Applying a Bourdieusian lens, this study seeks to explore the interactions between secondary and higher education and how these interactions impact marginalised students in an elite university in China. It presents accounts of the educational experiences of 13 marginalised students of rural origin. The findings suggest that for them educational…

This paper quantifies the extent of student-college "academic undermatch," which occurs when a student's academic credentials permit them access to a college or university that is more selective than the postsecondary alternative they actually choose. Using a nationally representative dataset, we find that 41 percent of students…

This paper briefly reviews the various efforts undertaken by the University of California to maintain diversity in the institution, and especially at its highly competitive flagship campuses, UCLA and Berkeley, in the face of the loss of affirmative action during the mid-1990s. It demonstrates the continuing decline in representation of…

This hermeneutic phenomenological study describes the lived experiences of high-achieving, low-income undergraduates and their transition into a college environment historically reserved for wealthy students. The results of this study indicate that these students are flourishing in full need-based financial aid programs as a result of their own…

In the last decade, there has been a dramatic increase in student stress associated with the college admission process. It is the responsibility of admissions professionals, with support from school counselors and administrators, to inform students and parents, reduce the obsession with selectivity, and concentrate on providing students with…

This paper examines the unique make-up of selective colleges as opposed to those with open admission policies, variances in individual colleges, and how Upward Bound students can be prepared for selective colleges. Some orientations of selective colleges have been described as realistic, scientific, enterprising, and conventional. All of these…