Conclusion/Summary: (Layla, Abby) 

• restate/address the original question
• Address all three options
• Post-deliberation questionnaire
  • Asks participants questions about changed perspectives, preferred approaches, values, and sticking points. 
  • Make summary pro/con tables 
  • Make a bibliography for each approach (divide work cited based on each approach’s sources) 
  • Create an “easy map” to make information easier to understand

https://bpb-us-e1.wpmucdn.com/sites.psu.edu/dist/2/8083/files/2023/02/Final-Public-Deliberation-Issue-Guide-Group-2.pdf 

https://bpb-us-e1.wpmucdn.com/sites.psu.edu/dist/2/8083/files/2023/02/RCL-Deliberation-Outline-Draft-1.pdf 

Possible Questions:

• Did you include your test scores when applying to colleges?
• What information did you share to ensure your admission to college? Select all that apply: a) SAT/ACT Scores  b) AP Classes  c) Extracurriculars d) Leadership Position e) Sports/Athletics
• Out of all the colleges for which you applied, what percentage admitted you?     a) less than 50% b) 50% c) greater than 50%
• Race/Ethnicity Questions
• Local Background (city, suburb, etc.)
• First generation?
• When deciding what college to choose, was cost the determining factor?
• When applying to colleges, did you have outside help such as resources that aid in the college application process and inform you about how to apply? Or did you figure it out individually?
• Was the number of colleges you could apply to limited by the cost of the application fees?

 

• Getting into feelings about each approach and what they would support (scale of 1-5) assured admissions, etc. 

 

Pros and Cons for Approach #2:

 

Pros:

• Helps students find available scholarships and connections
• Give students the opportunity to better their college application essays
• Giving students access to these programs when they’re in ninth grade will allow them to have more time to make them more qualified for college applications
• Families can have a more in depth understanding of FASFA
• FASFA can be offered in different languages so that all families feel comfortable with the material. 

Cons:

• More people taking advantage of FASFA means that FASFA won’t be able to give out as much money to students because they have to evenly distribute the money.

• Scholarships not equally distributed and is not a sure way to provide for college education
• Not all schools have the resources to provide their students with this information and these opportunities. 

 

Pros and Cons for Approach #3:

 

Pros:

• Affirmative action eliminates generations of racial discrimination and allows minority groups more opportunities. 
• Maintaining affirmative action allows for students in minority groups who don’t have access to higher education and therefore perform worse on tests and other academic fields to still have the opportunity to receive a high education at top schools. 

 

Cons:

• Maintaining affirmative action means that although some students might have lower test scores and credentials, they would be accepted into competitive schools because they are a part of minority groups compared to students who are in majority groups (white, asian, etc.) and have better academic stats.
• Banning affirmative action results in minority groups such as African American students or Latino students dropping from admission acceptance by a high percentage. 
• The loss of Affirmative Action could also affect recruitment programs that are aimed at educating and providing opportunity to underrepresented groups.

This groups pro and cons chart that they created:

 

Pros	Cons
Creates cultural and intellectual diversity that is essential to higher learning Allows minorities to overcome common educational boundaries Could lead to increased employment and higher salaries for disadvantaged minorities	Students held to different standards depending on their ethnicity Causes competition between people of the same ethnic group More competitive students may not be accepted in place of less competitive minorities

Sample Questionnaire:

1. On a scale of 1-5 (1 being strongly disagree and 5 being strongly agree), do you feel that cost was the determining factor when deciding what college to choose?
2. On a scale of 1-5, (1 being strongly disagree and 5 being strongly agree), do you feel that you had access to a lot of resources to help you with the college application process and how to apply? 
3. On a scale of 1-5 (1 being strongly disagree and 5 being strongly agree), do you feel that affirmative action truly and effectively eliminates racial discrimination and gives minority groups more opportunities?
4. On a scale of 1-5 (1 being strongly disagree and 5 being strongly agree), do you feel that you would have benefitted from a nationwide standardized program that provides overarching access to college through financial education on the college application process?

*add more questions*

 

To conclude what we have learned and discussed over the last few days, colleges need to ensure fairness and quality in the college admissions process beyond scores. We have come up with a few possible solutions to approach this issue and have listened to the opinions centralizing around these ideas. To summarize our discourse, our first solution we proposed was rethinking the way we evaluate admissions by looking at alternatives to standardized testing such as evaluating based on essays, letters of recommendation, and other factors that represent the student better. Our second solution was to create a nationwide standardized program that helps students have a better understanding of the college admissions process and resources like FASFA. This goal is targeted to help families with financial aid and understanding admissions better. Our final proposal was addressing affirmative action, legacy admissions, and different economic backgrounds that allow some students advantages in terms of acceptances. 

 

In summary of the presented proposals, one can find the difficulties and the inequities when concerning college admissions. To ensure integrity in this decision-making process, three proposals were made with the intent of rewarding academia and promoting diversity. 

The first proposition was to find an alternative to the definitive standardized testing. Portfolio submissions which show actual student work can allow for emphasis on actual accomplishments. Precision in qualifications articulate and appeal to a certain audience of students, allowing them to more easily narrow down their college of interest and waste less money on applications. The implementation of guaranteed admissions would also grant accessibility to minority and underprivileged students.

The next proposal concerns financial aid and solutions to the challenges they present. These solutions included the implementation of an education program to inform students about the FAFSA and Pell Grant, greater opportunities to reduce financial hindrances, and information about being properly prepared for college admissions.

The final approach invites the idea of diversity in college, ensuring equity for minority applicants. Programs like affirmative action are presented as essential to admissions, the concept of legacies is suggested to be erased from the admissions process, and there is immense emphasis on the socioeconomic status of applicants and the value of taking outside factors into consideration.

All these approaches aim to improve the quality of the current standards of college admissions and reinvent the way in which candidates are approved. This topic, however, is highly controversial and is presented to be potentially malignant to the current system in place. To reconstruct an entire system of admissions is difficult and is faced with adversity, but with the consideration of these options, one can take a well-informed stance on the challenge of rewriting admissions.