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UCSD student-picking not so cut and dry (BARF ALERT)
San Diego Union-Tribune ^ | 12/18/2005 | Eleanor Yang

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 ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; News/Current Events; US: California
KEYWORDS: aa; admissions; college; diversity; education; ucsd
Submitting an intelligent, well-thought-out, proofread essay = 0 points

Getting knocked up and becoming a teenage parent = 500 points

Folks, what's wrong with this picture?

1 posted on 12/18/2005 10:52:53 AM PST by gwb2OO4
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To: gwb2OO4

Just write some left wing mad rant. BINGO your in!


2 posted on 12/18/2005 10:56:07 AM PST by Names Ash Housewares
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To: gwb2OO4
Submitting an intelligent, well-thought-out, proofread essay = 0 points
Getting knocked up and becoming a teenage parent = 500 points
Folks, what's wrong with this picture?

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.

3 posted on 12/18/2005 11:05:36 AM PST by stripes1776
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To: gwb2OO4

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.


4 posted on 12/18/2005 11:13:10 AM PST by MillerCreek
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To: gwb2OO4

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.


5 posted on 12/18/2005 11:18:20 AM PST by MillerCreek
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To: Names Ash Housewares
Just write some left wing mad rant. BINGO your in!

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.

6 posted on 12/18/2005 11:20:52 AM PST by Michael.SF. (Don King: "I am not a murderer, I am a manslaughterer")
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To: MillerCreek

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?


7 posted on 12/18/2005 11:22:40 AM PST by gwb2OO4
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To: gwb2OO4

You forgot - Being a minority: Priceless.


8 posted on 12/18/2005 11:25:48 AM PST by The Worthless Miracle
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To: gwb2OO4

A denunciation of American culture, George Bush, and U.S. policies in the Middle East = 10,000 points.


9 posted on 12/18/2005 11:25:54 AM PST by John Jorsett (scam never sleeps)
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To: gwb2OO4
It's called living in an upside down world of out of control diversity.

This kind of socialist thinking brought down the Soviet Union.

Reward stoopidity and discourage success.

Remember "IT TAKES A VILLAGE" for loooosers to be whiners.
10 posted on 12/18/2005 11:29:21 AM PST by OKIEDOC (There's nothing like hearing someone say thank you for your help.)
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To: Names Ash Housewares

Man, it gets crazier and crazier doesn't it?


11 posted on 12/18/2005 11:30:14 AM PST by kjo
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To: gwb2OO4

Reminds me of George Costanza trying to get into the co-op.


12 posted on 12/18/2005 11:35:38 AM PST by Lancey Howard
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To: stripes1776
It is the destruction of Intellect.

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.

13 posted on 12/18/2005 11:36:41 AM PST by dc27
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To: dc27
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?

14 posted on 12/18/2005 12:04:50 PM PST by stripes1776
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To: gwb2OO4

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?


15 posted on 12/18/2005 12:13:14 PM PST by IronJack
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To: gwb2OO4
The real world is (mostly) a meritocracy;

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?

16 posted on 12/18/2005 12:17:02 PM PST by IronJack
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To: IronJack

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.


17 posted on 12/18/2005 1:11:13 PM PST by gwb2OO4
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To: gwb2OO4
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.

18 posted on 12/18/2005 6:15:55 PM PST by Amerigomag
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