A front page story in today’s Washington Post discusses discrimination in admissions at the University of Virginia … against applicants from Northern Virgina.
Of the current sophomore, junior and senior classes, 47.7 percent of Northern Virginia applicants to the university’s College of Arts and Sciences were admitted, compared with 54.5 percent from other urban and suburban regions, such as the Richmond and Norfolk areas, and 54 percent from rural communities.
This despite the fact that Northern Virginia’s schools are generally considered the strongest in the state, and one school, the highly selective Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology in Fairfax County, typically has a UVa admission rate of 80% or more.
In a very interesting and unexplored comparison, the article points out — but does not analyze in any way — that black applicants are accepted at a significantly higher rate.
Black applicants appear to have had an edge in the process. Though as a group they had lower SAT scores, about 69 percent were offered admission, higher than any other racial [or geographical!] subset.
Does this very high acceptance rate reflect only applications from blacks who are Virginia residents? The article doesn’t say. Are out of state blacks with low scores accepted at a higher rate than white or Asian or Hispanic Virginia residents with high scores? The article doesn’t say.
The article does, however, have a sidebar that points to a WaPo web page with more and revealilng information on in-state applications. In-state blacks are admitted at a much higher rate with much lower test scores. 69 percent of black applicants were accepted, and their average SAT scores were 563 Verbal/545 Math. 48.4 percent of Asians were admitted with average scores of 626/660; 50 percent of white applicants with SAT scores of 643/647; and 49 percent of Hispanics with SAT scores of 623/619. By comparison the SAT scores of the 48 percent of Northern Virginians who were admitted were 644/651. The averages from the 54 percent who were admitted from the rest of the state were 626/618.
It is widely suspected that UVa, which must accept two in-state students for each one from out of state, strives for geographic “diversity” within the state in order to appease rural legislators, but John Blackburn, the long-time dean of admissions, says not. “We do not try to shape our class based on where applicants live or go to school,” he insists.
Hmm. UVa, like every other selective institution (it is about as hard to get into UVa as Berkeley or UCLA), loudly trumpets the virtues of “diversity,” but the dean of admissions now says it pays no attention to geography? Interesting. Is racial “diversity” the only kind that matters?
As a matter fact, Blackburn said quite a bit more.
“We try to be fair and consistent across the state,” Blackburn said, cautioning that standardized test scores, which are significantly higher among Northern Virginia applicants, do not give the full picture of a candidate’s merit. U-Va. also looks at essays, leadership qualities, intellectual achievement and life experiences.
UVa, in other words (actually, in the same words) strives to be “fair and consistent across the state” — but not across races. According to the dean, UVa obviously thinks it would be unfair and inconsistent to judge applicants from different parts of the state by different standards, but it’s perfectly O.K. to use a racial double standard. How odd. How typical. How odd that it is so typical.
Alas, as usual the Washington Post, like other major newspapers, omits or elides or disguises the meaning of the underlying numbers with obfuscation and misdirection. (See here for discussion of an earlier example, also from UVa, by the same author.) For example, since the article did not report the average test scores quoted above, it was free to refer, twice, to black students being granted an “edge” in admissions. Thus readers are encouraged, even led, to believe that race is used sparingly as a Bakkean “plus factor” in close cases. Surely the writers, the very competent Jay Mathews and Amy Argetsinger, know this is not so. Are editors forcing them to describe a significant advantage as an “edge,” or are they simply succumbing to political correctness on their own?
Whatever the explanation, even the news stories on race in the Washington Post must be taken with a grain, or more, of salt.
I lived in Maryland for many years. While not a Virginian, the impression I got from many Virginians was a resentment of the Northern Virginia area. With the wealth and association with DC, the Northern Virginia area seemed to get more attention than the rest of the state and non-Northern Virginians resented it.
One other thing, I think you understate how good Northern Virginia schools are. Newsweek recently ran a study on the top high schools in the nation. The methodology in the rankings was odd (number of Advanced Placement tests per student), but the results were extraordinary for Northern Virginia. The only school from Fairfax County to not make the list was the school you mentioned, Thomas Jefferson. It wasn’t listed because it’s not open admission. But with its 1400+ average SAT, you can bet the school would have done well under that criteria. Thats 20+ schools all being ranked among the elite in the nation. In addition, Arlington also had all of its high schools listed.
FWIW, “Northern Virginia” comprises Arlington County, City of Alexandria, Fairfax County, and parts of Loudon and Prince William Counties.
I lived in Maryland for many years. While not a Virginian, the impression I got from many Virginians was a resentment of the Northern Virginia area. With the wealth and association with DC, the Northern Virginia area seemed to get more attention than the rest of the state and non-Northern Virginians resented it.
One other thing, I think you understate how good Northern Virginia schools are. Newsweek recently ran a study on the top high schools in the nation. The methodology in the rankings was odd (number of Advanced Placement tests per student), but the results were extraordinary for Northern Virginia. The only school from Fairfax County to not make the list was the school you mentioned, Thomas Jefferson. It wasn’t listed because it’s not open admission. But with its 1400+ average SAT, you can bet the school would have done well under that criteria. Thats 20+ schools all being ranked among the elite in the nation. In addition, Arlington also had all of its high schools listed.
FWIW, “Northern Virginia” comprises Arlington County, City of Alexandria, Fairfax County, and parts of Loudon and Prince William Counties.
The problem with Northern Virginia is that it isn’t like the rest of Virginia. It’s crowded, polluted, and full of cold yankies, yuppies, and urbanites. I lived there for two years, so this isn’t completely unbased. The rest of the Commonwealth is agricultural Southerners or mountain folk who cherish their independence.