Selective admissions is in crisis.
That was the message conveyed by organizers of an admissions conference in Los Angeles this week. It was the first time the conference, hosted by the University of Southern California’s Center for Enrollment Research, Policy, and Practice, had convened since
the Varsity Blues scandal erupted last March — adding celebrity gossip, a master schemer, and stories about rich people gaming the system to our collective understanding of selective admissions. At USC, an athletics administrator and several coaches were indicted.
The scandal seemed to confirm the suspicions of many that the admissions system is rigged to the advantage of families that are already privileged. But those suspicions have always been there.
One of the most prominent — and, in some circles, loathed — ways institutions do that is through legacy preferences, giving the children of alumni an edge in admissions. This month, the
Johns Hopkins University disclosed that over the past decade or so it had
stopped legacy admissions entirely, and taken other steps to help diversify its student body.
>>
What They're Saying: “In this move to diversify our class, we’ve also raised the bar on the level of students we have at Hopkins,” vice provost for admissions
David Phillips said. “Too often there can be a sentiment that somehow diversity and excellence are opposed. Nothing could be further from the truth.”
>>
Why It Matters: In fact, one of the most salient critiques of ending legacy admissions as a solution is that it won’t actually solve very much. But one reason to do it, Hopkins administrators said, is for the signal it sends to the public.
>>
The Key Stat: It’s not clear that prospective students pay attention to whether colleges give preferences to legacy applicants, according to
Sara Urquidez, executive director of the Academic Success Program, a nonprofit group in Dallas that provides college advisers to public high schools. “They’re concerned about paying for college.”
>>
Keep Reading, courtesy of
Neil Gluckman, Chronicle of Higher Education ($)
The Tufts men also came up big, 
Not a bad weekend for the No. 1 Norwich men's hockey team as the Cadets posted a pair of shutout wins, 
Congrats to the following conference champions: Keene State (Little East); Norwich (GNAC); Merchant Marine (Skyline).
Congrats to the following conference champions: Keene State (Little East); Simmons (GNAC); Merchant Marine (Skyline).
Quite an evening for UW-Eau Claire's Dylan Cooper (pictured) who 
Rhode Island College's Chelsea Yang 
No comments:
Post a Comment