine...but then dont place so much enphasis on scores.....
A lot of colleges are actually moving away from putting so much emphasis on test scores for admission, probably in large part due to accusations of bias amongst many of the tests. I guess it all boils down to the fact that life isn't really fair. And that the colleges are doing what they see fit to remedy that, at least in part.
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