Staff Writer
The
deadline for early decision college applications was October 15, and most
college-bound seniors have turned in a few college applications. Some of these
kids would sell their soul to get into the college of their choice, and so they
tried their hardest to sound unique to colleges through their essays and teacher
recommendations. However, how effective are these as application supplements?
This
day and age and especially in our area, college applications have become very
competitive. In 2014 69 percent of all Apex graduates enrolled in a four year
college, while another 23 percent enrolled in a two year college. The large
number of applicants has influenced colleges to adopt a more holistic selection
process, taking into account extracurricular activities, hobbies, interests,
talents and personality. In order to get a better look at these more subtle
factors, many colleges rely upon a mandatory essay and/or teacher
recommendation requirement.
This
may be a good idea on paper, but when put into practice with the massive pool
of ultra-competitive applicants the whole system falls apart. The enormous
demand this creates on teachers and school counselors for recommendations
results in a body of generic, impersonal recommendations. Student essays have
similar flaws. According to the National Association for College Admission
Counseling’s (NACAC) 2011 State of College Admission report, 25 percent of
students who enrolled in college applied to at least seven schools. If
prospective college students are forced to write five or six essays each, it is
easy for colleges to get the same generic, self-promoting response from the
majority of their applicants. To quote animated film The Incredibles: “When everybody’s super, nobody is.”
The
essay prompts encourage trite, predictable responses. They often present no
clear topic or ask questions that cannot be answered effectively by many high
school students. To give an example, on top of the list of essay prompts for
U.N.C. Chapel Hill is, “Why do you do what you do?” Asking high school students
to explain their choice of clothing is hard enough. Ask them to explain the
reasoning behind their existence and colleges are setting themselves up for
responses that sound like they came straight from a beauty pageant.
What
colleges are really looking for is an incredible, interesting, outstanding
student. One with a life story that will make an admissions officer’s heart
melt. The reality is, most high school students are fairly typical people. They
don’t have an incredible story to tell and haven’t made any life-fulfilling
accomplishments yet. This doesn’t mean they don’t deserve to get into the
college of their choice. The entire reason people go to college is to gain the
credentials and experience it takes to survive in the real world.
Colleges
are doing all high school students a great disservice by requiring essays and
teacher recommendations that hold no value to the admissions process. This is
the time where a high school student’s future is decided. Although colleges may
gather a glimpse into a student’s personality through an essay or letter of
recommendation, these letters and essays ultimately hinder the admissions
process.
