Des Moines Register
11-27-06
Advocates cite ISU program in push to alter admissions
Students not ranked in the top half of their class get a chance to earn their way
into college at Ames - and most of them do.
By TOM BARTON
REGISTER CORRESPONDENT
Ames, Ia. — Lacey Gamble was frustrated.
She was no slacker in high school, taking on a full load, which included some
college prep courses and joining the school choir. But it wasn't enough to gain
regular admission to Iowa State University - because she hadn't scored a spot
in the top half of her graduating class at West Des Moines Valley High School.
Gamble gained entry to ISU through a program that permits students not in the
top half of their class to enter on a trial basis in the summer.
University admission officials, high school principals and guidance counselors
are beginning to point to the program as evidence to support a change in
admission criteria at Iowa's public universities.
Gamble, now a senior at ISU, said the summer program was successful for her.
"It was great," she said. "It got me in the door without having to take a year at a
community college and then transfer.
"Because I was able to enroll at Iowa State in the fall, I'm getting out in four
years. I don't think I would have been able to do that if I had to go to a community
college."
The ISU program is geared toward students like Gamble who do not rank in the
top half of their class, but are above the bottom 20 percent, have a decent gradepoint average, scored respectably on an ACT or SAT entrance exam and have
taken the required high school courses.
Summer students take six credits of introductory-level freshman classes for an
eight-week period. If they can maintain an overall B average in their classes, they
are allowed to enroll in the fall with classmates who were admitted automatically
because they graduated in the top half.
Gamble, an early childhood education major, has been on the dean's list for two
semesters.
Gamble said she expects to graduate in May.
And she's not the only success story.
Strong performances
Of the 44 students who participated in the trial program this past summer, 34, or
about 77 percent, were allowed to enroll in the fall. ISU admissions officials said
that some years, the program has a 100 percent success rate.
"Institutional research has found out that our summer trial students perform at a
rate consistent with those students who rank in the 50percentile," said Phil
Caffrey, director of Iowa State's summer program. "Their overall success rate
is the same for students who are admitted to the university unconditionally."
The Iowa Board of Regents at its last meeting considered implementing an
"Admission Index," which would get rid of the policy of admitting Iowa students in
the top half of their graduating classes and replace it with a formula that would
give equal weight to grade-point average, class rank and the number of core
subject courses taken, along with an ACT score.
Proponents of changing admission criteria say the current policy's heavy focus
on a single factor - class rank - makes the universities susceptible to accepting
students who do not have a solid chance of succeeding, while rejecting those
that do.
"Are they going to be successful because they have a high GPA but haven't
taken a college-level class?" said Mary Gibb, guidance counselor at Valley High
School. "Is it better to be in the top half of your class with a 2.5 GPA, or in the
lower half with a 3.0?"
Gibb and Valley High School Principal Vicky Poole say Iowa universities are
antiquated in their use of GPA.
Changes in W.D.M.
Valley, as well as Ames High School, Iowa City City High School and Iowa City
West High School, has eliminated the use of class rank.
"We thought it was hurting students," Poole said, referring to Valley graduates
with relatively good grades who had trouble with college admissions because
they were not in the top half of their class.
Since abolishing use of class rank four years ago, Poole said, school data show
10 percent more students from the school are being accepted to state
universities than would otherwise have been possible.
"That's 40 to 60 more students getting an education right out of the door at a
four-year university," she said. "We didn't want to hurt anyone's chances; we only
wanted to help students, and through data we've collected, we are helping."
Poole sends a letter with each student's transcript explaining why the school
does not use class rank and lists benchmarks for students who would be in the
top 3 percent, 10 percent and 25 percent of the class, so that scholarship
candidates are not penalized.
As a result, universities are forced to look at students individually and consider
multiple indicators of achievement and success.
The regents plan to vote on the proposal at their December meeting.