This is not a blog, but I saw this article and thought you might find it interesting considering you all are at that point in applying for college and getting your admission letters.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/11/19/AR2010111902997.html
I completely agree with Mr.Sternberg's view that the way schools choose the applicants they accept should not be based purely on the numbers.Today schools are too focused on having kids with the highest ACT scores and their rankings in some magazine college guide. Colleges want to be able to brag about who their students became and what good theyre doing in the world, but like Mr. Sternberg said the ones who score the highest aren't always the ones who produce the most good. Colleges should be more concerned with who the applicants are and if they are a good match for that college, rather than if they will make boost the school's GPA. I am a fan of the Tuft's optional questions and any college that chooses to look beyond the numbers alone. It is my preference to go to a smaller liberal arts school for college and as I have written my admissions essays and shown them a part of who I am, it's comforting to me to know that I am more than just a number to them. Although I will be applying to Alabama it bothers me that they don't even look at the kids theyre accepting, they only look at the ACT score and if it meets their standards theyre in, no matter what kind of person that student might be. I'm glad that Mr. Sternberg recognized this problem and that he sees that students today should be more than their numbers.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Mr. Sternberg's point, and I feel that students should not be judged based solely off of GPA and test scores. I think most people realize that though, and the real problem is coming up with a way to provide more consideration for other things such as leadership skills and creativity, but without taking anything away from the students with the super high GPAs and the perfect test scores.
ReplyDeleteSpeaking from personal experience i know how frustrating it can be knowing that everything you have done in high school comes down to two numbers. There are many very intelligent people who struggle with tests and are forced to either find schools with low admissions standards or stay at home just because they didn't score well on one test, and that is a serious problem.
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