<p>I have found all of these interesting reading (or viewing). Please add other "inside the admissions committee" articles if you can provide links.</p>
<p>one more, but the original article is no longer available from the primary source..on Middlebury, circa March 2006. Here's what Middlebury says about the article:
[quote]
The Sunday, March 12, edition of the Burlington Free Press included a page-one article, "How to Get Into Middlebury." The reporter attended a two-hour session with the admissions committee and offers "a glimpse at what goes on as admissions officers make the decision to accept, or reject, an applicant." The article quotes Dean of Admissions Bob Clagett and includes several photos.
<p>there was an article about Oberlin admissions in the Cleveland Plain Dealer, by Barb Galbincea -- it can be found (with some searching) on the Internet. Here is an excerpt:</p>
<p>Oberlin's admission committees are made up of various combinations drawn from its 13-member professional staff. Chermonte is the final arbiter.
Every application is read at least twice once by the admissions representative assigned to that geographic region and also by a second reader from the staff. The regional rep presents the case to the committee and makes a recommendation. The second reader's recommendation also is noted.
Key information about each applicant is projected onto a large screen at the base of the committee table. This includes the applicant's high school GPA, whether it was weighted for honors and Advanced Placement courses, and the unweighted equivalent which is used as an equalizing standard. Also on display: SAT and ACT scores; a rating to reflect the rigor of the high school curriculum; numbers keyed to ethnicity and gender; whether a relative attended Oberlin, a personal rating that draws on impressions from the college's interviewer, and a ranking reflecting how likely the candidate is to enroll.
It's not really about the points, per se. But what they represent jump-starts the conversations.
Committee members often pepper the presenter with questions: What's the GPA progression? How's the writing? What math classes has she taken? How do her "t-recs" (teacher recommendations) look? Is there some explanation for that first-semester "C" in AP chemistry on an otherwise unblemished transcript?
What's not in play, by design, is whether the applicant will need financial aid to pay the school's more than $43,000 a year in costs, including tuition, room and board. Instead, unspoken or whispered cues pass between Chermonte and Braat this applicant will need a full ride, perhaps offset by the next candidate who can pay full freight.
It's a delicate balancing act. Although more than half of Oberlin's students receive financial aid averaging about $25,000 in grants, work-study options and loans the economic reality is that a class has to include some who don't need help.
Chermonte is adamant that no fabulously qualified candidate be turned down because he or she needs aid. Like other factors that help sift the admitted from the denied, financial need is likely to come into play on what she calls the margins.
That's a reference to students who don't provide a needed additive to the mix. All things being equal at that point, financial need is among the factors that could tip the balance. Even something as small as intended major, can in rare cases make a difference among equally qualified candidates if, for instance, one is among relatively few interested in studying the classics.
What matters most, insists Chermonte, are the applicant's academic record and evidence of rigor in the high school curriculum. Even high scores on college-entrance exams are unlikely to compensate for poor grades.
Nor does a legacy connection an applicant with a relative who's an alumnus guarantee admission, although it could help a candidate on the margins.
By Dec. 5, with early-decision continuing, admissions rep Mary Mintel offers the committee an East Coast teen with a 2.95 GPA and a legacy connection to Oberlin. Her colleagues decide to deny.
The final class of 680 will include 42 children of Oberlin alumni and 30 with sibling connections.
Mintel's next candidate, who attends a rigorous private school with only 35 students in his graduating class, has a 3.26 GPA. But in the world of admissions, the quality of a particular high school's curriculum can outweigh the actual grades.
Part of being an effective admissions officer is knowing what high schools merit that nod and at which schools a significantly higher GPA might not be as impressive.
At one point, Chermonte relying only on zip code pinpoints the location of a New York high school with which the staff is unfamiliar.
She's like the Rain Man, pseudo-whispers new admissions officer Kristen Surovjak.
For Mintel's applicant, his school's academic reputation prevails. He's in.
School's reputation outweighs high grades.
Conversely, in January, a female applicant boasting a 3.9 GPA is denied. Her high school's curriculum is considered modest by the committee, a view not contradicted by her SAT scores just over 600 out of a possible 800 on the critical reading portion and in the high 500s on math.
The first-year class eventually enrolled at Oberlin will post average SAT scores of 700 in critical reading, 667 in math and 688 in writing. The ACT average is 30.</p>