NYT: "Admissions Anxiety, With a Twist" (January to March is no fun)

[Papa_Chicken]

<p>Discussing the January to March stress period, especial for the HS class of '08</p>

<p><a href=“http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/13/nyregion/nyregionspecial2/13colct.html?ref=nyregionspecial2[/url]”>http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/13/nyregion/nyregionspecial2/13colct.html?ref=nyregionspecial2&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>a few excerpts…</p>

<p>

…you understand that though senior year should be an upbeat, optimistic time of life, for many ‘tis truly the winter of their discontent — or at least high anxiety — as they wait to hear from the colleges to which they applied. In mid-December, they rejoiced or commiserated with classmates who had applied for early decision or early action. And now the long wait for the regular and the deferred-until-spring decisions sets in.</p>

<p>What you may not know is that January through mid-March are the cruelest of months — worse this year because seniors face an unusual demographic convergence. The majority of the class of 2008 was born in its generation’s peak birth year, 1990, making them the largest graduating class in two decades. They are also going on to higher education in record numbers.

</p>

<p>

Folks on both sides of the application process are praying for a miracle. Some of the state’s busiest admissions offices are in overdrive and runnin’ on Dunkin’, having worked through the holiday break, which brought massive “mail dumps” of applications. They are hiring extra experienced reviewers and putting in overtime on evenings and weekends. </p>

<p>“Oh, if you could see what I see,” said Joan Mohr, vice president and dean of admissions at Quinnipiac University, where applications rose 20 percent over last year. “All this paper. It’s a tactical nightmare.”

</p>

<p>

Just how jittery are students and parents? Karen Pellegrino, director of undergraduate admissions at Fairfield University, who has 22 years’ experience in the field, the last four at Fairfield, called the anxiety level this season “extraordinary.” </p>

<p>Case in point: One parent desperate for information called the university mail room and asked workers to locate the school’s reply to an early-action application. “They wanted to know whether the envelope was fat or thin,” Ms. Pellegrino said.

</p>

<p>

“I can certainly understand why students are applying to more places, because it’s much harder to predict who will get in anywhere these days.” What has he been hearing from high school counselors on the front lines? “My sense is that they tend to be a bit frustrated by publications that rank schools,” he said. “The same institutions appear on all the lists, and students overlook hundreds of excellent schools.”</p>

<p>Ms. Pellegrino of Fairfield has also noticed distressing signs at the secondary level: “I have heard from students, counselors and teachers that heightened levels of anxiety are at the point of being destructive in the high school environment. I think they feel less collegial and more competitive with fellow students. And as there’s more hype about this mysterious process, they feel they’re being evaluated based on who else is applying — rather than who they are. At this level of competition, their place, their sense of self-worth is being taken from them.”

</p>

<p>

None of the admissions officers interviewed expressed much hope that the situation would improve anytime soon, though birth statistics show that next year’s senior class will be smaller. Ms. Mohr of Quinnipiac said she dispensed a small bromide when addressing prospective applicants. “I ask them, ‘Who do you think goes through the most stress: You or your parents? Wrong,” she said. The answer is neither. “We go through this every year. And in the end, you’ll reject far more of us. ’ ”

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[asdfjkl1]

<p>That’s really interesting. I’m a senior this year and I never really considered how much stress my year puts on them!</p>

[timely]

<p>I was just thinking that with my 3 years here on CC, and with my youngest graduating h.s. this year, maybe I should look into career opportunities screening college applications. Sounds like a growth industry, and I would be so good at it! :-)</p>

[samiamy]

<p>schools are the ones to blame. I never showed any interest in quinnipiac, have been assaulted with emails from them to apply, and many other schools offering free apps, no essays, just transcripts.</p>

[rodney]

<p>Do we really need any more of this? Yea, we know all of this…Yea, we know that all our kids are going to end up at their safeties…I think the most important thing to come out of this article, was that the kids now think (correctly, IMO) that they are only being compared to each other, not in and of themselves…How true…But just think on the bright side; all of these amazing kids will be making 2nd and 3rd tier schools better than they already are…Hopefully, employers and graduate schools will remember in 2012…</p>

[bluebayou]

<p>“Jan to March…” is why I’m a big fan of early apps, particularly to safeties and rolling admit schools. (Note, however that Lloyd Thacker, the self-annointed guru of college admissions “commercialization,” wants to ban early apps bcos they create too much pressure.)</p>

[hiddenwheel]

<p>None of the admissions officers interviewed expressed much hope that the situation would improve anytime soon, though birth statistics show that next year’s senior class will be smaller. Ms. Mohr of Quinnipiac said she dispensed a small bromide when addressing prospective applicants. “I ask them, ‘Who do you think goes through the most stress: You or your parents? Wrong,” she said. The answer is neither. “We go through this every year. And in the end, you’ll reject far more of us. ’ ”</p>

<p>Does someone want to make sense of this for me?</p>

[rodney]

<p>I agree; very poorly written…I interpreted as the admissions person saying that the students are really the ones who get to reject the school more often than the school rejects the student…It really made no sense…</p>

[VeryHappy]

<p>It makes me think of the parent who whines that the spanking hurts him more than it hurts the kid.</p>

<p>It’s narcissistic.</p>

[wisteria]

<p>

Ms. Mohr of Quinnipiac said she dispensed a small bromide when addressing prospective applicants. “I ask them, ‘Who do you think goes through the most stress: You or your parents? Wrong,” she said. The answer is neither. “We go through this every year. And in the end, you’ll reject far more of us. ’ ”</p>

<p>Does someone want to make sense of this for me?

</p>

<p>Being an admissions dean at most colleges is extremely stressful. There’s a lot of pressure to deliver the right numbers and so much is beyond the control of the admissions officials. Admissions decides whom to accept, but students are the ones who get the last word–they decide which offer to accept. </p>

<p>A school like Quininpiac doesn’t have a large endowment, so there’s not a lot of margin for error. Ultimately, the dean needs to deliver an entering class with a sufficient number of students whose families are capable of paying enough to support the enterprise.</p>

<p>The most sought-after students in Quinnipiac’s pool (students who can and will do well there AND whose families can pay the bills) will have other attractive options.</p>

<p>Admissions deans know that if they don’t make the numbers work, they will be out of jobs–quickly. Indeed, in some cases, institutional finances are so shaky that the school may be in danger of going out of business if the admissions dean doesn’t deliver.</p>

[VeryHappy]

<p>I stand by my post #9.</p>

[Muffy333]

<p>I wonder if this year lower tier colleges admit an entire segment of applicants who have no intention of going and then admitting the actual class from their waitlist. Every kid from my local hs seems to be applying to Quinnipiac as a safety, match or reach.</p>