In recent years, the college admissions process seems to have become quite an anxious and contentious issue for many groups involved, as conservatives continue their battle to eliminate affirmative action and deny admission to illegal immigrants, parents agonize on how to get their children into the best schools, and admissions officials struggle with how to admit low-income students while keeping keeping their rankings high.

In this context, as Inside Higher Education reports, a new book entitled Creating a Class: College Admissions and the Education of Elites offers a detailed ethnography into the inner workings of the college admissions process from someone who worked there for 18 months:

The admissions officers described (all with pseudonyms) come across sympathetically. Stevens returns again and again to the theme that they care deeply about students and the college, want to help as many students as they can (within a limited budget), and are conscious of the importance to applicants and their families of the decisions made. . . .

At the same time, other parts of the admissions process shown are less idealistic. Money is discussed openly and frequently, as in whether the students have enough money to pay tuition and, in some cases, whether students’ parents have the potential to become major donors. . . .

The subject on which Stevens said he was most surprised was athletics. For all the talk about preferences for minority or legacy applicants, Stevens said that the preference that counted the most was sports ability. There are some anecdotes that will reinforce the stereotypes of many academics about jocks.

I haven’t read the book yet, but from what it sounds like, it should be a very interesting read. I’m not sure which sides of a particular political debate it will better support, if any at all, but at the least, it sounds like it has the potential to inject a little objectivity into such a hotly-contested and frequently emotional process.