In Praise of Tough Admission Standards

For a number of years, I served on the Robertson School of Government admission committee. As a member of the committee, it was my job to discern if applicants had the requisite gifts and passion to succeed in the School of Government. To discern this, I would look at the following in the applicant?s file: the standardized test score, the undergraduate school(s) attended, the undergraduate GPA, the academic transcript(s) (courses taken, and how well the applicant did in courses like history and political science), the writing sample, and the references.

Of all the elements in the student?s admission file, the items I weighted heaviest were the standardized test score, the GPA, and the reputation of the undergraduate school. If the school had a reputation for ?grade inflation,? I would give the standardized test score more weight and the GPA less weight. On the other hand, if the school had a reputation of not inflating grades, I would give by far the most weight to the GPA.

In my opinion, the greatest predictor of success in graduate school is the student?s undergraduate GPA, assuming that the undergraduate program was rigorous and the grades were honest and not inflated. An undergraduate GPA is a composite of typically four years in school, with a variety of professors teaching various subjects. It shows not only giftedness, but passion and, most importantly, diligence. A high GPA from a rigorous school shows that the student is not only suited for academic work, but is also diligent in studying for examinations and completing assignments with timeliness. These skills, learned well before graduate school, ?pay dividends? in graduate school.

More often than not, my decision on whether to admit, admit conditionally, or not admit was rather easy. Assuming that the references or transcripts showed no red flags, I readily recommended that RSG accept those students with a high (over 3.50) undergraduate GPA and reject those with a GPA less than 2.50. If the student met the high GPA criteria but had an incomplete file, I would follow the recommendation of the admissions manager and would vote for a conditional acceptance.

Tougher, but still relatively easy, were those applicants with a good undergraduate GPA (3.2 and above) in a rigorous program, but whose standardized test scores were fair to poor. Here, the diligence and study skills necessary to attain a good GPA to me outweighed the lack of a good test score. In fact, I more readily recommended admission for these students than those with a very good standardized test score but a poor GPA, since this indicated giftedness but a lack of diligence (unless there were extenuating circumstances like working full time). The most troublesome decisions were those applicants with low test scores but relatively good GPAs from colleges known as grade inflators, and those with only fair grades in less rigorous programs.

Regarding selectivity standards, an egalitarian model promotes lax admission standards, so ?everyone? has a chance to participate in higher education. Such an approach arguably gives prospective students the opportunity to prove themselves in the program. In my opinion, however, such a policy may be ?big hearted,? but it certainly is ?empty headed,? since such a policy fails to recognize the level of giftedness, passion, and diligence each student possesses in varying degrees. Perhaps more important than the loss of self-esteem that results from failing, however, is the financial cost that accompanies dropping out of college.

The November 23, 2012 issue of The Wall Street Journal (subscription required) chronicles the plight of those students who started college, took loans to pay for this education, but then dropped out before completing the degree. The Journal estimated that millions of Americans now have the burden of student debt without having the earnings boost that accompanies a college degree. These college dropouts are four times more likely to default on their student loans, and more likely to delay getting married, having children, and attaining middle class status because of the financial burden they bear from an ill-advised choice to start college.

In short, if ever you get a letter rejecting your application for advanced education, don?t become upset. Someone has examined your skill set and determined that perhaps you would not succeed in their program. Starting school, borrowing money for education, and then not completing school is far worse than not starting at all.

Source: http://blogs.regent.edu/faculty/2013/01/08/in-praise-of-tough-admission-standards/

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