Unfortunately, the college application process is inherently flawed and not fully meritocratic. It is skewed intentionally and unintentionally toward those who have money and a lot of time on their hands. While there are many aspects of the process that are essential and fair, like grades, essays, and your profile on Common App or Coalition, there are others that disadvantage the already disadvantaged (low socioeconomic status) even more, such as the SAT and ACT, requiring extracurriculars, and of course, wealth.
Many critics of the SAT and ACT say that it disadvantages low income students and makes it harder for them to stand out, considering the money and effort that goes into taking and preparing for these tests. This criticism does have merit, as studying for these two tests requires a lot of time and dedication; most people need to study in order to get a good score. Those who can afford tutors and study material can easily get excellent scores for the best colleges. Personally, I went to a tutor three days a week during the summer to study for my ACT test, and they were very expensive and time consuming.
Still, completely taking out the SAT and ACT won’t be a helpful solution. Colleges need a standardized test for all of its students, especially since they all come from different school districts, which have different grading policies. For example, MCPS is notorious for its lenient grading policies and grade inflation, so the SAT allows college admissions counselors can see how students are really doing.
Perhaps, the most unfair aspect of the college admissions process are extracurricular activities. In Montgomery County, we often ask and are asked “What sport do you play?” In our county, it is expected that everyone does some kind of activity outside of school, or at least have some kind of skill or hobby to be dedicated to, but many extracurricular activities are expensive and time consuming.
In my school, Walter Johnson, many students play instruments. However, this would be very difficult for other schools and areas: a violin could cost over a thousand dollars, and learning how to play it requires hours of practice over the week. This doesn’t mean that poor students shouldn’t be expected to do any extracurricular activities, but having ten spots open on the Common App may be intimidating and demanding for most. Extracurricular activities are a way for the rich to show what they can do and how much excess time they have, while for poor students, it shows what they cannot do due to the difference in circumstances, resources and time to focus on bolstering a college application.
Also, many extracurricular activities do not indicate someone’s performance in college. Instead of focusing so heavily on extracurricular activities, what colleges need to do is look at their living situation and family income to see whether a certain applicant actually has room in his or her life for them.
Moreover, colleges want wealthy and famous people to attend. First, let’s take a look at the college that the children of politicians went to. Former president Barack Obama’s daughters went to Harvard and the University of Michigan. President Donald Trump’s children went to the University of Pennsylvania. Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s daughter went to Georgetown. The list goes on. The sheer number of wealthy individuals in top colleges shows that they are helped out by their wealth and name—when these colleges see applicants with big names like “Obama” and “Trump”, chances of admission drastically increase.
Finally, it isn’t a secret that universities favor those with money. Last year, we learned that over 700 hundred rich families have been bribing college admission officials and creating fraudulent test scores to get their children into top universities. Colleges want people with money, in order to fund their endowments. While colleges and high schools are clearly investing in opportunities to make the admissions process less dependent on wealth, it is hard to say that the application process is totally fair to everyone.
Article by Justin LaFontaine of Walter Johnson High School
Photo Courtesy of NEC Corporation of America