Duke no longer scoring essays

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes - I think that it should just be based on SATs. But everyone should be given the exact same SAT prep course and the SATs should be made a little more difficult. Test scores would be the most objective way to do admissions. All the other things can easily be manipulated.

Let’s resolve the conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East, too, while we’re at it. Pie in the sky pronouncements are not helpful, particularly while we still live in a democracy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So they are basing their admissions decisions on GPA/transcript, LORs and ECs?

They highly value test scores, too. In fact, I think this shift away from essays will only serve to strengthen the weight given to SAT/SAT/IB/AP scores.

As it should. Essays and ECs are BS.

These can and are gamed. I posted on another thread that the essay was BS because so many people hire essay and college consultants.

I let DC do everything on their own, no tutors, prepping.. DC was a magnet student with super high stats, and wrote a great essay. But still rejected from T10. Kids with very similar stats as my DC hired consultants, and they got into T10. I was against hiring any consultant because I felt that kids should be doing these things on their own. I guess my DC paid the price for that.

College admissions has become ridiculous. It's a game, and money means you can play the game better. We come from a UMC neighborhood, and I'm pretty sure college admissions officers assumed that my kid had a college consultant and tutor, too, like so many seem to. It's such BS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So they are basing their admissions decisions on GPA/transcript, LORs and ECs?

Grades are meaningless. Standardized test scores are meaningless. Essays are meaningless. What matters anymore?

URM, being an alphabet person, first gen and recruited athlete.

What’s an alphabet person?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Essay should be done in SAT style.

Agree

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So they are basing their admissions decisions on GPA/transcript, LORs and ECs?

Grades are meaningless. Standardized test scores are meaningless. Essays are meaningless. What matters anymore?

URM, being an alphabet person, first gen and recruited athlete.

Lgbtqrstuvwxyz
What’s an alphabet person?

[Anonymous]

It’s a student article from a student paper. It means absolutely nothing

[Anonymous]

We hired a consultant to help us understand the rules so we could develop a good strategy but DC wrote the essays. Consultant read over them and made suggestions but that was it. Even if essays are no longer scored, DC would still need to put in the time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It’s a student article from a student paper. It means absolutely nothing

I don’t understand this comment. The articles states the facts about a change in Duke policy. It’s not a student OpEd.

I don’t know what the article is expected to “mean”…however, Duke has changed their policy…that is confirmed in the article.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We hired a consultant to help us understand the rules so we could develop a good strategy but DC wrote the essays. Consultant read over them and made suggestions but that was it. Even if essays are no longer scored, DC would still need to put in the time.

Sure, but some consultants do much more. There are varying degree of consulting and prices just like anything else.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We hired a consultant to help us understand the rules so we could develop a good strategy but DC wrote the essays. Consultant read over them and made suggestions but that was it. Even if essays are no longer scored, DC would still need to put in the time.

The consultant still made suggestions, which I assumed your DC followed. It's unfair for those who don't hire consultants. And yea, you can say, "well, you can hire one, too; no one is stopping you". That is not the point. And that is why college admissions is a game. If you hired a consultant, then your kid didn't achieve it on their own.

It's messed up.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We hired a consultant to help us understand the rules so we could develop a good strategy but DC wrote the essays. Consultant read over them and made suggestions but that was it. Even if essays are no longer scored, DC would still need to put in the time.

The consultant still made suggestions, which I assumed your DC followed. It's unfair for those who don't hire consultants. And yea, you can say, "well, you can hire one, too; no one is stopping you". That is not the point. And that is why college admissions is a game. If you hired a consultant, then your kid didn't achieve it on their own.

It's messed up.

I think it's mostly the college admissions system fault.

They made it so unclear, complicated, unpredictable and unfair.

[Anonymous]

I volunteer to read college admissions essays for schools in lower income areas in the DMV. It used to be those essays needed help and the students seemed unsure of the application process. In the past two or three years, the quality of the essays has really stepped up and students seem much better informed. There seems to be more emphasis in these schools and through third party organizations to do college application and essay boot camps. We've also seen these organizations take kids as a group for college visits, where individual families might not be able to do so. I assume they also help with SAT prep. I think these are all very positive developments to help level the field.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:They say they are TO and won’t score essays but they consider the former and read the latter. How are applicants supposed to judge them a reach/target/safety if they have no discernible standards for admission?

Duke is a reach.

[Anonymous]

No one even read the article?

Despite the changes, Guttentag wrote that essays and standardized testing scores are still considered in the admissions process.

“Essays are very much part of our understanding of the applicant, we’re just no longer assuming that the essay is an accurate reflection of the student’s actual writing ability,” he wrote. “Standardized tests (SAT or ACT) are considered when they’re submitted as part of the application.”

According to Guttentag, essays will now be used to “help understand the applicant as an individual rather, not just as a set of attributes and accomplishments.” He also wrote that the admissions office now values essays that give “insight into who the unique person is whose application we’re reading” and that “content and insight matter more than style.”

“Because of that they are not given a numerical rating, but considered as we think holistically about a candidate as a potential member of the Duke community,” he wrote.

They're still using the essays, people.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No one even read the article?

Despite the changes, Guttentag wrote that essays and standardized testing scores are still considered in the admissions process.

“Essays are very much part of our understanding of the applicant, we’re just no longer assuming that the essay is an accurate reflection of the student’s actual writing ability,” he wrote. “Standardized tests (SAT or ACT) are considered when they’re submitted as part of the application.”

According to Guttentag, essays will now be used to “help understand the applicant as an individual rather, not just as a set of attributes and accomplishments.” He also wrote that the admissions office now values essays that give “insight into who the unique person is whose application we’re reading” and that “content and insight matter more than style.”

“Because of that they are not given a numerical rating, but considered as we think holistically about a candidate as a potential member of the Duke community,” he wrote.

They're still using the essays, people.

Good news for rich people who can hire consultants.