Many students, parents and common citizens have noticed a slight shift in who is getting accepted and rejected from a number of different colleges. Even around Bishop Kelly. Many of the most prestigious schools in America seem even more selective than they’ve been known for in the past. Some universities’ acceptance rates have had a dramatic drop in the past couple of years. Some could argue that simply more people have decided to go to college recently and therefore schools have been demanded to reject more students. This however seems untrue, according to Wall Street Journalist Lauren Weber, she stated that “The college enrollment rate for recent U.S. high-school graduates is on a steady decline, dropping to 62% in 2022 from a peak of about 70% in 2009, according to the Labor Department.” It is also probable that schools whose acceptance rates have declined, have become more popular in recent years and have many more applicants because of an attraction to a wider variety of students
Another argument to be held under the topic of college’s accepted applicants is Legacy Admissions. Some colleges have completely gotten rid of any favoritism towards legacy admits. However, for a few colleges, they view legacy admissions as more of a way to build a better fundraising program as well as community. These schools believe that keeping family and community is important and for some schools this helps preserve a long-lasting culture. These points can have positive effects for colleges and students but this also limits deserving applicants’ chances at acceptance. It is also important to note how important large donors are for private schools. Most private colleges lack funding from the government, generous alumni’s children will surely be accepted as a way to secure a bit of fundraising.
In previous times many colleges chose to admit only the smartest of the smart, no matter what an individual’s background looked like. Moreover, However in recent light many establishments have taken previous adversities and educational setbacks into account when determining an applicant’s worthiness of acceptance. This has made some colleges severely more competitive now that the playing field is essentially more leveled.
Some people can also wonder if colleges have over-corrected this previous flaw in their admissions process. The main question stands at this point in time; are colleges admitting the most hardworking students or are they trying to make up for their previous discrimination. As many people know, historically some prestigious colleges have shown prejudices against minorities when going through the admissions process. Of course, this has changed in modern years and in the early 2000’s it even started to become a competition between many schools on who can have a more diversified campus.
Bishop Kelly counselor, Mrs. Netz, explained that the supreme court banned universities from having the ability to flaunt their diversified campus and also their ability to admit applicants based on race. However, she also said that “colleges still do it” and will probably continue to attempt compensation from these previous discriminatory decisions in the future by favoring previously marginalized students. When asked the question about highly competitive schools such as the ivy leagues and their intent on admitting only the most intelligent applicants, or looking for minorities Mrs. Netz says that from what she has seen she believes “they are looking for minorities.” Wall Street Journalist Jason L. Riley also brought up the point that “One wonders if the real goal of progressives who oppose legacy admissions isn’t to level the playing field for underrepresented minorities so much as to spite affluent whites.” This quote asks if people who aim to improve society in America want to really create equality or rather undermine wealthy Caucasian Americans who have found only ease in the past.
The Bishop Kelly Newspaper 