Originally Posted by Zen Scanner
I don't get it. Even the most selective Ivy leagues school accepts 6% of applicants, the 20th most selective is like 17%. They seem like such kiddy play numbers compared to 0.01% and such.

The admissions committees aren't made up of people who would see things that way. You would think that working on the admissions committee would be a rotating gig filled by professors. But it isn't. A couple of books and something else I read recently showed that admissions is an entry-level job that tends to be filled by...people with...degrees in subjects like...education.

This book, which was written by the former Director of Admissions at Dartmouth, discusses the issue. Click on the page that starts with "Since they did not attend highly selective colleges themselves...."

It's all a bit of a very sick joke, yet people take it all very seriously. It honestly boggles my mind that super intelligent, accomplished, highly capable applicants applying to our "best" universities are being advised to dumb down their essays so that the people on the admissions committee can understand them and not miss nuances. sick




Last edited by Val; 05/09/13 04:25 PM. Reason: Clarity