Dear University of California, Berkeley-- We understand. You are special. Everyone wants you, and considering the large volume of applicants you receive each year I am sure it is difficult distinguishing one amazing student from another. So while it is great that you want to give everyone a fair shot by accepting letters of recommendation from some applicants this upcoming fall, I believe that doing so will only increase students ' burden instead of alleviate it. I know this doesn’t affect me, since I am already in college and do not have a time machine in my possession. However, let me tell you the story of Sally Earnestchild. You are her first choice for college because you are more affordable than an Ivy League but still possess similar prestige. Though …show more content…
What you do the nine other UCs are expected to follow. Adopting this new policy can change the entire interface of the University of California system. A series of public universities will suddenly seem like an exclusive society one can only get into through the sponsorship of other people. It is unfortunate that students who apply to public universities are reduced to grades and test scores. However the personal statements are meant to compensate for that discrepancy. In a sense, they are like letters of recommendation-- except they are composed by the students who are recommending themselves to you. If anything, a personal composition is the greatest measure of a person 's character. You can not only judge them by the content of their essays, but also their style. A person 's writing can reveal a lot about them if read closely enough. It is not as if there is a shortage of students applying to your school. I personally find nothing wrong about your current policy of requesting supplemental letters from students you are on the fence about. You say this new policy is an attempt at being more "inclusive", but here is a radical idea: perhaps you could lower your
One of the central struggles among college students today is that they are required to compete against one another to appear exceptional. In frequent cases, students are trying so vigorously to appear favorable on paper in order to be accepted into a prestigious school or to be hired for a higher-paying job. Additionally, students are required
Last summer, the Supreme Court ruled against the use of race in the college admissions process in the case of Fisher v. University of Texas. Since then, affirmative action has become a big issue in the media; however, many people still do not even know what affirmative action is. Affirmative action is a policy to prevent discrimination on the basis of “color, religion, sex, or national origin.” Overall, it favors minorities that are often discriminated. It might sound like an excellent policy; however, the use of this policy in the college admissions process is prejudice. In the college admissions process, affirmative action lowers the standards for some races, while raising the standard for other races. For example, an Asian might need a SAT score of 2300 to be considered for admission at a top school such as Yale and a white applicant might need a score of 2100, while an African American or Hispanic only needs a score of 1700. While affirmative action provides equality in the workplace, it has no place in the college admissions process and should, therefore, be abolished and replaced. This type of policy can be repealed completely, replaced with a college admissions process that favors first generation college applicants, or replaced with a policy based on an applicant’s socioeconomic status.
The situation in which I will be referring to throughout this essay is a family dinner celebrating my brother’s engagement to his fiancé whom my mother approves of but my father does not. The works of Arlie Hochschild on emotional work will be used to analyze the situational context. Arlie Hochschild is a professor at the University of California, Berkeley whose area of interest is in how individuals manage their emotions and perform emotional labor in places that require control over one’s character such as their workplace. Her work suggests the idea that emotion and feeling are social. In this Hochschild (1983) means that there are rules to how we feel in every situation such as birthday parties and trying to stay happy at them or funerals and being expected to express emotions of grief. An individual may engage in emotional work by changing their affective state to match the feeling rules of the situation, Hochschild (1983) refers to this as two concepts: surface acting and deep acting.
Affirmative action has been a controversial topic ever since it was established in the 1960s to right past wrongs against minority groups, such as African Americans, Hispanics, and women. The goal of affirmative action is to integrate minorities into public institutions, like universities, who have historically been discriminated against in such environments. Proponents claim that it is necessary in order to give minorities representation in these institutions, while opponents say that it is reverse discrimination. Newsweek has a story on this same debate which has hit the nation spotlight once more with a case being brought against the University of Michigan by some white students who claimed that the University’s admissions policies accepted minority students over them, even though they had better grades than the minority students. William Symonds of Business Week, however, thinks that it does not really matter. He claims that minority status is more or less irrelevant in college admissions and that class is the determining factor.
The University of Texas has learned a similar lesson since a federal court ruling forced it to abandon race-based admissions policies in 1996. Black and Latino enrollment dipped precipitously in the first year, but rose again after the legislature passed a
In order to be competitive in the higher education battleground, some academics believe that it’s essential that universities and colleges give minorities certain plus factors during the admission process. Many universities and colleges throughout the country believe that by instituting some form of affirmative action, the end result will be diversified campus demographics. The type of affirmative action each institution implements is different; however, each has the same goal of increasing minority admissions.
Racial preference has indisputably favored Caucasian males in society. Recently this dynamic has been debated in all aspects of life, including college admission. Racial bias has intruded on the students’ rights to being treated fairly. Admitting students on merit puts the best individuals into the professional environment. A university’s unprejudiced attitude towards race in applicants eliminates biases, empowers universities to harness the full potential of students’ intellect, and gives students an equal chance at admission.
