So here is the most recent post by CC’s resident expert in admissions:
Schools should publish their rating handbooks. Full stop. That’s where legit, real college admissions talk starts and stops.
They should also videotape their AOs reading every app. from start to finish in committee. They should be on forums like this, teaching classes, being crystal clear on what they want to see. There would be no need for middleman–college coaches or sites like this–to have semi-informed opinions on advertisement. Publish the rating books.
Interesting question to ask why colleges don’t do those things? I have lots of ideas.
But yes, it’s nuts. That’s partially why people like me are doing what I’m doing. To make money yes, but also to spread good information to confused kids who get awful guidance–to the point of being misleading. Because I’ve read the rating books. I’ve trained on them, asked questions about them, applied them. And then I saw why and how many hundreds of applicants got admitted or denied by them. So I’m stunned by the authoritative advice rattled off by folks on these forums who Have Never Worked In A College Admission Office.
If you’ve never read, trained, and done the hard work of admitting students by applying specific ratings . . . You might have the right opinion on college admission topics, but you can’t have knowledge. You’ve worked with kids who got into some random draw of schools for the past 10 years? So, what, now you have something to say by speculating on essays or activities or letters or other factors that seemed to correspond with college acceptances? And you determine you know what’s going on to issue actionable advice with unqualified authority? It’s wild. It’s no surprise you see nonsense like “be yourself” “show your personality” “applying undecided is fine–thinking through what you might want to study only applies to HYPSM.” I’m shocked non-admission-office folks run the roost on these forums.
Is this the message, the inclusivity, the sensitivity and sensibility we want to promulgate on CC? At least now we know he’s here at least partially to make money. What is the point of dissing other CC posters, who because they are ANONYMOUS, he has no idea of whether or not they worked in admissions?