<p>As some high schools and colleges search to find ways to link high school performance, gpa, and SAT scores for college admissions purposes, and still others want to shift away from the SAT altogether in favor of gpa, The Baltimore Sun carries the following story: “Towson angles to draw males: School targets students with low grades, high test scores” Towson officials want to look at how students with high SAT scores and lower grades would succeed in college, if given the chance.</p>
<p>mmm… so gender discrimination is OK - so long as it is not blatant? We spoil our boys - programs like this, while perfectly understandable because once a school goes “female” it doesn’t easily come back, really create the wrong incentives. Wow, a studious girl now has to “understand” after centuries of gender discrimination in this country that these slackers need a preference over her and some right judicious counseling.</p>
<p>i’m sure it’s also a money thing for towson. why admit some need-based-aid-requiring striver who’s adored by his or her high school teachers but couldn’t afford a Kaplan course, when you can take a future frat boy who skated through high school and will attend college (for 5+ years, probably) with mom and dad paying full frieght?</p>
<p>Thanks for posting this. I’m in despair right now over my 11th grade daughter’s grades, but her 8th grade SAT scores alone would make her eligible for this program. I think we just added Towson to our list.</p>
<p>Maybe I’m being cynical, but I think this might just be a recruitment gimmick for Towson.</p>
<p>I’m a Maryland parent, and a few years ago I used to hear a lot of enthusiasm about Towson from students whose stats did not make them realistic candidates for UMCP. Lately, though, I have been hearing more kids talk about their interest in two other Maryland state schools – Frostburg and Salisbury. Towson doesn’t seem as popular as it used to be.</p>
<p>York College of Penna is also filling a niche between Frostburg and Towson. A little easier to get into than Towson, a lot closer than Frostburg (to Baltimore), and not much more $$ than a state school. (it’s private, so no instate/out-of-state difference). My son is there an loves it so far.</p>
<p>Well, we visited twice and we really liked this school. It is in the Baltimore area, off campus housing is readily available, class sizes are relatively small (few large lecture halls). We did not care for the quality of the food, although there was an over abundance of selection. There is good public transportation, and one can take classes in some of the other colleges within the Baltimore area. If you look through older posts there are reviews of this school. </p>
<p>My son applied and was accepted. No merit aid or financial aid was offered to him. His SAT scores were quite a bit above the average and his gpa was fairly good for this school (hs is known as a very competitive public). OOS would have cost us about 28,000, so we took our walking papers. When giving out merit awards, they apparently use a chart. All high schools are equal when it comes to merit aid. This is why my son does not attend. I know that they have lost other potential males students b/c of a lack of merit aid, or financial asistance for OOS students. I was told by posters on cc that merit aid was generous, but we did not find that to be the case.</p>
<p>As I understand it, many (most?) LACs already admit boys with a “lower profile” than the girls. BUT the boys have a higher drop out rate too. So, it’s not just about getting them in the door, but keeping them in there too…</p>
<p>Finding the “right” balance between GPA and SAT as components of the admissions decision is an art, not a science. I suspect that on average weighting GPA more would favor girls, SAT more would favor boys, as Towson sems to have deduced. I don’t think that including some provision for higher SAT/lower GPA students than they have used before necessarily constitutes a “preference” for slackers and fratboys. You can (and many on CC have) make respectable arguments for GPA over SAT, for SAT over GPA, for neither, or for both. I’d say that if your student body is skewing towards one or the other sex you might want to look at how you have set your criteria; the way you set your admissions criteria between the two may just be need adjustment. Here in California, UC has skewed the selection process in favor of grades. 56% of the freshmen at the 9 UC campuses is female, 44% male. Are girls just smarter than boys? Or are the selection criteria just weighted in a way that favors girls? All interesting questions.</p>
<p>High school certainly favors compliant hoop-jumpers, and is very hard on anyone who doesn’t enthusiastically do whatever random thing the administration wants. Whether this is more typical of girls than boys I’ll leave to the student – mostly since I’m not sure what I think.</p>
<p>(Ask Washington parents what we think about senior projects, the WASL, and the graduation writing requirement.)</p>
<p>I have one kid of each gender, and I think that compliant hoop-jumping is definitely easier for girls. They don’t like it, but they don’t seem to resent it as deeply as the guys do. Perhaps this is why IB programs seem to favor girls. IB is compliant hoop-jumping on steroids.</p>
<p>So, it seems like this experiment was saying high SAT scores were not the only measure of a good student.</p>
<p>If a student can sit and focus on a 3-hour long SAT, fine. But, that doesn’t translate to the focus needed to succeed in a semester-long course. Grades are more indicative of that.</p>
<p>As a white male myself, I’m concerned about my demographic’s seeming lack of motivation. There have been numerous articles about the “crisis for boys”. Perhaps the curriculum needs to be freshened to keep them interested and motivated.</p>
<p>Per the story, the school decided to accept students with higher SAT scores and lower high school GPAs.</p>
<p>A special program was put in place to help these subpar-GPA students acquire the study habits necessary to sustain an acceptable college GPA.</p>
<p>The program was discontinued due to the high attrition rate of students accepted under this scheme. Many could not obtain the college grades they needed, and those that could transferred out.</p>
<p>This reflects a similar problem, that of kids from poor performing (usually urban) high schools with high GPAs and low SATs. They drop out too, and for the same reason - poor mastery of basic high school skills. </p>
<p>It’s just very hard to play catch up in college - especially at a residential college where there are so many distractions and even the best students sometimes find juggling priorities a challenge.</p>
<p>asteriskea - Thank you for posting this, as it got me thinking about how unbalanced students (high SAT/low GPA or vice versa) make their way to success later in life. A former slacker guy myself, I was able to help my kids understand the importance of “doing school” well. The school of hard knocks finally bounced me onto the path of academic success (“It’s the preparation Stupid”). Should that be the default course for all unbalanced students? I would hope not, and so I applaud Towson for attempting another way. I don’t expect the experiment to succeed (for reasons eloquently presented by prior posters) but perhaps some students will succeed, and that is valuable information.</p>