<p>wow, randomadmit…</p>
<p>what inside knowledge permits you to make such sweeping assessments about the adcoms’ admissions practices? you write, although eloquently enough, and although with clear conviction, with a hostility that is truly unbecoming of both you and your institution.</p>
<p>the spirit of the school of general studies–as i perceive it and as it seems to model itself to the public, anyway–is that there are no such preconceived molds against which they assess their candidates. they consider each application holistically and are open to admitting any student who presents a legitimate justification for joining their unique program, which i would summarize as providing the opportunity to attend school part-time, in New York City, at a top university that offers a diverse range of academic departments (and the superb course selection that comes with it), eminent professors, and bright, motivated peers.</p>
<p>i respect that you are territorial about your school and apparently frustrated by the false perception that it is not as rigorous as columbia or that it is not highly selective in its own way, but you need not lash out at every interested young person whom you assume is manipulatively using the school as a back door to ivy league prestige.</p>
<p>and i don’t think that the school intrinsically favors older applicants, nor do i think that a “HEAVY and RIGOROUS” courseload is categorically necessary for acceptance. after all, the school is structured based on the expectation that students can and will take two or three courses at a time due to external obligations (obligations varying in nature from work, to family, to personal) ,and one would certainly presume that the compelling circumstances that motivated such a preference also existed while the applicants attended their prior institutions. academic success? definitely necessary. four to six classes? probably not as much.</p>