[quote=flu][quote=bearishgurl]I vote that CA re-institute the writing portion on the SAT, ACT and TOEFL and apply the applicant’s essay/writing score to their composite score.
This is how it was done when I took the ACT … way back in the day.
This would most certainly weed out thousands of Chinese applicants, who would fail this portion miserably, causing their composite scores to plummet.
Too bad … so sad.[/quote]
So you took the ACT back then for college and you think you did better than most foreigners. So how did college work out for you BG?[/quote]Yeah, I took it … and scored a 31. I was admitted to CU – Boulder as well as Cal. But I didn’t end up attending university as it turned out to be too expensive for me and I had no one to help. It turned out my parent made $940 too much in my junior year of HS (their latest tax return) for me to qualify for a “BEOG grant” (nka “Pell Grant”) as a freshman (which was only worth ~$2K year anyway, and would not have been enough to help with room/board). Student loans did not exist at that time as they do today.
I elected to work FT right out of HS and go to state college in the city where I lived and worked. I ended up never graduating from CC after attending 4 state colleges/CCs in two states (one class at a time but not every semester) over a period of about 15 years, all while working FT. But most of my classes were occupational and did help me on the job, so they weren’t wasted. I then got a paralegal certificate (1 yr 500-level program) later in life. I was the only one in my program who did not have a bachelor degree but was admitted based upon atty recommendations from my long work record in the field.
Back then, US university seats occupied by foreign students were of mostly males from oil-rich middle eastern countries who were majoring in engineering. Yes, their fathers paid the full ride for them to attend US universities such as OU (petroleum engineering), CU Boulder and Cal, including renting them nice local apts or even houses for off-campus housing. These families didn’t waste money on a daughter’s education because females in those countries were brought up to be oppressed, covered up and subservient to men. The US didn’t have the influx of Asian university students as there is today. The few foreign students attending US universities were nearly all middle-eastern males.
My personal experience and the fact that CA CC’s are no longer funded well enough to guarantee a student the correct classes to transfer to a UC/CSU in 2 years (or even guarantee them admission into a UC/CSU at all) are the reasons why I pushed my kids directly into university (out of county) after HS. It was the right choice. In CA, it’s MUCH easier to get accepted as a freshman straight out of HS than it is as an incoming junior out of CC (ESP if your parent(s) elect to NOT file a FAFSA). My kid(s) are successful and my youngest is on their way to being successful in life.
