![]() But Dartmouth and Penn? What’s the thought process there? Where’s the logical connection? Is there one-beyond the perception of prestige?”Īaron Basko, vice president for enrollment management at Sweet Briar College takes issue with the notion of admission "secrets". All are ultra-urban, Research 1 universities with Division 1 athletics. Penn and Temple? Penn and BU or USC or Northeastern? Sure, that makes sense. I’d joke that the Ivy League was really nothing more than eight amateur football teams that play each other each fall in spartan stadia.” He wonders about the logic of how some students and families approach the college search, saying, “I’m always baffled to encounter a student who tells me they are applying to both Dartmouth and the University of Pennsylvania, for example. ![]() He says, “even after making the trek to Morningside Heights and ascending up a small mountain of marble steps to Low Library for a campus tour, some or many did not. Period.” Abbott explains that as a novice admission counselor at Columbia in the late 1990s, he would ask prospective students if they knew what the Ivy League represented. Still, many believe the colleges in the Ivy League are somehow the best universities handed down by God. As counselors and admission officers, we hear of students clamoring to get admitted to “the Ivy League” and most just don’t even realize who the Ivy League colleges are (Stanford and MIT are not, despite perceptions) or what they represent. Yet the Ivy League holds almost a mystical awe among teenagers (and their parents!) as they begin the college admission process. In a similar vein, Shawn Abbott, vice provost for admissions, financial aid, and enrollment management at Temple University says, “two of the most vexing words (at least to me) we hear in the world of college admission are “Ivy League.” He points out that “most folks in America (and frankly the world) couldn’t tell you what the Ivy League is, what the Ivy League does, or what the Ivy League means. She says, “the reality is that there are more inclusive institutions where someone could experience a less stressful, less emotionally damaging admission process and achieve the exact same results, a college degree, and a career.” Jody Glassman, director of university admissions at Florida International University emphasizes that “the college admission process was never designed to be fair or equitable.” She says, “These schools were designed to keep out people who didn’t meet the traits and qualities of those who were deemed worthy by their founders” adding, “now hundreds of years later we have acceptance rates in the single digits.” Glassman laments the emergence of “‘Chance Me’, ‘Ivy Day’ and sub-threads on Reddit where young people obsess over whether or not one of these places will ‘accept them’”. However, we poison the waters of opportunity when we focus exclusively on these schools. There is no doubt that a high-quality education can be found at the schools that make up the Ivy League, and that a degree from one of these institutions can open many doors. I asked them to share their thoughts on words and phrases that are not helpful, and clearly, it was cathartic at a stressful part of the year for those trying to manage enrollment in uncertain times. The so-called “gatekeepers”, my fellow educators and colleagues who lead admission offices, are equally tired of the portrayal of college admission as a game or something to be dominated. To be sure, I am not alone in my disgust. ![]() No wonder the parents in the Varsity Blues scandal were quick to usher their children in through the “side door” cracked open by deceit. Social media ads prey on the anxiety of students and parents at this time of transition, inviting them to conquer the process and pay high-priced consultants to package their application. We talk about “ top” colleges and the “secret strategies” that will give applicants the edge they need to prevail over other contestants in the Hunger Games of admission. Generally speaking, we are obsessed with exclusivity and prestige. ![]()
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