IDEA Meeting January 26th and 27th

Hey everyone,

Sorry if the several attachments in the email were overwhelming - I had to send them as PDF attachments because I got them all off of JSTOR which requires a subscription.

For the meeting on Tuesday, I want the main point of discussion to be the role of statistics in higher education. The Wednesday meeting will encompass affirmative action in higher education. Both of these issues are specific case studies from which I hope we can extrapolate the larger impacts on our society. This post includes sources for only the first topic. I will have a few brief sources prepared on affirmative action (including the public v. private debate) sometime this weekend.

Tuesday meeting on statistics: 7:00-9:00. Will be a thorough discussion.

Wednesday meeting on affirmative action: 7:30-8:30. Brief, focused meeting.

Friday night will be our formal dinner on higher education. We will discuss location and timing on Tuesday's meeting.

The role of statistics in Higher Education

1. Why colleges use Early Admissions programs (to place well in rankings).

This is covered by the article labeled "Early Admissions" from the email. It is a very good summary of the history of private education in the U.S. and it explains most of the content from "The Early Admissions Game" in less detail. I recommend that everyone read the first few pages at least to get a bearing on general research in this subject. After a while, it gets into very technical econ jargon which you may or may not find interesting.

2. Are rankings a valid measure of entire institutions?

This topic is found in the article "Stanford vs. U.S. News" which is short enough for everyone to read. It's great to see the President of Stanford getting argumentative in this letter to the senior editor of the U.S. News College and University Rankings.

The article "College Rankings Reformed" is another extremely significant work in this debate. It gives a very comprehensive view of our country's education system and explains that the U.S. News college rankings don't reflect the system. Based on a paradigm of "fame, wealth, and exclusivity," Kevin Carey explains whats wrong with these rankings, and from that what's wrong with our culture for taking them so seriously. I would also like for us to discuss the ranking system he proposes to replace the U.S. News rankings and whether or not it makes sense.

3. How College and University rankings have affected colleges.

This is a more advanced subject that is more optional. These articles attached in the email are scholarly/academic articles that will be more challenging to read. Thus, I would like for everyone to choose either or both of these articles to read and reflect on. The first (and shorter) of the two articles named "Cornell Study" is a unique economical approach to why rankings matter and how colleges respond to rankings fluctuations. It is only about ten pages long, so do skim through it and take advantage of the visuals to understand how the rankings really function.

The final and most lengthy article titled "A Rankings Nation" tries to explain the complicated system from the perspective of a high school student our age. Rankings and pressure of societal conformity ultimately determine which school we choose. This is one of those big picture articles that draws into why we need rankings in our society from football rankings to consumer reports rankings to college rankings. The end of the article touches on reform measures and the scope through which we should view rankings, since they are after all produced by for-profit corporations. I would like everyone to read at least part of this, since I think we discuss this at our final dinner as we move into "bigger picture" thinking and into our next topic.

This article is vital to understanding why all of these silly details and facts matter to me, and perhaps to you by the end of this topic. These manipulations and specific constructions in one system (higher ed.) form a paradigm for the way we look at the world and see bureaucratic systems clash and repose in our society.

January 3 Meeting Discussion Outline

First point of discussion: Kiplinger Letter on American Education
- What jumped out at you from this article? Anything you didn’t already know?
- Is this article consistent with your impression of the American Education system?
- Another pointer, just a few days ago, I read in BusinessWeek that the same shortage that Kiplinger noted in Science and engineering, BusinessWeek noticed in Healthcare.
What policy changes do you see necessary to correct this problem? Kiplinger has some suggestions on later pages of the article, but I can reveal those after we discuss.

Conclusion: It seems like one of those uneducated responses typical of the media to simply say “oh yeah our education system is awful… totally downhill,” but that just might be the informed response now that the facts are there to support it.

Additional topics on Higher Education....

Institution Rankings: This might seem insignificant, but it has been shown in numerous studies that the rankings dramatically affect admissions at institutions in the following year. [Cornell] Do we think that the rankings are valid? There is evidence of colleges buying their way into rankings in the past; why do we trust rankings if they are produced by private companies with their own interests (i.e. selling magazines).

