(no subject)

[rivka]

U.S. News & World Report just published a profile of the college I attended. The article sounds very much like the Reed I knew, so despite the "whoa, look at these weirdos" tone, I guess they pretty much got it right.

Just saying.

Comments

[rivka.livejournal.com]

I doubt they did much outreach to the hicks in the sticks.

I'm not sure where you think I'm from. I grew up in a small rust belt backwater of a city, and of the kids who went to college, most of them went to state universities. I was one of only a handful who went to private or out-of-state colleges. Reed sent a flyer in response to my PSAT scores, like about a hundred other colleges did, and then I looked them up in the Princeton Review guide and decided to apply.

And they did, actually, strive for geographic and economic diversity. There were lots of students with big trust funds, sure, but there were also lots of students from working class homes who were the first in their families to go to college. I had a friend who was so poor that her full-ride scholarship not only paid for tuition, room, and board, but also textbooks and travel expenses so that she could go home for Christmas and in the summer.

[orangemike.livejournal.com]

I grew up in a small rust belt backwater of a city

I graduated from the only high school in a very rural county (senior class of 112). I didn't even know there was such a thing as the PSAT until I heard about it in my freshman year of college (I think you would have had to drive the 100 miles or so to Memphis to take it), so me and my kind were de-selected right there by the sent a flyer in response to my PSAT scores part; and I never heard of the Princeton Review guide until this thread started.

That's nothing against you or your classmates, Rivka; just the ol' shoulda-coulda-wouldas hitting this old redneck.

[adrian-turtle.livejournal.com]

Mike, that particular difference may reflect time, more than class or location. If I recall correctly, you were in high school 15-20 years before Rivka. The PSAT became much more prevalent in the late 1970s. I don't know if it was universal by the mid-80s, but it was close. _The Detroit News_ had feature articles on it a few times a year, mentioning its importance for financial aid applications, interviewing nervous kids and parents and busy university officials.