having to differentiate yourself from other applicants in order to make yourself stand out.
@areyouahuman so your proposal would be… what? Your post makes no sense.
Knowing that you probably can’t afford to go to your top choice even if you miraculously get in because you’ll have to fund all of the brochures and booklets they bombarded you and a couple hundred thousand other “qualified applicants” with stating how they’re your perfect match.
(Yes I realize that it’s probably not that much…but both the tuition and advertisements are unnecessarily excessive)
- That my one daughter thought she had found her passion in 7th grade (as colleges practically seem to demand) and was advised to take certain courses and avoid others so she wouldn't be overloaded. Now that she is a rising senior and her passion may have changed, she's at a disadvantage after all of her hard work, including in the scholarship dept.
- That our EFC is close to a third of our income.
- That people say "just search for schools that give out lots of merit" when those are getting few and far between without a perfect 4.0, which is almost impossible to get at our school.
- My Asian daughter will be treated as an Asian applicant but spent the first five years of her life in an orphanage, which has had lasting effects.
- That many, many NY students will attend SUNY schools due to cost and receive an excellent education but unless it's Geneseo or Binghamton, for example, their educated is looked down upon. There are majors that are offered at other SUNY's that aren't offered at the top few. Very bright students don't look at these schools that could save their families thousands and thousands of dollars. My sister's roommate went to Harvard law, next door neighbor Harvard medical. She has an MBA from a well respected school after attending SUNY Plattsburgh. Still, my daughter doesn't want a SUNY because only two schools offer her major and aren't considered "good enough" by her or her peers.
Not so much angry as tired and frustrated. Just all the mixed messages…
STANDARDIZED TESTS! They may like to say that it’s just a piece of the puzzle, but the reality is that scores alone will open or close the door for you and will make or break your financial award.
@NJFabFour – again I ask… what’s your alternative? I get that they can be annoying – but like I challenged an earlier poster who complained about the existence of app fees, what’s the other option? I noted that without app fees, his super-unique MIT application would be watered down by the 80,000 other applications, most by no-chancers.
Considering that 85% of colleges in the US solely use transcript/tests to admit, why would you seek to dismantle a tool that’s used by the vast, vast majority of people wanting a college education here in the US?
The essays create anxiety. Some of us feel the constant need to tailor our essays to meet the expectations of the admissions committee, and then we completely ignore the importance of just being ourselves.
I’m afraid of that.
I personally don’t like letters of recommendations. Some teachers are lazy and will decline to write you one. Also introverted or shy students are punished. Its mandatory in some colleges so if you don’t have or can’t get one you are auto rejected…
Something that makes me ridiculously angry is how East Asians are not given equal treatment as white people in college admissions. A lot of white people are under the impression that since Asians are a minority, they automatically get preferential treatment, when in fact frequently the opposite is true! I’m all for AA and helping URMs, and I recognize the historical and cultural reasons behind it as valid, but I simply cannot wrap my mind around the idea that in this process Asians cannot even be treated equal to white people. This, combined with the fact that Asians too have faced (often brutal) racism throughout history in the United States, is truly discouraging.
Something to chew on: A family friend of ours, who is a (Chinese) tutor and often helps students get into colleges, told me this advice: “be as less Asian as possible.” Now imagine this with any other race. “Be as less white as possible.” “Be as less black as possible.” “Be as less Hispanic as possible.” See something disturbing? It becomes a disadvantage to like math, or pursue science, or want to be a doctor, because those conform to Asian stereotypes that should not even be worth noting in the first place!
Paying $75 to get rejected 
I understand there needs to be a fee. A 75 dollar fee is far too much. My application to the University of Edinburgh was 20 dollars. That seems significantly more reasonable.
There are fee waivers for low-income families, but ~600 on app fees plus an additional ~150 to send test scores is hardly chump change for a middle class family that doesn’t qualify for fee waivers.
But then we will have a bunch of people “shotgunning” and then we will have a bunch of people getting wait listed.
@ksh323 I’ve noticed that when people shotgun, it shows in the quality of their applications. A great application will still shine through
@quillfeather There’s another thread for Affirmative Action, please go there to express your opinion.
One thing I’m pretty sure I’m going to hate is the wait to receive your decision.
The extent to which parents encourage their children to let college admissions drive (academic and academic) decision making for at least the 4 years that precede it.
^^ #254
What does that mean?
^^^^I think #254 means that, these days, parents are encouraging kids to focus on activities aimed solely at building an artificial resume that will be attractive to colleges instead of being normal, hardworking 8th graders and HS freshmen doing the activities that most interest them.
^Bingo.
The amount of money it takes. Application fees, fees to send score reports etc. And the very judgmental attitude of people about where you should or shouldn’t go.
A tautological definition that says if you got in to a college you were therefore qualified. Football player with 450 SATs? C+ average? Think nothing of it; after all, we don’t admit people who aren’t qualified.