<p>Vell28, I’m not perfect, and I’m not always right. I’m using QuestBridge and Pell Grant terminology interchangeably, and I probably just mean “Pell Grant”.</p>
<p>Does Vassar use an assortment of different programs to admit students who qualify for Pell Grants? Do many apply on their own?</p>
<p>So, substitute “Pell Grant” for “QuestBridge” in all my posts. We are talking about admitting 20% of a class of low-income students, whether they are admitted through QuestBridge or some other program, and I’m fine with that. My point is still the same. Enrollment of middle class students on financial aid has markedly decreased while the enrollment of wealthy students has markedly increased.</p>
<p>Are you kidding me that Vassar cannot tell whether a student is rich or middle class without looking at financial aid applications? If I recall, students list the professions of their parents on the common application. Don’t you think it is easy to conclude that the student from an elite private high school in Manhattan who lives on Park Avenue in NYC below 96th Street, and has a parent who is a CEO of a major company is wealthy? What about the student whose father is an investment banker, has an address in Greenwich, CT, and attends a private boarding school? Contrast that with the student who attends Stuyvesant High School, lives in Flushing, Queens, and has parents who are public school teachers. Who is likely to be wealthy, and who is likely to be requesting financial aid?</p>
<p>No, I don’t know the details behind the statistics, but I know enough statistics to know that the numbers are very suspect. Any statistician will tell you these numbers did not happen by chance alone. Something happened. I don’t know what happened, but until someone at Vassar explains what happened and backs up the explanation with numbers to prove it, I am going to say that this looks fishy to me.</p>
<p>Enlighten me. Ask “Cappy” to explain what happened and to back up her explanations with statistics. Remember, if the Vassar admissions office was alarmed by the drop in middle class financial aid students accepting offers of admission, they always had the option of focusing on the admission of middle class students from the waiting list.</p>
<p>As I said, I don’t remember Vassar’s SAT scores from last year. All I was saying was that Vassar’s SAT scores look low to me. I guess Vassar’s SAT scores are a lot lower than I had remembered. What these SAT scores say to me is that wealthy kids are probably also getting admitted with low SAT scores. Vassar certainly does not admit many middle class students with SAT scores this low. The few I’ve known from my children’s high school have all had SAT scores higher than 2200. Of course, from what I’ve heard, they are among the top students at Vassar.</p>