Four recent cases of college admissions for me to consider.
I got a scholarship to the University of Chicago when I was fifteen and was very happy to get out of high school which I considered a comic book version of education. I don’t remember applying to Chicago but I had taken the College Entrance exam. I also got accepted at Harvard.
Two grand daughters applied to college under an interesting entrance program. They applied to only one school and the condition is that the one school has six weeks to accept or reject them. They are stars in academics and hold state swimming records. So they were accepted. Now they are free to enjoy life and not think about college.
A friend who has a brilliant and lovely daughter, has lived with her all her K-12 life in the heart of Africa, Madagascar and now in Barcelona. She has always gone to rigorous French schools. ( Did you know that in every French school the curriculum is the same worldwide and the classroom materials are specific and sold in specific French stores, even in the heart of Africa.) Her father is a respected graduate of Stanford. She applied to many universities and only got in to her last choice (and it would be my last choice too.)
Another friend has a daughter, Gini, who went to high school with a close friend. The two girls got the same high grades. Both applied to a dozen colleges. Gini’s friend was editor of the school paper, is a heavy doper and got accepted at all of them. Gini is a world traveler, a major organizer of a local choir and a good musician. She only got accepted at her bottom choice.
What is going on? Who are these admissions deans?
I loved the University of Chicago because there were many brilliant students to be my friends. I met blacks who got me into the civil rights movement in 1957. I met students from around the world. Many friends were offspring of famous writers, philosophers and artists. It was a challenging, expanding and exciting environment for me.
How could schools take someone who was a stoner in journalism over a talented serious girl? How could any school reject a brilliant student from rigorous French schools with living experience in the real world?
Most of this doesn’t look good for commerce or the future. Some really interesting people seem to be slighted.