Photo credit New York Times
What Colleges Want in an Applicant (Everything)
By Eric Hoover
New York Times, November 3, 2017
College admissions is unfair and probably always will be, Eric Hoover, reminds us in this penetrating piece in the New York Times. Attempts at fairness are narrowly based grades and standardized test scores. Yet, as Hoover points out, the numbers have their flaws: grades are often inflated and test scores better predict your family’s income than success throughout college.
For years, colleges have been trying to get beyond the numbers through items like essays and recommendation letters. Hoover notes that some admissions offices are now asking for even more, such as videos of your accomplishments or a Makers Portfolio. They’re also adding more steps in the process, like on-campus auditions, interviews, and team exercises to measure your emotional intelligence.
If you think these extras will help colleges make fairer admissions decisions, just wait. Not all colleges do this or can evaluate individual applications with such care, least especially the large schools and the Ivies. They also don’t need to, says Hoover, because they’re more responsive to rankings by college guides like U.S. News & World report and to bond-rating agencies, which look at admissions rates based on…grades and test scores.
“Like it or not, colleges aren’t looking to reel in the greatest number of straight-A students who’ve taken seven or more Advanced Placement courses. A rejection isn’t really about you; it’s about a maddening mishmash of competing objectives.” One of the these is your ability to pay for college. Another is geographic diversity, which means that, all other factors being equal, you’re more likely to get in to Harvard if you come from Montana instead of Massachusetts.
Although college admissions might be unfair—even broken by some accounts—it doesn’t mean you should give up trying to show your best, authentic, self to them. Try not to worry about factors beyond your control because they can partially explain both why you get rejected as well as why you get admitted.