The GPA to get into the UW is now around 3.7.
When I went to Harvard, Princeton was a notorious haven for the white elite. That has not been true for some time. Their great efforts to become a part of the diversity of America are reflected in the careers of Michelle Obama and Sonia Sotomayor.
The effort at the Ivies was a belated accolade to President Jefferson. Although he was all to obviously a member of an elite class, Thomas Jefferson founded the University of Virginia as a public school because he believed access to education should be universal.
The Ivies have gone beyond race and ethnicity, to make a real effort at breaking down financial class barriers. I posted numbers some time ago on THE Ave showing that the UW is now MORE expensive that Princeton. That is because Princeton admits students with need based assistance that extends well into the ranks of the middle class. The same is true for Harvard and some of the other well endowed Ivies.
Leaving aside class issues, the argument at Princeton and its sister Ivies for doing this is that they want the best students, an academic rather than a social elite. Getting into Princeton implies a level of achievement and promise that puts a student well beyond most of the population. These elite schools argue (and I believe they are correct) that this policy makes a great education available to the best of America’s kids.
Presumably, this elite includes kids from WASTATE.
This raises a real issue for the UW as a “public Ivy.” Should we be serving the needs of WASTATE kids who can get into Princeton? Would you advise some bright kid from Yakima to come here rather than go to Princeton if Princeton were cheaper?
I sat in on just such an argument a few years ago between a faculty council and the UW Athletic Director. The issue was why do we recruit so many students from out of state and give them scholarships if they can play football or basketball? The answer, of course is that the UW wanted to have the best team. The AD asserted that elite student-athletes were a model and stimulus to the whole school.
My question is a simple one. If we provide scholarships to recruit elite student athletes why shouldn’t we do the same for elite students?