ve provided below the guidance for your final paper.  The format of this paper is slightly different, so please read carefully and email me if you have any questions.

Length: At least 2000 words

At least 8 sources, MLA documented.

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Evaluation Paper

For this paper, consider yourself an admissions officer who has to decide which of the two students whose profiles are given below should be accepted to an elite university.  As an admissions officer, you have to write a 2000-word report in which you justify–argue–why you chose one person over the other.  Your argument for choosing one applicant over another must be guided by research you’ve done to support your claims. 

The university you work for has provided you with a few guidelines that articulate the criteria that an admission’s office must use in accepting a student.  Here are the criteria that must be used in evaluating an application:

1) The applicant’s academic performance should NOT be used as the only criterion for admission. Factors that social class and experiences must also be taken into account.  The goal should be determine whether unchosen socioeconomic conditions unfairly helped one applicant and disadvantaged another.

2) The university strives to foster a student population that is diverse culturally, ethically, and socio-economically.

Here are the profiles for the two applicants:

Applicant A: He scored in the 99% on the SATs and six APs.  He interned at a major law firm for the past two summers and he has excellent recommendations from his teachers.  He also volunteered at a food bank during breaks and the director of the food bank has highly recommended him.  He is from the same ethnic group as 45% of the student population and his parents make 320K a year.  His ethnic group makes up 10% of the state’s population. His statement of purpose is full of descriptions of his accomplishments and how he wants to become a lawyer so that he can help those who are struggling.

GPA: 4

Applicant 2:  He scored in the 78% on the SATs and he has not taken any APs.  He played football for his high school, but got injured in his senior year.  He’s worked at his parents’ restaurant since the age of 16.  His GPA is 3.2 and he has good letters of recommendations from his teachers.  His statement of purpose is about how he lost his father when he was 15 and how it devastated his family.  During this period he failed quite a few of his classes and was ready to drop out of school because he needed to help his family.  It’s clear that he wrote his statement of purpose because it has quite a few grammar errors, but is very powerful emotionally.  At one point in his statement of purpose, he says that the entire city he lives in is responsible for the lack of opportunities and the high crime rate in his city.  He even sent a copy of a newspaper article describing a gang fight at his school during which one student died.  He is a member of the the ethnicity that constitutes 2% of the student population, but makes up 40% of the population of the state the university is located in. His family made 54K last year and he qualifies for financial aid.

GPA: 3.2

Here’s the outline you should use as you write this paper:

Introduction:  In the introduction, tell the reader why the university’s criteria for admission are important for the students’ education and for the larger society.  At the end of the introduction, provide a thesis that says something like the following:

Applicant A or B should be admitted because of A and B reasons. 

2) Evaluate Applicant A’s profile by doing some research to find out what role money plays in helping students improve their scores and also take into account the university’s admission goals. Look at the numerous unchosen advantages that this applicant had access to.  Make sure to cite your sources.  Here’s an example of the type of source you should look for:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2014/03/05/these-four-charts-show-how-the-sat-favors-the-rich-educated-families/

3) Evaluate Applicant B’s profile by analyzing the disadvantages that he faced in his life and how they possibly prevented him from doing well in school.  Here’s an example of the type of source you should look for:

https://www.insidehighered.com/admissions/article/2019/09/24/minority-and-first-generation-sat-scores-fall-behind

4) In the last part of your essay, you must make a strong argument for either applicant and you must also show why those who disagree with you are wrong.

What I’ve provided above are the different parts of the essay; you’re free to write as many paragraphs as you’d like, but please make sure to start every paragraph with a topic sentence.

Here’s an example of a paragraph:

Applicant A clearly had a lot of advantages afforded to him due to his parents’ status.  According to research done by X, 95% of students who score in the 98% of the SAT take at least one SAT prep class that costs at least a $1000 dollars.  Poor students such as Applicant 2 do not have the resources to take such classes that teach students how to eliminate answers on the SAT.  In addition, it’s likely that Applicant A’s social status allowed him access to those who were able to find him internships at major companies as research continues to show us: 98% of those who intern during high school come from families that make more than 250K per year. Poor students don’t have the resources…

Make sure to provide a work cited page for the sources used.