College Admissions Staff - Massive turnover

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Serious question: how can you expect the “best and brightest” to be reading your kids’ applications when none of you would apparently encourage (or allow?) your own best and brightest kids to pursue a job like this?

I’m not convinced the offices want to hire the best and brightest.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I trust test scores much much more than these folks reading essays, ECs etc.

What a F'ed up system

People - there is another way for our kids - UK / Scotland / Ireland universities. Some of the best in the world, admit based on test scores and GPA and dont care F*ck all (to use a UK term of art) about ECs, essay, and showmanship. Seriously. M Big 3, 1500, 3.8+ unweighted american kid opted out of this US mess. Plus no mass shootings on campuses is the other great win.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Serious question: how can you expect the “best and brightest” to be reading your kids’ applications when none of you would apparently encourage (or allow?) your own best and brightest kids to pursue a job like this?

I’m not convinced the offices want to hire the best and brightest.

Of course they don't. Read Selingo.

It's a business. They get some top-down mandate from Trustees board on diversity #s etc and then they have a budget. Like any other business, they maximize their metrics and the optics while coming in below budget. Applications have 2x'd in 5 years. Their budgets have not. So they use more temp and seasonal labor paid less than barista wages often without college degrees to do first pass read.

Oh great they have two of those read and give a composite score. And the third read is full time office staff who is unlikely given time constraints to change a score of the prior minimum wage readers unless it's an obvious box check to fill a board quota.

And there you go. A process that is not at all geared to ur kids or us. It's all about the college

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Admission staff are usually college's own grads who don't have better job options.

Exactly! We also discovered this to be true. (I felt horribly judgmental, but...) Every time the admissions staff would gush about being a proud grad of the school - I'd immediately think "and this is what you got from your $80k x 4 investment" ? (Then on the less judgmental side of my brain...) I'm curious what these young adults learn from that job and what they use it to springboard into.

It doesn't help that many of our high school's CCO staff (abysmal this year) also took a tour through college admissions offices before moving to the HS environment.

You people are so completely idiotic. You’ll complain if people in these positions aren’t educated enough. You’ll complain if they’re too educated. You’ll just complain, period.

This was my only post in this thread and my only complaint was about my school's CCO staff this year (and that is much deserved).

I didn't complain about whether admissions staff are educated enough or say anything about being too educated.

If you read my post, you'll see that I merely recognized that many admissions offices were staffed by recent alum and that it occurred to me that that is not the type of job my kids are hoping to land from their college investment. But then I also recognized that it could be a springboard for others and posed a question. (to which someone answered law school and that makes sense to some extent).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Admission staff are usually college's own grads who don't have better job options.

Exactly! We also discovered this to be true. (I felt horribly judgmental, but...) Every time the admissions staff would gush about being a proud grad of the school - I'd immediately think "and this is what you got from your $80k x 4 investment" ? (Then on the less judgmental side of my brain...) I'm curious what these young adults learn from that job and what they use it to springboard into.

It doesn't help that many of our high school's CCO staff (abysmal this year) also took a tour through college admissions offices before moving to the HS environment.

If it’s an $80k school they’re probably from wealthy families or on full FA so no debt. Biding their time before law school.

Except that no prestigious law school would appreciate reading "college admissions officer" on a resume. They know what the job is, and they're looking for more serious jobs or people going abroad and coming back with interesting experience and/or certifications.

This isn't so true - we visited a college admitted student day where an admissions officer was headed off to a highly regarded law school - but that person was very polished and enthusiastic and I am certain used their time in admissions to do more than just read applications. But this person was an outlier and they also were not an alum of the school - so had been hired from outside and relocated for the job.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Serious question: how can you expect the “best and brightest” to be reading your kids’ applications when none of you would apparently encourage (or allow?) your own best and brightest kids to pursue a job like this?

I am not in the "expect the best and brightest to be reading applications" camp. But I am in the "this isn't the job I envision my kids pursuing after they graduate" camp. That said - if one of my kids wanted this job, then go for it (but plan wisely for next steps) - whether that be as their preferred job or as a stop gap because they didn't land something else.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I trust test scores much much more than these folks reading essays, ECs etc.

What a F'ed up system

People - there is another way for our kids - UK / Scotland / Ireland universities. Some of the best in the world, admit based on test scores and GPA and dont care F*ck all (to use a UK term of art) about ECs, essay, and showmanship. Seriously. M Big 3, 1500, 3.8+ unweighted american kid opted out of this US mess. Plus no mass shootings on campuses is the other great win.

It's like that for the most of the universities in the world.

US schools began the bullshit holistic to discriminate Jews.

[Anonymous]

Not at all surprised.

Then there are the former college admissions people working now as college counselors and raking in the bucks. People are desperate to get their kids into "top" schools.

[Anonymous]

Wait until you find out what your kids’ teachers (esp. preschool teachers) and college adjuncts & lecturers make

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes and seasonal reader jobs pay $12-$18 and you are on the clock to read 4 - 6 applications per hour and score them. (ps. you can find the job descriptions - even at Ivies that show those expectations)

The entire process is broken

It should be like residency match in medicine - you rank your matches 1 to 20 and they rank applicants and those are matched.

How do I get this type of job as a side gig? I have multiple degrees from T25 schools and would find it very interesting. I feel like more DCUM folks should try to do this to understand the process well before their kids go through it.

I applied with very strong credentials and didn’t get picked up or even interviewed. I don’t think they want a well qualified person in that position.

I think they want young & expendable folks.

But it was a set hourly rate and a temp position. Though I’m guessing they did hire younger people. I don’t think they want parents of future applicants to see how the sausage is made.

Do you have any education experience?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Serious question: how can you expect the “best and brightest” to be reading your kids’ applications when none of you would apparently encourage (or allow?) your own best and brightest kids to pursue a job like this?

At my child's prestigious private college the starting salary for an admissions counselor is 38K. Who exactly do they think is going to take a job like that? People wearing clothes from the sales bin at Target interviewing high school students carrying 400 dollar purses. Great look.

[Anonymous]

OH, and the extras hired to do a first read of applications at William and Mary were getting nine dollars an hour, last i heard.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Serious question: how can you expect the “best and brightest” to be reading your kids’ applications when none of you would apparently encourage (or allow?) your own best and brightest kids to pursue a job like this?

At my child's prestigious private college the starting salary for an admissions counselor is 38K. Who exactly do they think is going to take a job like that? People wearing clothes from the sales bin at Target interviewing high school students carrying 400 dollar purses. Great look.

Maybe the kids will learn not to bring 400 dollar purses to an admissions interview.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Serious question: how can you expect the “best and brightest” to be reading your kids’ applications when none of you would apparently encourage (or allow?) your own best and brightest kids to pursue a job like this?

I’m not convinced the offices want to hire the best and brightest.

Agree.

Why would it be necessary to hire "the best and the brightest" for such a position ? If I hire a ditch digger, I want someone who is good at did-ditching, not a PhD engineer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I trust test scores much much more than these folks reading essays, ECs etc.

What a F'ed up system

Wait until you hear about who ends up working in HR screening resumes

Ha ha! So true!