After graduating from high school many graduated seniors face the difficult challenge of applying to a university or community college to attend to in the fall. With applying to college, students compare their likes and dislikes with each school, determine which school environment suits them best, and where can they receive the best possible education for their potential major. Searching for a school to attend is an important part of a student’s life and applying to one should be performed very carefully. Before students are admitted to a school, Universities must determine whether a student is applicable during an admission process. Admission is a crucial step to being accepted into an elite college or major university. There are a few ways which the admissions process can take place, and the legacy admission is one to name out of the few. Many controversial issues have arisen through out the past few years, stating that this type of selection is not fair to other students who do not qualify under the legacy status. It is unethical to choose a student for superior reasons, because it is not fair to other students who are not of superior status, but deserve to attend a school.
Legacy admission is the process in which a student is admitted because of a wealthy, educated, or important relative or close friend; who once attended a certain university in which that particular student has applied to. The Economist in “_The Curse of Nepotism_” describes legacy admission as “using admission systems as tools of alumni management—let alone fundraising” (Economist 366), while Lowell and Turner in the “_The History of Legacy Admissions_” describe it as “the son or daughter of an alumnus or alumna” (Turner 375). Legacy admissions have been present for a number of years, and continue to be used through out many major universities today. Legacy admission is most commonly seen amongst Ivy League and elite schools across the nation. In the 1920’s institutions like Yale, Harvard, and Princeton formalized their policies that favored children of alumni in order to appease graduate fathers (Turner 375). During the earlier years of this practice schools admitted, “All alumni students who could demonstrate a minimum level of ability” (Turner 375), but now the constant debate of whether this is ethical or not has led to a decline in students being admitted this way.
Although many see it is unethical to accept students into school based off of alumni and the money they can contribute to the school, some feel that admitting students through a legacy does have a positive aspect on admission and to the university.
Over the course of the recent past, universities across the U.S. have been faced with decisions on admissions. What was once popular, affirmative action, is now fading with a long past of problems, and new programs are entering into the picture. The University of Dayton and many others are taking actions to improve the standards of their students, regardless of race and background. These new concepts are reflecting higher academic progress, and increase in prestige and national reputation. By basing selection on academic ability and incorporating improved recruiting techniques, the nation would be filled with greater college standards and no use for an old and tiring affirmative action process.
...es And Affirmative Action In Making Admission Decisions At A Predominantly White University.” College Student Journal 39.4 (2005): 734-748. Academic Search Premier. Web. 27 Feb. 2014
Symonds, William C. “College Admissions: The Real Barrier Is Class.” Business Week 4 Apr, 2003: 66-67.
Since America’s college system began, someone has had the responsibility of deciding who gets into a college and who does not. Colleges and universities must draw the line somewhere as to who has the opportunity to become more educated and who gets a full-time job at McDonald’s. This decision-making process has always been a difficult job and has become even more difficult in recent years as competition in higher education gets tougher. College admissions departments have come up with a system which combines indicators such as standardized test scores, high school class rank, grade point average, and essays. Different schools put different amounts of emphasis on these gauges but most use some mixture of them.
Every year there are thousands of students planning and tracking their goals. Seniors in high school are faced with the tough challenge, while the Juniors are left to worry another year. Finally, the point comes a student’s life where they must make one of the most important decisions in their educational lifetime. That choice is, which college to attend, and it is a very scrutinous process. Two of such colleges are the University of Iowa and St. Ambrose University, and although similarities like majors and minors are evident, there are many other differences including student life.
This newspaper article talks about a university in California, purposely denying in-state students admission and favoring out-of-state students because they have to pay more. The article states this, in one way, by saying a student who family’s ties with the school dates back over 50 years and a lot of donations. This is an extremely well written article, which singles out people who tell their story of rejections. This article does contain direct quote and many statistics. While interesting and proving that often out-of-state students pay more, this article is pretty useless to my case.
216) as illustrated in the Appendix. Students’ preferences are a function of their background and individual characteristics (race, gender, and class, academic achievement, etc.), whereas attributes of the college may include tuition costs, selectivity, institution type, and campus environment (DesJardins et al., 2006). The authors conceive of courtship activities –merit aid awards and college recruitment--as being highly consequential in the enrollment decision and suggest non-aid courtship activities (e.g., recruitment events) “may be as important as actual financial aid awards” (p.
