Reply to UVa, William and Mary, Virginia Tech should be shut down and split up or expanded

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]That makes no sense. There are a lot of great VA in-state options.  Why not attend one of those? [/quote]

Their child has a 4.0! They deserve to get in![/quote]

Someone with a 4.0 deserves to get into all three. DC didn't even get into VTech. Waitlisted. Ridiculous and absurd. [/quote]

No. Who is posting such dumb things on a Sunday evening? It's not about a specific GPA. It's about competing with peers. If you're not in the top X%, you don't get in. This is the way it works for ALL prestigious universities the world over. Why do you want your special snowflake to get undeserved access?

Now if you want to talk about US methods for selecting students - as in, is the "holistic" method fairer than a straight-up academic comparison - then we can talk. Because I don't think the uniquely American method of selecting based on a murky formula of grades+scores+ECs+essays is a fair or equitable one at all. It usually takes a lot of family dedication/money, not just student talent, to achieve at a high level in an extra-curricular. People say grades are a contaminated by racial and socio-economic inequity, but that's nowhere near the lack of access to time-consuming, traveling or expensive ECs faced by low-income families! No method will be 100% fair, but a nationwide scoring system (like APs, SATs or ACTs) are the least inequitable way to compare students. Sadly, this is apparently not acceptable by Americans.

The college admissions process is incredibly stressful for families, because they're not starting off their applications with a good idea of where their kid should apply, and they wait on tenterhooks until decisions are made. Whereas in other countries who rely solely on academics, students don't waste their time and emotions on reach schools. They apply where they're likely to get in. McGill is a good example: it posts minimum grades on its website. If you don't meet that minimum requirement, you're not getting in. It lowers the stress level CONSIDERABLY. Even in Asians countries with extreme obsessions with academics and college admissions, you pass the exams and you're done. Your rank determines where you can get in, and that's it. It's takes the guesswork out of the equation.

You can discuss college admissions from various points of view and different levels of complexity, but the one you're stuck on is really not the right one. 
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