Reply to UVA has ANOTHER Rhodes Scholar

Forum Index » College and University Discussion

Reply to "UVA has ANOTHER Rhodes Scholar"

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]The schools that are really impressive are the tiny schools that no one has ever heard of that occasionally produce a Rhodes, Watson, Marshall etc.

[b]The big schools often have a whole team of adult professionals who prep the kids and it is almost a team effort. [/b]My kid won a prestigious fellowship and four different individuals read his application and helped him prep for the interview etc. And at the military academies they often identify candidates in sophomore year and provide opportunities to improve the application in summers etc. Theynprovide targeted research opportunities etc.

I have also sat on prize committees and you can tell whose application has been massaged. Kids have a better sense of what they want to study, are better prepared to undertake that study, are applying to the right program etc.

There is a reason the university folks say “WE got six prestigious fellowships last year.”

I thought it was interesting that so many of the Rhodes were Indian-Americans. Also interesting that they have diverse interests. No real pattern like “everybody just wants to study AI”.[/quote]

[b]Big schools in general don't do as well as smaller schools on a per capita basis[/b].  These smaller schools often have more focused undergraduate resources (these are scholarships for undergraduates) than larger universities on a per capita basis.   Even in Virginia there is an example.  UVA supporters are justifiably proud that their school has produced Rhodes Scholars.  But Washington and Lee has had 18 Rhodes Scholars vs. 55 at UVA.  UVA has 9.4X as many undergraduates, so on a per capita basis, Washington and Lee produces 3X as many Rhodes Scholars as UVA.   Davidson would be nearly 4X as productive, etc.[/quote]

VMI has had 9 Rhodes Scholars and has 1,500 undergraduates.  UVA has had 55 with 17,000.   VMI has been nearly 2X more productive on a per capita basis than UVA as well.[/quote]

I disagree and Harvard's numbers are just one example.  It probably depends upon the school but my SLAC did nothing to prepare me for the Rhodes or Marshall interviews.  Zero.  Nada. I made it to regionals for both and was blown away by the Ivy kids who had been extensively prepped (for the Rhodes you apply either from the state in which your university sits or your home state).  Most ivy kids apply from home stats because, statistically, they have a better chance at it in their home region (see Bill Clinton - Arkansas).  It wasn't until I was in law school later that I learned just how much stock the big universities put into prepping their students for the Rhodes competition.  Looking back I was a complete rube at the interview level (regionals).[/quote]

Harvard, Yale and Princeton undergraduate enrollments combined are only a little less than UVA total.  They are not large schools.[/quote]

But you or PP was talking about small SLACs like Wash & Lee, Davidson, VMI, etc.  My SLAC (1600) did nothing to prepare anyone for competitive scholarships.  In comparison, Harvard (7,250) has a veritable machine that helps select and groom the competitors..[/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics