Adcoms, if you're out there, let us know what you think

Parents Forum
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<p>Now that the acceptances have been returned and things might be a little less hectic, I'd love to know from any Adcoms who may read these boards what you thought of the class of 2009. How did the applications stack up this year compared to previous years? What impact will the new SATs have on future applicants? And most importantly, as parents how can we best help our kids with their college search and selections?</p>

<p>Also, if parents have spoken to adcoms and want to add some helpful comments please do.</p>

<p>BTW, the adcoms that I've spoken with have been very helpful and professional. You have an incredibly difficult job and do it with lots of skill and compassion.</p>

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<p>looks like nobody wants to "out" themselves!</p>

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<p>(There are "out-ed" adcoms from several colleges participating in their particular school's forums at CC (their screen names are in italics with a designation under their names), but I've only seen maybe one of them on the parents forum ever: I doubt they watch this space much. We may have to shake them out of the corners of the other forums if we want their input.)</p>

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<p>Information from the decision makers (I hate the concept of calling them "Gatekeepers") would be very valuable. Unfortunately, it seems unlikely to me that many would share any truly meaningful information, even when cloaked with the veil of CC anonymity.</p>

<p>One aside about the term "AdCom." It's a nice little term with a catchy sound. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to use it since a high school friend of mine -- a career Admissions Represenative at a top-25 uni -- stopped me cold. When I glibly referred to her as an AdCom a few years ago, she feigned indignation and said, "Oh great ... like I don't have body image problems already ... I'm worried that I'm too fat ... and here you go thinking I'm an entire Committee. I'm not an Admissions Committee, I'm a member of an Admissions Committee, an Admissions Officer, sometimes an Admissions Representative ... so, if you need your abreviation, an AdRep."</p>

<p>Needless to say, I haven't been able to use the term "AdCom" since.</p>

<p>No point to this anecdote other than wondering why the term "adcom" is so frequently used on these boards to refer to individuals? My horizonatally challenged friend notwithstanding, is anyone aware of whether other admissions representatives refer to themselves as "adcoms?"</p>

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<p>Perhaps it is short for admission committee members, and folks don't want to write extra "m's", or try to say "adcommems."</p>

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<p>Thanks for the heads up on the term adcom. I did wonder how it came about.</p>

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<p>I was joking a little, I have no real idea how the term came about, just a guess.</p>

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<p>
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Perhaps it is short for admission committee members, and folks don't want to write extra "m's", or try to say "adcommems

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</p>

<p>That is exactly how it's used ... the "members" part is simply implied. It's so unimportant, but my overburned cerebral cortex unit (I wish there was a way to add RAM there!) has to pause that one extra step every time I see the abbreviation ... which ... to a zealot like me, reduces the utility of an abbreviation.</p>

<p>Very sorry to have hijacked this thread. I opened up a related thread in the Parent Cafe.</p>

<p><a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=62905%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=62905&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

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<p>Howdy,</p>

<p>Mootmom is right; I hardly ever drop by the Parents Forum unless she shakes me out of my corner. Keeping up with the MIT thread is a full-time job in itself sometimes. ;-)</p>

<p>Some quick answers to the original post...</p>

<p>
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...what you thought of the class of 2009. How did the applications stack up this year compared to previous years?

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</p>

<p>This was probably the most competitive applicant pool in the history of MIT admissions. Feels like we say that every year, but don't let that fool you - every year it seems to be true. I can't make this claim for other schools, but I imagine that it holds true for many of them.</p>

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What impact will the new SATs have on future applicants?

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</p>

<p>Very difficult to say. We'll accept either the old SAT or the new SAT this year for precisely that reason - no one's really sure yet how the new SAT will correlate with academic potential. Hearing stuff like this:</p>

<p><a href="http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4634566%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4634566&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>...really raises questions. But it will take at least a cycle for everyone to really digest the changes and make appropriate decisions around them.</p>

<p>
[quote]
And most importantly, as parents how can we best help our kids with their college search and selections?

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</p>

<p>I will answer this from the perspective of both parent and admissions officer...</p>

<p>First and foremost, encourage them to be kids.<a href="For%20further%20discussion,%20read%20this:%20%5Burl%5Dhttp://www.csmonitor.com/2004/0908/p01s04-ussc.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;/i&lt;/a>. As important as getting into college is, it's not worth sacrificing one's childhood - encourage your kids to strike a balance between the two. In this world where they're getting "be perfect be perfect be perfect" from every direction, you have a *lot of power here.</p>

<p>Second, encourage your kids to visit as many schools as they possibly can. The more schools they visit, the wider their overall perspective will be and the higher the chance of finding "the perfect match." Make sure they have some time at each school without you. :-)</p>

<p>Third - and this is an amazingly difficult task sometimes - find a good balance between (1) being involved in the process and (2) giving them enough room. This year I saw both extremes - the parent who controlled the kid's every move (down to actually filling out the application for him), and the parent who didn't even remotely care if this kid even went to college. Both scenarios had devasating effects on the kids. There's a good middle ground, and it's different for each kid - find out what works for yours (but make sure it's in the middle).</p>

<p>Fourth, and this goes without saying - no matter what the outcome is, you'll still love them, right? Of course. But the question is, do they know it? I mean really know it? Because knowing that your parent will be proud of you even if you don't end up at an Ivy is the kind of thing that drives personal accomplishment and self-confidence. If you can answer "yes" to that question right now, pat yourself on the back. You'd be surprised how many parents cannot.</p>

<p>Fifth, help them to follow their hearts. Yes they should be involved in things, but not simply to get into college. Some of our best applicants were those who found their true passions - no matter how non-traditional - and pursued them to the nth degree.</p>

<p>Two of the big things we look for - and these are written on the wall during selection - are passion and joy. Help your kids find those and they'll be in great shape for life, not just college.</p>

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<p>Hi Dude!
Welcome back :)
I think, given the titles provided by your friend, I like the term "ad-off" better ;)</p>

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<p>Well said, Ben, and thanks so much for the important reminders.</p>

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<p>Ben, </p>

<p>That is one of the best posts I have read on this forum. Also sounds like if you are, or will be in the future a parent, you will have very lucky children.</p>

<p>Alu</p>

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<p>Ben, sounds like wonderful advice for all.....</p>

<p>Thanks for taking the time to help out the parents.</p>

<p>Don't be a stranger!</p>

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<p>Thanks Benjones....
I definitely had the impression last year that MIT was looking for kids who had a life...who had interests and who were living their life for now and not for admissions. While it is hard to truly make accurate calls from "packages" that kids submit, I must admit that I respected MIT's commitment to try and measure/evaluate the applicants that were alive in their pursuit of knowledge/learning. </p>

<p>I do encourage other parents to help their kids in fleshing out their real interests. Its not unlike dating in my book....if you are not a bar kind of gal, then hanging out in a bar is going to expose you to folks you probably will not mesh with. Do things you like or want to get better at, then you will meet like minded folks. I think a HS kid who has an interest, whether lifelong or not doesn't matter, as long as they have demonstrated interests and pursuit of them....</p>

<p>Anyway, we parents appreciate your perspective very much. Thanks for taking the time to visit and contribute your perspective.</p>

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<p>
[quote]
Fourth, and this goes without saying - no matter what the outcome is, you'll still love them, right? Of course. But the question is, do they know it? I mean really know it? Because knowing that your parent will be proud of you even if you don't end up at an Ivy is the kind of thing that drives personal accomplishment and self-confidence. If you can answer "yes" to that question right now, pat yourself on the back. You'd be surprised how many parents cannot.</p>

<p>...</p>

<p>Two of the big things we look for - and these are written on the wall during selection - are passion and joy. Help your kids find those and they'll be in great shape for life, not just college.

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<p>Such wisdom from an adcom I'm sure we all wish to find on the reading end of our kids' application packages. Thank you ben, and although you are obviously not enough of a Parent Forum addict to know of our Coward Awards for Writing on cc, I am headed over to nominate you. :)</p>

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<p>Benjones - you are awesome! Thanks so much for sharing your wisdom and don't be a stranger on these boards!</p>