In college admissions, there are many factors which determine one's odds to get in to a specific college that is on one’s radar. This is thoroughly explained in The Gatekeepers: Inside the Admissions Process of a Premier College, by Jacques Steinberg. The story explains the fate of six different students as they apply for college, and how their background effected how the colleges would respond. Following Ralph in his escapades through the admissions process with his students that he has to decide the fate of, the reader is immersed in the complexity and difficulty that the process takes. In the course of the admissions process, Ralph Figueroa faces a daunting task of analyzing and screening out the applicants for the future class. This application process  is a somewhat effective system, but not perfect,  as there still are many flaws that lie in the method.  

        For many of the applicants, there was a great deal of bias regarding sex and racial background. For example, after students took the SAT,  

“Dozens of colleges paid the College Board thousands of dollars each year to buy rosters of those names—some of them arranged in descending order by score, and cross-referenced by race—from which to compile their preliminary mailing lists” (Steinberg 33).

Colleges get an early start on the well performing students, leaving the smaller less known colleges in the dust. Contrary to performance being a sole factor of aptitude, colleges would reward those who come from a minority to balance out the school’s population. This hinders the Caucasian base of America, as many of the whites seek college after high school in a higher percentage than almost any other race. The minorities on the other hand, do not seek out college in as high of a percentage; so to fix it a reformed education system needs to go into effect, with more colleges and less dropout rates. Colleges have to stay informed on the performances of the potential future students. The surplus of students gives way to a biased admissions process, as some under qualified minority students may receive precedence over those who have a superior performance than others. This is noted by many college studies, as in 2005 “the median SAT score for Asian students was 1400 points, out of a possible 1600 under the test's old scoring regimen. The score for white students was 50 points lower, while the scores for African-American and Hispanic students were 240 and 140 points lower, respectively” (Carrol). If schools admitted only on scores, schools would be less diverse, but more academic. Additionally, there is a gender bias of some colleges, as Savannah Guthrie and Megan Marcus posed the question: “With women comprising 57 percent of college students, are admission standards being lowered for boys in the name of gender balance?” (Guthrie and Marcus, and Steinberg 130).  The balance of America’s admittance is slightly off kilter, more of a certain sex is applying than another, resulting in a bias against that certain sex. This, combined with racial diversity, is one of the main problems that the college admissions process faces. The majority of students in America, being mostly white, have a difficult road to travel when applying to college. Diversity is not only for minorities, but for location as well. In Wesleyan’s case, they want to diversify to the other states instead of their large local reach, to provide a better experience to their students.

        With race and sex already playing a role in acceptance, academic performance and financial integrity falls in after the balancing of the nation’s public. As an example, in regards to academic performance, the number of students applying is resulting in an over qualified crowd for limited seats, as “many of the most selective colleges are starting to release their application numbers and as expected the number of applications at many of these colleges again set records” (Johnson, Steinberg 6 33 120). Record numbers of college applications have been received for the name brand schools, and even the lower schools. More students are pursuing college, and this astounding amount is superseding the population growth of the nation. The nation has a stable growth and expansion, but the number of college worthy students is expanding every year and is going faster than population growth. This may crowd schools and their applications, but it definitely raises the bar for applications. Furthermore, financial integrity is in need of evaluation, as for “the past two decades in the Northeast, for instance, most college financial-aid directors have been attending the same annual workshop on evaluating parents' financial-aid forms sponsored by the College Board and run by a Vermont-based accountant named James Briggs” (Lindorff). Also, from Sweden this trend is being noticed as    

“40 percent of those from farms and working-class homes indicated that they would not have entered postsecondary studies without the financial aid. The corresponding percentage for the higher socioeconomic strata is 12 percent. The national financial aid system is also important to completion of a degree program. In addition, women have benefited from the national financial aid system more often than men, and they have also been able to finance their studies to a larger extent through this system. The aid system has been particularly important in recruiting women to professional programs of long duration” (eric.ed.gov)  

In Sweden's case, they have nationalized healthcare and education, resulting in more opportunities for financial aid, whereas in America there is not as many opportunities for a national scholarship. Financial aid is such a deciding factor in college admissions that a fair amount of students that received financial aid would not have attended a certain school if it were not for that financial aid opportunity, mainly to provide diversity or to secure the hot prospect students. After the general admission is over, it is known that colleges accept enough students to fill a quota, but those students are most likely to pay their way, allowing them a certain pass over the more qualified students. Academic and economic details play a key role in acceptance for non minority students, and one must stand out in order to get accepted to their dream college.

        Although the admissions process has worked for many years for the popular colleges, it still remains highly unused by the “no name” colleges who mainly accept anyone who apply. For anyone who is one of the majority, they must consciously accept the fact that they will have a harder time getting into a college that they desire to attend, as majority of these colleges are prestigious colleges, and must step up to the challenge of making themselves stand out. Through the analysis of and following Ralph Figueroa, Steinberg allows the reader to fully delve in to what they may face in their academic future, be it shocking or favorable.

Works Cited

"Financial Aid and Class Bias in Higher Education." Dec. 1981. Education Resources Information

Center. 16-17. Sep. 10, 2008 <http://eric.ed.gov/ERICWebPortal/recordDetail?accno=ED213302>

Lindorff, David. “A Financial-Aid Bias?” April 11, 2001. Smart Money. Sep. 10, 2008

                <http://www.smartmoney.com/consumer/index.cfm?story=20010411>

Steinberg, Jacques. The Gatekeepers: Inside the Admissions Process of a Premier College. London: Viking                 Penguin, 2002.