"College admissions: What matters most -- SAT scores, grades, or just luck?" (news)

Colleges & Universities Princeton University
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<p>[College</a> admissions: What matters most --*SAT scores, grades, or just luck? / The Christian Science Monitor - CSMonitor.com](<a href=“http://www.csmonitor.com/Commentary/Opinion/2010/0413/College-admissions-What-matters-most-SAT-scores-grades-or-just-luck]College”>College admissions: What matters most -- SAT scores, grades, or just luck? - CSMonitor.com)</p>

<p>"Steven got nearly perfect SAT scores, but he didn’t get into Princeton. Suzanne has straight A’s, but Brown rejected her. And Samantha – Samantha! – got into both schools, even though her scores and grades are pretty mediocre.</p>

<p>Can you believe it?</p>

<p>Welcome to an average school day in April, the cruelest month of the calendar for America’s upper-middle-class teens. If you live in a leafy American suburb, as I do, you simply can’t escape the drudgery and the drama of the College admissions sweepstakes.</p>

<p>Everywhere you go, the conversation is the same: who got in where, and why. Kids like to talk, of course. But in the old days, it took a little while for the word to get around. Now, it’s just a mouse-click away. And that just makes things worse. . . . (continued)"</p>

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<p>This is worth reading if only as a reminder that the college admissions process is multifaceted and less than predictable. There is also a discussion of the sad 20th century history of exclusion at leading schools (including Princeton). A good article to help keep all of this in perspective.</p>

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<p>Good read. I really connect.</p>

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<p>should be required reading of everyone applying to top schools…thanks for posting!!</p>

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<p>good article that underscores why potential college students should apply to many schools in order to increase the probability of acceptance by the “luck” factor. Truly amazed, but not surpised, at the labeling of applications that occurred in the 1920’s…</p>

<p>Currently at the UC schools it is getting tougher and tougher for Asian students to be admitted with the same characteristics as other students…</p>

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<p>Are you sure? UCs by law can’t even practice AA. The Asians of my school fared far better at the UCs than anywhere else.</p>

<p>Also, American Jews: The Asians of Yesteryear.</p>

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<p>Exactly; race is not considered as an admission factor within the UC-system.</p>

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<p>I’m no expert on the subject (even though I’m an Asian Californian), but the fact that UC Berkeley, UCLA, UCSD, UC Irvine, etc. all have a 30 to 50% asian population (I believe) is pretty indicative of a lack of AA.</p>