- Admissions 101
- Trading tips with Jay Mathews on winning at college admissions.
Why don't selective schools reduce the madness and form consortia that guarantee admission to at least one school in their group to students who meet certain qualification thresholds?
This has been suggested by the recent USC report (PDF)on how to reform the college admissions systems. It seems like a freak idea. I have never heard such a thing suggested before. But I can see where they are going. It would reduce the wear and tear on applicants if they could send just one application to a group of colleges. The colleges would not be in such cutthroat competition, and could divvy up applicants based on what they needed. AND, if the qualification thresholds were clear, a student applying would be spared much of the angst. They would know if they were going to get in or not.
This of course goes against the dynamic that has made America great. Everyone should have the right to shoot for the stars. If you want to go to Dartmouth, you should be able
to apply to Dartmouth, and not a fuzzy group of colleges that included Dartmouth and several other schools in cold remote places, or whatever the group turned out to be. I don't think this is workable. Am I wrong?
--Jay Mathews
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