The right and privilege to higher education in today’s society teeters like the scales of justice. In reading Andrew Delbanco’s, “College: What It Was, Is, and Should Be, it is apparent that Delbanco believes that the main role of college is to accommodate that needs of all students in providing opportunities to discover individual passions and dreams while furthering and enhancing the economic strength of the nation. Additionally, Delbanco also views college as more than just a time to prepare for a job in the future but a way in which students and young adults can prepare for their future lives so they are meaningful and purposeful. Even more important is the role that college will play in helping and guiding students to learn how to accept alternate point of views and the importance that differing views play in a democratic society. With that said, the issue is not the importance that higher education plays in society, but exactly who should pay the costly price tag of higher education is a raging debate in all social classes, cultures, socioeconomic groups and races.
Education has always been a current issue due to the fact that it is seen as an economic cure-all. However, the perception of college is ill-conceived and there are multiple debates on how to improve it. College universities believe that having open admissions will increase the amount of matriculations, but the fact is the amount of students being enrolled into a four-year university has no relationship to the amount of students with academic aspirations. W.J. Reeves, an English professor at Brooklyn College of The City University of New York, gives a few examples of how open admissions has changed education methods and student abilities. Reeves wrote this opinion piece to convince everyone, especially parents, that schools are in need of reform
Every spring, high school students around the country anxiously check their mailboxes, hoping to receive letters of acceptance to their dream colleges. Typically, in perfect world, acceptance to college should be based on grades, SAT scores, letters of recommendation, character, extra-curricular activities, and personal statements. Recently, however, another factor in the admission process has become more and more accepted; race based admission. This new policy has been made in order to give minority students a better opportunity to gain acceptance into better colleges. In the 1960’s, President Lynden B. Johnson trying to bring diversity to higher education in the United States and serve as a peace offering for past discriminatory treatment, the use of race in the application process is supported by some and opposed by others. Supporters of the affirmative action claim that it is necessary to achieve diversity in education, which in their opinion should be sought above all else, while the opponents say race based admission actually promote racism and discrimination by the use of skin color in the admission policy. Since the introduction of race is a factor in acceptance, many people have challenged the legality of affirmative action. The Supreme Court has heard many cases related to race based admission and this continues today. Furthermore, this essay will look into the different opinions as to whether or not race should factor into university enrollment policies.
As a low-income student in high school, I used my application fee waivers, to apply to four Cal State Universities and four University of California schools. I did not apply to any private universities, for the simple fact that I lacked guidance and information about the schools as well as the probability that I would be accepted to such schools. When I was denied from my top choice (the University of California, Los Angeles), I decided to attend the best school I was accepted to—the University of California, Santa Barbara. In the following section, I will discuss the individual, societal and cultural influences in my college choice process that led to my decision to attend UCSB.
It is difficult to imagine a college bound senior making the big decision on where to attend college without the help of college rankings and family influence. Making such an important decision requires heavy research for the college bound student, and it is no surprise that college rankings are one of the first places students look for advice on their future school. Many high school seniors are concerned with the rankings, the “image”, or school pride associated with colleges. As seniors question which school is the best and strive to meet the admissions standards that seem to continually increase, it is important to question whether or not the quality of education is better at colleges with higher rankings and admissions standards. The process behind the rankings should be more exposed and by doing so, it may persuade college bound students to consider other factors that would impact their college experience. This may convince college bound students that rankings and admissions standards are not as important as they are held to be, and it would be beneficial to the students to realize that a quality education can occur at any college and not just the prestigious ones.
My junior year of high school was filled with high emotions, stressful moments, and tension about where to apply to college and where I would be accepted and ultimately attend. At a “Making the Most out of your Sixth Semester” forum that year, the entire junior class experienced lectures from the school’s college resource counselors about how to prepare for this arduous battle of college admissions. The way Sue Biermert, who is the College Admissions Counselor at my high school, opened the forum was by asking a question to the parents that put everything into perspective: “How many of you parents feel like you are successful?” Every single hand shot up from the 500 parents in the auditorium. Of those that had their hands up, she asked, “How many of you parents received an Ivy League education?” Every hand went down. I could see friend’s mouths sit there in awe that getting an Ivy League education is not necessarily the greatest factor at having a good life. Even though these shocked students were the ones hoping to be accepted by Yale and Harvard, they all simultaneously recognized that going to an Ivy League school is not a guarantee for success in life. The reality about American culture is that success is the result of individual experiences that suit the needs of each person, not necessarily the prestigious institution of learning that one attends.
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
The process of preparing for college is an arduous process. College is an instrument used to have a successful life. However, getting into college is difficult. The competition for college admittance is extremely high. Most students do not take the necessary actions to ensure their admittance. Consequently, many students do not get attend their ideal college. Therefore, I have taken steps to make certain that I attend the college of my choice, By taking care of my class ranking, actively participating in school functions, and researching my intended degree, I have set myself up to attend the college of my choice.