James S Murphy Profile picture
Sep 23, 2020 6 tweets 2 min read Read on X
The thing that everyone is going to talk about in the UC Audit are the 64 students who got an unfair advantage. But that is not the real scandal. It's the 600 high schools cut out of a system that has been shown to be antiracist and promote equity.
One of the reasons we fail again and again to fix things like college admissions and other inequitable systems is that we are obsessed with cheaters and grifters and think they're the problem.
They're not the real problem. An admissions system that fails to implement a program designed precisely to increase access is a much bigger problem, a problem that the audit says that Janet Napolitano's office ignored.
The problem is that colleges are looking for feeder schools and reliable funnels, which means that some students are never going to get a look because of the zip code they live in. Image
So, maybe, just maybe, let's skip past the hand-wringing and the Lifetime movies this go-round and focus on the deeper problems.
Here's a really interesting paper on how x-percent plans can make a significant difference in college admissions. nber.org/digest/jun20/w…

• • •

Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to force a refresh
 

Keep Current with James S Murphy

James S Murphy Profile picture

Stay in touch and get notified when new unrolls are available from this author!

Read all threads

This Thread may be Removed Anytime!

PDF

Twitter may remove this content at anytime! Save it as PDF for later use!

Try unrolling a thread yourself!

how to unroll video
  1. Follow @ThreadReaderApp to mention us!

  2. From a Twitter thread mention us with a keyword "unroll"
@threadreaderapp unroll

Practice here first or read more on our help page!

More from @James_S_Murphy

Nov 16
This is such good reporting from the @harvardcrimeson:

There are about 27,000 high schools in the U.S.

Over the past 15 years, 1 in 11 students at Harvard have come from just 21 high schools.

So 9.1% of Harvard students come from 0.07% of US schools. @nytdavidbrooks Image
This is no accident. It's a stated priority of Harvard admissions.

The longtime dean of admissions said they're in the business of creating 100 year relationships with schools. He said this in a trial where Harvard was, believe it or not, trying to show it's fair. Image
Legacy, too, plays its role, as these are the kind of schools where wealthy alumni send their kids.

Here's a link to the Crimson piece: interactives.thecrimson.com/2024/news/feed…
Read 6 tweets
Jul 31, 2023
Some pointers for people who work with students on college applications:

1. The @usedgov will be releasing resources to colleges and universities addressing lawful admissions practices by Aug 15.

2. Don't listen to anyone's advice on how to advise students too much until then.
3. Yes, the @CommonApp opens tomorrow, but students can get to work on everything but the essay while we wait to see what ED says.

4. Chances are, little changes for students or their applications due to the SFFA decision.
5. Students should not be afraid of identifying themselves by race & ethnicity anywhere in their application.

6. Students can & should check the race/ethnicity box. It's up to colleges to redact that info if they don't want readers to see it.
Read 8 tweets
Mar 12, 2023
2023
College freshmen no longer know how to read literature.
2013
College freshmen no longer know how to read literature
1999
College freshmen no longer know how to read literature
Read 5 tweets
Mar 10, 2023
What's extraordinary about the @usnews Best Colleges reputation wurvey is that ANYONE FILLS IT OUT AT ALL.

Let's take a look 🧵
The most heavily weighted single factor in the Best Colleges rankings is Undergraduate Academic Reputation, which USN calls "Expert Opinion." Image
Here's the thing: there is absolutely no way the presidents, provosts, and deans of admissions they send the survey to can be qualified to answer the questions, let alone claim expertise. Image
Read 13 tweets
Mar 6, 2023
Let's talk about some dumb stuff people say about test optional admissions. 🧵
This might take a sec, so here's the tl;dr:

TO policies, in and of themselves, are neither a cure-all for what's wrong with American higher ed nor the end of what's good about it, but the evidence points to their doing some good and no harm.
Let's define TO first.

A test-optional policy is one that allows applicants to decide whether they want their test score to be considered. It does not "get rid of tests" or "ban tests."

Almost every 4-yr college in the US is currently test optional.
Read 28 tweets
Mar 4, 2023
When your flex shows just how weak you are. Image
For decades, colleges, med schools, and law schools have all made the point that standardized tests exist to show readiness to succeed in college or grad school.
Rankings were one of the incentives to focus on scores well beyond the readiness threshold and overemphasize tests. That emphasis has excluded lots of people who were highly qualified to become lawyers and doctors.
Read 4 tweets

Did Thread Reader help you today?

Support us! We are indie developers!


This site is made by just two indie developers on a laptop doing marketing, support and development! Read more about the story.

Become a Premium Member ($3/month or $30/year) and get exclusive features!

Become Premium

Don't want to be a Premium member but still want to support us?

Make a small donation by buying us coffee ($5) or help with server cost ($10)

Donate via Paypal

Or Donate anonymously using crypto!

Ethereum

0xfe58350B80634f60Fa6Dc149a72b4DFbc17D341E copy

Bitcoin

3ATGMxNzCUFzxpMCHL5sWSt4DVtS8UqXpi copy

Thank you for your support!

Follow Us!

:(