Friday, February 09, 2007

Regents set to approve 'wholistic admissions.'

The Journal-Sentinal reports today that the regents will probably be approving wholistic admissions at their meeting today. The article notes two interest facts: First, wisconsin law already prohibits making admissions decisions based on race.

Second, UW-hater Steve Nass is asking his Republican buddy, the AG, to investigate the policy. He also says he plans to sue.

As I have written before, it is hard to see how taking a broad range of factors into admissions decisions is a bad thing for us. It has been proven time and time again that success in college is not solely determined by grades and tests, so why should our admissions proceedures?

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Winnie Bloggo wrote:

"As I have written before, it is hard to see how taking a broad range of factors into admissions decisions is a bad thing for us. It has been proven time and time again that success in college is not solely determined by grades and tests, so why should our admissions proceedures?"

As I understand it, some of the components of the wholistic approach (e.g., race, economic status) are not viewed as predictors of "success in college." Instead, they are avowedly taken into account to increase diversity of the student body.

Perhaps this is part of the disagreement: lack of clarity on WHY the various parts of the wholistic approach are included in the process. If one thinks that college should be reserved unto those who can most benefit from it, then such characteristics of an applicant are irrelevant. If one thinks that part of a student's education is exposure to diverse viewpoints, experiences, attitudes, etc., then increasing student body diversity is seen to be an important goal.

My attitude is that everyone deserves a shot at a college education, but if they can't DO it, well then, out they go; let the next guy have his chance. I'm not going to dilute the collegiate experience down to the point where anyone with a pulse can get a B.A.

For a college education to be worth something to an individual and to society, it has to be difficult to obtain. If it becomes easy to obtain, it will be of no more value than a high school diploma, i.e., a certificate of attendance or a participation trophy.

Lake Winneblogo said...

I am in complete agreement with you on this point. No matter who gets in to the university, based on whatever standards, it is up to us to make sure that they face a real challenge when they get here.

The administration is under great pressure to keep graduation rates high, but we should not accept wholistic administons as a reduction of standards (if indeed it changes anything) in our own standards!