WSJ Article: Students Are Using a ‘Backdoor’ to Attend Their Dream Schools

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I started at UIUC 40 years ago (ugh). Parkland existed then. Parkland students could live in the private dorms. I knew of a few but have no idea how many live on UIUC campus rather than at home. Academically, it’s no different than students who start at their local community college (e.g., Oakton, College of Lake County etc for those of you from the Chicago area).

Another Illini and I immediately thought of Parkland as well. I started 30 years ago. This isn’t new. If they work hard they just have to wait for some freshman to crash out and leave which inevitably happens then they can transfer in. A few people in my dorm didn’t come back after Christmas break. The UCs are notorious for this as well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I always thought the primary purpose of going to college was to get the degree for better job opportunities. The college experience is just a byproduct.

But standards are being lowered if 1200 SAT 3.4UW kids get into UF via a backdoor if my kid needed a 1500+ and 3.9uw. What does that say about the classes and value of that degree?? Unless the weed out is real and these kids are all communications or sports management or elementary ed majors.

This is gross.

Why? It’s not my post, but if kids can’t cut it academically, yet still claim to have a degree from a selective flagship, it diminishes the value of the degree. This is an absolute sham.

I think you mean if they are not able to be admitted based on high school stats only. That is not the full picture of 'cutting it academically'. I suppose if you look at college only as some sort of merit badge or bragging right, rather than a means to an end, then it would matter. Get out of your bubble.

Sorry you can’t seem to grasp the need to maintain academic standards. Perhaps you could pick up a newspaper to learn why a student’s test schools and transcript are relevant to college admissions and student success.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:And these kids admit to gaming the system, taking the Texas A&M gym class to get an A, and taking their harder classes at the community college. No one "deserves" to go to a top school, you earn it. If I were a UF admit with a 1500+ SAT and 3.0+ gpa, I'd be annoyed, but everyone deserves a trophy I guess.

+1.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:And these kids admit to gaming the system, taking the Texas A&M gym class to get an A, and taking their harder classes at the community college. No one "deserves" to go to a top school, you earn it. If I were a UF admit with a 1500+ SAT and 3.0+ gpa, I'd be annoyed, but everyone deserves a trophy I guess.

+1.

My kids took chemistry and calculus and a couple other classes. They thought they might get seasoned at Montgomery College. It’s a no-brainer. I don’t know why more people don’t do it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I always thought the primary purpose of going to college was to get the degree for better job opportunities. The college experience is just a byproduct.

But standards are being lowered if 1200 SAT 3.4UW kids get into UF via a backdoor if my kid needed a 1500+ and 3.9uw. What does that say about the classes and value of that degree?? Unless the weed out is real and these kids are all communications or sports management or elementary ed majors.

So? Plenty of kids enroll in Nova for 1- 2 years, then transfer to W&M or UVA. They had lower stats in HS but can end up with the same degree was your precious 1500 SAT kid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This has been happening at UT Austin for decades.

Yep. I knew many Austin Community College kids in the Greek Community. They had the same college experience as the rest of us. I can’t think of any who weren’t able to transfer in and graduate from UT.

Fast forward a generation later and we know several kids going to ACC or Blinn, the junior college close to Texas A&M.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I always thought the primary purpose of going to college was to get the degree for better job opportunities. The college experience is just a byproduct.

But standards are being lowered if 1200 SAT 3.4UW kids get into UF via a backdoor if my kid needed a 1500+ and 3.9uw. What does that say about the classes and value of that degree?? Unless the weed out is real and these kids are all communications or sports management or elementary ed majors.

This is gross.

Why? It’s not my post, but if kids can’t cut it academically, yet still claim to have a degree from a selective flagship, it diminishes the value of the degree. This is an absolute sham.

I think you mean if they are not able to be admitted based on high school stats only. That is not the full picture of 'cutting it academically'. I suppose if you look at college only as some sort of merit badge or bragging right, rather than a means to an end, then it would matter. Get out of your bubble.

Sorry you can’t seem to grasp the need to maintain academic standards. Perhaps you could pick up a newspaper to learn why a student’s test schools and transcript are relevant to college admissions and student success.

Oh I get that. I am just not an elitist who thinks high school performance should be the sole determination of a person's life trajectory.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I always thought the primary purpose of going to college was to get the degree for better job opportunities. The college experience is just a byproduct.

