Elite schools led by Chicago create new Club

https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2015/09/29/80-colleges-and-universities-announce-plan-new-application-and-new-approach

It is framed as a way to give more access to low income students, but some are questioning the real motivation

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/grade-point/wp/2015/10/05/the-new-college-admissions-coalition-is-it-really-about-access/

Looks like UChicago’s Nondorf initiated this idea and will be the first President of the board

http://chronicle.com/article/Elite-Colleges-Explore/149761

http://chicagomaroon.com/2015/10/02/new-application-platform-to-target-low-income-students/

What do CC readers think?

Good? Bad? Ugly?

Will the portfolio approach create more stress, earlier or will it allow students to showcase their talents better?

It seems as though it is being implemented to solve what are perceived as problems of the common application. Admissions officers must be dissatisfied with the form and quantity of applicant information being received through the common app. Maybe the service level is not what they’d like. And when the elites are dealing with 25 - 35 K applications, ease and quality of use get to be very important. There might be a secondary reason or reasons such as the spectre of continued Federal “oversight” to ensure improved “access” to low income / disadvantaged groups. Perhaps the way this is designed can help address it.

There is another thread on this from a few weeks ago.