Overview

This book is available as open access through the Bloomsbury Open Access programme and is available on www.bloomsburycollections.com. Who gets into elite universities, how and why? What are places like Harvard in the United States or Cambridge in England looking for when they admit undergraduate students? What qualities do selectors value and how do they decide between many applicants with often stellar attainment records? And, are we all better off because of who these elite universities admit? Meritocracy and the University provides an insight into the world of university admissions. Based on interviews with professional admissions staff and academic faculty members who select students, the book explains what selectors value and how they make decisions. By shining a light on the world of university admissions in England and in the United States, readers are invited to reflect on the similarities and differences in who selects and how selection is done, the purpose and mission of universities, and the challenges universities face in building fair admissions processes when earlier opportunities to shine in education are unequally distributed.

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9781350051027

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Reviews

Chosen as a Summer Read 2016 Times Higher Education This book is essential reading for all those concerned about inequalities in Higher Education. Drawing on rich and wide-ranging data, it provides a fascinating insight into admission policies in elite universities in the USA and UK. It shines a piercing analytical light on an area we know very little about, and in doing so raises important questions about the value and purpose of elite higher education. Diane Reay, Professor of Education, Cambridge University, UK A balanced overview of elite college admissions in the US and UK that lets us hear the voices of the gatekeepers. Joseph Soares, Professor of Sociology, Wake Forest University, USA

Author Information

Anna Mountford Zimdars is the Director of the Centre for Excellence in Widening Participation Research and Associate Professor at the University of Exeter, UK. Her work on university admissions has been published in many peer-reviewed articles, book chapters, and commissioned research reports. Her research has been cited in Parliament as well as receiving coverage in the media including the Sunday Times, BBC Radio 4, and The Guardian.

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