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| {{{ Project Zinch |
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| The Students |
Students are enslaved by the admissions process. The breath of life or defeat of death is delivered by a postal worker. These shackles of stress and fear in the admissions process must be broken.
A recent NY Times article states the recent stresses from students: “…‘I totally feel like I am a failure and I have failed my parents as a son ... to be honest, I feel like committing suicide.’
He wrote that he had applied to 13 colleges and, as of early this week, had been rejected by 4 of them.
‘What crime did I do to deserve this?’ he wrote.â€
Students lack control in this process. Zinch empowers every student. It allows the student to actively let every college in America know who he/she is; to show what they bring to the world. Zinch is a movement for students to show colleges that they are not the 27 or 1260 they’re currently seen as; they have names, passions, and background differences that make them unique and desirable to colleges. Zinch puts the student in control and lets colleges respond. |
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| Colleges and Universities |
Colleges and universities have long recognized the need for a greater reach and push in their recruiting efforts. There has been progress in the last few years, hundreds of high schools have dropped their AP programs, and over 700 universities have dropped the requirement to take and submit an ACT or SAT score. Big-name universities like Harvard and Princeton have dropped their early admissions programs.
“We think this will produce a fairer process, because the existing process has been shown to advantage those who are already advantaged,’’ said Derek Bok, the interim president of Harvard.
Whether through targeting minority students or those from diverse backgrounds, universities are anxiously engaged in finding better methods for recruiting. Currently, due to lack of alternatives, colleges and universities use standardized test scores to recruit. Unfortunately, these practices inherently filter out many students. First of all, has the student taken a college entrance exam? How did they score; was that score indicative of their ability to succeed at a college level? Our fight is not with entrance exams; we recognize that this is one method to begin a selection process. We argue that this is one among many criteria that profile a student. Further, unless a student has compelling resources at their disposal, which often allow a student to better present themselves, they fall short in the college race.
As college admissions become increasingly competitive and the fate of each student hinges more on test scores, the gap between the privileged and underprivileged students unfortunately has widened. As underprivileged students are crippled in the process, the well-to-do students are thriving. More and more parents are spending thousands of dollars on consultants, test prep tutors, and “college coaches.â€
In essence, the purpose of standardized testing is defeated. Students are left on unequal ground. Not all students can be measured from one standard. Certain groups will always be favored. |
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| Zinch |
Zinch levels the playing field in college admissions by elevating the student without the need for expensive or unattainable resources. Zinch shines light on those students hidden in obscurity and adds fire to those already burning their candle. On the most basic level, we believe young high school-age students to be, regardless of circumstance, a champion in embryo. We believe that all students have abilities and talents best developed in a college or university setting. The question is whether or not that picture of potential can be extracted for a college admission officer to see. Zinch therefore exists not to create ability (as an embellished resume might), but to reveal that ability. When students of all types have been revealed to the universities, they then can be discovered. Students should be judged before being recruited to college; hopefully that judgment is based on complete information. This is our mission. This is how we seek to level the playing field.
Zinch asks students to: “Showcase yourself. Be discovered. Don’t make college admissions a passive process, hoping that by some miracle, colleges in America will find you. Shout aloud your dream university; then go get it. You are more than a test score. Find them. Show them. Personalize the process.â€
Our overwhelming need, therefore, is for organizations to join our cause. Let us help all the kids that fit in your organization and let us add to what you currently do. If we believe in students, especially those that under the current system remain undiscovered, then we must reach them. Such an effort must be undertaken, in part, by the parents and mentors of the students. Our cause is the cause of communities, not just a push within the curriculum. Today we’re asking you to join the movement, to make a difference. |
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