Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Today more students apply to these schools today than have ever applied to these schools before, that is why the admissions rate is so low.

Easy way to fix this:

1) End the Common Application.
2) Require all applications to be completed using paper forms and typewriters (including essays which had to be typed first on a blank sheet to test whether they would fit on the page).

Suddenly students would start applying to many fewer schools, like a generation ago, when this is how one had to apply to college.

I think this is a fabulous idea.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Today more students apply to these schools today than have ever applied to these schools before, that is why the admissions rate is so low.

Easy way to fix this:

1) End the Common Application.
2) Require all applications to be completed using paper forms and typewriters (including essays which had to be typed first on a blank sheet to test whether they would fit on the page).

Suddenly students would start applying to many fewer schools, like a generation ago, when this is how one had to apply to college.

I think this is a good idea. But the application process has become an industry unto itself and will fight back. Consider NYU got 42000 apps last year at $70 a pop. That is $2.95M just in application fees. Not a bad revenue stream. Even a smaller school like JMU gets 23000 apps at $60 each that is still $1.4M. College apps alone must be costing Americans close to $1B annually.

Anonymous wrote:Today more students apply to these schools today than have ever applied to these schools before, that is why the admissions rate is so low.

Easy way to fix this:

1) End the Common Application.
2) Require all applications to be completed using paper forms and typewriters (including essays which had to be typed first on a blank sheet to test whether they would fit on the page).

Suddenly students would start applying to many fewer schools, like a generation ago, when this is how one had to apply to college.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DD wait listed at VaTech, accepted to Boston College.

Okay. That is crazy. Congrats on BC, though. Expensive and preppy, but a great option.

And this is how otherwise sane people end up paying $60,000 per year for college.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's more than game, it's a damn scam.

What's the lastest? Way more women than men with degrees, and they STILL feel held back.

Connect the dots, people.

You're comparing apples and oranges.

Women have to get college degrees because they make less then men with the same education at every level. Women with high school diplomas make less than men with high school diplomas. Women with college degrees make less then men with college degrees. Women with college degrees are more likely to fields that lower paying (teaching vs. engineering or computer programming).

You are also comparing apples to mangos.

When comparing wages it needs to be looked at by job function and hours worked, not degree. A kid could decide to go into investment banking instead of journalism, yet still posses the same degree either way.

Once all conditions are equal; pay, hours, job function, years worked and title the gender gap is practically nothing and is likely contributed to studies showing males are more likely to negotiate for salary increases.

Anonymous wrote:DD wait listed at VaTech, accepted to Boston College.

Okay. That is crazy. Congrats on BC, though. Expensive and preppy, but a great option.

DD wait listed at VaTech, accepted to Boston College.

I can add another one to the list.

I just found yesterday one kid who is a double legacy at UVA was denied at UVA, but accepted to W&M. Her parents, big donors, are not happy.

Her friend, a W&M single legacy, was Waitlisted at W&M and accepted to UVA.

Both kids are enrolling at the school that was their second choice. It is really a perplexing process. I also know of a kid who applied to 19 schools. It seemed crazy, but that kid has a full range of choices and aid packages now and has more power vis a vis the decison, as opposed to the kid who did the typical handful of safeties, matches, and reaches.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's more than game, it's a damn scam.

What's the lastest? Way more women than men with degrees, and they STILL feel held back.

Connect the dots, people.

You're comparing apples and oranges.

Women have to get college degrees because they make less then men with the same education at every level. Women with high school diplomas make less than men with high school diplomas. Women with college degrees make less then men with college degrees. Women with college degrees are more likely to fields that lower paying (teaching vs. engineering or computer programming).

Young women are outearning their male counterparts

http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/money/workplace/2010-09-01-single-women_N.htm

Anonymous wrote:It's more than game, it's a damn scam.

What's the lastest? Way more women than men with degrees, and they STILL feel held back.

Connect the dots, people.

You're comparing apples and oranges.

Women have to get college degrees because they make less then men with the same education at every level. Women with high school diplomas make less than men with high school diplomas. Women with college degrees make less then men with college degrees. Women with college degrees are more likely to fields that lower paying (teaching vs. engineering or computer programming).

It's more than game, it's a damn scam.

What's the lastest? Way more women than men with degrees, and they STILL feel held back.

Connect the dots, people.

Anonymous wrote:I think it is the randomness and luck factor in college admissions that in part prompts so many students to submit so many applications. It is seen as a lottery, so folks who can afford it will buy as many tickets as they can. Of course, this just drives down overall admission rates, which in the end is counterproductive. It is all a game. That is unfortunate.

I see your point but I'll just add that from our recent experience lots of kids are taking the SATs/ACTs and college apps with a fee waiver. So their cost is zero.

I think it is the randomness and luck factor in college admissions that in part prompts so many students to submit so many applications. It is seen as a lottery, so folks who can afford it will buy as many tickets as they can. Of course, this just drives down overall admission rates, which in the end is counterproductive. It is all a game. That is unfortunate.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DD wasn't so lucky. Waitlisted at both low reaches, which I would have put as high matches based on grades and SATs alone. According to Naviance, the scores it takes to get into these schools from DD's school are significantly higher than what the common data set would indicate.

Students really are competing against kids from their own schools. But inexplicably, some kids from the same high school with lower grades, scores, and ECs got in. The whole process has been frustrating and mystifying. At least she is warming up to one of her match schools.

My DD was also wait listed at 2 and rejected at 1 school I'd call "strong match" due to stats and Naviance. She opted to accept a spring admission to a school that was more of a reach and is happy with that. But the entire process was such a mystery (and this is our 3rd time through it).

Many folks put way too much faith into Naviance.

Not just Naviance, but the whole process. When a college is choosing among 10 or 20 or 50,000 apps, there is no way to really compare kids coming from different backgrounds. Especially when so many high schools are not ranking, standardized tests are becoming optional, the level of rigor of courses is varying greatly among high schools, and so many kids are gaming the system in various ways. The process is expensive, and seemingly random. Congrats to those who it worked for, but it seems luck plays a much bigger part in this than anyone is willing to acknowledge.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DD wasn't so lucky. Waitlisted at both low reaches, which I would have put as high matches based on grades and SATs alone. According to Naviance, the scores it takes to get into these schools from DD's school are significantly higher than what the common data set would indicate.

Students really are competing against kids from their own schools. But inexplicably, some kids from the same high school with lower grades, scores, and ECs got in. The whole process has been frustrating and mystifying. At least she is warming up to one of her match schools.

My DD was also wait listed at 2 and rejected at 1 school I'd call "strong match" due to stats and Naviance. She opted to accept a spring admission to a school that was more of a reach and is happy with that. But the entire process was such a mystery (and this is our 3rd time through it).

Many folks put way too much faith into Naviance.