Against the backdrop of today's increasingly multicultural society, are America's elite colleges admitting and successfully educating a diverse student body? "No Longer Separate, Not Yet Equal" pulls back the curtain on the selective college experience and takes a rigorous and comprehensive look at how race and social class impact each stage--from…

When The Goldman Sachs Foundation (GSF) made its first strategic social investment decision in 1999, it took note of one of Goldman Sachs' core corporate values: People are its greatest asset. The program's objective was--and is--clear and simple: to increase the number of high-potential young adults from historically underrepresented backgrounds…

While benefits of college matriculation are well-established, the portal controlling access to higher education is the institutional application. The bulk of the college application process takes place during a student's senior or 12th-grade year; however, parents and caregivers of high school students need to know that the quest for college…

In this article, the author describes "reading season," the time of year when admission counselors witness the beauty of the educational process that produces not only outstanding students, but altruistic, artistic, athletic, and creative young men and women. She also discusses "decision time," the period when an applicant is notified of his or…

The college admissions process teaches students how to express themselves during interviews, how to describe their best qualities in application essays. It may also make them wary of college marketing campaigns, and skeptical of being treated as a statistics, due to the large role played by standardized-test scores and grade-point averages. Such…

Gaining entry to a college of engineering is something that most people who eventually become engineers must do. However, for some this is not the straight-forward process for which a prospective student might hope, and because of this the authors are interested in how students navigate the process of admissions. In this study the authors are…

Presents seven basic assumptions to help 17-year-olds distinguish themselves in today's highly competitive college selection process: the student is in charge, students must make a friend of their advocates, choose eight first choices, SATs and ACTs don't get you in, the college market is not a tight market, personalize the process, and be…

In this article, the author argues that traditional college entrance requirements exercise a detrimental effect on other elements of the educational system. She begins by looking at the way that the entire K-12 system is skewed toward meeting the needs of those students headed for selective colleges and universities and the way less successful…

Presents information about a way of predicting successful graduates of the Southern Illinois Collegiate Common Market/Associate Degree Nursing program from application data. (JOW)

Reports on undergraduate admissions processes at four elite universities. Results show that the Asian American admission rate is below the overall admission rate. Reasons for lower rates are discussed, as are the consequences of manipulating admissions to achieve diversity. (PS)

Almost all U.S. medical schools adjust applicants' GPAs based on the selectivity of applicants' undergraduate institutions. Analysis of data from 2,033 in-state applicants to the Medical University of South Carolina, 1996-99, found that this practice did not adversely affect the number of rural applicants offered admission interviews. (SV)

Using data on applicants to three selective colleges and an optimal search model, the impact of admission policies on applicants' retaking the Scholastic Assessment Test was assessed. The most common score-ranking policy encourages retakes, disadvantaging those with high test-taking costs, pessimistic self-beliefs, or low impressions of the value…

The purpose of this study is to examine step-wise admission to two medical programs with regard to selection effects. By using data from a large-scale longitudinal project, the influence of background variables on regular and step-wise admission is estimated. Characteristics of both applicants and those admitted are investigated using descriptive…

The possibility of weighing disadvantagement in undergraduate and graduate admissions is addressed. The results of preliminary research suggest that objective measures of disadvantagement can be developed so as to increase minority students' chances of being selected. (Author/LBH)

At Texas Southern University's School of Pharmacy, criteria were established for evaluating applicants and determining a relative weighting scheme. Objectivity and reliability of decisions were increased. Criteria included college GPA, GPA for science courses, race, Texas residency, letters of recommendation, PCAT scores, and ACT or SAT scores.…