NationStates Jolt Archive


Oh nooes!!!! Another rejection notice!!!111ELEVEN!!

Eutrusca
31-03-2006, 23:55
COMMENTARY: I never went through all this because I only applied to a handful of colleges near where I lived. Had to live at home to save money, don'tchasee? But I sure can identify! Got any experiences like these to share?


College Admission Angst Finds a Forum on Web (http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/31/education/31chatter.html?th&emc=th)



By SUSAN SAULNY
Published: March 31, 2006
"Help!!!" screamed one of the messages posted by a high school student this week on the Web site www.collegeconfidential.com. Another said: "Desperately need help choosing college!!! Need advice please read!!! Can't sleep!!!" And pennylane01, on her blog, wrote: "Thank you O powerful (and treacherous) college gods for nothing but my current state of depression and anxiousness. I can't thank you enough."

College and graduate school applicants awaiting the good, or bad, news from admissions offices — some already in hand, some coming any day now — have discovered the addictive joys of chronicling their experiences in excruciating and often embarrassing detail online in blogs and on forums.

On Web sites like lunch-money.com, gradschoolforum.com and studentdoctor.net, among many others, participants are Web-casting love songs to admissions committees, describing lucky meals to eat before the mail arrives, comparing SAT scores, typing through tears of rejection and rating the best and worst notification letters. Stanford was nominated for cruelest rejection. Rutgers got a mention for "best acceptance" because its letter came in a "really expensive-looking black folder."

"Anyone hear from Johns Hopkins yet?" is a typical initial posting on many forums, beginning a so-called thread of dozens, maybe hundreds, of responses to the poster that alternately empathize, ridicule, console and misinform on his or her chances of actually hearing from Johns Hopkins. "(Especially at this late date!!!)" And there are dozens like this: "Rejected ... now what?"

(Note to readers: the use of multiple punctuation marks is practically required!!! As is the prodigious use of emoticons :-) End note!!!)

Some of the Web sites are nonprofit operations that strive to create free online communities of friends. Others provide application help or admissions advice for a fee, while still others are operated by companies with sports and music programming aimed at teenagers, with the blogs and forums as an added attraction.

But the amount of misinformation about the applications process, like any other topic online, is staggering, and there is no way to verify the identify of bloggers and writers. At the same time, guidance counselors and admissions officers — some of whom monitor the sites to check out what is being said about their colleges — suspect that the online chatter may do more to reinforce anxiety than curb it.

"It's really accelerated in the past year to the point where there is a ton of bad information out there," said Robert Massa, the vice president of enrollment at Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pa. "People need to realize that anybody can say anything on the Internet."

In the "if you can't beat them, join them" spirit, the Web site for Dickinson, like that of many other colleges, hosts its own admissions blogs, Mr. Massa said, intended to give prospective students an authentic window into the Dickinson experience.

Sally Rubenstone, the editor of collegeconfidential.com, which offers admissions advice and counseling, wrote in an e-mail response to a reporter's question that she wondered whether online discussions were helpful "or are we, instead, merely fanning the flames of fear in an already overly stressed process."

"Sometimes high school seniors should head to a movie or out for a jog and away from the keyboard and admissions angst," she added.

Ms. Rubenstone acknowledged that sometimes the information provided was "downright wrong" but said she believed that "over all, it's on target."

Bari Meltzer Norman, who runs www.mycollegecounselor.com, which offers admissions advice, said chat rooms were mostly "amplified neighborhood chatter, much of which is pure speculation."

"Almost all of it feeds anxiety," Ms. Norman added. "I see people on those boards asking questions that should be directed at a knowledgeable college adviser."

Jane F. Ross, an education consultant in Manhattan, said some parents were upset after reading postings about students who had been admitted to select colleges, yet had lower test scores or weaker grades than their children.

"It had not even occurred to these parents (well-educated and generally sophisticated from all appearances) that perhaps the postings to the site were not entirely reliable," Ms. Ross wrote in an e-mail message.

"Perhaps it is simply a sign of the times," she added, "that the college admissions process itself seems increasingly mystical, so families and students are seeking soothsayers in the forms of blogs and chat rooms."

