Joey Coleman wrote a pretty interesting article on the way universities attract students (it is his take on the story ran by The Windsor Star). In it he tries to discuss whether or not universities are using deceptive practices to “lure” (if you will) students to enroll there. He mentions a few ways in which this is done, and I would like to address some of these (some in more detail than others).
Residence – (i.e. any accomodation provided to you by the university, be it a dorm, a house, apartment building…whatever) . Every university assures you that their system of matching people is the best and you’ll be put on the floor you want and with the most perfect roommate(s); in addition you’ll get the moon, the stars and the dwarf Pluto. Okay I exaggerated a little but you get the point. I visited 2 campuses (campi?) before making my decision to attend UWO in first year: UWO’s and Mac’s. I took the residence tours at both and I received pretty much the same info from both:
- You’ll get a single, double, or triple room and they each have a different price
- You’ll have to pay for a meal plan, etc.
- Our roommate matching system is based on the questions you answer and we match you with someone who you’ll be best buds with just like [tour guide] and [tour guide's former roommate] are
- some other university specific stuff
It’s obvious that you have to take this with a grain of salt. As a future university student you have to think for yourself and say “This all sounds great, but it might not end up that way. These tour guides are hired PRECISELY for the purpose to get me excited about coming here.” (Let’s not get into a big discussion about school spirit and that. This is not what this post is about.) I personally know of tens of cases where the roommate turned out to be a complete and utter nightmare, people didn’t get the room they wanted and so on and so forth. I lived through one of them myself and my UWO friends will most likely recall that as we drudged along together. To sum this point up, you may or may not get what you want, it’s what you do with it that counts.
Scholarships (particularly Entrance Scholarships) aka the motherload. The main thing a lot of students wish to know is how are they going to pay for all this higher education the will be receiving. The Windsor Star, Coleman, and a CFS representative quoted by the previous two sources (oh boy) seem to frown upon the way entrance scholarships are handled. They have a problem with the fact that “administrators know students will forfeit [the scholarships] within the first year.” While that may be indeed true (it is a safe bet administrators plan scholarship offerings around this important piece of information) I would not call it deceptive. Why? Because the rules for retaining your scholarship are spelled out and available publicly for anyone to read. It usually involves maintaining a certain grade point average (in the simple cases) but in the more complex (read: more money) cases I’ve seen/heard about the student must fill out an application for renewal detailing achievements and involvement in the past year as well as goals for the coming school year.
I find it fair. The university is making an investment in the students. They expect something in return. To answer Joey’s question “Why are [students and their families] not given the complete truth of about their purchase, why are they not being told what is “under the hood?” They are. There’s just a LOT of reading and information to be absorbed and retained which is overwhelming. Students are not given the money with the expectation they will fail (Investment 1aa1 will teach you it’s not worth investing in assured failure). Those who keep their averages, keep the money. Those who don’t, like me, don’t and have to rely on working at times 3 part time jobs and OSAP to get by for one more school year.
I disagree with the implication that universities are being deceptive. They give you all the information you need. You just have to actually take the time to understand it. It is nothing like “getting kids smoking. You need to get them in the door and it’s a captured market after that. People are committed to getting a degree because you have to in this market. The opportunities to reconsider another school after the loss of a scholarship aren’t there.” as the CFS rep was quoted in The Windsor Star.
Universities do indeed help people enter by offering these scholarships but both parties know the money is conditional. I would characterize it more like a professional designation with regular renewal tests. You know your stuff? Good you can keep practicing. You don’t? Sorry can’t keep that license on the wall but you can try again next time. (ok so entrance scholarships don’t give you a next time, but there are many other ones out that that one can apply for. Again this takes time and effort.)
The sad reality of all of this is that there indeed are such few students maintaining those averages. Either standards are too high, or students are not properly prepared or a combination of the two. That is, again, a discussion to be had another time.
To wrap everything up:
- YES – universities offer you the moon and the stars…they don’t have them and that car the dealer just said would take you to the moon and back…yeah not happening, take a step back and think for yourself.
- YES – universities offer you entrance scholarships to attract you to their campus, they want $tudent$
- NO – they do not deceive you into thinking you’re always going to have the money. They tell you straight out this is what you must do to keep it
No related posts.
I agree on your view point on scholarships but not on them offering you the moon and the stars. Of course they are going to tell you they like it. Also, if you think 15 questions can make sure you room with a perfect match, thats your own dumb fault. How many people that actually like staying up until 3am write that on their sheet. They lie and say 12 so that they don’t get stuck with people like themselves. If people took the time to investigate it wouldn’t be that bad. I understand people come from far away and don’t know people that go to Mac but the story is the same anywhere. Everyone should know that you might have problems with your roommate. In my first year I heard of a lot of people that were unhappy. Most of these people ended up moving to a new rez. They are somewhat accomodating.
If you accept into a certain rez ask around before hand. Everyone can tell you if such and such a rez is mostly first years and has lots of parties. This is also more common, from my experience, in the double, and triple rooms. In apartment style everyone place has their own living room so you don’t bother people down the hall. It’s kind of hard to party in only a double room so it spills out into the halls and bothers everyone.
I encourage everyone to investigate as much as you can. It will go a long way to having a more enjoyable year.