<p>I agree that many kids are protected from failure. It seems many parents are doing too much for their children. </p>
<p>On the other hand, I don’t see a solution. There seems to be a tradition of college admissions deans writing about qualities they like to see in applicants. After a while, the sane thing to do is ignore them. If you took them all seriously, there wouldn’t be an applicant left standing. </p>
<p>We want superlative grades…we want kids who’ve been entrepreneurs…foreign travel…exotic languages…male…stand out from the pool…etc, etc. I say it’s spinach, and I say to hell with it. </p>
<p>In the meantime, they’re lying about their median SAT scores. [SAT</a> Scandal Involved Systematic Score Manipulation|Claremont Port Side](<a href=“http://www.claremontportside.com/sat-scandal-involved-systematic-score-manipulation/]SAT”>http://www.claremontportside.com/sat-scandal-involved-systematic-score-manipulation/) I wonder how many very good, admissible students chose not to apply to Claremont-McKenna, because their scores were at the median for the institution, but about 10 to 20 points below the reported SAT scores? </p>
<p>Yes, it’s great for kids to take chances, and to learn from not achieving their goals. On the other hand, college admissions deans don’t help in ratcheting up the hysteria by holding forth on the attributes of superior candidates. It may be a byproduct of trying to improve their institution’s perceived selectivity, but there are parents who are listening, and are willing to game the system, no matter what it costs their children. It is all driven by fear, though. Fear of the college admissions rat race. The pressure and the coddling arise from an impulse to protect.</p>
<p>
[The</a> Dark Side of Parental Devotion: How Camp Can Let the Sun Shine | American Camp Association](<a href=“http://www.acacamps.org/campmag/0601darkside]The”>http://www.acacamps.org/campmag/0601darkside)</p>