Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:First job for alums who weren't successful in finding a job through recruitment. The alum may have previously worked as a student assistant (work study) in the Admissions office before getting hired to the entry-level FT role. So might already be "known" to the office.

Of course some people can’t imagine that someone might want to work in education and choose higher ed because of how impactful and interesting it is!

I worked in a different administrative department at a T20 university (not Admissions). We hired alumni. Joining higher ed admin is not Plan A for the vast majority of these T20 students, it was a backup plan. The ones who came on board as a first choice were largely aiming to get their Masters through tuition remission, which was a great deal for them as it normally cost $200-300k.

what the hell kind of masters costs 200-300k? cant be mbas since that requires work experience

Anonymous wrote:Oh boy. Do you guys really think that first level reviewers or full time admissions staff don’t know how to consider experiences relevant to different majors? It’s a profession in higher education. Why would a humanities background be a negative? Also, why does it matter if admissions staff are “URM or women.” Nothing about reading a goddamn college application requires an engineering degree. When your kid doesn’t get in, they just didn’t get in. Get over it.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Are they subject-matter experts, and if not, how accurately can they evaluate applicants for STEM programs — especially when it comes to understanding academic rigor and grading standards?

Definitely NOT subject-matter experts and definitely unable to evaluate research ECs. I say this as an engineering professor. I can barely understand the research papers colleagues in my department published if they were outside my area. High-level overview, yes, but nitty gritty details, no. Even if their paper is bad or wrong, they can make it sound really great with their writing because I wouldn't be able to tell. Now imagine an AO who has to know all areas of biology, chemistry, physics, mechanical engineering, civil engineering, computer science, math, etc. They don't even remotely exist.

With that said, the typical AOs know all the available AP courses because there are only so many of them and this is their job. They know which ones are fluff. They know multivariable calculus is supposed to happen after AP Calculus BC. They know linear algebra is another advanced math but is less tied to Calculus BC. If they are assigned to your region, they know the rigor at private/public high schools there.

But they are not god, you can easily throw them off with a little technical jargon in your EC description, making your research sounds more impressive than it really is. It's sad but this is what it has come down to in the college application arm race.

Anonymous wrote:
Are they subject-matter experts, and if not, how accurately can they evaluate applicants for STEM programs — especially when it comes to understanding academic rigor and grading standards?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:First job for alums who weren't successful in finding a job through recruitment. The alum may have previously worked as a student assistant (work study) in the Admissions office before getting hired to the entry-level FT role. So might already be "known" to the office.

Of course some people can’t imagine that someone might want to work in education and choose higher ed because of how impactful and interesting it is!

I worked in a different administrative department at a T20 university (not Admissions). We hired alumni. Joining higher ed admin is not Plan A for the vast majority of these T20 students, it was a backup plan. The ones who came on board as a first choice were largely aiming to get their Masters through tuition remission, which was a great deal for them as it normally cost $200-300k.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:First job for alums who weren't successful in finding a job through recruitment. The alum may have previously worked as a student assistant (work study) in the Admissions office before getting hired to the entry-level FT role. So might already be "known" to the office.

Of course some people can’t imagine that someone might want to work in education and choose higher ed because of how impactful and interesting it is!

Anonymous wrote:First job for alums who weren't successful in finding a job through recruitment. The alum may have previously worked as a student assistant (work study) in the Admissions office before getting hired to the entry-level FT role. So might already be "known" to the office.