College admissions far from perfect

July 9th, 2009 at 03:13pm Mary Kaull

Let’s not get too crazy with the scandal over influence-peddling in University of Illinois admissions. A major Chicago newspaper — you know who you are — has published day after day about powerful politicians’ relatives who got into U of I even though their applications and test scores shouldn’t have made the cut. The latest story is the former law school dean, who told state lawmakers of her frustration over being forced to let in a student favored by former Gov. Blagojevich. Now, I’m as eager as the next person to castigate Public Official A-Rod, but something the former dean said enraged me. She said they were dead-set against letting the applicant in because an older sibling had been such a lackluster student at the school. Oh, and THAT’S fair? College admissions is arbitrary and capricious — and it will ever be thus.

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