Is The College Admissions Process Broken?

[GRR]

From a student perspective a lot of things about admissions seem flawed. Some of it seems predictable based on human behavior.

[Mwfan1921]

@Rivet2000

Do you have a list of such schools?

@roycroftmom

I think the poster was asking about selective schools.

They didn’t say they were limiting it to selective schools, nor did I say there were selective rack and stack schools. Beyond the CSUs (where a human doesn’t touch the vast majority of apps), Iowa and Iowa State are rack and stack…they publish their formula so anyone can know ahead of time if they will be accepted or not.

But I expect any number of posters on this thread don’t think any of these are schools are appropriate for students who are ‘academically inclined’. It’s a student’s choice whether or not they want to consider rack and stack schools.

[Rivet2000]

I think I was the only one who asked. Was there another?

If MIT is rack and stack, give me more like them……

[Mwfan1921]

Just you asked, and then I included roycroftmom on my reply as they surmised you were only talking about selective schools.

I don’t think of MIT as particularly rack and stack, but I don’t know their admissions process in detail. I expect there is some level of holistic evaluation happening, and consideration for institutional priorities as well as gender in some cases, which wouldn’t meet my criteria for rack and stack. But again, I don’t know for sure.

[DadOfJerseyGirl]

@Rivet2000

If MIT is rack and stack

Maybe people have different definitions of rack and stack. To me that implies stats-only admissions and A gets in over B if A’s stats > B’s stats. And MIT definitely does not make admission decisions this way.

[Rivet2000]

@Mwfan1921

Just you asked, and then I included roycroftmom on my reply as they surmised you were only talking about selective schools.

Confusing, but OK.

[roycroftmom]

There are certainly hundreds of schools which basically have no need to rack or stack, taking almost all applicants. There are also open enrollment schools, community colleges, and schools with auto admit criteria stated on their website (often somecombo of gpa/rank/sat score). I was interested in schools which state a holistic process but weigh academic stats much more highly than other factors.
I suppose several Canadian schools like UBC qualify

[ucbalumnus]

@roycroftmom

With an overall 90% acceptance rate, they are close to open enrollment. I think the poster was asking about selective schools.

All are selective to some extent, but most only minimally, with a few much more so (CPSLO, some majors at other campuses).

[hebegebe]

@michaelcollege

MIT is one IMO

MIT is certainly NOT rack and stack. About the only applicants with nearly guaranteed admissions to MIT are those on the USA IMO team.

[sbinaz]

What the heck is a rack & stack school?

[michaelcollege]

@hebegebe

MIT is certainly NOT rack and stack. About the only applicants with nearly guaranteed admissions to MIT are those on the USA IMO team.

Sounds like people are taking “rack and stack” more literally than what I am use to. From my experience, it is used for institutions that make almost 0 exceptions to requiring the highest grades and test scores. For example, athletes at MIT need to be able to handle MIT work - and have similar grades/tests.

Using a more literal definition, I would maybe say McGill just based on the criteria they use (grades/tests) and how they admit people throughout the process.

[michaelcollege]

exactly… it is a slangy term. To debate the meaning is ludicrous.

[Thorsmom66]

Ranks applicants by test scores/gpa and rigor. The highest ranked are admitted regardless of other criteria (I.e. demographics, ECs etc) We don’t really have that in the US.

[DadOfJerseyGirl]

@Thorsmom66

We don’t really have that in the US.

We actually do, but they’re typically not discussed on CC. Hundreds of schools (maybe over a thousand) either a) admit everyone/almost everyone who applies b) have auto-admit, where everyone who crosses a stats-only threshold is admitted c) automatically admits the top X% of students in the state.

[sbinaz]

@DadOfJerseyGirl

We actually do, but they’re typically not discussed on CC. Hundreds of schools (maybe over a thousand) either a) admit everyone/almost everyone who applies b) have auto-admit, where everyone who crosses a stats-only threshold is admitted c) automatically admits the top X% of students in the state.

D24 got accepted to 4 such schools.

[Thorsmom66]

I should have mentioned that!

[vwlizard]

@roycroftmom

With an overall 90% acceptance rate, they are close to open enrollment. I think the poster was asking about selective schools.

Some schools with 90%+ admissions rates are because they do exactly what you think schools should do. Both Kansas and Iowa schools have their admission criteria clearly stated and it is easy to figure out if you meet that criteria. Those that don’t meet the criteria most likely aren’t going to bother to apply. That is not “open enrollment”, that is applicants that have already self-selected for acceptance.

[roycroftmom]

As they are auto admit with minimal grade or test scores, I don’t think they are rack and stack at all-no need to rank applicants by academics or anything else so long as they meet the stated threshold ( in Kansas, of 2.0 and 1060, or 3.25 without scores).

[ucbalumnus]

@Thorsmom66

Ranks applicants by test scores/gpa and rigor. The highest ranked are admitted regardless of other criteria (I.e. demographics, ECs etc) We don’t really have that in the US

CSUs rank applicants in major effectively by GPA and often with points relating to courses completed beyond the minimum, although there are usually minor bonus points for demographic aspects (the main one being local area residency, since part of the CSU mission is to offer accessible affordable college to students who cannot move away for college).

[jym626]

and some of the students who participated in MIT’s MITES program probably were cream that rose to the top