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Archive for: Claremont McKenna Admission Stats

Claremont McKenna Admission Stats


In light of the Claremont McKenna admission stats scandal, “US News & World Report,” the publisher of the most important college rankings, has released a statement, as reported by Bob Morse. Writes Morse in his column on Claremont McKenna, “Regarding Claremont McKenna’s current rank, No. 9, as published in the 2012 Best Colleges rankings, U.S. News & World Report Editor and Chief Content Officer Brian Kelly said, ‘Our calculation shows that based on the data now being reported by Claremont McKenna as correct, Claremont McKenna College’s ranking will not change.’”

Claremont McKenna, Claremont McKenna Admissions, Admission to Claremont McKenna

“US News & World Report” will not be changing Claremont McKenna’s #9 rank in this year’s “National Liberal Arts Colleges” ranking. What about the rankings for past years of misreported data? That answer is still unclear.

So after all of that — after the vice president of admissions and financial aid violated the ethics of his post and discredited the school’s reputation, their ranking, as we understand it, would be no different than had he reported the true admission stats. “US News & World Report” has made a decision not to change Claremont McKenna’s rank of #9 in the category of “National Liberal Arts Colleges.”

It is our understanding that the rank wouldn’t change because the difference between the true and false data wasn’t significant enough to warrant a drop in rank, but it could be that “US News & World Report” has just decided “on an individual basis” not to change the school’s rank. From Mr. Morse’s article, we’re just not sure without doing the calculations ourselves.

Do you think Claremont McKenna should have been disqualified from the rankings? When it was discovered that the University of Michigan made recruiting violations with the Fab Five, they had to vacate Final Four appearances. Does that change your opinion on Claremont McKenna and the “US News & World Report” rankings?

Claremont McKenna Admission


CMC Admissions, CMC Admission, Admission to Claremont McKenna College

Richard Vos, former VP of admission and financial aid at Claremont McKenna, manipulated admissions data.

There is new information to report on the Claremont McKenna admission scandal that we first reported on at the end of January of this year. An internal probe has determined that Richard Vos, the former vice president for admission and financial aid, acted alone in, as “The LA Times” puts it, “exaggerating freshmen SAT scores and other admissions statistics which boosted the school’s national rankings.” The internal investigation was conducted by the law firm of O’Melveny & Myers.

Interestingly, the probe determined that not a single student record was adjusted by Vos over the years in which he was reporting incorrect admissions statistics. Rather, Vos did his data manipulation with a pencil and paper by fudging the numbers to achieve desired admissions statistics. And what was his motive? Vos contends that his actions were in response to quite a bit of pressure placed on him by Claremont McKenna’s president, Pamela Gann. The firm determined that the president, however, had no direct knowledge of the false reporting and did not instruct Vos to commit this violation of ethics.

According to “The LA Times” article on the Claremont McKenna admissions scandal, “In a statement released Tuesday, Harry McMahon, Claremont McKenna’s board of trustees chairman, said he deeply regretted the episode and that the school is taking steps to prevent any repetition. ‘Throughout its history, the College has been defined by its core values of honesty and responsible leadership. While these events do not reflect our values, our response does. Our President and her staff have addressed this matter promptly, thoroughly and with complete integrity,’ he said.”

What do you think about Vos’ actions? How do you think “US News & World Report” should penalize Claremont McKenna? Should CMC be left out of the rankings altogether? Let us know your thoughts on the Claremont McKenna admission scandal by posting below!