Eugene S. Wilson (1905 – 1981)
Dean of Admission at Amherst College and president of the Association of College Admissions Counselors.
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Educators everywhere must seek new ways to promote the idea that learning is something a student does with books and materials, and a teacher who cares; that learning can happen in college and outside; and that a student's intellectual growth depends far less on geography (which college) than on what advantage he takes of the opportunities which surround him wherever he is.
Too often secondary school counselors seem to press academically talented students toward an early vocational choice. We believe more mistakes are made by an early vocational decision than a delayed decision, especially by students who are intellectually gifted and who possess wide interests.
For generations prior to the last war, the central problem of admissions at Amherst and similar institutions had been one of recruitment—finding enough qualified candidates to fill each entering class. Since 1946, however, the central problem of admissions has increasingly been one of selection— picking the "best" candidates from a great excess of qualified applicants.
Intelligence test scores and marks in school are not always true indicators of the worth of a student, nor even the power of his intellect.
Only the curious will learn and only the resolute overcome the obstacles to learning. The Quest Quotient has always interested me more than the Intelligence Quotient.
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