Live data from Hacker News

Cal State will no longer require math and English placement exams

latimes.com

1–10 of 278 posts

Re: Cal State will no longer require math and English placement exams

#2
"At Cal State, about 40% of freshmen each year are considered not ready for college-level work and required to take remedial classes that do not count toward their degrees."

This is crazy to me. I'm not familiar with Cal State but do they just let anyone in who applies?

Re: Cal State will no longer require math and English placement exams

#3
post #2

"At Cal State, about 40% of freshmen each year are considered not ready for college-level work and required to take remedial classes that do not count toward their degrees." This is crazy to me. I'm not familiar with Cal State but do they just let anyone in who applies?

Cal State LA Accept rate: 68%

UCLA Accept Rate: 18%

Re: Cal State will no longer require math and English placement exams

#5
post #2

"At Cal State, about 40% of freshmen each year are considered not ready for college-level work and required to take remedial classes that do not count toward their degrees." This is crazy to me. I'm not familiar with Cal State but do they just let anyone in who applies?

A quick Google search tells me the closest Cal State to me, Sacramento, has a 67.3% acceptance rate. Slightly higher than the national average of 64.7%, although I'm not sure how trustworthy those numbers are.

Re: Cal State will no longer require math and English placement exams

#6
post #2

"At Cal State, about 40% of freshmen each year are considered not ready for college-level work and required to take remedial classes that do not count toward their degrees." This is crazy to me. I'm not familiar with Cal State but do they just let anyone in who applies?

It's amazing that there's such a thing as remedial classes in a university, but hey, how else are we going to get an adequately diverse student body?

Re: Cal State will no longer require math and English placement exams

#8
This is part of a long and slow change in the role of higher education. Previously, college was seen as being for people who academically deserved it. College was not for teaching high-school level concepts, it was for teaching advanced concepts to students who had already demonstrated some bona fides. Now, it is seen as an extension of high school; the onus is on the college to mold all comers into more educated and productive citizens, even if that means re-teaching the basics.

[1998] http://articles.latimes.com/1998/may/28/local/me-54085

>The Times reported in March on data from the California State University system showing that roughly half of the freshmen at the Fullerton campus failed basic-skills placement exams and had to enroll in remedial math and English courses. New statistics released Wednesday show that those students had a mean high school grade-point average of 3.1, or a B.

> "How can it be that students can be getting Bs in English and not pass a fairly basic test and end up having to take a remedial class?" Klammer asked... "We cannot afford, as a state, to be reteaching high school classwork at the university," he said.

Re: Cal State will no longer require math and English placement exams

#9
post #6
post #2

"At Cal State, about 40% of freshmen each year are considered not ready for college-level work and required to take remedial classes that do not count toward their degrees." This is crazy to me. I'm not familiar with Cal State but do they just let anyone in who applies?

It's amazing that there's such a thing as remedial classes in a university, but hey, how else are we going to get an adequately diverse student body?

Are you insinuating white people don't need remedial classes?

Re: Cal State will no longer require math and English placement exams

#10
post #2

"At Cal State, about 40% of freshmen each year are considered not ready for college-level work and required to take remedial classes that do not count toward their degrees." This is crazy to me. I'm not familiar with Cal State but do they just let anyone in who applies?

Not all cal states are created equal. Many are effectively glorified community colleges(not necessarily a bad thing) , while others (like calpoly slo) are excellent universities. Source:was recently a California high school student
Post reply on HN