Being turned down from the college of my dreams was heartbreaking.
But it was even worse when I found out it happened because I was "too young" to learn.
I'm Kelsey Caetano-Anollés, and at 17 I'm the youngest graduate the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign has ever had. At 14, I was the youngest student ever admitted to the school, and I graduated this spring with a Bachelor's degree in Psychology. But when I applied to UIUC for graduate school, I was told I was "too young," "lacked experience" and was even told that I would be better suited to "go backpacking through Europe" than to continue my studies.
We hear a lot about age discrimination in the workplace and I agree that this is a serious issue. But I'm arguing that age discrimination cuts two ways, which is why I started a campaign on Change.org calling for more legal protection to make sure young people aren't denied schooling or opportunities because of their age.
This year, I applied to the the Graduate Program in Psychology at the University of Illinois in Urbana/Champaign. After I applied, a professor in the department explicitly mentioned to me that it would be best for me if I took a year or two off backpacking in Europe and apply again after my return, stating that I would not be taken on board as graduate student because of my young age.
When I responded to her that I had no plans to put my career on hold because of my age, she replied, "Age does matter here." After I received the unofficial news that I had not been accepted into the program, I requested a meeting with the admission director to inquire about the reasons I was not selected.
To my surprise, when I met with the admission director and I started the conversation talking about my studies at UIUC, the admission director interrupted stating that my application to the graduate program was hampered by my young age. My family and I were in disbelief when we heard that age could have played a role in the selection process.
My mother asked if young age in a student like me, who had received nothing but straight As in the last semesters of classes, should be considered an asset. The admission director responded with the question, "Why do you believe that young age should be considered positive for the application? To the contrary..."
I was in disbelief that the same situation could have happened to me twice. At 14, I had applied to UUIC's undergraduate program but was denied because of my age -- even with a perfect high school GPA and an almost perfect ACT. I worked with State Senator Michael Frerichs to pass Bill 263 -- reversing the minimum age requirement for college admissions -- which passed unanimously in the Senate and in the House with only one vote against it.
I'm 17, but I consider that a benefit, not a drawback, as I work to continue my education and someday be a clinical psychologist. I'm shocked that a respected university would deny a student on the basis of their birthdate, and hope that others will join me in my fight against reverse age discrimination.
==Bobby, her mother only showed up *after* she had been denied admission, fora meeting with the admissions director to get an answer as to why she was turned down. And that was so she could have a witness in the room to counter the school's ever shifting reasoning.
as to it being political, that seems to be an understatement.
Congrats on your perfect sat score! You may be 17 but in my book , your are a scientist-not a child. Age is a number-nothing more.
St Paul said to his protege, St Timothy, who was facing similar issues,
"Let no man despise your youth"
That's still good advice today. May God bless you and your work!
http://www.desiringgod.org/resource-library/sermons/let-no-one-despise-you-for-your-youth
Also...I have followed up her replies to the comments posted about this article. I am convinced her answers are provided based upon experience and consideration, rather than on ignorance and prejudice.
"Let no man despise your youth...."
Discriminating against someone based upon the things about them which are unchangeable such as age, gender, race, is wrong-in fact, it is ungodly.
Shame on UIUC.
Its grossly unfair that people feel they have a right to judge you based solely on your age, but you're not going to change any bigoted minds until you have your graduate degree in hand. I wish you the best luck in your campaign, but strongly suggest you look elsewhere for graduate studies where professors' minds are perhaps more open.
==Thank you so much for your sense of fairness,
and positive comment. I totally agree with you.
Fanned and faved!!
Also there is something very disturbing about the statements of these school representatives. The fact that that they both have stated in one-way or the other that, “If she still has the goal of a Ph.D. she probably burned a lot of bridges with this article”. Does this mean UIUC will retaliate if this student decides to apply in the future? Interesting…coming from representatives of the university that may have launched a campaign to discredit her allegations of discrimination.
