Community Chat

[feline groovy]

It's about time ALL colleges and universities put this idea into action.  

Harvard just proposed a radically new approach to college admissions in America

The Harvard Graduate School of Education released a report on Wednesday, January 20th, endorsed by dozens of other schools that proposes radical changes to the way colleges evaluate prospective students.

The proposal seeks to make college admissions less of a rat race that favors well-off students, and it has three specific recommendations to achieve this goal:

• Promoting more meaningful contributions to others, community service, and engagement with the public good.
• Assessing students' ethical engagement and contributions to others in ways that reflect varying types of family and community contributions across race, culture, and class.
• Redefining achievement in ways that level the playing field for economically diverse students and reduce excessive achievement pressure.

Despite colleges' efforts to have diverse student bodies, students from poor families are still rare on the campuses of elite colleges in America, as Inside Higher Ed has reported.

Admissions departments' focus on test scores, AP/IB classes, and superficial extracurriculars doesn't help underprivileged students, according to the Harvard report released on Wednesday. 

Rather, community involvement — whether that be a service project or caring for your family — should be emphasized in the application process.

Giving students clear opportunities to report their contributions to their families on their college applications — whether that involves working outside the house, watching over younger siblings, or taking on major household chores — can help underprivileged students, who may not be able to participate in the expensive sports or international trips that often determine elite-college admissions.

The report also noted that community service should be "meaningful" and "sustained" rather than an activity that students participate in to boost their chances of getting accepted into college.

While the Harvard report admits that admissions departments are unlikely to take its recommendations wholesale, it does hope to "create a healthier balance in young people between their self-concerns and their investment in others and the larger world."

[SydneyH]

Sorry but I'd rather see the focus on curbing their rampant crime problem on campus........fantasy I know but I'm not impressed by this new rollout.

[Carole22]

Sorry...seems like "dumbing down" the academic requirements to me.

[feline groovy]

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@SydneyH wrote:

Sorry but I'd rather see the focus on curbing their rampant crime problem on campus........fantasy I know but I'm not impressed by this new rollout.

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Just came across this, which includes possible federal laws:

http://news.yahoo.com/new-bjs-study-finds-high-rates-of-campus-se*xual-assault-195424219.html

[feline groovy]

Just came across this as well:

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/8-colleges-just-launched-big-tuition-discount-programs-113011454.html

[hckynutjohn]

Don't make sense to me. How do "underprivilefed" afford the $60,000-80,000 to go there? Maybe I don't understand the PC version of underprivileged.

Level the field/income inequality, now "Level the Field"?  What next?

hckynut(john)

[Desertdi]

Just so you can say you went to "Harvard"??????     Check out the credentials of your STATE U.     Probably just as "good".

[Nataliesgramma]

I don't see that happening....I always thought that the rich gave these schools money to ensure their kids would get in....

[SydneyH]

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@feline groovy wrote:

Just came across this as well:

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/8-colleges-that-just-launched-big-tuition-discunt-programs-113011454.html

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Check out the documentary called The Hunting Ground, absolutely shocking, particularly the story surrounding Jameis Winston.

[SahmIam]

Well, considering we've dummied down college in the US, I knew it wouldn't be long before the Ivy League joined the crowd. Shame.