College admissions are crucial a student’s senior year of high school. There are many requirements that need to be satisfied in order to qualify for admissions into certain colleges and universities, as well as the checklist to apply to each school. Hopefully, as a junior the student prepared by taking the SAT/ACT, and visiting at least a handful of potential colleges. By the start of senior year, the student must complete a separate application on ApplyTexas.org for each college which becomes quite tedious, then submit high school transcripts, shot records, admission essay(s), and SAT/ACT scores. Although it may be optional additional letters of recommendation from teachers, coaches and employers should be sent along with proof of volunteer work submitted as an extra precaution. These things show the college more about the individual, and allow the student to have more time to capture their reader’s attention. All of these requirements become extremely stressful, especially for
When thinking about college the same fear is established in just about every student’s mind. How am I going to pay for college? With an increase in college tuition in the past ten years, that question has become more frequent. Whether it is a private or public institution, the price is still no pocket change and how to pay for it has become harder and harder to accomplish. In today’s society, the average person can not get as far as they’d hope without a college education. With that accomplishment of receiving a college education, comes the dreaded loans that some students have and pass on to their children.
In the 21st century, if an individual decides to make a major commitment or resolution, they have the utmost support from their peers and family members. However, when a first-generation college student decides on furthering their education, the dearest people close to the student seem to disappear. Linda Banks-Santilli (2015) claims that first-generation students apply to a single college and without the help of a parent (para. 13). Although Banks-Santilli does not say so directly, she assumes that the students can not afford multiple application fees and the students are unsure on how to determine which college is a good fit, as their parents have not taken them on a college tour. I agree that first-generation students have far less help
I am writing this appeal letter, because I have received a letter saying that I am eligible to attend the University of Wisconsin La Crosse anymore due to my academic standing. I wish, and hope that you may reconsider. I have been attending this college for two years now, hoping to go on my third. And I would love to say that I enjoy this community very much and that I wish to stay. I wish to grow better as a student and as a member of the college community. Here in this college I am currently a leader of InterVarsity, a Christian organization on campus, and have been active in HOPE, a Hmong organization on campus. Although I have been active within the college community and have been success at it, I have failed towards being a student.
In the economically depressed world we live in today, the bottom line for students and parents when choosing a college is money. Although the thought of going off to college in the big city is both alluring and exciting, the price tag that goes along with it is not. Due to tighter wallets and budget cuts, students are beginning to re-consider their firm stance that they must go out of state for college. With all expenses considered, it is obvious that going to a local college is much cheaper than going to a university across the country. However, if your dream college is 3,000 miles away, there are many options that should be considered that will help pay for tuition, such as scholarships, loans, and working part-time. But even before this step, one must take into account every expense that goes along with that pricey college on the other side of the country; i.e. the application fee, room and board, and even the clothing required in that climate. All of these factors and more were considered when researching my two colleges, Arizona State University and New York University, and I determined that although ASU is the most financially viable, the education and pedigree I would receive attending NYU far outweighed the expensive tuition and other costs. Therefore, NYU, the more expensive school, is my first choice out of the two colleges. Although choosing a top college is an important step in the search process, planning on how to pay for it is the most important step. There are many different options available to incoming students, such as scholarships, loans, part-time jobs, working on campus,
[The school where I teach is the only high school within a city school district that is located within the confines of a larger metropolitan area. The school receives Title 1 funding, with 56 % of the students being eligible for free or reduced lunches. This high school offers a variety of degree programs and coursework, such as, advanced placement coursework and exams, international baccalaureate and culinary arts certification, technical and college prep diplomas, one of the largest Air Force ROTC programs in the area, and alternative programs through which students have the ability to earn credit for the courses that they had previously failed. This school is very diverse, of the 2,291 students 46.0% are African American, 30.0% are Hispanic, 18.0% are White, 3.0% are Multiracial, and 2.0% are Asian. The area surrounding the school is just as diverse as the students that attend the school. A majority of the homes within this school district are single-family homes and can range from small-scale mansions to unmaintained older homes. There are also a large number of apartment complexes and condos in the area as well. A portion of the student population comes from outside of the district in order to participate in the high school’s international baccal...
As the end of my senior year in high school approached, I had to make an important decision. What school was I going to spend the next few years of my life at? When the financial aid packages arrived, I was torn between two colleges. After sitting down with my mother and discussing the advantages and disadvantages of both schools, I came to my final decision. It seemed like a year ago I was imagining what college life would be like and suddenly before my eyes, I would be a college student in a matter of four months.
Financial issues can be the main reason why someone wouldn’t want to go to college. College is more expensive than some people might understand. College shouldn’t just be a one day process, it takes time to actually figure out your likes and dislikes, the subject field you’re interested in. In today’s society there’re some opportunities to help pay for college, there’s finan...