Release of Information

In Missouri, does a state university have to release exact reasons why a student was turned down for admission?

When asked what the child's strengths and weaknesses were as they compared to their admission standards, all I was told was, "We do not separate out each indicator, but rather look at the student's entire score".

That, to me, seems subjective, rather than objective.

And I have written 3 times to request specifics. We feel this will assist us in future preparation.

If it means anything, the prospective student is 16 and will be a Junior ... not college age, but the program was aimed at High School Juniors.

The school is not allowed to turn someone down for racial or gender reasons.

However, it can turn down someone for admission for any other permissible reason.

Can you imagine the paperwork involved if every school had to list every reason that they didn't admit a student -- or admitted someone else instead?

The school usually provides a general statement about what it bases its decisions on, but you're going to have a hard time getting anyone to state the reasons why the application was turned down, other than generic statements.

Thank you for your reply.
If the numbers were in the 1000's, I could *maybe* understand it, but there were 60 positions, for which 143 students applied. (As I stated, this is a COLLEGE PROGRAM for HIGH SCHOOL JUNIORS; a program most people are even aware of.)
We were told that students were judged on:

Standardized Test Scores
GPA
Class Rank
Evaluations
Essays
Interviews

Of these:
We know the Standardized Test Scores were above minimum requirements.
We know that the GPA was not as high as it should have been, but they made provisions by asking if there were any reasons why the GPA would not indicate the true potential of the student and they were told of the long battle with cancer the student's mother had been through before passing away in 2000.
We know the class rank was 60th of 511 ... and they were shown that that had been brought up from 108th of 511 after the death of the mother.
They knew the student had attended most years at a shool for the gifted and they should weigh each of the letter grades higher than those schools with lesser standards. (It's easier to get an 'A' at a regular school, than it is to get a 'C' at a school for the gifted.)
We know the evaluations were all excellent.
WE HAVE NO IDEA HOW ESSAYS ARE JUDGED AT THIS INSTITUTION. (How would YOU judge an essay? Does a good bull*****er deserve a spot and a poor bull*****er not?)
There were no INTERVIEW points, because there were no interviews.

Then, when asked how the student was judged as compared to the university's own admission standards, to be told, "We do not separate out each indicator, but rather look at the student's entire score." seems like another slap in our faces because that process in entirely subjective. If there are objective facts, they can be easily reported upon request.

If the student was turned down on Race or Sex, how would we know this?

If it is simply a matter that each applicant accepted scored higher on STANDARDIZED TEST SCORES and ESSAYS, fine, let them tell me that and explain how ESSAYS were judged.

Actually, of all the criteria, only the STANDARDIZED TEST SCORES would have been completely OBJECTIVE, but the other things are subjective, changable facts based upon personal feelings: Do we understand why the GPA and Class Rank were temporarily down or don't we? If we don't, why not have an interview? We had no interview.

I base my original question on this: It is a state university and receives state and federal funds.
Am I allowed to demand that the EXACT reason for denial be explained?

Duke University's Talent Identification Program first alerted this university to this student's potential and then, a 2nd time by the results of an ACT-Plan test.

This we DO know, ALL the other applicant's were solely on the results of ACT and/or ACT-Plan results. We were told this information when making application to the program.