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 THE
BEST AND THE BRIGHTEST
Amherst
College, one of the country's most prestigious institutions, competes
with Harvard, Yale, Stanford and other universities for the nation's
brightest and most talented students.
This year, 5,400
high school seniors applied to Amherst, hoping
to snag one of just 423 spots in the freshman class.
So how
do highly selective colleges and universities decide who gets in and
who does not?
Amherst
let us take a look behind the doors of the admissions process to find
out how important grades, S.A.T. scores, athletics, family connections
and other factors really are.
produced by Tira Grey |
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VIEWER
COMMENTS |
| "I
think you did a wonderful job presenting the complexities
of the issue. I really enjoyed the way you presented the switch
from Amherst being highly selective, to students being in
the position of selecting schools. And I was totally surprised
and delighted to see a clip from my classroom!" -Buffy
Aries, Amherst |
| "Thanks
for letting me know about the Amherst admissions piece. It
was very enlightening to see the complex process come down
to a simple vote. My son Andrew, a high school freshman, was
totally surprised to hear of the rejection of the boy who
had one tough semester. The reason given, parental pressure,
turns the whole idea of pushing our students toward ever-greater
achievement on it's head. He was also surprised by the number
of students who reject Amherst after being accepted. I take
issue with leaving spaces for athletes in such a small school,
but that's my bias.. Hopefully, there is the 'perfect-fit'
college out there for most everyone, even if it's not the
most prestigious. Thanks again." -Cathy Petrone (Matthew's
mother in Testing Matthew) |
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Original
Airdate: June 22, 2004 |
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