Affirmative action in Admissions: Our system being private (and thus expensive) means that there will be a wealth gap among university students. The very wealthiest schools (Ivy league schools,etc.) can now afford to subsidize education and promote relative equality for minorities, but it still stands that only 2% of students at “highly selective” schools are from the lowest 25% of wealth. [The power of privilege] , [The price of admissions]

Public vs. Private Higher Education: How does our system being private incurs inequality more than the rest of the world’s public systems, not only in affirmative action, but also in international competitiveness?

Ultimate question of this debate: Should admissions be fair? Do we really aspire to a meritocracy (rather than an elitist system that “works”).

Admissions from the University perspective

This branch is the most interesting to me. In fact, I am seriously considering a career in higher education after reading authors from this perspective. To me, the university perspective on what they want in an incoming class and how they get it is fascinating.

Related Books:

Creating a Class: College Admissions and the Education of Elites by Mitchell L. Stevens. This book follows a journalist through their year trying to understand the whole process on an institutional level. The book really seems to put all of the admissions pieces together from all parts of the university, culminating in a "Privileged Society" of higher education. The book explains why it is in the interests of universities to give the image of being meritocratic (based on credentials and opportunities from all social classes) while really being elitist and focused on perpetuating the education of elites.

The Gatekeepers: Inside the Admissions Process of a Premier College by Jacques Steinberg.Here is the Book Review on The Gatekeepers from my college blog (http://collegereviewbyj-cat.blogspot.com/):

The Gatekeepers, by Jacques Steinberg. An introduction: The Gatekeepers is probably the most inspiring book I have ever read in terms of career prospects. It is an extremely rewarding read, to the point that if you are hesitating about not really wanting to read a whole book... this is the one.I would love for as many people as possible to read this book simply for a general understanding of what makes the process so interesting to me and others. This is the book that will make youappreciate the field and inspire you to learn more about it. It is also without a doubt the easiest read of all of the books, as it is written like a novel and you get fairly attached to the characters, continuing to turn the pages until you find out what happens to them!

This book is essentially an outsiders account of the college admissions process. In 2001, Jacques Steinberg, then a journalist for the New York Times Review on Higher Education, took a few months off of his desk job to shadow a college admissions officer at Wesleyan University in Connecticut.Steinberg chose to shadow officer Ralph Figueroa, a Stanford grad who attended UCLA Law School before ending up at Occidental College (Obama's Alma Mater) in California as an admissions officer. The book is constantly revealing more about Ralph, from his relationship experience and connections within the college admissions field to the way he fits his Mexican-American heritage into a traditionally "WASPy" field.

A lot of what I deduced from the book was in fact the diversity of the readers in admissions offices and that as a general rule, especially at schools that have a committee decision process, there will usually be someone to speak out for your application. Many times during the admissions round at Wesleyan, counselors got personally attached to applicants and there was a surprising amount of give and take in how the admissions process works. On one hand, this can be seen as more random and less formulaic, but in general I think it speaks to the desire to bring interesting people to the campuses of elite institutions, culminating in genuinely diverse campuses.The race card came up several times throughout the book, especially in respect to Ralphs Mexican-American heritage and the role of one African American young woman who ends up at Yale.

After reading the book, I believe that I have a further understanding of how ethnicity and geographic location really play into the process. In the example of the African American and another Native American applicant, it really all boils down to the unique cultures and hardships that those applicants have gone through that culminates in them being interesting. Likewise a white applicant who has gone through financial hardship or problems at home has an equally unique story to bring to the campus.

The format of this book is really what made it so enjoyable. Though much of Steinberg's observation occurs in the traditional college admissions office, a lot of his story is told through profiling six or seven individual students from across the country. It's interesting to see where the students apply and how the college admissions officers interpret the paper representation of each person.Overall, this was a really fantastic book that was able to squeeze the rough details and objective advice into an easy to read and ultimately enjoyable package. Now I'm even considering a career in the admissions field, as an interesting way to funnel all of your experience in life to evaluating others - each person in their own way.

