Archives for Articles of Interest
The Decision Makers
- Posted by Kathy Chi on April 5th, 2011 in Admissions, Articles of Interest
Now that April 1st has come and gone, most colleges have released their admissions decisions, and inevitably, the results can seem quite mysterious and perhaps even arbitrary to those on the outside. Of course, there’s the exhilaration of being accepted, but it’s much harder to stomach being denied. What happened? How are these decisions made?
Last week, NPR’s Morning Edition tried to address these questions and more by taking listeners behind-the-scenes at Amherst College, a highly selective institution that traditionally has an admittance rate in the low teens. The insights are honest and heartfelt, and hopefully, families come away with a slightly better understanding of the challenges of selecting students to build an incoming class.
Similarly, MIT has a blog post from 2006 that shares what it feels like to be an admissions officer, making tough and often agonizing decisions.
It’s clear that admissions is not an exact science, much less always fair. It’s a human process, full of emotion and flaws, yet through it all, colleges genuinely care about students and families, doing the best they can within what’s possible. Most importantly, at the end of the day, I believe the individual defines his or her future, not the college. In the words of President Hennessy, “The college you attend does not determine the scope and possibility of your life’s achievements. It will have some influence, no doubt. What is more important is the encouragement and support that we, as parents and friends, offer these prospective students as they explore their own educational trail. In the end, the experiences they encounter and the depth of character they build along the way will mean far more than the name of the institution on their diploma.”
Not Our Essay, But My Essay
- Posted by Kathy Chi on October 21st, 2010 in Admissions, Articles of Interest
Without question, the hardest part of the college application process is the essay. It’s not often that students are expected to be so introspective, to let themselves be vulnerable on paper, and to capture their absolute essence in 500 words or less. Faced with such challenges, most high school seniors seek help and guidance from other sources. Have they chosen the right topics? Are they developing their ideas properly? Is the final essay a good essay?
Soliciting advice is certainly a good idea. Excellent writing does not come into existence in the absence of critical feedback or revision. However, there is a delicate line that should not and cannot be crossed. Specifically, the college essay must reflect the individual voice and style of the student, not the editor, and admissions officers have become increasingly sensitive to this distinction.
The New York Times recently blogged about the dangers of parents becoming overly involved in their children’s writing, and schools like MIT and Yale try to help students understand how to approach the essay and do’s/don’ts in that process.
The key is to start early enough to allow ideas to blossom, grow, and evolve, and to write often and embrace the drafting and redrafting process. Only then will students have the freedom and opportunity to produce great essays that truly reflect who they are.
Admissions Decision Time
- Posted by Sarah Ziegler on March 24th, 2010 in Admissions, Articles of Interest
April 1 quickly approaches, the traditional deadline by which colleges will have notified applicants whether or not they have been admitted. Many students are already celebrating acceptances and scholarship offers from their top choices, and many students are already beginning to cope with the emotions of not being admitted to theirs. For both parents and students, spring can present a challenge to understand how or why admissions decisions were made and how to make the best choice for the next four years.
This is also the time of year that spawns articles about making the most of bad news or about how elite college admissions has become even more competitive than it was the year before. The Wall Street Journal, in anticipation of April 1, published an article highlighting “famous ‘rejects’” — from Warren Buffet to Tom Brokaw. All of the successful personas featured in the article were rejected from Ivy League schools — and most were rejected from Harvard — but found opportunities and mentors in their other college choices. While the sentiment that you can be rejected from Harvard and still be successful in life may help comfort students who find themselves in similar positions, what about students who weren’t aiming for the Ivy League? Why focus on admission to (or rejection from) elite universities that aren’t the targets of the vast majority of collegebound students?
Of the profiles in the article, the perspective of Lee Bolinger, Columbia University’s president, struck an important note: that students shouldn’t let other people’s (namely college’s) judgments about them determine their own self-worth. Our counselors keep another article around the office for this time of year: “Dealing with Disappointment.” True, it also comes from the alumni magazine of an elite university (Stanford), but the message of the article is not so much that you can be successful despite Stanford, but that it’s the individual who determines his or her own success.
For students who are dealing with bad news, remember that as much as hearing “no” may feel like a personal rejection, it isn’t. Selective colleges, whether Stanford or San Jose State, have more qualified applicants than they have space available, and the fact that you weren’t offered admission doesn’t mean you made a mistake or that the college didn’t want you. For parents, celebrate your child’s offers of acceptance rather than focus on schools that didn’t offer your son or daughter admission. Moving on from, rather than fixating on, the “no’s” can help students find a great fit in a college they may not have originally considered. Lastly, keep Stanford President John Hennessey’s words in mind: “the experiences [students] encounter and the depth of character they build along the way will mean far more than the name of the institution on their diploma.”
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Recent Posts
- Summertime… on Jun.10
- The Decision Makers on Apr.05
- Not Our Essay, But My Essay on Oct.21
- Admissions Decision Time on Mar.24
- UC’s implement wait lists and hope to reduce enrollment cuts on Jan.21
- UC Application Season on Nov.03
- The Value of a College Degree on Aug.05
- Essay Writing: Start Early and Be Yourself on Jun.23
- Always Be Prepared: Making the Most of the College Experience on May.27
- Budget cuts and California’s community colleges on May.21
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