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Have an idea, suggestion or constructive comment? Now’s your chance to have your voice heard in an open forum!

 

 

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COME TO THE OTHER PRESS’ ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING!

NOV 5, 2011 AT 12:30 p.m.
LECTURE THEATRE 1606 (NW campus)

We will De...

Discussing the state of the paper

Electing a new board of directors

 

© Previewing the upcoming Canadian
University Press National Conference |

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The trouble with broad-based admissions

Admittance based on more than just grades has the. potential to exclude many

By Arshy Mann — The Ubyssey
(University of British Columbia)

VANCOUVER (CUP) — Imagine you’re a
high school student, and instead-of grappling
with trigonometric proofs or delving into the
details of the Yalta Conference, you spend
your time coaching a youth volleyball team.
Or engaging in competitive flag making.

Or directing a theatrical remake of All the
President’s Men starring a cast of senior
citizens.

These all demonstrate leadership,
gumption and intelligence, which should
count towards getting you into university,
right?

Post-secondary institutions like the
University of British Columbia (UBC) and
Simon Fraser University are starting to agree.
Many UBC faculties have begun admitting
students under broad-based admissions,
which means your admittance will be based
on more than just your academic grades; your
grade in life will also be considered.

And overall, that tends to be a good
thing.

Broad-based admissions give
universities a more diverse student populace
and provide hopeful scholars with more
than one route to higher education. But this
flexibility can come with a price.

Now imagine once again that you’re a
high school student. But this time, you come
from a family struggling financially. And
instead of being able to volunteer your time
at a kitten orphanage in Djibouti, you have to
work 20 hours a week whipping up Blizzards
at Dairy Queen.

Or maybe you have a child or need to
care for another dependent, so you don’t
| have the time to buttress your resume. All
of a sudden, you lose your university spot to

someone who had the same grades as you,
but had more money, and therefore time, to
devote to the extra-curriculars.

Broad-based admissions can also be
— and have been — used for pernicious
purposes.

According to Daniel Golden’s The
Price of Admission, prestigious American
universities use alternatives to grades to
admit wealthier students and place unofficial
quotas on some racial groups. In the 1950s
it was Jewish students, while today it’s
typically students of East or South Asian
descent.

Going off of grades alone, however, can
also have its problems. Many private schools
throughout Canada inflate your grades when
you apply to university. I know; I went to one
of those.

I am not saying that Canadian
universities are or will be engaging in
these types of practices. But students and
administrators need to be aware of the darker
side of broad-based admissions.

It is indeed crucial for universities to
foster and reward skills other than simply the
academic; a well-rounded student means a
well-rounded worker and citizen. And while
there will never be a perfect system, there
may be a trade-off between a flexible system
and an equitable one.