I don’t really care for the current system of college applications. On the one hand, each school should be free to do whatever it wants. On the other hand, the admission process screams for better standardization especially for the sake of the teenagers who are going through the process in which massive amounts of money changes hands.
If you could design the college admission process anew, how would you do it?
So far, the best system I have seen is for post-medical school residency positions in which there is a match. A student applies only to schools that he/she agrees to attend if accepted. In the case of colleges, use a common app only with essay(s) that must be used by all schools. An interview might be offered. The student then ranks his schools (say a limit of 12) from 1 to 12. The college ranks all of its applicants numerically. A computer sorts out the match so that the student and college match at the highest point of intersection.
If a college does not fill its slots, then there is a scramble period in which unmatched students can contact schools and gain acceptance.
Of course, this would complicate the financial aid equation. So for that, I would require schools to post standard need-based aid offers so that when you submit the application (coupled with FAFSA/CSS) you would have a binding aid agreement if accepted. Any merit aid that is based on measures like GPA or ACT/SAT scores could be applied as well, but post-acceptance scholarships would not.
I hate that system. It feels extremely constrictive, kind of like a forced ED without knowing which school you’re ED-ing to. You’re also assuming that 17/18 year olds know what they want by the beginning of their senior year. This is also taking talents out of the assessment completely. And leaving the admission decision up to a computer. NO!
Well, that same 17 year old is applying somewhere in particular anyway. And the colleges are choosing anyway. Talents would not be removed from the system at all - the colleges could make whatever determinations they wanted about that. But the colleges would not be able to be so (seemingly) arbitrary or black-box in their decisions. I think students would have a bit more of an upper hand. Seems to work well for residencies. It is hard to argue that the current system is ideal for teenagers.
The kids would love a Harry Potter sorting hat type process! The stressful part of admissions has to do with the money. Take that out of the equation and everyone (almost) would be less stressed.
Your “solution” which would create a HUGE fin aid award mess – would correct what terrible situation? 80% of HS college bound grads apply to 3 or less colleges and get into most of them.
I stand by my first reaction. Residency placement for a few thousand already highly- and specifically-trained doctors is quite different from placing MILLIONS of high school kids of varying abilities, backgrounds, ambitions, etc. I think your idea would be a disaster.
This system could work if financial/merit aid were not a factor.
Make higher education free, have kids limit and rank their choices and I’d be fine with it. In the UK, I believe you rank 5 schools – if Oxford or Cambridge are among your top choices, you must select one; you cannot apply to both – and you are guaranteed to get in somewhere.