Many schools hire external readers to supplement the full time staff. At the institution I read applications for we read every word of every app at least once, there isn’t really a quick elimination process. With that said, some apps don’t take long to get thru…for example if the GPA is low, and/or no honors/AP/advanced courses, and/or no activities, that doesn’t take long to put in the deny bucket.
For the second question, in general, and not specific to any institution…At relatively selective schools rigor and core curriculum are going to be very important. You can get a good sense of what schools are looking for by doing admissions sessions, either in person or virtually. Ask questions, and take advantage of the schools’ other virtual programming like AMAs, mock admissions sessions, etc.
I suspect that many colleges have an algorithm that triages applications. It can take into account student performance metrics, rigor of coursework, and strength of high school to filter out easy denials from the pool.
Yes that certainly exists and has for a long time, for example, humans never touch/read most CSU apps. Other schools like Iowa and Iowa State admit based on a stat based formula (RAI). I would expect AI to ultimately make an impact in application reading automation as well.
While the specifics and relative weightings of importance may differ, the Yale AO podcast on what they look at for the first cut should be generally helpful for any selective college. https://admissions.yale.edu/podcast Episodes 26 and 30 address the issue of the first cut that you raise.
AP Scores: They are not an indicator of a brilliant student. They are an indicator of a compliant student that will learn the prescribed material and master the prescribed test. Many schools are starting to drop the AP curriculum-system since it is expensive to purchase. AP is not a magic bullet, just like a 4.0 or a 35/36 ACT, etc., is not a magic bullet. (I am a HS English teacher.)
These competitive schools have soooo many 4.0 AP+ good test score soccer captain students apply–more than they have spaces for.
While I agree Ap scores are not necessarily a measure of intelligence it is a measure of hard work, organization and ability to study and learn material which is important for success in college. SATs similarly are a measure of a student’s ability to apply themselves. But they are also non-subjective which is important given the level of grade inflation and dramatically different grading criteria among schools in the last decade.
At our school they no longer use the Ap curriculum because they find it to be very lacking so they teach “topics in ___” courses that have substantially more material. The kids usually ace the AP tests. I suspect as more schools move this direction even AP scores will eventually not be a great way to compare kids.
Colleges are pretty careful not to give clues as to what they are searching for, as people will try to cater to that specific metric. If I knew the answer to that I would start my own business
Good scores in AP DOES measure strong work habits, which no doubt will help them in college and life.
Schools are moving away from prescribed curriculum because it often rewards students for following/memorizing. Modern technology has given everyone access to immediate facts–so how students use the info is becoming the new curriculum. Standardized assessment to measure skills can be tricky for many reasons.
Sorry if I was not clear. I was not asking what they are looking for, but instead what should they be looking for?
Because you said that AP scores “are not an indicator of a brilliant student. They are an indicator of a compliant student,” so maybe you have an idea of something that is an indicator of a brilliant student, or at least an indicator of a student deserving of admission.
If this is the case, it sounds like AP exams would be an excellent way to determine future success in college. I am sure this is why AOs place a lot of value on them.
But is good memorization really the key to college success? I would not think so, at least not for most majors. Memorization is a fairly low-level skill. Being able to go beyond memorization to analyze, think creatively, problem-solve in novel scenarios, tackle questions you’ve never encountered before - those, to me, are key skills for college success and they are not well-gauged by AP tests, in my opinion.
I disagree. I think a lot of colleges are pretty transparent about what they are looking for. They don’t give you an algorithm where you can plug in values which spits out a prediction. They also don’t give you a specific set of boxes to check that guarantees admissions, but most tell you what is important to them, often on their admissions web page. I linked Yale’s podcast above in #83. The Common Data Set for each schools gives you a good idea of GPA and test score ranges to be “in the mix” and there is a section that rates the relative importance of several academic and non-academic factors.
Why college admissions is so unpredictable, especially for students and families, is the fact that we have no visibility into critical factors that are being evaluated, especially of other students competing for the same spots. The quality of essays, LoR’s and EC’s of others is completely opaque, standards are subjective and we are generally bad at evaluating these factors even of ourselves/own students. Add to that the sheer number of applicants vs the limited spots, there is no way to predict where your average excellent student is going to wind up and it is not about not knowing what colleges are looking for.
That I do not have a good answer to. Perhaps by redesigning essays to tease some of this out, but of course, some people will simply hire consultants to strategize this (and I’m not sure you can ever fully get rid of that advantage). Letter of recommendation might contain some of this information. Grades used to demonstrate a greater breadth of academic skills, but now there is grade inflation. So with the tools AOs currently have, I am not sure how you get at this with great accuracy. So much is so subjective and I am not sure if there is a way around that. It will always end up being an AO’s judgment. I realize that is why people like things like standardized tests (including AP tests), but I personally see their value as limited.
The person said, “They are an indicator of a compliant student that will learn the prescribed material and master the prescribed test.”
Do you really think that learning the prescribed material for an AP exam, and doing well on the AP exam, is ONLY about memorization? I think it is a combination of what you said (analyzing, problem-solving, etc.) with memorization and raw intelligence. It is very similar to success in midterm and final exams in the vast majority of college courses.
I think comparing AP classes and exams to actual college curriculum and course requirements is, in most cases, pretty off-base. College classes have much greater intellectual demands and breadth to them than any AP class I’ve ever witnessed. That has been my experience.
I didn’t say AP classes were similar to actual college curriculum. I said what determines success in both is similar, and both transcend mere memorization.
Well, and if you really want me to get on my soapbox (and you don’t lol), ask me about AP Eng Lang and AP Lit and their ability to prepare students for college-level writing. Even 5s are nowhere near the writing proficiency needed by college freshman. Again, that has been my experience. It may not be everyone’s experience.
It’s interesting, because my son thinks his AP classes in HS compared favorably to the classes he is taking at UCB (and I was always impressed by what he was learning and doing in them). Does that mean his UCB classes are bad? Is it just that he was super lucky with AP teachers?