I thought this op-ed piece in the times eloquently raised the issues of fairness and real diversity that have come up in our discussions about affirmative action. The author points out how poor rural smart students have as many obstacles to overcome as racial minorities, or perhaps more.
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8 Comments
Andie Firestone posted on March 31, 2013 at 11:00 am
I think this op-ed was very interesting, and sheds light on the unfairness of the college process and the several requirements that some people take for granted. Colleges and universities around the country have so much money, and the amount of money that they charge students seems outrageous, especially for those who are less able. Education should be based on intelligence and accomplishment, not how much money your parents make or where they went to school. Top tier universities should do a better job to reach out to all areas of the country so that these people are aware of how to go about the entire application process, and have just as much opportunity as any other student from around the country.
Robin Wan posted on March 31, 2013 at 4:35 pm
This op-ed piece makes an interesting point that colleges are not doing enough to reach out to students in the rural areas. Although I think every student should have the opportunity to go to any college they want to go, this responsibility should not fall entirely to college admission officers. Since each elite college admission office has thousands of applicants they need to review, the high school itself must support its students and prepare them for college. The local community should create an environment that foster a tradition of excellence in academic that allows its students to compete in the national level. Each community must motivate its students to explore elite colleges and universities, while colleges should treat each applicant fair and based acceptance on measurable criteria, such as academic and extracurricular activities, not just race and social status. The students’ opportunity to succeed must begin at the local level in order to be more efficient and effective to create a tradition of higher education.
Daniel Mello posted on April 1, 2013 at 8:10 am
This article points out a key fear locus that Civil Rights brought to America and that has inevitably led to disproportionate racial representation in mass incarcerations. The richer white folk were hardly as impacted by the rise of racial minorities, as their socioeconomic status status could not be reached or displaced by equal rights for black folk. Those hit hardest were, then, the blue-collar working class, who felt that due to programs like affirmative action, they were being leap-frogged over by the black community. Ex-president Reagan’s Chief of Staff wrote that this gave the Reagan campaign the grand opportunity to gain political momentum with the poorer whites. He writes that was the inception of the war on drugs. Ironically, the Clinton campaign then tried to take back support by itself strapping down on drug use. The article above, to me, seems to revoke some of that Reagan-era fear, regardless of my opinions on affirmative action.
Ronen Ben Yehuda posted on April 1, 2013 at 7:57 pm
Interesting article. Fascinating and sad to realize how many brilliant students are out there that can barely afford the ACT registration fee, causing them to “cross off the schools that require SAT”. Given my diverse background, I always like to juxtapose this sort of topics with the various life experiences I have went through. In Italy, where I lived until I was 16, both private high schools and universities are much cheaper than those in the US. Similarly, those tests that Italians need to take to enroll in universities (the equivalent of the SAT or ACT) are way more affordable than the American ones. More precisely, I attended private jewish high schools both in Milan (where I paid approximately $6k/year) and in New York (where the cost was around $20k/year). Although most American private schools are usually fancier and more elegant than the Italian ones, the difference in the level of education I received in those two schools does not justify the difference in price, as I believe the Italian high school system is much better than the American one.
That being said, I totally agree with the author’s statement that schools which “are truly committed to diversity, they have to start paying attention to the rural poor”. However, I believe that this would be an extremely difficult task considering how big the US is and how many brilliant “rural poor” students are out there
Sara Naouai posted on April 2, 2013 at 1:01 pm
This article reminded me of an opinion piece I read in the WSJ (http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324000704578390340064578654.html) which similarly talks about the college admissions process. In this article the high school author talks less about diversity and more about the overall application process in addition to diversity (extracurricular activities, sports, work experience, etc.). When you look at the two articles side by side you’re reminded that even if these rural poor students are offered a better shot in the application process do they even have the chances to get into top schools. Chances are these kids are working an after school job instead of participating in endless clubs and sports teams.
I think one of the best ways that we can overcome the problems that this author addresses is through a better system of applying. The amount of money a college applicant would have spent before even considering how they are going to pay for school itself is ridiculous. Think SAT prep, the test itself, application fees. There is even a price to apply for need-based financial aid! Although it is not the job of universities to expand their recruiting so greatly, I can understand why they focus their attention on wealthier schools, but public education could do a better job at guiding students towards college as opposed to say enlisting in the military.
Joe DiFilippo posted on April 2, 2013 at 1:30 pm
I think this truly was an interesting article that began to shed light on the discrepancy in where top colleges in the country go to recruit. All of the points mentioned do make sense as well. If you come from a family where no one attended college or was exposed to it, there is little support you receive to go down that path. That being said, I am not saying poor families do not support their children to attend college, it is that the parents or guardians do not have the past experience of applying for college, financial aid, scholarships etc.
I had the opportunity this summer to mentor children from a poor community and it was truly surprising to see the little information these kids are provided with between going to a high school with 4,500+ students and a lack of guidance counselors and parents who do not know enough about it to provide guidance.
The author’s statement about the rural poor going unnoticed is certainly true. Diversity is often mistaken as just different colored faces or language barriers in a classroom. Our country fights with poverty every day and those experiences from different people can add an enriching aspect to a university.
Pooja posted on April 14, 2013 at 6:15 pm
Interesting read. But I don’t really know how colleges can make it easier, honestly. You have to admit, universities and standardized testing is a business, which explains the high prices. No matter what, people are always going to apply for the top universities because of the competitive advantages they get, etc. These businesses are going to be located in major cities and would have testing facilities in major cities because that is more beneficial to them. But, it’s true, if they want more diversity, they should set up areas in the rural areas, and I have no doubt that they have enough money to set up something for students’ convenience. But even if they do set up such locations, they may be getting little in return.
Nicole Pellegrino posted on April 21, 2013 at 3:33 pm
I definitely think it is important for colleges to be looking for all types of college candidates that fit the criteria to get into the school. I understand that in poorer areas, kids are less likely to go to college or to apply to the more prestigious schools because they either don’t have someone encouraging them or they don’t believe they can get in. If high schools do not have the means to hire guidance counselors that have more experience in college recruitment and can help these students then i do believe college should become more proactive. Maybe setting up a system where they send recruiters to areas not usually visited would help or possibly making sure to send our pamphlets to the students living in these areas to make them more aware of their choices in universities. Socio economic diversity is just as important as racial diversity.