Reflective Post Week 12

This week I thought that both of our World Politics classes were very interesting, and some great points arose from our discussions. On Monday, we talked mainly about education in America, and if the system is fair or unfair. I personally am torn with this question. I think if I had to pick an answer it would be unfair, but I know in some cases the system is fair to some individuals. There was an interesting point that arose in class talking about whether or not college admissions in particular were fair. As I noted before, in some cases yes, but in other cases no.

I used to be a student admissions officer at my old school, which had a similar admissions program as to that of a college. So in order to go through the applicants and decide who the best of the best was, the system we used ranked potential students on a number scale, with the top admitted, the middle waitlisted, and the bottom declined. This system I found was a good scale to measure people on. For different factors were considered while ranking such as recommendations, transcripts, SSAT scores, essays, extra circulars, and interviews. Most people got ranked and admitted accordingly, but as it is in most colleges too there are exceptions. For example if a school has an orchestra and they need more violinists, playing the violin would weigh heavier on an application versus a student who plays the flute. They may be equal in every other aspect, and be just as good as one another on their respective instruments, but if the school wants violinists they will accept the violinist. This can be applied to many fields, such as sport recruitment, and having a diverse class. This then leads in to arguments such as affirmative action etc.

Is this system unfair? To some yes, while others would say no. Those accepted because they had some sort of “advantage” would just say that it was fair because that is the special thing that they knew colleges would appreciate. While those unaffected would probably note how this process is unfair, just because they don’t have that extra special quality, they are not accepted, even if they are similar to other students in all other aspects. This is an interesting dilemma that will probably not be solved anytime soon. This argument tied well into World Politics. Is the global economic system fair? Some would say yes, others no. it would depend on who is telling the story. To those who benefit, yes and probably to those who do not benefit, no.