It's not that you were lied to Suzy... In the words of Ray Bradbury, “you can't make people listen. They have to come round in their own time, wondering what happened and why the world blew up around them. It can't last.”
Miss Weiss treats the world as if it needs senior high school students like her "to go out and save it" by amassing a hodgepodge of skills and activities. Elite schools are looking for students who: question their place in a complex world; grapple with the idea that somehow they might find the drive and passion to make a dent, however insignificant, in that world; and then, ultimately, act on their introspection. Based on her writing here, she seems to think of the whole process like someone earning merit badges rather than crafting a thematic vision for achieving something substantial with her life.
Fundamentally, she's right, the modern college admissions game is brutal. But she spends so much time focusing on her own plight that she never takes the time to empathize with those making these decisions. Harvard is able to reduce their applicant pool from 45,000 to 15,000 applicants using GPA, high school reputation, and standardized test scores. If you make it through that first round, you are looking at roughly a 10% chance of getting in based solely on your hard-factors. Admissions officers rely on the soft-factors she lampoons to justify passing on 9 outstanding valedictorians for every 1 they can ultimately accept. The process is far from perfect, but come April 1st, decisions need to be made. In the world of endowment races, citation indexes, and US News Rankings, Harvard can't afford to miss the next "Facebook Founder."
I'm going to go with my gut on this one and say Suzy probably isn't as smug and querulous as she comes across here (and I question WSJ's motives in publishing this op-ed). Eventually, I think that the bitterness she feels is one that will temper with time, experience, and reflection. I'm sorry she didn't get into the Ivy League -the overwhelming majority of applicants don't- but this article shows that she may be missing out on a lot more than just an acceptance letter.
Miss Weiss treats the world as if it needs senior high school students like her "to go out and save it" by amassing a hodgepodge of skills and activities. Elite schools are looking for students who: question their place in a complex world; grapple with the idea that somehow they might find the drive and passion to make a dent, however insignificant, in that world; and then, ultimately, act on their introspection. Based on her writing here, she seems to think of the whole process like someone earning merit badges rather than crafting a thematic vision for achieving something substantial with her life.
Fundamentally, she's right, the modern college admissions game is brutal. But she spends so much time focusing on her own plight that she never takes the time to empathize with those making these decisions. Harvard is able to reduce their applicant pool from 45,000 to 15,000 applicants using GPA, high school reputation, and standardized test scores. If you make it through that first round, you are looking at roughly a 10% chance of getting in based solely on your hard-factors. Admissions officers rely on the soft-factors she lampoons to justify passing on 9 outstanding valedictorians for every 1 they can ultimately accept. The process is far from perfect, but come April 1st, decisions need to be made. In the world of endowment races, citation indexes, and US News Rankings, Harvard can't afford to miss the next "Facebook Founder."
I'm going to go with my gut on this one and say Suzy probably isn't as smug and querulous as she comes across here (and I question WSJ's motives in publishing this op-ed). Eventually, I think that the bitterness she feels is one that will temper with time, experience, and reflection. I'm sorry she didn't get into the Ivy League -the overwhelming majority of applicants don't- but this article shows that she may be missing out on a lot more than just an acceptance letter.