<p>I think the OP is right to raise these issues, and I particularly agree with OP’s statement, “I’ve been reading posts on CC for awhile, and I have ended up feeling quite sympathetic to the applicants’ frequent comments about what they are going through.”</p>
<p>The stress put on some kids by parents who think that anything but admission to an Ivy (or Ivy-equivalent) constitutes failure - and the pressure put on kids by the kids themselves, who have internalized these values - is clearly of great concern.</p>
<p>But I don’t think the answer lies primarily in changing the way colleges approach admissions. While not perfect, I think they do a pretty good job. The problem is that, when 80-90+% of the applicants to Ivy league schools are rejected, no matter what the admissions criteria, students (and parents) who believe that admission to an Ivy is the only standard of success are going to feel huge amounts of pressure.</p>
<p>In addition, no matter how often colleges try to explain that perfect SAT’s, perfect grades, ever-growing numbers of EC’s and AP’s, and ever-escalating resume building, are not necessary for admission to elite schools, there will be some number of students and parents who won’t believe them. And I think that number is disproportionately represented on this board. :)</p>
<p>When one sees an applicant with eye-popping stats get deferred or rejected from Harvard (or any other elite school), I would take that as evidence that the admissions committee looks at more than numbers. But others take it as evidence that they have to be even more perfect in order to be admitted. This is not the message that colleges are sending when you talk to their representatives (or look at their websites). But it is the message that some number of students/parents are hearing.</p>
<p>You nailed it, cosar. It’s the combination of the sheer overwhelming numbers of accomplished applicants, combined with expectations (family, peer, both), combined with resistance to the message. That explains the constant drumbeat of denial, confusion, elaborate attempts to explain away results, & protestations about the inequities of the system.</p>
<p>I agree with you: all things considered – and that’s a lot of “things” (!), the Universities & colleges, including the Ivies, actually do a pretty good job trying to create a balanced student body of excellence. It will not be all-inclusive of every excellent student. <em>That</em>'s what’s supposedly “imperfect” about the system.</p>
<p>Thank you for that clear & well-written post.</p>
<p>I think you’ve nailed it here, but I think that it’s probably the majority of students and parents are convinced that the “Perfect Package” is a treshold requirequent. Indeed, there’s a huge industry perpetuating that belief: college admissions counsellors, summer programs, SAT prep classes etc. I don’t have the figures at my fingertips, but I know for a fact that the growth of this market segment has been astonishingly fast. (My favorite was a pre-college program whose brochure boasted that it’s participants had a high ivy admission rate. The best line in the brochure was, “Live your future ahead of schedule.”)</p>
<p>The stress that all this creates for kids is enormous and, frankly, scary.</p>
<p>There is an interesting table in the Journal of Blacks in Higher Education with black admissions numbers for the Class of 2009. Even more interesting is that some top elites withhold crucial pieces of information to prevent anyone from knowing, alternatively, the yield rate, the admit rate or the total number of black applicants. Still, the table shows that all elites make accomodations to achieve diversity, and there can be little doubt that the “stats” of black admits are very likely lower.</p>
<p>I don’t think this is the main issue on the thread, here, Byerly. I do know that I’m aware of some very high-stat poor Caucasians and middle-class Blacks that outscored some peers in their respective ethnic groups in higher SES categories. The issue being discussed is the stat emphasis & frenzy among students of all SES backgrounds – & what drives that frenzy or whether that frenzy is as important to admissions committees as to families. (Doesn’t seem, so – tables or no tables.) High-SES whites & Asians with great scores are being deferred & rejected from Ivies right & left, as opposed to students of those same ethnic groups & several SES levels with slightly lower stats but exemplary other achievements.</p>