Brandi Stepp
College Essay- Smartest Kids
9/21/2014
To get into college you have to have good grades, test scores, and good behavior, or at least that’s what they tell you. In some cases, all you need is a low income and average to low grades and you could get in over a person with more money and good grades. If you are a minority in the same situation, you are at an even higher chance of getting into college over an educationally qualified person. It’s a good and bad thing to look at the college admission process in this way, but the bad seems to actually outweigh the good in most studies and situations. College admissions needs to look more into high school grades and behavior, stop looking at test scores as hard, and make financial situations a background idea. Test scores, high school GPA, and high school curriculum are all big things that come into play when you are going through the admissions process. This is something that I would personally change. High school GPA acceptance rates should not be affected by your test scores on the SAT and ACT. Some people who have high GPA’s might not test well, so they won’t get as much money from scholarships. Delbanco also states that, SAT and ACT scores almost directly correlate with a families socioeconomic standing.(Delbanco 118) With that being said, high school GPA and high school curriculum should be taken into high consideration. If you have a high GPA in a low curriculum based school and you are getting compared to a person with a high GPA in a high curriculum based school, you should not get in over that person. Statistics show that a lot of kids now a days are terrible test takers due to performance anxiety and being scared to fail. This means that they might not perform well even if they are extremely smart. Colleges need to take that into consideration before they miss out on a good person. Another flaw that should be changed in the admissions process is the somewhat automatic admission of Legacy students. It should not matter if someone is a child or grandchild of an Alumni because it doesn’t say anything about their potential or work ethic. Sometimes Legacy students get more money and easier admission than a non-legacy that has better grades and potential. According to College Bound Network, “Critics are claiming the practice of admitting students or awarding "points" based on legacy is a form of discrimination that mainly benefits upper- to middle-class white students. It's assumed such applicants already come from a position of privilege due to their race and social status (Fallon).” Yet, Delbanco quoted William Bowen saying that “ the sense of democratic legitimacy is undermined if people believe that the rich are admitted to select colleges and universities regardless of merit while able and deserving candidates from more modest backgrounds are turned away (Delbanco 121).” Getting into college should be a process of looking at what you have done and how hard you worked in high school, it shouldn’t matter who or where you came from. Potential students that have special talents, such as athletic, artistic, and vocal instrumental skills, get looked at more than
