COLLEGE ADMISSIONS IN QUESTION

Posted by Hua Wei

Getting in to a dream college has been a goal of many students in America. Some have started to prepare for the standardized testings since freshman year just to earn themselves a score that give them better chance. After rounds and rounds of testings, students then spend hours perfecting their college applications just to present themselves as the best candidates to the admission officers of their dream college.

However, sometimes, a student’s effort is not respected by the admission officer. Some students who has a wealthy background has an unfair advantages. Parents who has great connection and resources are able to place the their kids onto the top of the admission list through behaviors such as bribery. This is happened recent at USC and various top-ranked colleges. 50 people has been charged for their involvement in a bribery and cheating scheme to get unqualified children into top colleges. One of which is Lori Loughlin. Loughlin’s daughter, Olivia Jade has gotten into USC for her involvement in crew. However, as record shows, Jade has never been actively involved in crew. After the incident, Jade’s career as a celebrity has been greatly damaged and she claimed that the only reason she went to USC is to obey her parent’s will.

YAC members discussed this issue. Many of the member think that many wealthy families care about their family pride. As a result, they do not consider their children’s passion. YAC members think this is incorrect, because by forcing someone to study things they are not interested in not only is a waste of money, but also a waste of time.  Additionally, it would be better to give the opportunities to kids who would benefit a lot by going to a school they wish to study at.

YAC members think that college admission officers should weight a student’s eligibility depending on their living conditions. Students who live in rural areas don’t have as much opportunity to involve in extracurricular activities. Furthermore, students in poorly funded schools would has a lower academic record. Student should be weighted on their potential so that no one is disadvantaged.