Universities Weblog

Check out this article in the Boston Globe on Lloyd Thacker and his organization, Education Conservancy, a "non-profit organization committed to improving college admission processes for students, colleges and high schools." Thacker is editor of a book titled College Unranked: Affirming Educational Values in College Admissions—a series of essays on reforming admissions practices. He and his colleagues encourage students and families to reconsider fundamental beliefs about the process and the end result. Here, courtesy of the Globe, are a few suggestions for students culled from the book:

– Resist taking any standardized test more than twice.
– Try to limit the number of college applications you submit to no more than four to six. Studies show that students who apply to fewer colleges, once they have done reasonable research, often have better rates of acceptance and college success.
– Remember: The more popular the college, the more political the admissions process and the less control you have in that process.
– Carefully consider your reasons for accepting a position on any college's waiting list, and make sure you are set to go to a college to which you have been admitted. If you have selected your colleges confidently, you should have options.
– Are you applying to a college just because the application process is easy?
– Keep in mind that you are being judged according to criteria that you would never use to judge another person and which will never again be applied to you once you leave college.
– Consider taking a year off between high school and college to work or follow your passions.
– Approach high school as a necessary, significant, and enjoyable part of your life.
– Take appropriately challenging courses; you are in charge of deciding what is appropriate.

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