Texas Ed Spectator

Now they’re suing UT for considering race in the admissions that fall outside the top 10 percent.

UT sued for considering race in admissions

“But for her race and ethnicity, it is our belief she would have been admitted to the University of Texas,” said Edward Blum, director of the Project on Fair Representation, a legal-defense group that fights the use of race and ethnicity in public policy.

What exactly is this “belief” based on? Do Hispanics and African-Americans make up a larger percentage of the non-top ten percentage admits than Anglos (excepting athletes in money making sports, of course)? Are individuals from these groups being admitted with lower SAT scores than Anglos? How about those with a lower class rank? Is playing the cello supposed to be considered part of the admission process? If so, how does that compare to getting merely decent SAT scores at a poorly funded and poorly performing high school?

I have to admit that this is a change from the usual “my child scored 1400 on the SAT but can’t get into UT because she’s not in the top ten percent” complaint. Fisher’s SAT scores would put her in the bottom of the middle 50% for UT. It would be nice to know why they think she would be admitted under “race neutral” conditions.

Technorati Tags: UT Austin, admissions policy, racial preferences

Randolph-Macon College is a small liberal arts of less than 1,200 students just north of Richmond, Virginia. The college has two programs that I find appealing. It has a First-Year Experience that goes beyond freshman seminars. Undergraduate research appears to be prominent with it’s Schapiro Undergraduate Research Fellowship. And for those who ranking is important, its ranking in US News and World Report suggests that it may be an under-rated or undiscovered education value. It’s ranked 122 over all in its Liberal Arts Colleges list but is 176th in selectivity.

• Four Year Graduation Rate: 52.2%
• Median SAT: 1095
• $18,433 expenditures per student
• 78.4% Admitted
• 86% Students living on campus

Over a third of the students participate in nationally based sororities and fraternities. The importance of Greek life comes across in the Princeton Review’s student comments. And while the campus hasn’t reported any liquor or drug violations, drinking appears to be a major recreational focus. Randolph-Macon makes the Princeton Review’s top twenty lists in “Lots of Beer Parties,” “Major Frat and Sorority Scene Parties,” and “Party Schools Parties.” This where it would be nice to know more about how other schools ranked on these lists other than the top twenty. For all we know, it may be little different than number 50 or dramatically different than number 21. Having attended a school that regularly made the party school rankings, I know that it’s possible for such a label to have very little effect on your individual experience. However, given it’s small size, it’s something I would want to check out very carefully.

While student’s comments don’t say anything specifically about the academic rigor of the classes, the college states that “since 1920, when statistics were first kept, a higher percentage of Randolph-Macon graduates have gone on to earn PhDs than that of any independent college in the state of Virginia.” I suspect this is a school worth looking into if you are interested in a liberal arts education but don’t have the scores to get into one of the more selective schools. I would just be wary of it’s drinking reputation.

R-MC :: What is the First-Year Experience?

As a new student, you’ll explore these kinds of connections through your First-Year Experience (FYE). You’ll join a small group of other students and two professors from different disciplines for a yearlong exploration of a topic in a challenging and interesting set of FYE classes. Outside the classroom, you’ll attend co-curricular events such as plays and public lectures designed to deepen your understanding of the topic. The work will culminate in an interdisciplinary analysis that might take the form of a written report, a video production, or a work of art. And through FYE you’ll make solid connections with those who share your exploration, including the faculty members, one of whom will serve as your academic advisor.

FYE Topics

The Drug Trade
Disciplines: Chemistry and Sociology

What is Life?
Disciplines: Biology and Computer Science

Biopolitics
Disciplines: Biology, Political Science

Wine, Science, and Society
Disciplines: Literature, Chemistry

In God’s Good Time
Disciplines: Religious Studies, Physics

Why R-MC: Undergraduate Research?

Randolph-Macon College views students as colleagues through their summer research opportunities that take them out of the classroom for a total summer immersion program.

Like professional scientists and scholars, Randolph-Macon students have to apply to the SURF program by writing a proposal and request for grant money to fund their research. If their project is accepted, they receive a stipend of $3,000 and free housing. In addition, funds are available for supplies and travel.

Technorati Tags: Randolph-Macon College, College Rankings, College Search, Liberal Arts Colleges

The Princeton Review is one the sites I’ve been frequenting in my search for colleges that might accept my son and that he might accept. One interesting feature is its list of rankings.