Certainly, there is inherent drama in the story of admissions. The narrative arc can stretch for months like a good soap opera in some cases, from the time in early fall when students decide where to apply, through SAT's, Medical School Admissions Test, transcripts lost and found, class rank ascending and descending — to the nail-biting, double tick-tock countdowns of application deadlines and the notification period, which is in the spring. And the public can listen in on the kind of conversations that used to be shared only between friends, with college counselors — or with the colleges themselves.

Some writers make entirely unveiled cries for help, like this message posted on Tuesday on collegeconfidential: "I totally feel like I am a failure and I have failed my parents as a son ... o be honest, I feel like committing suicide."

He wrote that he had applied to 13 colleges and, as of early this week, had been rejected by 4 of them.

"What crime did I do to deserve this?" he wrote.

The first response to his message offered a colon and open parenthesis in the form of a frowning face. The second response advised applying to "an easier but good school."

William Slocum, a counselor at Lenape High School in Medford, N.J., said the sharing of emotions on Web sites was cathartic.

"Any forum that allows an individual to process and validate his/her emotions can be therapeutic," Mr. Slocum said.

Still, even in the age of sharing, the best advice may be this: Say nothing.

"I almost always advise my students not to share with anyone where they are applying (verbally or in chat rooms)," Steven Roy Goodman, an education consultant in Washington, wrote in an e-mail message.

Mr. Goodman explained that this way, "my students can avoid having friends, acquaintances, and neighbors constantly ask if they have heard from College X or University Y."

But some news is good to share. On livejournal.com last week, came this: "Yay! I made USC. =)"

The message ended with this: "Tiiiired. Off to sleep. Whoo hoo. College stress gone."
Kecibukia
01-04-2006, 00:02
Sounds like some people needed to do more studying instead of spending time online.
Psychotic Mongooses
01-04-2006, 00:07
Heh heh heh... losers.

*smug grin of superiority*
Adjacent to Belarus
01-04-2006, 00:14
Boy, it sure is nice filling out just one college application and getting accepted there in mid-December... ahh... :p
Seathorn
01-04-2006, 00:18
*Shrug* I'm almost guaranteed anyway.

Almost, the only problem would be if they ran out of space and needed to be more selective. In that case, I would still be guaranteed :D
Boonytopia
01-04-2006, 00:52
What a torturous univeristy entrance system you have in the US.
Vittos Ordination2
01-04-2006, 00:54
I applied to four universities in my state, was accepted by all four, then went to a community college. Go figure.
Taredas
01-04-2006, 01:12
I find it amusing that this article popped up on the same day that a rejection letter-filled "Wall of Shame" appeared in a common room at my school. :cool:
Kecibukia
01-04-2006, 01:13
What a torturous univeristy entrance system you have in the US.

Not very torturous at all. You take the SAT and/or ACT's and fill out some forms then wait.

The better you've done in school (extra curriculars and grades) and the tests, the better chances you have.

Most problems come from those who skate through HS doing little and then try to get into top notch schools.

I applied to one school and was accepted.
Boonytopia
01-04-2006, 01:21
Not very torturous at all. You take the SAT and/or ACT's and fill out some forms then wait.

The better you've done in school (extra curriculars and grades) and the tests, the better chances you have.

Most problems come from those who skate through HS doing little and then try to get into top notch schools.

I applied to one school and was accepted.

Ok, that makes sense. The article made it seem like it was a very convoluted process.
Dobbsworld
01-04-2006, 01:24
Don't have any more books on manliness to shill, Eutrusca?
Kecibukia
01-04-2006, 01:25
Ok, that makes sense. The article made it seem like it was a very convoluted process.

There are some schools that you go through more. Ussually an interview of some sort but they're the minority. The above process is the standard.

For most of the ones described, it's already too late. They should have listened when they were told that grades are important.
CSW
01-04-2006, 01:26
Ok, that makes sense. The article made it seem like it was a very convoluted process.
The above poster oversimplifies.


Getting into the best schools (Harvard, Yale, UVa, etc) becomes much of a question of luck, simply because they are inundated with 2400 SAT 4.0+ GPA kids. So it comes down to extracurricular, which is stressful in and of itself (I know kids who take 6 APs, do track, involved in the community etc and got rejected from yale) and other intangibles that make high school hell the last two years. It is a sprint to the finish.

