<p>They should add some way of identifying if you have a social life or are in a relationship or whatever. If one has a social life or is in a relationship, a great deal of time is spent trying to keep the friendly ties. This would also be good because you could weed out all those people who study all day because they have no social life and as a result have zero social skills. Schools need to focus more on social skills because that's how you make it in the real world. One can be as smart as they come, have no social skills and be a nobody. Being able to communicate is so important and in my opinion it's being over looked.</p>
<p>I don’t think that’d be a good idea because, like almost everything else on college apps, it can be pretty easily fudged. That girl you spied on and talked to a couple of times could become a long-time partner, no questions asked. That guy you borrowed a couple of CDs from in freshman year and copied notes from in English could become your best friend with whom you’ve had many adventures together. Applicants can already show this indirectly through their essays; this may actually show a lot more about them.</p>
<p>I find it ironic that someone who finds it so easy to stereotype a group of people and make offensive generalizations wants to have colleges consider “social skills” in their admissions decisions. Have you considered that most teenagers (perhaps including yourself) have warped views of normal socialization?</p>
<p>I have seen many students who study hard individually, yet are the most helpful contributor in study groups. The night before tests, my DD’s phone buzzes constantly with texts asking for assistance. Are these relationships less valuable than “trying to keep friendly ties” that you apparently value?</p>
<p>I would argue that one important purpose of essays and LOR is to gauge a student’s demonstrated social skills.</p>
<p>“This would also be good because you could weed out all those people who study all day because they have no social life and as a result have zero social skills.”</p>
<p>Is this how your suggestion would manifest itself?</p>
<p>Part 7. Answer the following questions:</p>
<p>7a) What is your definition of an interesting Fall Friday night?</p>
<p>1) Football followed by the most rocking parties
2) Football followed by haning out w/friends
3) Football followed by going home for a quiet evening
4) What’s “football”?</p>
<p>7b) My friends would refer to me as:</p>
<p>1) the life of the party
2) fun but can be serious
3) loyal and dependable
4) Not applicable: I only have a singular friend</p>
<p>Your suggestion is quite mock worthy, sorry to inform you. Also to your remark about ability to communicate – I assume you mean ability to communicate intelligently. Hmmmm</p>
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<p>I don’t know if I’d go that far, since it is important that applicants be real people and son’t just dedicate their whole lives to getting good grades and test scores; it’s just that there isn’t really any practical yet direct way of evaluating this, except by having some kind of required section on recommendation letters about how well-adjusted the applicant seems to be socially, but even that shouldn’t be valued too highly - if it’s justified at all.</p>
<p>So pick the popular kid that failed all his classes over the guy with good grades and test scores just because the popular kid had a better social life?</p>
<p>haha</p>