Also, all of the "data" I presented is publicly available on the UIUC Psychology website; stats on the acceptance rate/admissions criteria can be found here: http://www.psychology.illinois.edu/graduate/apply/. Information about the honors students can be found under the Summer 2011 issue of Psych Times, here: http://www.psychology.illinois.edu/alumni/newsletter/.
I cannot stress this enough: UIUC has said nothing about this to anyone in the department. There is no smear campaign, and I am not a UIUC representative. I'm just a grad student who got annoyed with the way that UIUC was being maligned by people who don't seem to understand how the Ph.D. admission process works, that's all.
For that matter, my comments about her burning bridges are not in any way limited to UIUC. While I suspect they will take umbrage at her decision to protest this through the media rather than through the school or courts (and who wouldn't), I do not see how they can retaliate against her without first admitting her, and why would they do so? Other schools, however, are going to be less likely to admit her if they see association with her as a potential risk to their images and legal liability (as it has been for UIUC).
Incidentally, I feel bad for Kelsey; someone should have advised her against this. If she still has the goal of a Ph.D., she probably burned a lot of bridges with this article. Any potential advisor familiar with her from this incident will immediately wonder, what will happen when her grant proposal is rejected? Or she fails quals? Or her manuscript is torn apart? Will she cry discrimination every time? All academics (even the successful ones) face rejection every day, and it's ROUGH. We're told on the first day that the hardest lesson of grad school is getting used to rejection; most advisors specifically look for applicants they think will be highly resilient, because staying on track after every new soul-crushing rejection is necessary *JUST TO MAKE IT THROUGH GRAD SCHOOL* (even if she doesn't ultimately want a career in academia!) If this is her reaction to ONE rejection from the ONLY school she applied to, no mentor will think she's a good investment.
I am sure that Kelsey and her family are hoping for this thread to continue for ever. Their phone probably is ringing off the hook with lawyers offering their services pro bono, especially those interested in cases with potential to become highly publicized, to spotlight their careers.
What is troubling is the public's fascination with the case. The need to make this girl an immature and unqualified teen for admission into a PhD program is how she is getting the help she needs. Our fascination have put criminals back on the street (OJ, Robert Blake, Casey Anthony).made unqualified politicians (Palin, Trump) possible presidential candidates, and now we are even helping children get into graduate programs. Lets keep on feeding the beasts. Perhaps we will be able to learn from our mistakes one day.
==I partially agree, except it's not so much the public, as it is
a gaggle of school apologists who have propelled this thread much farther
than it might otherwise have gone.
They just cannot let it go, because they have
been embarrassed.
And as you intimated, they desperately want to discredit her.
and thats the kind of bullying that motivates me to defend her.==
I did not read many of these messages since they seem to be all written by the same group of people. However, can it be possible that the school that denied admission to this young lady has in fact launched a letter writing campaign to discredit her article?
I am neither embarrassed nor do I want to discredit her. Rather, I find some of her actions well out of place for a serious applicant and that makes me question the objectivity of her personal and abbreviated version of what happened. I think her assumption that age discrimination kept her out of grad school is presumptive when top grad programs routinely reject 90+% of their applicants. Grad admissions is highly subjective, and GPA and GRE scores only account for one small part of the package. Most applicants will be rejected by a majority of programs to which they apply, and many will apply several years before getting acceptance to a good program.
Out of curiosity, what is your experience with grad school admissions Ruth?
Also, part of being a clinical psychologist is doing actual field work. People respond differently to one so young, which would interfere with her ability to participate in the program. There's also the fact that people six to eight years older than her are *routinely* told that they lack the experience required for a graduate program.
On your second point (her age wrt field work), that is arguable - just as there are groups that would respond poorly to her age, there are no doubt other groups (teens) that might respond better! Of course, that means that her age might be an issue depending on the research of the professors she wanted to work with - if she wants to work with a professor focused on a population with age issues, then she has a problem.