Using myself as an example - I have a 3.8 unweighted GPA (4.00 weighted), one of the hardest courseloads in the state, 4.0 GPA in the last year, a 2310 SAT score (800 verbal, 780 math, 730 writing), and strong extracurriculars (science olympiad, envirothon, debate club, etc). I most likely wouldn't get into a major ivy.
Boonytopia
01-04-2006, 01:32
The above poster oversimplifies.


Getting into the best schools (Harvard, Yale, UVa, etc) becomes much of a question of luck, simply because they are inundated with 2400 SAT 4.0+ GPA kids. So it comes down to extracurricular, which is stressful in and of itself (I know kids who take 6 APs, do track, involved in the community etc and got rejected from yale) and other intangibles that make high school hell the last two years. It is a sprint to the finish.

Using myself as an example - I have a 3.8 unweighted GPA (4.00 weighted), one of the hardest courseloads in the state, 4.0 GPA in the last year, a 2310 SAT score (800 verbal, 780 math, 730 writing), and strong extracurriculars (science olympiad, envirothon, debate club, etc). I most likely wouldn't get into a major ivy.

I don't understand what any of this means. It reads to me as if written in another language.
CSW
01-04-2006, 01:34
I don't understand what all of this means. It reads to me as if written in another language.
SAT scores are standardized tests, 2400 is the maximum score. A GPA is the grade point average of a student, a 4.0 being theoretically the highest (an A), a 3.0 a B, a 2.0 a C, a 1.0 a D, and a 0.0 an F. A 2400 SAT score with a 4.0 GPA is the holy grail of high school achievement - you're as smart as they come, within bounds.
Boonytopia
01-04-2006, 01:37
SAT scores are standardized tests, 2400 is the maximum score. A GPA is the grade point average of a student, a 4.0 being theoretically the highest (an A), a 3.0 a B, a 2.0 a C, a 1.0 a D, and a 0.0 an F. A 2400 SAT score with a 4.0 GPA is the holy grail of high school achievement - you're as smart as they come, within bounds.

What are APs & how do extracurriclar activities help?
CSW
01-04-2006, 01:41
What are APs & how do extracurriclar activities help?
APs are advanced placement courses, basically a set of standardized college courses similar to the IB program that can be used for college credit (in theory). They are, by their very nature, obscenely difficult. Taking 6 AP courses out of a total of 7 for the year is tantamount to suicide. Doing well in all 6 is next to impossible.

Extracurricular activities help admissions officers distinguish between the good and the best. Once you get to a high enough level anyone can do the work, it becomes a question of what you can bring to a college. The ivys hand pick their students, and having extracurricular make you far more attractive and distinguish you from the pack.
Boonytopia
01-04-2006, 01:47
APs are advanced placement courses, basically a set of standardized college courses similar to the IB program that can be used for college credit (in theory). They are, by their very nature, obscenely difficult. Taking 6 AP courses out of a total of 7 for the year is tantamount to suicide. Doing well in all 6 is next to impossible.

Extracurricular activities help admissions officers distinguish between the good and the best. Once you get to a high enough level anyone can do the work, it becomes a question of what you can bring to a college. The ivys hand pick their students, and having extracurricular make you far more attractive and distinguish you from the pack.

Ok. Still seems quite complicated. All I had to do for university entrance was nominate the courses I wanted to do (eg Arts, Science, Law, etc) at the unis I wanted to attend (eg Melbourne, Monash, LaTrobe, etc), then wait to see if my results were good enough. Once my results came through, the uni contacted me to let me know I had a place there if I wanted to enrol. Admittedly that was 10 years ago & the process has changed somewhat since then, but not enormously so.
CSW
01-04-2006, 01:51
Ok. Still seems quite complicated. All I had to do for university entrance was nominate the courses I wanted to do (eg Arts, Science, Law, etc) at the unis I wanted to attend (eg Melbourne, Monash, LaTrobe, etc), then wait to see if my results were good enough. Once my results came through, the uni contacted me to let me know I had a place there if I wanted to enrol. Admittedly that was 10 years ago & the process has changed somewhat since then, but not enormously so.
Well, the elite schools are bad. There are simply so many qualified candidates that they have to move to other measures to admit people. The non-elite ones are not bad at all.
Boonytopia
01-04-2006, 01:58
Well, the elite schools are bad. There are simply so many qualified candidates that they have to move to other measures to admit people. The non-elite ones are not bad at all.

Yeah, I can understand that. Hell of a process to put yourself through when you're 16-18 years old though.