{"id":767,"date":"2021-07-23T00:58:45","date_gmt":"2021-07-23T00:58:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/uniquest.xyz\/?page_id=767"},"modified":"2021-07-23T03:32:58","modified_gmt":"2021-07-23T03:32:58","slug":"understanding-the-admission-process","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/uniquest.xyz\/index.php\/for-counselors\/understanding-the-admission-process\/","title":{"rendered":"Understanding the admission process"},"content":{"rendered":"

Now that you have submitted your application, what happens?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Firstly, it is read. Often times, twice. Cover to cover.<\/p>\n

Often its is debated.<\/p>\n

Ultimately it is decided, not just on its own merits, but also in the context of all the other students they are reviewing for admission. They can only take a limited number. Some thoughts from Fred Haradagon, former dean of admission (Princeton, Stanford and Swarthmore):<\/p>\n

As the house lights dimmed, even this group of alums were slightly intimidated. On a large screen at the front of the room, a graphic appeared, showing that 1,534 high school valedictorians had applied for admission to Princeton the previous year. \u201cNow,\u201d the dean said, \u201cof that 1,534, how many do you think we offered admission to?\u201d
\nHargadon paused.<\/p>\n

\u201cAbout 495.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe try to distinguish between who wants to come here for the learning,\u201d he told me, \u201cand who wants to come here to get another set of credentials on top of the ones they have in order to do the next step.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMany candidates are driven to make themselves look like they know as much and have accomplished as much as possible,\u201d Hargadon said one day after wading through yet another pile of applications. \u201cI think it\u2019s the rare student in our schools who isn\u2019t worried about impressing and who has a very good perspective on life and is comfortable admitting what it is they don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n

A myth has grown up that every candidate has a one-in-six or one-in-seven chance of being offered admissions, as calculated by taking the total number of acceptances offered and dividing the total number of students who apply. \u201cThere\u2019s no candiate I meet that I can tell them the odds are one out of six, because the odds aren\u2019t one out of six for everybody. Some candidates have a one-out-of-two chance, some a one out of forty.\u201d Hargadon says.<\/p>\n

\u201cDo you know how many times I read, \u2018Best student I\u2019ve had in ten years,\u2019 \u2018Best math student in twenty years\u2019? How many times?!\u201d Hargadon asks plaintively. \u201cI\u201dd be shocked if I was some of the kids that I turn down.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSpot the students who will give the best questions, not those who can give the best answers.\u201d<\/p>\n

For every student that a school like Princeton offers to admit, it has no choice but to turn down five or six other applicants, some of whom are deserving of a spot in the next freshman class. Sadly, sometimes Princeton rejects deserving students for whom Princeton is the first choice, in favor of candidates who have no intention of going to Princeton if they are also accepted by, say, Harvard of Stanford.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat really wears me down,\u201d the dean says, \u201cis trying to distinguish between candidates all of whom are really excellent.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Source:\u00a0Getting In<\/em>\u00a0by\u00a0Bill Paul (Originally posted in\u00a0College Confidential<\/a>)<\/p>\n

This short news segment (2014) focusing on Grinnell gives you a sense of what many highly selective colleges do:<\/p>\n