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

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I’m not sure “farce” is the word I would choose, but certainly there is a lot more complexities involved and questions on how things are viewed by AOs.   I only have a sophomore but from what I gather from these boards and others:

- rigorous course load taking as many AP as possible (but this is evaluated in the context of what the school offers and the actual AP score matters less than the course)
- good grades (but if student can get a B in an AP that is better than an A in a regular course)
- good letters of recommendation 
- good test courses are helpful to show even if school os TO (and expected if student is UMC)
- extracurriculars that demonstrate leadership and “passion”.  LT/multi year activities are best 
- apply with a less popular major (CS and engineering most in demand currently)
- “passion project” of raising $$ for a cause, publishing a book (can be self published haha), independent research project (where paper at end can be self published on a student website) is needed for T20/30s
- essays that tell a student’s “story” and connects their interests, with the extracurriculars they did, with their choice of intended major.

Then the “lottery” elements: AO also look at race/ethnicity and normally want to stay within same percents as prior years (same with gender and geographic diversity) Legacy and any kids of that university’s professors, anyone Dean of Admissions indicates is special, enough full pay to cover scholarships/merit.

So I wouldn’t use the word “farce” but maybe the word “ridiculous”

I have great kids, decently smart but not robots, involved in activities but coming out of COVID and less social interaction, I’m happy they are involved again so not pushing leadership (nor are they).  Really very puzzled where they will wind up and if a private counselor / consultant to help them “find their passion” is worth it.  Honestly, IMO high schoolers should not find their passion.  That’s what’s college and early adulthood is for.  Heck, I’m 50 and in the midst of a career switch for which I have only found my passion.  But I would not have traded my prior career bc that taught me a lot too.

But, I do want them to attend a college with an amazing and well connected career services office. 
[/quote]

Excellent description of how to be admitted to a T10 school five years ago.

It's also a great summary of how to be admitted to a public flagship (at various levels) today.

However, students and parents aiming for a T10 school now need to begin thinking more creatively.

For the "academic spike" applicant, don't ask "will lack of rigor in a foreign language hurt me?" Ask, "can I take four college courses at an Ivy during high school and get As in all of them while graduating from high school a year early?"

For the "inspirational story" applicant, don't ask "can I scale my passion-project nonprofit internationally before junior fall?" Ask, "can I move back to my grandparents' war-torn village in Africa and enroll in the local school there before applying to Stanford?" or "can I get myself moved into foster care and commit some petty crimes that will send me to a juvenile detention center early enough so that I have time to turn my life around by the summer before senior year?"

For the URM applicant, don't ask "should my application reflect that my great-great-grandmother was born in Mexico?" Ask, "how willing am I to lie as blatantly as half the URM students at Brown and just say I myself was born in an armadillo-infested shack outside of Ciudad Juarez?" (even though you grew up in Great Falls).

We get hung up on the idea of extracurriculars that "show" leadership, but it's more important to think about how even someone whose parents both got doctorates from the top university in China and are famous scientists can still qualify as "first-gen."

It is a farce. The farce that we make it.  [/quote]

Funny thing is, the majority of the rest of the world follows a much simpler admissions process - grades or ultimate subject tests (e.g. AP), entrance tests (similar to SATs) and maybe an interview.  Far easier to provide free resources to underprivileged kids in that model that this convoluted, cumbersome nonsense that is American higher ed.   It's more of a scammy system that encourages corruption, starting with 'fake' ECs, expensive tutoring to get higher grades, etc. none of which a poor kid has access to.  
The government can easily set up free resources along the lines of Khan Academy and free online tutoring services with taxpayer dollars to coach kids on AP and SAT.  How do you do that for a poor kid to start a non-profit? or BS 'leadership' role for, say, science olympiad,  when the kid has to work?[/quote]

Kids without resources are not expected to start nonprofits or do Science Olympiad.  They may show leadership in very different ways.  That is the point of holistic admissions.  I’m not opposed to tests being an element but be serious.  Kids with poor teachers and schools may not have access to AP classes because the school may not have enough students to fill and AP class or it simply may not be a priority for the school, which may be dealing with safety, hunger, homelessness and other more pressing issues.  I understand where you are coming from but [b]it comes across as very naive to think the solutions are that simple[/b].[/quote]

+1 extremely naive[/quote]

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