But standards are being lowered if 1200 SAT 3.4UW kids get into UF via a backdoor if my kid needed a 1500+ and 3.9uw. What does that say about the classes and value of that degree?? Unless the weed out is real and these kids are all communications or sports management or elementary ed majors.

This is true of all the top state flagships, unfortunately.

Nowhere near that low at UF.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I always thought the primary purpose of going to college was to get the degree for better job opportunities. The college experience is just a byproduct.

But standards are being lowered if 1200 SAT 3.4UW kids get into UF via a backdoor if my kid needed a 1500+ and 3.9uw. What does that say about the classes and value of that degree?? Unless the weed out is real and these kids are all communications or sports management or elementary ed majors.

This is true of all the top state flagships, unfortunately.

Nowhere near that low at UF.

But the weed out is very, very real at UF. Especially for pre-med.

Look to your left, look to your right …

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I always thought the primary purpose of going to college was to get the degree for better job opportunities. The college experience is just a byproduct.

But standards are being lowered if 1200 SAT 3.4UW kids get into UF via a backdoor if my kid needed a 1500+ and 3.9uw. What does that say about the classes and value of that degree?? Unless the weed out is real and these kids are all communications or sports management or elementary ed majors.

So? Plenty of kids enroll in Nova for 1- 2 years, then transfer to W&M or UVA. They had lower stats in HS but can end up with the same degree was your precious 1500 SAT kid.

Do you know the number?

[Anonymous]

College is what you make of it especially at flagships and state schools. If your kids is as amazing as you think they are then who cares how some other students get in?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I always thought the primary purpose of going to college was to get the degree for better job opportunities. The college experience is just a byproduct.

But standards are being lowered if 1200 SAT 3.4UW kids get into UF via a backdoor if my kid needed a 1500+ and 3.9uw. What does that say about the classes and value of that degree?? Unless the weed out is real and these kids are all communications or sports management or elementary ed majors.

So? Plenty of kids enroll in Nova for 1- 2 years, then transfer to W&M or UVA. They had lower stats in HS but can end up with the same degree was your precious 1500 SAT kid.

The backdoor kids have cooties though.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I always thought the primary purpose of going to college was to get the degree for better job opportunities. The college experience is just a byproduct.

But standards are being lowered if 1200 SAT 3.4UW kids get into UF via a backdoor if my kid needed a 1500+ and 3.9uw. What does that say about the classes and value of that degree?? Unless the weed out is real and these kids are all communications or sports management or elementary ed majors.

This is true of all the top state flagships, unfortunately.

Why unfortunately? The state school's purpose is to educate kids in the state, not to be a feather in the cap of DMV parents bc of the OOS admissions rate.

Unfortunately (pun intended), I knew too many international students doing that: They did poorly in their own country’s high school, couldn’t get into a half decent college there, went to a community college in CA, and transferred to UCLA/Cal easily. They also managed to get around the “weeding out” prerequisite classes…

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I always thought the primary purpose of going to college was to get the degree for better job opportunities. The college experience is just a byproduct.

But standards are being lowered if 1200 SAT 3.4UW kids get into UF via a backdoor if my kid needed a 1500+ and 3.9uw. What does that say about the classes and value of that degree?? Unless the weed out is real and these kids are all communications or sports management or elementary ed majors.

This is true of all the top state flagships, unfortunately.

Why unfortunately? The state school's purpose is to educate kids in the state, not to be a feather in the cap of DMV parents bc of the OOS admissions rate.

Unfortunately (pun intended), I knew too many international students doing that: They did poorly in their own country’s high school, couldn’t get into a half decent college there, went to a community college in CA, and transferred to UCLA/Cal easily. They also managed to get around the “weeding out” prerequisite classes…

The vast majority of community college transfers to UC's are domestic students. Most of these performed poorly in their domestic high school. A small amount did well but made a strategic, money or admission-based decision to attend a community college. This is nothing new.

[Anonymous]

This happens in law school as well. Cooley Law School is one of the lowest ranked law schools in the country and has some of the most lenient admission standards. Some may say that Cooley Law essentially takes in students who bombed the LSAT or were drunk throughout college. However, the top 1/3 of the first year class is able to transfer out to a halfway decent school.