UW Admissions Policy is another Sharp Stick in Taxpayer’s Eye
I’m beginning to think the mission of the UW System is to do everything humanly possible to alienate the legislature and anger taxpayers. The UW System’s latest policy is certain to have legislators spinning their heads three hundred sixty degrees and projecting green stuff in the UW's direction --- deservedly so.
The only reason the system still enjoys the taxpayer support it does, is that the children of state residents who make the grade have always been guaranteed admission to one of the UW System schools. Now they’re being told that they need to have “special talents” or a commitment to diversity and community service.
My son turns ten this summer and I’m already concerned that he might not make the cut. I wonder for example if the Admissions board will consider his participation in Boy Scouts as a positive or a negative, because aside from scoring in the 99th percentile on his Wisconsin Knowledge and Concepts Exam, we’re not sure what his “special talents” might be. But hey, I can walk on my hands, does that count?
This latest attempt to dumb down the UW admissions policy in the name of diversity comes after the legislature rejected Governor Doyle’s plan to give illegal aliens a break on tuition, increasing the odds that children of law abiding state taxpayers will not get a seat at the school of their choice.
Admissions policies should reward people who work hard and play by the rules. Polices like these fly in the face of those values.
7 Comments:
I want to see you walk on your hands :-)
You would think at least one blogger would look at the admission standards at Madison ALREADY IN EFFECT under these criteria before bloviating.
Admission to the Madison campus remains the hardest ticket to obtain among ALL of the universities in the state, public and private. (Yes, it's much harder to get into Madison than a private school like Marquette.)
Pasted below you will find data from the UW-Madison web site which shows the actual credentials of the class enrolled in 2005. A link to the web site is provided.
Before you play "woe is me" on the violin, take a look. All your kid has to do is be in the top 10% of his or her class and get in the top 10% on the ACT or SAT and he is she is "in like flint."
Enrolled Freshmen, Fall 2005
Academic Qualifications (middle 50%)
Class Rank 85th to 96th percentile
GPA (unweighted academic) 3.5 to 3.9
SAT (max score of 1600) 1180 to 1350
ACT 26 to 30
Source: http://www.admissions.wisc.edu/facts.php.
Get your facts straight before you & other conservatives freak out and play the race card. That's the unspoken fear inherent in Republican criticism of this policy change. "Oh my God! All these black and Latino kids--who are probably all illegal immigrants anyway--are going to get into UW over my little Johnny Whitebread!"
I haven't listened to talk radio recently because I don't like to kill my brain cells, but I'll imagine someone's making that argument presently. That's rubbish.
All this policy is saying is that UW campuses will look holistically at the entire student, including test scores and grades, but not just those factors alone. Your son's participation in the Boy Scouts is NOT going to count against him and any insinuation that it will is pure bunk. That's called community service which is covered under this policy change.
But, God forbid a disadvantaged student who has overcome hardship might be given a leg up over an equally qualified student who comes from privilege! What has the world come to? Insanity.
Discrimination in our color blind UW system is a fact. If you are not a white male things are not equal. There are cold, hard, apolitical numbers that back this up. It shows up in the student retention numbers and the numbers of students that successfully complete their degrees, even if you account for other factors. It shows up in faculty retention and tenure numbers too.
Just because us white folks don't want to see it doesn't mean it is not there.
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Deb - shame on you and your conservative chronies - You need to look at the state of admissions across the country - and the fact that it is the rest of the system that is changing - Madison is already in the 21st century. Yes your precious son may not get in to UW - many don't but his scouting will help over a similarly talented student who is not is scouts. Time to stop spreading the baseless charges - get the facts.
Wisconsin students should not be guaranteed admission to a school "of their choice." I'll be a junior at UW-Madison this fall, and I hail from Appleton. Most of the college bound students I went to high school with don't belong at UW.
First, look at the admission data for last year's incoming class. It is as hard to get into Wisconsin as it is Michigan. For the first time, the caliber of UW-Madison students is equal to Ann Arbor. UW students worked hard in high school and went the extra mile to develop skills outside the class room and do good things for their respective communities. While I was in high school, many of my days began at 6am with Marching Band practice, and didn't end until 10pm after soccer practice and theatre rehearsal; I started homework (and maybe ate dinner) after that.
That's what it takes if you want to go to one of the nation's premier institutes of higher learning. A 3.5 and 24 ACT score is nothing to sneer at, but I think it's absurd that anyone would argue it should mean automatic qualification for any school. I had a 3.99 and a 32 on my ACT to supplement a 9 page resume of activities. I feel insulted when I'm told students who haven't acquired the same level of accomplishment should deserve to automatically get into a school that I worked far harder to get into simply because Wisconsin conservatives want to pick a bone with those "crazy liberals" in Madison and UW. Not everyone should get into Madison. If you want your child to get in here, encourage him to get involved.
And the argument that Boy Scouts would be seen as a "negative," is quite frankly assinine. I sincerely hope that isn't your attitude. I'm pretty sure my participation in Church Brass Ensemble was a plus. Diversity of experiences is key- it's not only about race, or gender, or geographic location. I'm sure you aren't stupid, so don't make stupid arguments. Surely, among the advantages of a college education is learning to challenge your way of thinking and strengthening or disbanding beliefs and ideas that are weak. Diversity of experiences, people, and ways of life is key to this. A homogenous society is one in which there is nothing to learn from anyone else. And looking at the way our world, even our own state, operates these days under the guidance of our friends in the legislature, it seems pretty undeniable that we all still have quite a bit to learn. If you want to criticize the UW system, go for it. I've found many actions on its part lacking. But at least be reasonable.
UW Chancellor John Wiley often remarks that "A degree from Madison is one that opens doors of great privelege and great responsibility." How true. The success of UW grads is truly unfathomable. Did you know that UW-Madison produces more Fortune 500 CEOs than any other school in the country (including Harvard)? UW should make you proud, and regardless to whether or not you agree with the lifestyle decisions of its students, their politics, or the fact that they like to have a good time. And I dare argue that the reputation of UW in the professional world, the success of its graduates, its status as the biggest economic engine for the state, in addition to its commitment to improving the life for the very Wisconsin citizens that continually trash talk it, is more than enough to make you owe it your respect. It is quite frankly a shame that Wisconsin citizens and Republican Legislators want to rip apart a University that is not only nationally, but internationally, recognized for its excellence.
Continue on this path, and destroy the arguably greatest public university system on the planet. But when Wisconsin turns into a shithole like Alabama, one in which all the best and brightest citizens leave (such as one of my Professors) it'll be people like you who we have to thank.
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