F.B.I. Plans to Lower Recruiting Standards

[iluvatar5150]

But with regards to university becoming an "eye opening experience" (culturally speaking -- which is what the other posted was mentioning about their university experience in the country where they're at) if the college is in a different city in the same state, it's not exactly the "horizon broadening" experience for most who go.

That would depend on where the kid is coming from and what they've been exposed to.

This is an actual conversation I've had with another adult (as verbatim as I can remember it):
Me: "Hi, I'm Iluvatar"
Him: "I'm X"
Me: "Are you from around here originally?"
Him: "Oh no, I'm originally from West Baltimore."
Me: *blinks*

I was asking if he was from somewhere outside the greater Baltimore area and he, who's probably only left the city a handful of times in his life, interpreted my question to be whether he grew up in that specific neighborhood. For a guy like that, College Park (home of UMD's flagship campus) may as well be on the moon. And he's not alone.

For me, growing up in the not-quite-rural rust belt, virtually any large congregation of people represented an increase in diversity.

And for the kids going to the public universities, it's not as if there's this immense amount of diversity they're going to experience at the OSU campus in Columbus that they didn't encounter in the Akron/Canton/Cleveland/Cincinnati/Dayton/Toledo areas.

If you were talking about the smaller, regional campuses, sure. But why would you think that a flagship R-1 university with a top-level D1 sports program would be like that?

And with regards to the "really local" college attendance you were talking about, it's actually higher than you'd think, apart from the in-state rate being 80%...

Per the US Department of Education in conjunction with Brookings:
A 2012 analysis found about 57% of undergraduates attended an institution within 50 miles of their permanent home address.


And per the Brookings 2016 write up on it:
View attachment 369450

Over half are not only stating in state, they're staying within 20 miles of their homestead. (with the exception of ones going to private schools, but even half of them are staying fairly local)

So it seems to be trending more in the direction of kids staying really close to home. -- which makes sense given the increasing costs, many are opting for the "mom & dad safety net"

Point taken regarding the numbers being higher than I thought, but that's still not evidence that they're living at home.

 

[ThatRobGuy]

Point taken regarding the numbers being higher than I thought, but that's still not evidence that they're living at home.

They may not be living at home, but the type of diversity the other poster was referring to (experiencing a bunch of new cultures, etc... that they lacked exposure to before) still isn't being achieved all that much for the majority of people getting the college experience. -- which they were listing that new diversity exposure as a credential of sorts that would be helpful in an FBI career.

I can see for Europe where their experience is quite different. You can potentially pick from 1 of 5 different countries for a 3-4 hour Saturday road trip.

You can be in France, Luxembourg, Germany, Belgium, and the Netherlands...

Whereas, in a 3-4 hour jaunt for me, I can decide whether I want to see Columbus, Cincinnati, Detroit, Pittsburg, Buffalo, or the western most burbs of Indianapolis (and I guess technically I could make it to Windsor Ontario in that amount of time, but that doesn't feel all that different either). Lol, not quite the same experience.

Don't get me wrong, it'd be cool if one could say "I think I'll go sight see in Belgium today, and then maybe tomorrow I'll drive to Germany"...but that's just not the reality here in the US with how big the land mass is.

 

[iluvatar5150]

They may not be living at home, but the type of diversity the other poster was referring to (experiencing a bunch of new cultures, etc... that they lacked exposure to before) still isn't being achieved all that much for the majority of people getting the college experience. -- which they were listing that new diversity exposure as a credential of sorts that would be helpful in an FBI career.

I can see for Europe where their experience is quite different. You can potentially pick from 1 of 5 different countries for a 3-4 hour Saturday road trip.

You can be in France, Luxembourg, Germany, Belgium, and the Netherlands...

Whereas, in a 3-4 hour jaunt for me, I can decide whether I want to see Columbus, Cincinnati, Detroit, Pittsburg, Buffalo, or the western most burbs of Indianapolis (and I guess technically I could make it to Windsor Ontario in that amount of time, but that doesn't feel all that different either). Lol, not quite the same experience.

Don't get me wrong, it'd be cool if one could say "I think I'll go sight see in Belgium today, and then maybe tomorrow I'll drive to Germany"...but that's just not the reality here in the US with how big the land mass is.

Have you actually been to Europe? The differences aren't as stark as you imagine. My experience in London was that it may as well have been NYC and the main thing that made Amsterdam feel like it didn't belong in New England was how close they built to the river. The weather sure as heck didn't make it feel different. There are unique things about each area, sure, but western society is sufficiently homogenized that you can pretty well navigate any of it.

The diversity isn't in the geography, but in the individual people you meet and ideas you're exposed to. Universities are rather different than most any other institution in the way they draw people from disparate backgrounds to congregate and contemplate certain subjects.

 

[ThatRobGuy]

Have you actually been to Europe?

Yes, and the difference between Spain and Ireland certainly felt like more of a difference than between Ohio and Wisconsin lol

The diversity isn't in the geography, but in the individual people you meet and ideas you're exposed to. Universities are rather different than most any other institution in the way they draw people from disparate backgrounds to congregate and contemplate certain subjects.

But then that would go back to the original premise, which is that if 80% are staying within their own state (and 50% are staying within a half hour of home), there's only a few select places in the country where that "exposure to new kinds of people" aspect is going to play out.

In the Southern states, I can perhaps see a little bit of it. For instance, someone in North Florida attending a college in South Florida where they may get to interact with members of the Cuban community more than they would back home.

But for those of us in the northern half of the country (especially the Midwest), going to college just felt more like High School with fancier buildings and easier access to beer and pot. It was still a lot of the same cliques of people hanging out together and rarely mingling. The tech guys all hung around together, the jocks had their social circle, the artsy kids in another.

I'd almost go as far as saying when it came to exposure to people with different ideas, there was almost less exposure for the second half of college. Given that people are going to pursue specific interests and career paths, you end up being surrounded by people who are extremely similar.

At least in high school, no matter which "clique" you hung with, everyone was all mixed into a lot of the same classes and often assigned to group projects with each other. For my college experience, I saw different people during the pre-requisite & general ed courses for the first year, but for the remainder of the time, you end up in various similar classes with the same 30-40 people.