Posted on 12/18/2005 10:52:52 AM PST by gwb2OO4
About 30 UC San Diego admissions readers crowded around eight tables, debating the merits of a fat stack of college applications.
It was their second day of training for what may be the most important decision in the young lives of thousands of college applicants. And it all came down to agreeing on the number of points to award each one.
One lesson became clear quickly:
There is plenty of gray in a system designed in black and white.
[...]
And then come the essays.
Not a writing test The essay is not measured for its literary merit, intellectual expression or creative flair – at least not by UCSD admissions readers. Unlike most private elite universities, UCSD admissions readers don't check for spelling, syntax, diction, tone or grammar.
[...]
If a student writes at length about the difficulties of being a teenage parent, he or she could receive 500 points in the "special circumstance" category for dealing with a life-altering experience.
(Excerpt) Read more at signonsandiego.com ...
Getting knocked up and becoming a teenage parent = 500 points
Folks, what's wrong with this picture?
Just write some left wing mad rant. BINGO your in!
It is the destruction of Intellect. It's been going on in colleges for about 60 years now. A college education is for the most part a joke these days. You can get a good technical training in the sciences (if you are lucky to find someone who knows how to teach--a rare skill), but forget the humanities.
I can tell you from experience, "long, drawn out" essays on an application to University of CA (any campus) will not get you admitted.
They admit the efficient of far above-average grades and character and/or the efficient at stereotypes.
They DO have quotos of types of humans, so they focus on fulfilling general types first and then fill in around those, in my experience.
At least, they did when I attended.
And, each campus has a general personality.
Each campus admits students that are attuned best (as they determine) to respective campus "personality" or focus.
For instance, U.C. Irvine is the "research" campus and has the best pre-medical curriculum in Biological Sciences (not a lot of general society is aware of that).
U.C. Davis has the best Physical Sciences as to Chemistry and a number of other areas...
Let's see, U.C. Santa Barbara is focused on Literature, Languages.
U.C. Riverside, agricultural and veterinary, as is U.C.Davis.
They ALL have a general curriculum and you can major in shared studies, Colleges, at any of them but they all have a unique approach to those curriculums, is the thing. You'll get a different education in, say, Mathematics in the College of Physical Sciences at all of them, same with any major.
But, they route applicants to specific colleges if they think you're worthy of admittance at one but would "fit in" better at another.
Exactly.
When my son and some of his friends were going through this a few years ago, they were at our house discussing how they could assure entry with the essay. Using key phrases, such as:
'my significant other'
'as a member of a minority group'
'having over come a prejudicial climate'
'I know at your University, I can find comfort in others such as myself'
They all thought it was BS and laughed about the whole scenario.
A good essay doesn't need to be long or drawn out, but it SHOULD demonstrate a firm grasp of the English language, attention to detail, and the ability to organize one's thoughts. All of these skills are important in college and in most career paths that require a college degree.
Succumbing to political correctness only serves to reward pupils who lack either the intellect or the work ethic needed to succeed, at the expense of those who do not. The real world is (mostly) a meritocracy; why isn't higher education the same way?
You forgot - Being a minority: Priceless.
A denunciation of American culture, George Bush, and U.S. policies in the Middle East = 10,000 points.
Man, it gets crazier and crazier doesn't it?
Reminds me of George Costanza trying to get into the co-op.
I was shopping the other day and the girl at the register, 17-19 years old, could not figure out what coins made 38 cents. She paused for a bit and just grabbed some coins and handed it to me.
Yes, it's very rare these days to find a clerk who knows how to count change. She probably learned the really important life skills in school like how to put a condom on a cucumber. Who has time for math?
What if you write a well-reasoned, articulate essay about being a knocked-up crack whore lesbian black dwarf with a limp? Can you just test out of all your classes and go straight to grad school?
Not in liberal circles. You're measured only by how well you lie.
why isn't higher education the same way?
Because higher education is a liberal enclave.
See how it works?
All true. It is a disgrace that so many of our otherwise fine universities are failing to teach our children the facts of life - especially when they are at such an impressionable age, living away from home for the first time.
Here's an alternative perspective:
The first two years at university are guided by the influence of parenting, not the student's evolving mores or the stewardship of the institution.
Those who endured and prospered learned two critical survival skills at home; faith in their own judgment and the difference between right and wrong. Those who failed because they were thrown into unsupervised responsibilities, failed because they lacked a reliable compass and sought the approval of their peers.
The greater institutional failure is a failure to acknowledge the lack of disciple evidenced by a candidate, striving instead to use admission policies as a tool for social engineering. Promotion for social betterment at the secondary level is one thing. At the post secondary level it is simply a squandering of the public treasury. Most preferential admissions find careers in the public sector, perpetuating the public policies that got them there and leveling the whole society downward.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.