College daze: The insanity of the application process

[bruno]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/opini...cation-process/2011/03/24/AFK8MRYB_story.html

George Will column in today's paper- thought that many here could relate to this one.
Good luck to all of you as you come down to the final months of your HS careers.


.

.."Still, the college admission process occasions too much angst. America is thickly planted with 1,400 four-year institutions. Motivated, selective students can get a fine education at any of them — unmotivated, undiscerning students at none. Most students love the schools they attend.

And the admissions quest can have splendid moments.

Last year, Wake Forest, a wonderful university with a stimulating application form, asked applicants what they would title their autobiographies. One, obviously a golfer, answered: “Mulligan.” Wouldn’t we all?"

 

[patentesq]

Thanks for sharing, bruno. Here's the most sobering tidbit from this article:

“There are 36,000 high schools in this country. That means there are at least 36,000 valedictorians. They can’t all go to Brown. You could take the ‘deny pile’ of applications and make two more classes that were every bit as solid as the class that gets in.”

 

[AF6872]

As the admission officer at Yale once said: We could fill our freshman class with 2400 SATs and valedictorians. We are looking for something else. One of the essay questions discussed in the book was "What are your innermost thoughts?" The author stated that a 17 year old probably has none and if he did you wouldn't want to know what they were.

 

[patentesq]

The admissions officer at Princeton basically said the same thing.

I took a peek at www.collegeconfidential.com yesterday and the "Official ED Acceptance" threads. There must be a gajillion 2400s out there! I knew there were many, but didn't know HOW many! And a lot of the folks getting these scores aren't U.S. citizens. Welcome to life, I suppose.

 

[ebfarrar]

I know - there seems to be a lot of very smart kids out there!!!!

 

[Pima]

The problem is for most colleges they superscore. In other words you can take it 10 times, and get 2400.

In us old folks day, we, at least me, had a different system. Took it twice, best score of the two...no combining the best of each. Third time and they avg, the 3 scores.

Personally, I liked our system better, harder to game it. I don't recall anyone taking it for a third time...risk was too high.

I also think the writing portion is inane. It is subjective, and every college still places more weight on their essays than the SAT WR.

Honestly, if your kid takes 4 SATs since 10th grade it would not be hard to get 2400. Study, study, study one section. Than study, study, study for the other. At least that is what I have seen. The student actually games it.

 

[grtkidmom]

Pima - How do you remember all of that about the SATs.....I cannot even remember if I took the SAT or some other test back in 1975-1976....I know (I get reminded) I was accepted to UVa, William and Mary, Penn State, Wake Forest and Georgetown. Then I ruined all of my parents plans by enlisting in the Marine Corps....

As a College educator I must give my biased opinion.....The SAT's are a joke! They tell you next to nothing in reality about the students and they cost families a lot of money.

Now that does not mean I am telling anyone NOT to take them....Because if the College your child wishes to attend requires them.....then you better take it. So until the system changes....do what you got too.

Tend to agree with SAT statement. I know everyone has a story. However, my youngest brother (2 time state champ wrestler) from very rural farm community best ACT score was 19 after 3 attemps. He attended CC transferred to Ivy and graduated Ivy with honors (tech degree) and now is CEO of a very successful company. Lucky for him wrestling paved his way.

Not a fan of the unlimited take the top ACT/SAT score system. It tends to penalize the unfortunate kids who can not afford continued test fees and expensive ACT/SAT tutoring/strategy classes. But for now it is what it is.

 

[AF6872]

I think the SAT study courses may give you a 100 point bump in each category but they will still not get you to a 2400 superscore total no matter how many times you take them if you consistently score in the 1900 range. 800 in any category is an awesome achievement whether taken once or ten times. With the Common App a lot of colleges don't require their own essay although some do require another essay usually (from an admission officer) to compare to the SAT writing to see if the applicant actually wrote the application essay. In the old old days a 1300 was a great score (no writing) but I heard the new scores have been inflated in Math and English.