Anyone else thinks the whole college admission process is a total farse?

[Anonymous]

I will admit we are not happy with the results of the early rounds. And I hope anyone reading understand it is not coming from a place of bitterness but from a place of helplessness. It is hard to digest how the most venerable institutions of this country peddle and getaway with blatant lies year after year and demolish the spirits of a vast majority of kids.

I am trying to understand how any of their claims add up?

"Application are reviewed holistically & We also like receiving 50,000 applications


They never explain how they manage to read 50k+ apps and how spending 2-5 min per app allows holistic evaluation is beyond me. This is total crap!

There's got to be a better way. I don't know why no journalists have covered this. We are fighting about diversity/discrimination but the issues with college admission is more basic. The college admission first need to stop lying to the kids, period!

[Anonymous]

Yes, it is an arsy-farsy farce! Sorry couldn't help it but I hear you. I roll my eyes when I hear holistic review.

[Anonymous]

I totally agree. Although it seems rough, I think countries that base it all on one exam have a system that makes more sense. Set a lower threshold for kids from below a certain income level to ensure parity.

[Anonymous]

Yep. 100%

The amount of lying and marketing oneself and trying to show you have some trauma or special adversity or belong to some outlier group so you can curry favor to Admin officers. It's gross.

And the fake non-profits and the no standards at times with overinflated gpas and no test results.

It's really gotten so out of hand given the sheer volume of applicants universities now face.

I swear it should be changed to this:

Everyone that meets certain requirements all get put in the hat and then they pull out admits like a lottery. At some point it's just too much.

[Anonymous]

They dont read 50k applications. They have criteria based on which they eliminate 3/4.

[Anonymous]

We have completely taken merit out of the equation.

[Anonymous]

Manage your expectations.

Love all the colleges on the list.

No one is forcing you to apply to highly competitive schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I totally agree. Although it seems rough, I think countries that base it all on one exam have a system that makes more sense. Set a lower threshold for kids from below a certain income level to ensure parity.

Except in those countries cheating is rampant and the wealthy get to skip the test entirely.

Don't fool yourself that anyone has really figured it out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:They dont read 50k applications. They have criteria based on which they eliminate 3/4.

And a marketing team that encourages the 75% to apply even though their apps won’t even get looked at. The notion that acceptance rate has any meaning at all is absurd.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yep. 100%

The amount of lying and marketing oneself and trying to show you have some trauma or special adversity or belong to some outlier group so you can curry favor to Admin officers. It's gross.

And the fake non-profits and the no standards at times with overinflated gpas and no test results.

It's really gotten so out of hand given the sheer volume of applicants universities now face.

I swear it should be changed to this:

Everyone that meets certain requirements all get put in the hat and then they pull out admits like a lottery. At some point it's just too much.

All of these actions are based on heresy, mostly from parents who are just as clueless as the next person. I've never heard an AO say they want trauma or non-profits. Stop believing random strangers for something this important.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I will admit we are not happy with the results of the early rounds. And I hope anyone reading understand it is not coming from a place of bitterness but from a place of helplessness. It is hard to digest how the most venerable institutions of this country peddle and getaway with blatant lies year after year and demolish the spirits of a vast majority of kids.

I am trying to understand how any of their claims add up?

"Application are reviewed holistically & We also like receiving 50,000 applications


They never explain how they manage to read 50k+ apps and how spending 2-5 min per app allows holistic evaluation is beyond me. This is total crap!

There's got to be a better way. I don't know why no journalists have covered this. We are fighting about diversity/discrimination but the issues with college admission is more basic. The college admission first need to stop lying to the kids, period!

Of course it's coming from bitterness. Do you really think you would start the thread if your kiddo got accepted to all schools she applied? Bitter is okay though. Let it out.

[Anonymous]

I think it's reasonable to expect your child's file to be given serious review, especially given that we all pay the same application fee.

Anonymous wrote:Manage your expectations.

Love all the colleges on the list.

No one is forcing you to apply to highly competitive schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I totally agree. Although it seems rough, I think countries that base it all on one exam have a system that makes more sense. Set a lower threshold for kids from below a certain income level to ensure parity.

+1 this is the way to do it, not by skin color.

ITA, OP. It's nuts. Some of the deferred vs rejected decisions DC got made no sense.

DC is a smart kid, and I know they will be fine wherever, but the whole process just stinks, causes unnecessary angst. You have FAFSA, CSS, Common App, extra app.. Good gracious. I filled out less paperwork buying a house that's more expensive than the most expensive college.

IMO, after a certain threshold, college acceptance is a lottery.

I have a younger DC, and we have to do this all over again in a few years, though at least now I know what needs to be filled out. But what a PIA.

[Anonymous]

WHAT? I am from a country in Europe where the test counts for most of admissions. Cheating is not rampant and the wealthy definitely do not skip it. Studies have found though that children of alumni of top schools score higher on the test, so they have a better than average chance of admission to a top school.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I totally agree. Although it seems rough, I think countries that base it all on one exam have a system that makes more sense. Set a lower threshold for kids from below a certain income level to ensure parity.

Except in those countries cheating is rampant and the wealthy get to skip the test entirely.

Don't fool yourself that anyone has really figured it out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yep. 100%

The amount of lying and marketing oneself and trying to show you have some trauma or special adversity or belong to some outlier group so you can curry favor to Admin officers. It's gross.

And the fake non-profits and the no standards at times with overinflated gpas and no test results.

It's really gotten so out of hand given the sheer volume of applicants universities now face.

I swear it should be changed to this:

Everyone that meets certain requirements all get put in the hat and then they pull out admits like a lottery. At some point it's just too much.

All of these actions are based on heresy, mostly from parents who are just as clueless as the next person. I've never heard an AO say they want trauma or non-profits. Stop believing random strangers for something this important.

Not true. The heart-string stories. A friend was an AO at a top state university and the discussions were often said of very qualified kids from MC/UMC/!% that they never had to experience adversity. They were essentially penalized for coming from functional, normal backgrounds and being neurotypical 'normal' , but exceptional kids.