Comments on: College admissions is a lottery

By: Rex

Rex — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 02:32:20 +0000

10 minutes after the records have already been screened is actually enough time to make a go-no go decision.

The initial screening of GPA and SAT will give you an excellent indicator of whether or not the applicant will stay in school for four years. (It will NOT, however, give an indicator of how well the applicant will do, or whether the applicant will be a net benefit to society. These qualities are not testable so far.)

So the 10 minutes is then used to look for something which, in combination with all the other acceptancees, will provide a net benefit to the student body. It all depends on what you’re looking for.

But take it from one who’s looked through hundreds of employment applications–10 minutes is enough time.

By: Darren

Darren — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 15:33:26 +0000

Lottery is the right way to achieve “diversity”. Well, at least it’s legal. Are you listening, UCLA and Berkeley? Those schools are well-known for trying to skirt the requirements of Prop 209.

By: Crimson Wife

Crimson Wife — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 01:35:31 +0000

This is why retaining a pricey admissions consultant has pretty much become standard practice in many areas these days. When there are so many applicants with similar numbers, a student really needs to find a “hook” to make his/her application stand out. It’s unfair to kids whose families cannot afford the services of a consultant- one more way the middle-class is getting screwed over in this country.

By: Liz Ditz

Liz Ditz — Sun, 15 Mar 2009 23:06:39 +0000

Fred Hargadon started saying that in 2000 or thereabouts:

http://lizditz.typepad.com/i_speak_of_dreams/2003/12/admission_to_pr.html

Echoing Fred Hargadon’s (Princeton University Dean of Admissions) comment four year ago, “we could have filled three separate classes from this year’s pool of applicants, with no discernible difference among them.” His follow-up statement also applies to the admissions picture at private high schools in 2002. “A student’s acceptance is, to a significant extent, a matter of luck.”