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.
>>STEM holding out, but don’t know for how long
For a female or “underserved” minority, even STEM has unequal standards.
What a great perk! Shoot up a school, don’t get caught, VOILA! Free college.
White privilege is forgiven?
Nice one Rach. Every other word out of his maggot mouth is an obscenity with a half dozen "F-bombs" thrown into each sentence for effect. I imagine he appears very "well-spoken" to you bobbleheads in the commie lib "media".
No, they should all be given the gun of their choice.
In a word, NO.
Why was he interested only in the 4 UC campuses in Southern California? Why not UC Merced? Why not Fresno State (it would be safe--Victor Davis Hanson has retired from the faculty)? Why not Texas A & M International University in Laredo, where he could get personally involved in helping people cross the border illegally? No, he just wants some prestigious university with good beaches nearby.
Evergreen State Hospital for the Criminally Insane is now accepting applications for commitment.
that would be a big no
for obvious, degree by copy-cat, reasons
Drew just dropped its cost from $48,000 to $38,000 a year. That does not include room and board.
It is not a highly competitive school. Of course, they are going to accept a student from that high school. I’m surprised they haven’t accepted all the students at Parkland.
WAS PARKLAND AN IDYLLIC SCHOLASTIC SETTING OR A NIGHTMARE
Only an investigation will either dispel or prove that with those policies enforced. Students had all kinds of disciplinary problems (drugs, thefts fights etc) when attending classses there. Were scholistic standards lowered to fit fed DOJ grants ?
WHERE WAS THE DEMAND FOR FEDERAL AND STATE INVESTIGATIONS ????
It’ was not guns or the NRA It’s policies which had cops standing outside while killing was going on or some nut getting a gun the FBI knew he wasn’t suppose to... Plus a whole raft of other stuff
WAS THE DEMAND FOR STATE AND FED INVESTIGATION ON THE POLICIES WHICH CAUSED THIS NOT CONSIDERED BECAUSE THE RESULT WOULD BE EXPENSIVE LEGAL ACTION ???
http://www.theusmat.com/index.htm
He has like tweeted about how much he misses surfing. He’s a meathead surfer.
Is it considered an academic qualification to have been part of a team that helped push a mentally ill boy over the edge?
The gun grabbers will most certainly receive full scholarships.
You raise an interesting point. Is there something behind this?
A white male who is not an athlete with a ho hum 1270 SAT score has zero chance of getting into UCLA. My son beat that by 150 points and did not get in. However since he is against while privilege he can take comfort knowing his spot was probably taken by a minority with an even lower score.
It sure sucks to be a white male. He needs more diversity cred. Embrace the suck Hogg.
Hogg’s public temper tantrums and the revelation of his reddit posts belie what he really is — a frustrated and unaccomplished young man who has been indulged and shielded from personal responsibility by his parents and teachers to such an extent that he is unable to cope constructively with not getting his way. Lacking any sort of self-reflection, his only solution is to lash out at the unfairness of it all. Not getting what he wants, for once in his life, will be a blessing for him.
Certainly those folks in Beverly Hills have big yards they wouldn’t mind if I build a little cabana in the back of the garden.
Survivors, plural? Please. This is an obvious attempt to place media pressure on the California system to accept one individual who doesn’t merit it. It’s a display of power, just as the attempt to ruin Laura Ingraham. The people doing it don’t care in the least about anybody but one David Hogg.
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