Darla - Robert Moses

Dantès said:
Make light of it cawacko. I will never forget it. The shit happened and you know it and I know it. So make light of it. You never did understand that story, even after three explanations! It was quite amazing for a college graduate since the New York Times is written at the 11th grade level. When I noted that then you finally said something to the effect that you wouldn't be able with their current requirements to get into USC today. It was a memorable event. I know Darla remembers it, because she couldn't believe it either and we still talk about it. So don't even try to pretend it never happened. I bet Ornot still remembers it too!
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It was a memorable event when I said I wouldn't be able to get into USC today with their current requirements and something you still talk about? I'm honored you think of me so much. The reality is that statement is not unique to me. I have many contemporaries (and those who are older) that went to Berkeley or Stanford that would say the same thing. When I was in high school basically the highest GPA one got was a 4.0. Today kids are getting 4.4, 4.6 and even 4.8 GPA's. Are these kids the smartest in American history or is there some grade inflation going on along with more advanced classes?

You throw our grades from 20 years ago into today's requirements and chances of admission go way down.
 
cawacko said:
I have to be honest, learning to read is just too much work. Not really worth the time I figured so I pay someone to read the books to me or just get books on tape.
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Is that why you married a pre school administrator? Good job! Lol
 
cawacko said:
It was a memorable event when I said I wouldn't be able to get into USC today with their current requirements and something you still talk about? I'm honored you think of me so much. The reality is that statement is not unique to me. I have many contemporaries (and those who are older) that went to Berkeley or Stanford that would say the same thing. When I was in high school basically the highest GPA one got was a 4.0. Today kids are getting 4.4, 4.6 and even 4.8 GPA's. Are these kids the smartest in American history or is there some grade inflation going on along with more advanced classes?

You throw our grades from 20 years ago into today's requirements and chances of admission go way down.
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GPA was never anything but an arbitrary metric. It varies from school to school. And usually the +4.0 "GPA's" are using some altered GPA system that can have additional weights for accelerated and college level classes (and reduced weights to remedial ones), as well as being able to assign in-between GPA's to individual classes, so that a kid who made an 89 will get only slightly less credit than one who made a 91, rather than arbitrarily jumping a whole grade point. My own school had two metrics, the QPA (quality point average), which was a more sophisticated system like the one described above, and GPA, which was the classical system you grew up with.
 
cawacko said:
It was a memorable event when I said I wouldn't be able to get into USC today with their current requirements and something you still talk about? I'm honored you think of me so much. The reality is that statement is not unique to me. I have many contemporaries (and those who are older) that went to Berkeley or Stanford that would say the same thing. When I was in high school basically the highest GPA one got was a 4.0. Today kids are getting 4.4, 4.6 and even 4.8 GPA's. Are these kids the smartest in American history or is there some grade inflation going on along with more advanced classes?

You throw our grades from 20 years ago into today's requirements and chances of admission go way down.
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No, that's just kids who come from a school that grade on a 5 point system. GPA is just one factor they evaluate these days. They also evaluate the courses you took, what extracurricular activities you've participated in, cultural heritage and score on the SAT or ACT. All of which heavily top loads admissions towards youths who come from upper middle class and higher backgrounds.

I started college under extremely adverse situation. My parents unwittingly sabatoged my senior year of high school and did serious harm to my academic career. I only got into The Ohio State University System at Wright State by the expedient of interviewing with the Profs who were teaching the classes I wanted to sign up for (Chemistry, Algebra 1, Biology and Western Civilization) and having them sign off on my registration form. I had to do that cause my parents couldn't afford to pay the fee for the SAT/ACT exam. I was only admitted on a conditional basis. Conditions which were only removed after I did better than a 3.0 my first two trimesters.

My point being is that I was an exception. Most kids with the disadvantages I had would have flunked out and I made it through hard work and perseverence and a goodly amount of natural ability.

So not coming from a background even remotely as privelaged as yours I think you could understand why I feel that all State funded Universities should be required to admit anyone from that state who has graduated from an accredited high school program. Regardless of their GPA or standardized test scores or ACT/SAT scores or the curriculum they studied and the cost should be regulated and subsidized at both the State and Federal level so that we can give as many students who have either the ability or the desire to achieve a quality University level education.

For example I keep getting hugely frustrated at how the costs for Studends at State Universities have gone up due to a lack of proper funding, an attitude that these institutions exist to advance the careers of researchers and a zillion dfferent costly student programs that have little or anythig to do with classroom education. I'm sure havng an indoor Rugby practice faclity is great for the whole student experience but if it comes at the cost of not being able to afford to educate our young people, than it is not worth it. So I see these extraneous factors making higher education utterly unafordable for working class kids and barely affordable for middle class kids. Something has to change and we need to get our priorities straight.
 
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Mott the Hoople said:
No, that's just kids who come from a school that grade on a 5 point system. GPA is just one factor they evaluate these days. They also evaluate the courses you took, what extracurricular activities you've participated in, cultural heritage and score on the SAT or ACT. All of which heavily top loads admissions towards youths who come from upper middle class and higher backgrounds.

I started college under extremely adverse situation. My parents unwittingly sabatoged my senior year of high school and did serious harm to my academic career. I only got into The Ohio State University System at Wright State by the expedient of interviewing with the Profs who were teaching the classes I wanted to sign up for (Chemistry, Algebra 1, Biology and Western Civilization) and having them sign off on my registration form. I had to do that cause my parents couldn't afford to pay the fee for the SAT/ACT exam. I was only admitted on a conditional basis. Conditions which were only removed after I did better than a 3.0 my first two trimesters.

My point being is that I was an exception. Most kids with the disadvantages I had would have flunked out and I made it through hard work and perseverence and a goodly amount of natural ability.

So not coming from a background even remotely as privelaged as yours I think you could understand why I feel that all State funded Universities should be required to admit anyone from that state who has graduated from an accredited high school program. Regardless of their GPA or standardized test scores or ACT/SAT scores or the curriculum they studied.
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The comment I and others have made about not being able to get into their alma maters today was based on the GPA's the kids have today compared to when we applied. You're getting into all other kinds of issues which are an excellent discussion about college entrance but aren't what my comment was about.
 
Darla said:
Anyway, let me know if you do read the book Cawacko. I'm going to read it, but probably won't get to it until summer.
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Will do. I don't think I'm going to order it now. Any idea when the final edition of LBJ is due out?
 
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