This article discusses the methodological challenges of researching elite boys' schooling, in a study involving interviewing alumni who attended these schools from the 1970s to the 2020s. In particular, through a feminist poststructuralist methodological framing, it considers the necessity for researcher reflexivity in engaging in research in such…

This post is one in a series highlighting MDRC's methodological work. In the past decade, rapid growth in the number of charter schools and school district choice systems has provided education researchers with exciting opportunities to use naturally occurring pockets of randomization to rigorously study the effects of policy-relevant education…

This brief describes (1) what parents look for when they choose a school and (2) how these preferences affect the sorting of students into schools under different school-choice policies. The findings are based on lists of preferred schools submitted by over 20,000 applicants to a citywide lottery for more than 100 traditional and charter public…

In the fall of 2005, the Academic Council of Tufts University proposed a new slogan to characterize its mission in educating students: "New Leaders for a Changing World." Many colleges, of course, have slogans of various kinds. The challenge is how each translates its words into action in an authentic manner. Sternberg's theory of…

One's position in an alphabetically sorted list may be important in determining access to over-subscribed public services. Motivated by anecdotal evidence, we investigate the importance of the position in the alphabet of Czech students for their admission chances into over-subscribed schools. Empirical evidence based on the population of students…

The author recently spent a year and a half in the admissions office of a highly selective Eastern college as an ethnographer, seeking to understand just how admissions officers make their decisions. He accompanied them on recruitment trips to high schools and college fairs, helped manage their offices' relentless current of visitors and mail, and…

In order to successfully match students and jobs in the medical profession of their choice, and at the same time meet the country's health care needs, it has become evident that access to medical schools and the various medical professions should be tightly regulated, in particular by a "numerus clausus." In most Western countries,…

Discusses a new study which found that even as the number of high school graduates fell over the past 20 years, competition for college applicants increased. (EV)

Explores how toughened admissions policies have reshaped the City University of New York, attracting many new students but turning some immigrants away. (EV)

The college admissions process teaches students how to express themselves during interviews, how to describe their best qualities in application essays. It may also make them wary of college marketing campaigns, and skeptical of being treated as a statistics, due to the large role played by standardized-test scores and grade-point averages. Such…

Examines the progress of black participation in the Rhodes Scholarship program. The author discusses the earlier practice of exclusion blacks in the program and highlights the experiences of two black Rhodes scholars in the selection process. (GLR)

Describes a two-day selection process implemented by a counselor education department for screening doctoral applicants. Discusses assessment of each applicant in four areas: counseling skills, interpersonal effectiveness, level of professional knowledge, and credentials. (Author/ABB)

In 1999, Florida implemented the One Florida Initiative, a plan to end race-conscious decision making in employment, contracting, and higher education. The proposal for higher education was to replace race-conscious admissions with the Talented 20 Program, a policy that in theory would increase access for underrepresented students without…

Examines a central issue in university admission in South Africa, identification and selection of disadvantaged students with potential to succeed in higher education, and the search for solutions to this problem. Discussion focuses on the legislative requirements for transparent and fair selection. (Author/MSE)

Texas, California, and Florida are implementing versions of a percent plan in college admissions. This report assesses these plans using data from published information on the plans; state- and institution-calculated higher education application, admission, and enrollment data; media accounts of social and political contexts surrounding the plans;…