NYT - A New Coalition of Elite Colleges Tries to Reshape Admissions

[ucbalumnus]

@New York Times

The organizers believe that access to their schools will be enhanced, in part by getting information sooner to low-income and first-generation students, thus giving them a better shot. Many discover too late the classes, tests and activities needed for a top college, said James G. Nondorf, coalition president and dean of admissions and financial aid at the University of Chicago. “Deciding you want to go to one of our kinds of schools, you have to be doing things all through your high school years.”

How many 9th grade low income and first generation students are going to find out that they need to start a college application portfolio? How many overworked counselors in schools with mostly low income and first generation students will have time to advise 9th grade students on their college application portfolios, amid all of the other work that they have to handle (not necessarily just in academic matters)?

Meanwhile, the counselors in prep schools, magnet schools, and public schools in high income areas will be advising 9th graders to start their college application portfolios, further accentuating the advantages that their students will have for applying to more selective colleges.