On your last point, DING DING DING WE HAVE A WINNER! Racing through school gets you done faster but also means you often skip a lot of the extra stuff that really differentiates top graduates. She graduated at 17, but how competitive is her resume BEYOND her GPA? If the program is only taking 5-10% of the applicants, she better be stellar if she wants a spot.
What she missed wasn't a full college experience (she took the full normal time to do this!) but likely middle school, where your resume really isn't very important for anything in your life past high school.
I, too, experienced discrimination at every step, but discovered that simply staying the course and exploring other possible schools made all the difference.
Furthermore, your inability to see that you'd actually benefit from the field experience (gives you an opportunity to decide your research focus area, interests, etc.) shows that you are not ready for a graduate program- especially in clinical psychology.
Congratulations on being the "youngest person to do this, the youngest person to do that", but in life, there are some things where age is a factor and rightly so. Good luck in the future.
Laypeople will read this and think what a tragedy it is for this girl, but anyone who knows anything about grad school will laugh.
twice to see doctors in nearby states. Without ever having gone "backpacking"
she accomplished far more than the pompous
apologists for this small minded university.
"I never saw a Moor --
I never saw the Sea --
Yet know I how the Heather looks
And what a Billow be.
I never spoke with God
Nor visited in Heaven --
Yet certain am I of the spot
As if the Chart were given --"
Emily Dickinson
The mind is a funny thing; you never know what's going to go in or come out.
==Pray tell, who is responsible for *yours*.??==
So I ask, what research or life experiences does the applicant bring into the equation? What is the major area of focus? You have a bill to your name to reverse a decision regarding age of application to university. What of your psychological research experience? Any direct clinical experience?
I am really sorry it happened to you, because last year I was there too (not as young as you but still young and didn't have much to give a program). Work as an RA, work at a hospital for a year. Take some grad level courses out of bid. It helps because it contributes to your age shortcoming. Then reapply at 18 or even 19. A doctoral degree isn't something to be taken lightly and there has to be some emotional maturity as well as strict clinical experiences.
You apparently missed the detail where she was told point blank that the (or a primary) REASON was age.
Research experience is vital. Most applicants have at least 2 years of experience in an established, granted funded, lab. They also typically have poster presentations, completed thesis, and possible a publication on their CV. If students do not have a strong research background and they cannot speak to their area of interest with sufficient insight, they will not make the next cut.
The last, and arguably most important aspect of a competitive applicant is the research match. What are the chances that Kelsey's research interest matches up well enough with the *available* mentors that are looking to take a student for the upcoming year? This is why applicants apply nationally.
At the end of the day, age has very little if anything to do with this case, but *applicable experience* has everything to do with it. If she does not have adequate research experience AND if her research interests do not closely align with one of the 3-4 professors looking to take a student, she has ZERO shot at even securing an interview.
Also, the girl was told by the university officials that age was the reason for her denial of admission. Her research interests, poster presentations, completed thesis, and possible a publication on her CV, has nothing to do with the reasons of denial provided by the counselor.
The rejected applicant is *claiming* the only reason she was rejected was her age, which I highly doubt. I have interviewed dozens of applicants for university and clinical internship training programs (not UIUC), and I have often recommended "more experience before re-applying" because the applicant is weak in one or more of the areas i noted above. Keep in mind that students often get rejected from programs because there was a *better* fit for the open spot, and not because the student was completely deficient across all areas. Multiple application cycles are common for study in this area.
The selection process for any decent program is rigorous, as your competition is the best of the best from undergraduate and graduate programs. Unlike HS--> Undergrad, grades really don't carry much weight outside of the 1st cut. Everyone is a 3.8+, top of their class, student gov't rep, etc.
Also, officers don't take the ASVAB, and with only a BS in psychology, no service would place her in a hospital as a clinical psychologist officer in a hospital regardless of what her officer qualifying test scores were. You have to have a qualifying degree.
It doesn't matter, it is a start and it is real life experience unlike a year working at Starbucks.