<p>i'm new to this forum...and boy...i was totally not prepared for how intense this is getting.</p>
<p>i have just skimmed the posts in reply to the original point made by iki, so i apologize if i missed someone's argument, etc. i get the feeling that there are both the sensitive and the carefree type here, so might as well play safe, hehe.</p>
<p>well, i've been to a good number of college infosessions, and granted, a lot of it is advertising. i've also looked at a lot of people's profiles, and talked to seniors from last year who were my buddies. i've also talked to some college kids who have given me an idea of how the college admissions worked for them. i'm sure everybody who's gonna be a senior has looked to one or more of these areas for advice.</p>
<p>ok, to add my fusion tendencies and belief in partial truths, i think what everyone has said has some merit. again, forgive me if i'm stating something that is painfully obvious...</p>
<p>of course the admissions process is not random. everyone has to put forth their best to get somewhere, and there's nothing random about having better academics, activities, awards, etc than others. and of course, there are people who are more sincere and intellectually inclined than others, and that is important to higher institutions.</p>
<p>however, speaking for myself, i think that in general, the competition pool has risen in caliber. this is something that is becoming increasingly salient, and who knows--everything in our generation seems to move extremely quickly. i have no doubts that the class of 2010 is more competitive than the class of 2009, however slightly. SAT stats seem to confirm this. i mean, that is exactly why i am retaking the SAT I--my score of 2280 is just not competitive anymore. seems that i can get 2400 and still be living on the edge.... anyway, more and more people are VERY VERY well qualified for these universities. when i went to the yale infosession, and even when i went to the upenn infosession, both admission officers told us frankly that they could kill the entire admitted class and replace them with another group of applicants, and no one would know the difference. when it gets to class of 2010, i can tell you, there will be a lot of broken hearts and randomness, at least among ur smarter and more hardworking friends. because everyone is so well qualified, what else can you do as an admissions officer? you start picking for seemingly arbitrary reasons (or at least, arbitrary in our perspective). because everyone who has common sense will do their research, will say what the admissions officers want to hear, will do everything to increase their chances. the problem is...everyone does that nowadays because our high schoolers are becoming more and more aware.</p>
<p>don't get me wrong--i think this is a GREAT thing. the more intellectuals in this country, the happier for me! for myself, i dont particularly like competing--i am just trying to survive college admissions so i can get to be with great kids in a great learning environment.</p>
<p>guys, lighten up. i know i'm probably not one to say it, and i'm probably sounding preachy and naive, but really, the "randomness" of admissions is nothing to argue about. i think it's crazy that we're analyzing people's arguments. i mean, let's just start pulling out our toulmin's models, if that's what we really care about. all of that precision stuff can be reserved for the classroom. i'm just doing my best, and playing whatever hand i get, with whatever tools are in my hand. if there's anything i hate about college admissions is that it brings out the best---and the worst in high schoolers.</p>
<p>so yeah... to summarize for most of the ppl who didnt read the middle of this post, admissions is a half-crapshoot for the typical middle class kid who works his butt off. success has always been part hard work and part luck. being a good person means having both the humility and the self-confidence. in my mind, only in my mind.</p>