03246cam a2200385 i 450000100090000000300080000900500170001700700030003400800410003701000170007802000380009502000350013303500130016804000320018104100080021304200080022104300120022905000260024108200170026710000260028424501080031026400720041830000280049033600210051833700250053933800230056450400510058750502730063852015360091165000570244765000620250465000600256665000650262677601690269119229912BJBSDDR20251107123611.0ta160814s2017    nyu      b    001 0 eng c  a  2016037422  a9781501709821 (pbk. ; alk. paper)  a1501709828 (pbk. ; alk. paper)  a19229912  aNIC/DLCbengcNICerdadDLC  aeng  apcc  an-us---14aLB 2351.2bP855s 201700a378.1/6109731 aPosecznick, Alexander10aSelling hope and college : bmerit, markets, and recruitment in an unranked school / cAlex Posecznick. 1aIthaca :bILR Press, an imprint of Cornell University Press,c2017.  axxi, 213 pages ;c24 cm  atext2rdacontent  aunmediated2rdamedia  avolume2rdacarrier  aIncludes bibliographical references and index.0 aAn uncertain beginning -- Merit and American higher education -- How to sell hope and mobility -- It's all about the numbers -- Being a "real" college in America -- Financing education and the crisis of sustainability -- An uncertain future: whither Ravenwood College?  a"Admission to selective institutions, where extremely fine distinctions are made, is characterized by heated public debates about whether standardized exams, high school transcripts, essays, recommendation letters, or interviews best indicate which prospective students are 'worthy.' And then there is college for everyone else. But what goes into less-selective college admissions in an era when everyone feels compelled to go, regardless of preparation or life goals? 'Ravenwood College,' where Alex Posecznick spent a year doing ethnographic research, was a small, private, nonprofit institution dedicated to social justice and serving traditionally underprepared students from underrepresented minority groups. To survive in the higher education marketplace, the college had to operate like a business and negotiate complex categories of merit while painting a hopeful picture of the future for its applicants. Selling Hope and College is a snapshot of a particular type of institution as it goes about the business of producing itself and justifying its place in the market. Admissions staff members were burdened by low enrollments and worked tirelessly to fill empty seats, even as they held on to the institution's special spirit. Posecznick documents what it takes to keep a ?mediocre? institution open and running, and the struggles, tensions, and battles that members of the community tangle with daily as they carefully walk the line between empowering marginalized students and exploiting them."--Provided by publisher 0aUniversities and collegeszUnited StatesxAdmission. 0aUniversities and collegeszUnited StatesxAdministration. 4aUniversidades y colegios zEstados Unidos xAdmisión  4aUniversidades y colegioszEstados Unidos xAdministración 08iOnline version:aPosecznick, Alexander.tSelling hope and collegedIthaca : ILR Press, an imprint of Cornell University Press, 2017z9781501708398w(DLC) 2016037909