The New 2008 “Best 366 Colleges” Rankings on The Princeton Review

We’ve created 62 rankings lists across 8 categories, based on feedback from more than 120,000 students across the nation. Enjoy!

I don’t know how statistically valid these lists are or what actually separates the number one school from the number 20 school from the number 100 school. But if there is anything to these lists at all, you’ve got to wonder what’s the attraction of the super selective schools in the country. If a school makes the top twenty “Toughest to Get Into,” you would think they would make multiple appearances on the various education quality lists. Not necessarily so.

The other “education quality lists” I’m talking about are:

• Professors Get High Marks

• Their Students Never Stop Studying

• Professors Make Themselves Accessible

• Class Discussions Encouraged

• Students Happy with Financial Aid

• Schools Runs Like Butter

• Best Classroom Experience

• Happiest Students

• Best Quality of Life

Six of the toughest schools to get into don’t make it onto any of the lists: Columbia, University of Pennsylvania, Duke, Dartmouth College, Cooper Union, and Georgetown. Harvard, MIT, Yale, and Brown only make it onto one additional list. The schools that appear the most on the other lists are Middlebury College, five categories, and Princeton, Stanford, and Pomona in four categories.

So which schools appeared in the most categories? Thomas Aquinas College and Wabash with seven appearances each. Not exactly household names. Hendrix and Ursinus College make the Best Classroom Experience. Simon’s Rock College of Bard, Centre College, and Sewanee-University of the South are in the “Professors Get High Marks” category. A total of 87 colleges appear on these nine lists. That’s a lot more than the 20 “Toughest to Get Into.” Of course, many of these colleges could be ranked in the top 30 or 40 on the “Toughest to Get Into” so it may not be that big of a deal. But without any way to judge the difference between those on the list and those that didn’t make it, it’s hard to reach a conclusion about the value of the top twenty.

I understand why the Princeton Review didn’t want to rank all 366 colleges on the list. Any college that appears at the bottom of the list would unfairly receive a “negative” rating even if there really isn’t that much difference between those at the top and those at the bottom. However, if you’re going to evaluate colleges based on their placement on these lists, it seems to me that you should seriously be considering factors other than just selectivity when looking for a quality college.

Technorati Tags: College Admissions, College Rankings, College Selectivity, Princeton Review

I’ve seen this book, “Acing the College Application,” around and just the little skimming I’ve done standing in the book aisle has convinced me that it’s a superficial treatment of the college application process. This review of Naomi Schaefer Riley’s seems to confirm it.

OpinionJournal - Leisure & Arts

Take this passage from Michele Hernández’s “Acing the College Application,” where she assesses the chances of a high-school student getting into a college of his choice. “Best case: Neither of your parents attended college at all, your father is a factory worker, and your mom is on disability. . . . Worst case: Your father went to Yale as an undergraduate and then Harvard Business School and is now an investment banker and your mom went to Brown, holds a Ph.D. in chemistry and works as a research chemist.”

We all understand that being a rich white kid puts one at a disadvantage in the college-admissions process.

This casually drawn conclusion on both the parts of the author, Michele Hernandez, and the reviewer rankles me. First of all, how can you have all the “passionate” enrichment activities unless your parents have money? I know some exceptional kids do but they are just that, exceptional.

Then there is the fact that while students from private schools make up only ten percent of the student population at the elementary and high school level, they seem to be disproportionately represented at the elite colleges.

Percentage of freshman from public school

Poor little, rich Johnny isn’t getting beat out by some poor Hispanic kid from the Rio Grande valley; he’s getting beat out by another poor, little rich kid.

Now at days, virtually everyone applying to selective schools has perfect or near perfect SAT scores and is in the top ten percent of their class. So which do you think is going to make more of a difference in the application process, a mother who is an alumnus or a father who is a truck driver? Which applicants are more likely to have the resources to follow their passions?

I’m sure that there are some minority students admitted that have lower scores than many of the white males who were rejected. I’m just as sure that there are athletes, artists, musicians, and students from Montana (other traits people are often born with) that have lower scores than those who were not admitted.

It sounds like these books are encouraging you to reap the benefits of your parent’s wealth without appearing as such to the admissions committees. Or maybe the authors are just trying to reap the benefit’s the parents wealth without appearing as such to the parents.

Technorati Tags: college admissions, private admission counseling, discrimination, Acing the College Application, What High Schools Don’t Tell You, Naomi Schaefer Riley