Many applicants to the most selective university programs share high grades, high test scores, solid recommendations and generous doses of community service and volunteer activities. Yet, if they want to set themselves apart from the pool of exceptional students, a significant research experience in STEM or the social sciences helps.
Look at the following prompts from some of this year’s supplements to the Common Application:
“…explain why you have chosen Carnegie Mellon?”
“Tell us how you will utilize the academic programs in the College of Arts and Sciences [Cornell University]?”
“Write about subjects and learning situations that interest you most, and how you intend to use your autonomy here [University of Rochester]?”
They are all asking pretty much the same question: What do you expect to gain by attending our school?
As a pre-med student you’ll take a series of classes in organic and inorganic chemistry, biochemistry, biology, calculus, physics, and possibly genetics—the list, though pretty uniform, might vary slightly by school. That’s it. You aren’t obligated to major in biology or chemistry, in fact, Stanford’s Premedical Association states on its website: “It is ‘convenient’ to major in Biology (sic) because many of the premed requirements are also requirements for the Biology (sic) major, so it requires less time to complete both. However, medical schools also like to accept premed students, who have broad interests and have chosen a non-traditional major, so do not be deterred if you are passionate about Art History (sic). In conclusion, you can major in any subject you want!” (http://www.stanford.edu/group/spa/choosemajor.html, 15 January 2011).
How much would you be willing to pay to attend a school that had no official general education requirement (or, possibly had one or two areas spottily covered) across the following subject areas: composition; literature; foreign language; US government and history; economics; mathematics and; science? Posed a little differently, assume you were selecting a high school and it didn’t require English (writing), history, math, science, foreign language, or literature. How much would you be willing to pay to go to such a school? A better question is how much money would you pay to avoid going to the school?
Thirteen years ago, Michelle Hernandez, a former assistant director of admissions at Dartmouth College, wrote her groundbreaking work on the selective school admission process, A is for Admission. The book contained a revelation about the existence of the academic index that is used prominently by seven of the eight Ivy League schools to rate applicants.
There will always be endless debates about whether an Ivy League school or other highly selective school is worth the price of admission. Now, however, there is hard evidence about the actual payback for attending a certain school. Not that this information is the last word in these debates, but it certainly supplies the numbers one might want to see when sharpening the pencil and figuring out what are the probable returns associated with attending an UC San Diego instead of a Princeton.
Many consider the SAT Subject test one test too many. Most applicants to the very selective schools are already taking AP or IB exams, the ACT and/or SAT, and the CAHSEE (in California) to determine English and math competency. Why add the SAT Subject Tests to the burden? The UC Regents concur; they’re ending the SAT Subject Test requirement beginning the fall of 2012.
Guessing the future, even if the guess is well off the mark, kicks the brain into gear. Guessing at the future of post-secondary education, however, is more like getting the brain kicked into a very low gear. Current news is stark no matter where you look. Post-secondary enrollments continue to grow, costs continue to escalate, and demographics continue to change. Examining some of these criteria, and making projections from them, though inaccurate, just might prove useful in picturing the future of higher education and our place in it.
There’s something almost magical about hunting for scholarships. When you find scholarship listings and start adding up the numbers, it evokes the feeling of winning the lottery: $10,000 for writing an Isaac Newton essay or $2,500 for listing community service projects. It’s all very alluring, but don’t let the potential sums distract you from the realities of gaining scholarships. Playing the scholarship game requires a plan, a bit of self-knowledge, and a firm grasp of reality.
Students are usually so immersed in their studies and extracurricular activities that they are hard pressed to venture into the real world, and try to figure out how they might fit into it. Often, their first approaches are through internship programs, or through volunteer efforts in hospitals and other venues. Some students, of course, must work part time to supplement their family’s income but, they also, many times, find it difficult to look beyond their daily efforts. No matter the circumstances, all of us need to actively explore the range of career opportunities available. One of the best means of doing so is job shadowing.
The 6 May 2009 Wall Street Journal ‘turned the table’ on a group of college presidents from some of the most elite colleges in the country, including the University of Pennsylvania, Pomona College, Wesleyan College, and the University of Chicago. The article entitled “Holding College Chiefs to their Words,” (6 May 2009, Wall Street Journal, p. D1 and D6, http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124155688466088871.html) featured each president tackling a challenging essay question from his or her school’s supplement to the Common Application (all the schools use the Common Application).
![“Why Carnegie Mellon [or any other school you are applying to]?"](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56bcde7df85082b0eecac2e5/1458943991480-OMJ9B7KWB2NM2GD3SFBV/Hamerschlag_Hall_CMU.jpg)
