|
News, commentary, opinion on politics, government, books, social trends, American life, travel, cycling, books, other stuff
|
|
|
The best way to get lower income students into all schools, including the very best, would be to establish a lottery for a certain percentage of the seats. 20 to 25% in the lottery would be my suggestion for a starting point.
Those who could enter the lottery would be deemed qualified in the broadest sense by SATs, grades (generally an unreliable means, but useful nonetheless), class standing (carefully weighted against anomalies like small school size and other factors to allow people attending poor, rural schools to qualify) and perhaps an essay reviewed independently or a personal interview.** Thus, thousands of seats would open up to thousands of new students. Since Harvard, and the Ivies generally, commonly reject some students with perfect SATs and other qualifying indicators, getting lower economic kids to study harder isn't the answer.Â
With a lottery system, we would truly have markers as to the advantages of "elite" education for the less privileged. These students would mingle as equals with students who have had the very best since birth and they would also be making life contacts for future employment or mutual aid, provided the kids from richer families did not shun them.
It might be necessary to have intensive classes before enrollment about what would be expected of them academically. Tell them directly what they need to do to be successful and what professors expect in classes and papers. Some would elect to not enroll in more pressurized colleges, turning over their seats to other.
We need to try new things, not minor reforms.
added comment:
The very idea of a lottery for college admissions would result in braying screams of protest from the most privileged sectors of our society, of course. Hey, that’s my seat in college you are giving away! Parents would ask why they worked so hard, paid so much for private schools, only to have the admissions at the best schools turned over to no name students from unknown places. Well, gee.
I would say this: if your kid already has every advantage of life, why does he or she need this additional one? Of course, we live in a society where people are not supposed to be in a class structure. This creates the idea of an undifferentiated population, which results in an extreme desire for differentiation, to stand apart, to stand out. Having a name brand college on your personal resume is one of the best ways to do that, to say to the world, I am different. I am better.
The only way for some people at the lower economic levels to rise is for some of the people at the higher levels to either give up some of their privileges or to share. Sharing is being made possible by online learning, but we are a long way from making that a reality. Giving up increments of advantage has already happened at the Ivy League colleges by the attempt to make admissions more fair, based on actual merit rather than birth (somehow, the kids of the richest families manage to make it in anyway, don’t they?)
We have a system now where those with the most advantages in life by virtue of birth get the most advantages in getting into and through colleges with excellent reputations. This creates vastly unequal base of opportunity, which, after all, is one of the unstated goals of the system. Those who start higher in their careers have a much better chance of finishing higher, too.
The idea of pure “merit” as an admissions policy is false. Students who go to inferior public schools in poor areas or who have family or life situations that create great interference with their early progress are never going to be able to compete for those seats at the best schools, barring blind luck, a mentor’s direct help or some level of sheer genius. The present system will produce more of the existing results. A lottery system for a percentage of the seats would open doors and bring about real change.
Doug Terry, 2.6.14
**The SATs have no way of taking into account the depth of interest and determination of the individual student and no apparent credibility is given to whatever statement a person might make in that regard. Independent interviews and background studies, for which the elite schools have no time and no apparent interest, could go a long way to help students from non-traditional backgrounds to make the cut.
|
