I'm not going to lie; the main reason I decided to join a sorority is so I could finally start meeting people from out of state. Hold the judgment, please — I'm from Wisconsin, too. However, I wanted my college experience not to be a repeat of high school, and preparing for "the real world" is supposed to entail exposure to backgrounds different from your own — whether they are opinion-related, racial, geographic or whatever. So why does this school feel like it's composed almost exclusively of Wisconsinites?

With a requirement of 75 percent in-state enrollment — which includes Minnesota residents — the view of the Board of Regents, according to its website, is that "There's no benefit to [the university] to admit out-of-state students who are not every bit as well qualified as in-state students, or conversely."

It is somewhat puzzling when out-of-state students with GPAs and standardized test scores higher than those in the top quarter of enrolled students at UW are consistently waitlisted or even rejected, while suburban Wisconsin high schools, similar to my own, consistently produce more than a few students who are accepted that leave classmates thinking "How did he get in?"

I get the feeling something needs to be done about this quota.

I understand the objections, and yes, we are a state school dependent on state funding with a responsibility to provide viable options for in-state residents who can't afford a private education. But is this costing us our goals in the classroom and our goals in the community? And shouldn't we do something about it?

Given the discrepancy between in and out-of-state admission, the answer to the former question appears to be "yes," and one way to prevent this is to admit only students that fit our admissions requirements, quota or no quota. This does not apply to underrepresented minorities, or students coming from underprivileged backgrounds — as these factors should consistently be taken into consideration and be granted greater leniency — but white students from affluent suburbs should not be handed admission on a silver platter in exchange for their Wisconsin zip codes. Admission should be earned, and if we don't have enough in-state students to meet our standards, then the quota should be capped.

Of course, students who can't afford a private education should have their pick of less expensive in-state schools, and they do. One has only to look around to see that there are plenty of options within the UW System, with schools whose varied specialties and differing requirements truly do offer something for anyone looking to stay in state. So if a student sets his or her sights on this UW of all the others, he or she should prepare to meet the requirements and not be given an advantage just because of residency.

As far as balancing the budget, we obviously need to be bringing money into the school, in which case increasing out-of-state enrollment would help, as nonresidents pay nearly three times as much as Wisconsinites. This would also allow us to provide better merit scholarships for the top tier of in-state students in order to get the best of the accepted to enroll. This brings me to my next point, which is the potential benefits of lessening the in-state quota.

On an academic level, it is, for obvious reasons, in the best interest of the university's students and administration to not only maintain, but improve, the institution's reputation and prestige. And since we are investing in the improvement of our resources with new additions such as those at Grainger Hall, the goal should be to bring in students who will be able to take full advantage of these resources, as a more qualified student body would do. Students who value their resources and experience at the university will not only be more likely to succeed, but will also have greater incentive to give back to their alma mater, as it is in their best interests to uphold the value of their degrees.

And perhaps more important than anything else is the increased diversity resulting from admitting more out-of-state students. As a campus that already struggles with homogeneity, we need to take what we can get in terms of varying the backgrounds of the UW student body. A visible effort to increase diversity is an important first step in showing a wider range of students that they are welcome on this campus. And even though out-of-state enrollment is hardly our biggest concern in terms of diversifying, it is a definite start.

To make my point clearer, take the infamous "Sconnie-Coastie" divide; the not-so-subtle hostility between students from different statesis frightening when applied on a larger scale. In other words, it shows that the university is not making enough of an effort to foster exposure and interaction, and if something as insignificant as what state someone comes from and what brand of boots he or she wears can become as abrasive an issue as it is, then how prepared are graduates for dealing with larger, interpersonal differences?

Hannah Shtein ([email protected]) . is a sophomore majoring in philosophy and religious studies.studies