Posted on 04/02/2018 6:47:14 PM PDT by ethom
Parkland survivor and March For Our Lives organizer David Hogg took hold of the national spotlight with a handful of his peers just a few short weeks ago. He appears to most of us as well-spoken, driven, mature and passionate about changing the world. Hogg, like millions of students across the country, is also a high school senior who applied to colleges last fall.
And it surprised many to learn that he didn’t get into all the colleges he applied to.
The New York Times reports that Hogg did not receive admission to University of California, Los Angeles; University of California, San Diego; University of California, Santa Barbara; and University of California, Irvine.
Representatives from UCSB, UCI, and UCSD would not speak to Mediaite on the record, and UCLA sent Mediaite the following statement about its and the University of California’s admissions policies: “To protect the privacy of all our applicants, UCLA does not comment on individual students’ admission decisions.”
A spokesperson explained further: “UCLA and all other UC undergraduate campuses use a set of 14 criteria in reviewing applicants. … At UCLA, the evaluation and decision process is done on an ongoing basis from the time we receive the applications in November until the admission decisions are released in late March. UCLA does not change admission decisions based on new public information. However, applicants who are not admitted are afforded the opportunity to submit a formal appeal to their admission decision.”
As it turns out, all four of these institutions have appeals processes for rejected students, but instances of successful appeals are exceedingly rare. A successful appeal will bring to light new information about the applicant that was not present in the original application, and it is not clear whether Hogg was rejected before or after the horrific events in Parkland.
A great deal of the questions we may ask about Hogg’s acceptance to schools hinge on when exactly the admissions committee convened and if they ever reverse decisions before sending them out to students based on new information. The ins and outs of college admissions are as closely guarded as state secrets, and I was thoroughly stonewalled by campus staffers in my pursuit of those answers. Without them, any concrete assessment of whether and how much Hogg’s activism factored into admission committees’ decision on his application is impossible.
Yet, a theoretical exploration of how much his and others’ activism ought to matter in admissions decisions is still worth exploring.
This calculus may also vary from school to school. Fellow survivor and activist Emma González of “We Call BS” fame was reportedly given an early ring by Drew University in Madison, NJ offering her admission. It’s unclear, of course, whether Emma would have gotten in anyway, but her moving speech clearly had an effect on the admissions team at that institution, and they obviously were still in the process of reviewing applications. Bear in mind, though, that Drew has an undergraduate class of about 1,400 students each year, and UCLA, for example, boasts an undergrad class size of 30,000-plus. The process of reviewing an applicant at each of these schools is bound to be somewhat different. (Though the intricacies of these differences are maddeningly opaque to the outside world.)
It’s also worth considering the ethicality of heavily weighing a student’s activism. Hogg and his peers had the spotlight thrust upon them, and they took up the mantle with grace and poise. Students not given that – shall we loosely call it – “opportunity” will be at a disadvantage in comparison. Should that be right? On the other hand, should we disregard the incredible perseverance, tirelessness, and dedication with which these students are pursuing their cause and inspiring a nation when we evaluate their potential contribution to a college campus? Surely not.
One of the more ethically muddy things to consider, also, is whether student activists who are seniors this year should take a gap year to focus on their activism and, during the fall 2019 application cycle, apply to more prestigious schools than they would have before the shooting. Would we consider that dishonest? Gaming the system? Or making the most of a horrible situation and looking to get the best education possible because they now have a better chance of access to it?
Hogg could not be immediately reached for comment by Mediaite, though he did tell CNN’s Alisyn Camerota last week that he is considering a gap year, in order to go on the campaign trail.
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Follow Rachel Dicker on Twitter @rachelmdicker.
they should get free chocolate for life
... and skittles, don’t forget skittles.
No. Any school that awards admission or scholarship solely based on pity is asking to be emotionally manipulated or blackmailed.
Colleges no longer have standards (STEM holding out, but don’t know for how long), so let them go wherever they’d like. The good ones will go into useful professions, and the Hogg types will go into journalism, political “science”, and the SJW collection of boxtop degrees.
How about free muffins for life?
These daze, getting into a “college” is a financial trap.
Sure.. Pay for it out of the salaries of all those government agency folks who failed to act to stop the massacre.
They are sure milking this whatever its worth. Very unbecoming.
Hell no. They didn’t “survive” jack sh*t. Saying they are is like saying every woman (and some men) are breast cancer survivors. It’s idiotic. These snowflakes are already fully programed to hate America and its freedoms. Why waste more money on the little bastards by sending them to college to receive more programing? I imagine that after K-12 in public schools, their undeveloped brains are already full anyway.
They are all in California.
Did he not apply to any in Florida, where he is?
.
Sure as long as they are sterilized.
As for Hogg boy whining about not being accepted by any of the liberal California schools, well, maybe he needs to check his “white privilege”. After all, he is a white boy. If he wants to go to college, he’s going to have to do something drastic like going “transgender” and becoming a transvestite.
They got free “Whine” for life
Is it cognitive dissonance that keeps people ignoring the fact that this little twerp David Hogg WAS NOT AT SCHOOL WHEN THE SHOOTING HAPPENED?!?!
He was at home when he heard about the shooting and rode his bike 3 miles to school so he could practice for the career he aspires for; journalism.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2j7HeF16704
Democrats LOVE nothing more than demonstrating their “compassion” with other people’s shit.
I got into UCSB. Of course I had all A’s in high school except for two chemistry classes. And, as I recall, SAT in the high 1400s.
As I recall it, he’s been accepted at several schools in Florida.
What a great idea!
Just get one of your classmates or some outside nut to shoot up your school...and “you all goin’ to college”.
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