Eugene S. Wilson

Eugene S. "Bill" Wilson (1905 – February 24, 1981) was Dean of Admission at Amherst College and president of the Association of College Admissions Counselors. In 1990 a building at Amherst College was named the Eugene S. Wilson Admission Center in his honor.

Attributed

 * 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.
 * Said in 1959 per Elizabeth Duffy and Idana Goldberg, Crafting a Class: College Admissions and Financial Aid, 1955–1994, Princeton University Press, 1998, p. 37


 * 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.
 * "What's Going On in Schools and Colleges", Kiplinger's Personal Finance, April 1961, p. 31
 * A portion of this is quoted earlier in "Education: Little Known", Time, 5 December 1960


 * 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.
 * Reader's Digest, April 1968; and in Chip R. Bell, Managers as Mentors (1996), ISBN 1881052923, p. 171


 * 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.
 * Jack R, Maguire, "Editorial: The Case for the C-Average Student", The Alcalde, September 1961, p. 5


 * 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.
 * "We're Pushing Out Kids Too Hard", Kiplinger's Personal Finance, March 1968, p. 27