Privilege shouldn't affect admissions process

It’s one of the many unfair aspects of life, but the people with the best connections tend to get the best treatment. The University of Illinois is no different.

The university has suspended its controversial Category I admissions process in wake of a Chicago Tribune report that the school gave preferential treatment to applicants with more clout.

The associates of trustees, alumni and even Illinois legislators were given special treatment when they were applying to the college. Because of their connections, those applicants were placed in a section called Category I, which faced far fewer strict standards for entry. Some of these students were even denied, but were able to appeal the decision or get it overturned, even if an admissions officer protested.

With this process, the university was looking to prevent the loss of money, rather than try to bring more in. Many powerful people in the state wanted their friends or relatives to be accepted and if that didn’t happen, pressure might be put on the school. At the very least, being on good terms with trustees and state legislators would make working closely with them a lot easier. If you scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours.

But although the school saves in the short term, it loses even more down the line with this policy.

The evidence shows these students often don’t have the academic honors any normally accepted student would have. In 2008, accepted students ranked in the 88th percentile of their high school class, while the connected students averaged in the 76th percentile. The college’s law school dean even estimated the university would need to accept two students for every Category I admission to offset the damage done to the school’s academic rankings.

Illinois had to make a choice — the university can either function as a business or it can function like a school. Even though it suspended this policy and is investigating its effects, it appears the university sided with business.

One would assume the goal of any college would be to provide the best education possible for the best available students, but that’s often not the case. Illinois is a very good academic school, but that quality is devalued because of loopholes in admissions like this. The people you accept at your school demonstrates what you find valuable in young students. Many applicants likely worked harder than some of these privileged students and were denied anyway. Is Illinois a school that values effort and intelligence, or the people you know?

This kind of thing occurs in life all the time, so it happening with college admissions isn’t shocking. Illinois is probably one of many, many schools in the country with a policy similar to this. Perhaps the school is just teaching people about the cruel aspects of life.

But college is supposed to be where young people setting up careers get to start on the same playing field as everyone else. The hardest workers and the most talented will naturally rise the top. If a student can’t achieve in school, they have no one to blame but themselves. Letting politics dilute the talent pool helps no one and sends a seriously mixed message.

Until the system is corrected, the message seems to be: Keep your nose to the grindstone, study hard and — if all else fails — have rich friends.