Admissions from the High School perspective:

This branch really deals with student's individual success rates in different application approaches and is probably the most directly beneficial to us as juniors as we begin our application process leading into senior year. This is the basic level information to get comfortable with if you are stressed about the process in general, as it essentially tells you where you need to be and what you should be doing, sort of like a big brother figure functioning in your head to keep you on track. Because I have this information down, the process is not stressful to me, and I find it fun (if that is even possible).

Related books:

A Is for Admission: The Insider's Guide to Getting into the Ivy League and Other Top Collegesby Michele Hernandez or (less recommended) Acing the College Application: How to Maximize Your Chances for Admission to the College of Your Choice by Michele A. Hernández. This is the first book I read on the process and it was overall very fulfilling. I say that it is from a high school perspective because it is really more focused on the process from a viewpoint of how to get into college. It does discuss how the applications are read from an admissions office perspective (Hernandez worked in the admissions office at Dartmouth for a number of years), but it doesn't go into the depth that The Gatekeepers does.

The Early Admissions Game: Joining the Elite by Christopher Avery. This is is a really great book for the advanced intermediate. It is really the perfect book for people like Dark Mavis who think statistically and logically about everything. Essentially, early admissions practices (Early Decision and Early Action) benefit; one, the university and two, elite and informed students (like us) at the expense of less privileged students. The book is from a high school perspective because the researchers who wrote the book shadowed two high schools for an admissions period and followed the students through their impressions (including all of the rumors and misunderstandings that teens have about early admissions) and their process, adding clarity and understanding to the process along the way.

Basically, students don't know it all, and I walked away from the book dead set on applying early somewhere.This book is really an eye opener in terms of admissions strategy and how something so seemingly shallow and unimportant ultimately impacts the social shape of our entire country.

Main idea: Social Inequality

This is a constant issue with our higher education system. People are often confused about why minorities get preferential admission into colleges yet many others think minorities are overly disadvantaged in our education system. In either case, the following statistics still stand:"Being African American is statistically the same as adding roughly 200 points to a total SAT score (out of 1600) for admissions purposes" - The Early Admissions Game"Only 2% of students in the Ivy League come from the bottom quartile of wealth in the United States" - The Power of Privilege. Overall, it can be argued many different ways how the education system should be reformed to reduce such inequality and to ultimately level the playing field. Nearly all of the books I will recommend touch on this subject because it has such a profound social impact.

Related books:

The Power of Privilege: Yale and America's Elite Colleges by Joseph Soares. This book is filed under Sociology/Education and is the most directly interesting to me currently. I am reading it now (and have the Barrington library's copy checked out for myself - sorry) and am finding it very interesting so far. It discusses the use of eugenics in admissions, the reason for the invention of the SAT (to weed out Jews from Yale and Harvard), and ultimately how even though policies have changed from year to year over Yale's 300 year history, it is still some 75% upper middle class (or above) students, and policies will keep changing to keep it that way.

The Price of Admission: How America's Ruling Class Buys Its Way into Elite Colleges--and Who Gets Left Outside the Gates by Daniel Golden. This is a book of similar length that is available at the library (two copies) and looks to be a pretty popular and well reviewed book on this subject.

First topic of IDEA: American Higher Education

My expertise is specifically in College Admissions, but I think this will be a good start to lead into other issues such as scientific brain-drain in America from Andrew Foley and social inequality with its roots in higher education from Colleen Shandley.

My expectations for this topic: This subject is not exactly the intellectual debate that IDEA is based on. My goal is for all of us to develop a general understanding of the crucial system of higher education which we are all coming surprisingly close to having to deal with. I think the best of all worlds would be for each person to read one book on the process and then a few ancillary articles. The goal for this topic is to really increase your understanding of college admissions and to benefit you each individually. Simply reading an article will not be enough for you to reach an appreciation for or understanding of how higher education functions.

I will be posting a list of articles on more specific topics soon, but until then, try to pick one of the following books and locate it. It would be really convenient to read one over break, as they are all fairly reasonable at about 250 pages. Though the books and articles I'm going to recommend are generally about admissions, they touch on a broad range of topics.