My pure observation… I think these posts are helpful for those who will apply in future. I just thought should we give our kids some respect/privacy? Some of these details are quite personal and I wonder how the kids would feel knowing/finding out them posted online. We can certainly make it less unique/identifiable but still convey the same message. Just my thoughts.
The thing I wonder is whether any old info is helpful as TAMU is changing so much, as there will be no more (official ?) academic admit and the reintroduction of a wait list, things will be different. I really disagree on the weight of essays in big public schools with large application pools, academic screening is going to be the first pass. IMHO there is no way every essay gets read. Essays from academic admits with strong stats doesn’t help the argument that essays are the “extra magic”. It confirms that strong academics got admitted within the week because of academic admit.
Sybylla, of course that strong academics is important for TAMU and I think will be even more so, like anywhere else in every “better” university. But these days so many kids have strong academic background that something more has to make them stand out. What else than resume and essay?
I agree with you that everything is changing this year and specially next year, who knows what the “new rules” will be.