Path: utzoo!utgpu!attcan!uunet!lll-winken!lll-ncis!helios.ee.lbl.gov!pasteur!ames!joyce!gds
From: gds@spam.istc.sri.com (Greg Skinner)
Newsgroups: comp.edu
Subject: Re: Student preparedness
Message-ID: <15655@joyce.istc.sri.com>
Date: 6 Jan 89 07:33:54 GMT
References: <52767@pyramid.pyramid.com> <5053@phoenix.Princeton.EDU> <56@rpi.edu> <9252@ut-emx.UUCP> <9343@ihlpb.ATT.COM>
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Reply-To: gds@spam.istc.sri.com (Greg Skinner)
Organization: SRI International, Menlo Park CA
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In article <9343@ihlpb.ATT.COM> nevin1@ihlpb.UUCP (55528-Liber,N.J.) writes:
>Well, considering that this is one way to get good benchmarks, er, I
>mean grades, and that most of the world only looks at the grades and not
>the person (not all grad schools bother to interview, for instance), why
>should they believe anything else?  The measure of education is the
>GPA; the rest is considered a side-effect.

Grades are important to grad schools, but not solely.  Other factors
are important, such as GREs (yuck), recommendations, and your own
personal statements.  Also, there is nothing stopping you (general)
from requesting an interview -- it might even be to your advantage.  A
friend of mine went to ask some questions about a graduate department
from a department head before applying.  She was accepted.  The
acceptance letter bore the handwritten initials of the department
head.

Would you want to go to a college that didn't want to talk to you?
That might be an indication of what they'll do with you when you are
admitted.

Keep in mind that it is the most prestigious colleges and companies
that can discriminate on the basis of grades or whatever, because they
get so many applicants.  I've checked into a number of small colleges
that have entrance requirements even I can fulfill. :-) Seriously,
though, these places have faculty that got their degrees at the same
schools where the faculty at the prestigious schools got their
degrees.  The difference seems to lie in the amount of money the
prestigious schools get for research, and the nature of the research
done.

>Note:  I don't believe that a GPA should be the measure of an education,
>but I've seen how grad schools accept students and how companies hire,
>and the truth of the matter is that grades are too important.  Too many
>students would rather get a good grade than a good education, since it
>is easier to use the grade to get a "foot in the door".

Perhaps the trouble we are seeing with the education system now is due
to the fact that people are seeking to be "qualified" rather than
"educated".

--gregbo