<p>That wasn’t my issue with the prompt.
I take issue with “what they do to get into college”–I don’t do my ECs to get into college. Honestly, that is a benefit, but I 90% do them because I enjoy them.
I find it insulting that Pomona is insinuating otherwise, though I understand they are just trying to be humorous.</p>
<p>It’s that 10% of the activities we need to worry about ;)</p>
<p>Seriously, with 2 kids having gone through the college admission process, I have to say: this is the best prompt ever! It allowed both of my kids to write an essay that was not tortured and pompous and edited to within an inch of its life. I don’t think it’s insulting in the least. And the evidence points to Pomona’s slightly Luddite admissions process working well when it comes to assembling a terrific class.</p>
<p>Hey Kim-
I agree with you totally that quomo has a negative attitude, but if you say ‘don’t apply if you have a negative attitute’, isn’t that a negative attitude itself? I mean, do 2 negative attitudes make a positive attitude? Wouldn’t it be more in the spirit of Pomona to consider Quomo to be ‘attitudinally challenged’? And then send him a Dale Carnegie book or put him in touch with the leader of a Dale Carnegie course in his area, or some other psycho-babble pick-me-up group that does positive thinking group therapy? Maybe even medication is in order. Let’s keep up the Sagehen spirit and try to understand curmudgeonism, its causes and how we can help people who have it!</p>
<p>This is not about Pomona - but my daughter has had some odd or negative experiences when interacting with Adcoms. I tell her she should separate her feelings for admissions and feelings for the school. Quomodo should do that. He is not negative towards the school, he just does not like the prompt.</p>
<p>When my son was applying for colleges three years ago, there was a student member of the admissions college posting on the Caltech board. He was supportive and informative. I am not sure if monitoring the CC boards was part of his job, or he was doing because he was a good guy. If he was not doing it officially, I am sure that the admissions office would have had no objection to anything he posted. He was not posting anonymously, btw. His username was his real name. @Kim234 - are you doing this as part of your job? If not, do you feel the admissions office would approve of how you are speaking for the admissions office?</p>
<p>You have a similar style as Kio888, though not quite as abrasive, thank goodness! Some facts are changed. He spoke of his experiences in the admissions office in the past tense, and you are talking in the current tense. Both of you speak of discussing applicants in a negative way, which strikes me as bizarre. I am not saying it does not happen - all work environments can be like that, but usually discretion is the professional path to take. You both joined and then immediately started posting a lot of posts on multiple Claremont threads. You are both a bit older than the typical undergrad, though you do not have the same posted birthdays. I suspect you might be the same person.</p>
<p>^ Also, College Confidential has a procedure to verify that people who claim to be from admissions offices actually are. Kim234 has apparently not gone through that procedure.</p>
<p>I cannot imagine that the admissions office at any college would support a student who claims to represent admissions and who discourages people who don’t like an essay prompt from applying.</p>
<p>with the myriad of options you probably have to write on, you probably donot want to mention the fun you have with ur girlfriend.</p>
<p>I mean, there’s so much else, that’ll be less controversial. Its so easy to go wrong with this topic.</p>
<p>Hey Doyouhow–
so, Doyouhow-- what do you make of all this, as an international student, esp. from China? you asked a pretty straightforward question on suitability of your girlfriend as a topic on just plain fun, and look where it has taken us: Questions on attitude, expertise, qualifications and authority to speak, dismissiveness; responses that have ranged from the whimsical and lighthearted to the terse and abrasive-- what a tempest has brewed from the minor flutter of your question!</p>
<p>Your earlier post indicated some discomfort at the discourse exchanged as a result of your post. As I said earlier, you need not feel regretful at all-- but given all this, does it give you pause about studying in the USA? Do you find this discourse unsettling, silly, and unproductive? Or do you consider it healthy, intriguing and liberating? Or neither? or both?
Or something else?</p>
<p>If you find it all off-putting, look at it this way-- it could be worse. You be applying to a school in London-- I don’t know if you got the news about students in London rioting over tuition increases. Now that’s what I call actions counter to social harmony!</p>
<p>I would just like to mention that my post three above this is questioning a poster, Kim234, who was either deleted by CC, or deleted himself.</p>