NVM ... That Application is Just Too Annoying!

That’s one way to put it. However, I really don’t see why you would expect someone to have any form of loyalty to a school that has done nothing for the student. Generally all these shows of “i luv dis skool!” are fake and done to pretend to be interested long enough to get in. Why would you have any loyalty to an organization that has done nothing for you?

And it also tends to filter out people who have choices, which is another way of saying that it filters out people who are good enough to have options for college. Not sure you really want that.

@Massmomm Hmm…I didn’t think of that! Fair enough I suppose, although I feel like going by one’s language of instruction would make more sense than first language.

@Neodymium

What? “Showing interest” has nothing to do with “loyalty”.

I was going to apply to Rose-Hulman. Then I lost the PIN number. I was already applying to six more colleges, so I decided that I didn’t want to live in Indiana anyway and gave up. Everything worked out well. Got into MIT.

I like the schools that require something specific, but don’t make it overly arduous. A 200-word essay (or 200-500 range for the potentially loquacious) with a prompt that directly or indirectly requires specific knowledge of the school seems appropriate. Bonus points for a choice of prompts. Enough to demonstrate interest, but not so much to seem like hoop-jumping. Super short-answer questions also seem like fun ways to dig out a bit of personality, so long as there aren’t too many. No supplement at all seems like an invitation to frivolous applications, and while it makes a little sense for schools who are trying to recruit more qualified applicants, it makes no sense at all for highly selective schools who should be trying to narrow the field a bit.

The CUNY application was like that for me, I just could not understand and just gave up on applying to any Cuny schools.

Willingness to spend hours on an application has a lot to do with loyalty/interest. High-quality students are busy.

One of my daughters didn’t apply to my alma mater, even though it was initially high on her list, partially because of the main supplement question: “What does diversity mean to you?” It just seemed to beg for painful, posing answers. And masochistic on the part of the admissions office: If I had to read several thousand of those essays, written by 17 year olds, I’d probably be poking my eyes out.

When D was applying it was not particular questions although I agree with the poster who talked about certain applications having unrealistic expectations of the cultural sensibilities of the average 17 year old with a good SAT score. I think it was Stanford and/or Princeton that seemed focused on your prior summer in a way that made you feel that working as a camp counselor, unless it was in Tanzania, just would not cut it.

However what REALLY bothered me were the POP UP surprise essays. You thought you were done and then all of a sudden when you checked off a particular major, surprise another essay popped out. This happened with Princeton at about 8PM on January 1! Ugh.

In one case, I think Brown, she changed prospective majors just to avoid yet another pop up essay. Those to me are nervy and disrespectful. Especially since she would do the essay in word before cutting and pasting. You should know going in how many essays or potential essays there are, not be surprised.

Having an application that is annoying serves one useful purpose - it screens out marginally interested applicants. This is bad for the total number of applications and a low acceptance rate, a key school bragging right. And, the school may miss out on a few great-fit applicants. But, it’s good for yield (the % of accepted who matriculate) and also good for weary admissions staff who have to review all those apps. Chicago was the prime example of this strategy for years. Then, they caved in, went with the CA, and saw applications skyrocket to the levels of other elite schools.

UVA, nuff said.

LOL at poking eyes out, @AmicaMom

LMU-LA. They’ve been trying to recenter on their Catholic mission, so all their essays were based on quotes by Pope Francis and pretty much supposed the ability to write something somewhat philosophical about our duties as humans. Not bad prompts, but one student (atheist but didn’t mind treating a quote by the Pope like she would a quote by Gandhi or Mandela) gave up due to the philosophical thinking required to produce something she felt represented her thinking. She could only find trite answers that she hated because it didn’t represent who she was or what she wanted to say.
So, if you have 3 required philosophical courses and want to decrease the number of “COOL! LA!!” applicants while increasing awareness of the university beeing rooted in the Catholic faith, those are good prompts, but I wonder how many kids not enrolled in Catholic schools could produce anything remotely worth reading.
On the other hand, it might be another goal: fewer public school kids, more private school/Catholic school applicants, good for the bottom line (via tuition and via the donors who wanted the recentering).
On the other other hand, wondering by how much the number of applicants dropped?

After getting two EAs from schools he really likes, my son pronounced himself done with apps. He had two other really appealing ones on his list for RD, and I’m sure if it was just a matter of hitting “submit” he’d have done it, but both required extra essays of the non-fun variety.

Perhaps if one had been that “which fictional character would you room with and why” prompt, he’d have been up for it. I’d love to see a statistical result of that one. Who comes out in front? Hermione? (Because you relate to her, or because you want homework help?) How many go for obscure literary ones in the hope of looking impressive? If someone picked Joffrey Baratheon, would that be an automatic reject, even if they had the scores?

The essay requirements for one of the most unique (and best) colleges in the country, Deep Springs, is a challenge for those who think of expressing oneself on paper is a chore. But for a “out of the box” critical thinker who may wish to travel the road "less traveled by, two years there could be a most rewarding educational experience. For most students Harvard would be easier to get into. Plus, for the present, women don’t have a prayer unless they are a visiting professor from one of those “brand name” schools. :slight_smile:

My DD dropped Columbia because of the question asking what periodicals she reads… she didn’t think she should answer with Teen Vogue and UsWeekly. :slight_smile: She also didn’t apply to Georgetown because (I believe) they required 3 subject tests.

DS didnt notice the Cornell supplemental required any special knowledge. Did he miss something?!

dowzerw - My son was perfectly happy with the Cornell supplement too. The part that asked him why Cornell was the right environment to fulfill his interests nudged him to do more research into the school and I think his essay was better as a result. It turned out to be one of his strongest.

My oldest never finished the Stanford application-too long and he was down to the last minute with other apps, so that one was easily dropped.

I dropped penn state and University of South Florida, just because i had been accepted to two other school and penn state and USF were the ones that interested me the least.