how smart are adcoms?

Applying to College
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Do you feel that the adcoms are beneath you? Unworthy to judge you?</p>

<p>The assumption seems to be that you can't offer valid opinions about a 4.0 UW/2350 applicant unless you had similar credentials yourself.

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<p>i absolutely do not think they are beneath me! i am not a 4.0 student and i don't have a 2350. i was not trying to achieve anything in this post other than wonder about the lives of these people. i would like to thank all the people who simply took this at face value and responded; i wasn't aware about graduate students, etc. and people who go into fields like education become college admissions workers. and as i said above, almost all my experiences with them have been positive. </p>

<p>i'm sorry if anyone thought i was being "high and mighty" by saying that people judge based on your jobs. i never said it was a good thing, but i think anyone has to realize that it does happen. there was a really good documentary on pbs about class in america, and in it they showed how people at a bank who are dressed in "work clothes" are treated like 2nd class citizens if someone in a business suit is also there. i realize that this is in no way fair, but it is a fact of life. i'm not trying to perpetuate it, and i'm also not saying that being admissions representative is a "low" job. </p>

<p>i guess the reason i "judge" people isn't as way to detect whether or not i am "better" or something. i just happen to think about things like who is reading my application, how did my teachers become teachers, etc. this is curiousity; im not trying to be defensive or think that this topic will have any impact on me or any admissions decisions.</p>

<p>bluthunder06-- isn't that a conflict of interest??</p>

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The people running the world such as heads of companies, elected leaders, and heads of newspapers are generally not from the very top schools.

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<p>i think in many cases this is true; however, both 2004 presidential candidates attended yale, bill gates went to harvard (although he dropped out...), donald trump went to wharton. i 100% believe that going to a school that is not considered "top," has no correlation to anyone's intelligence, and that clearly a harvard degree is similarly not a passport to success. however, i think that is quite clear that the connections made at top universities are very helpful in business or political success; not that it is impossible to do it without these connections, but it is easier.</p>

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<p>carpecollege:
There are two very good books about adcoms that you might enjoy. One is "The Gatekeepers" by Steinberg. He is a newspaper reporter who got permission from Wesleyan to sit in on the year's admissions process. It is a pretty good story and it lets you see who adcoms are and what they do. One drawback may be that the human interest angle appealed to Steinberg and he concentrates on a few applicants a bit too much. The other is "Admissions Confidential" by Rachel Toors who was an actual adcom at Duke. This is the best book to get a feel for what it would be like to be an adcom, but Toors seems a little, well odd, at times. She includes way too much in the book about her personal life. I didn't need to know about her pet pig. Hope this helps.</p>

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<p>Steinberg said in the book that, "Sometimes, they would cry together at the depth of feeling some of those pieces expressed." He was talking about Figueroa, an admission officer at Wesleyan, who spent at least 20 minutes on every small detail in the 1000 applications he has to review. Then he goes home to cry with his wife because of the overwhelming sensitivity displayed by the essays.
Yea, that's sooo true. If only it were right. I cannot believe that Figueroa spends an average of thirty minutes (since Steinberg said at least twenty minutes) on every entry on the application. Further, I can't believe that he goes home after a busy day reading the applications to cry with his wife. If he cries, it is has probably nothing to do with the applications.
The Gatekeepers ~ Inside the Admissions Process of a Premier College (by Jacques Steinberg) is just another trick to make publicity for the school and lie to applicants that their applications are well taken care of by the admission officers. I do not believe in that.</p>

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<p>you know, i really wouldn't mind being an adcom when i grow up. i think it sounds fun!</p>

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<p>citygirlsmom wrote:
My goodness, I am appaled at the high and mighty nature of people hear on CC, as if on;y college grads, or those that get into only the best schools, are worthy or respect</p>

<p>well put.
my mentor told me the next time a person says "you must be smart because you go to berkeley," to say "i would be smart whatever school i go to."
her point: there are a lot of brilliant people who go to schools barely anyone has heard of, and there are plenty of really smart people who are "top school" worthy who may have just simply ran into life, thus being reflected in a "B" or "C" grade on their transcript. </p>

<p>and i agree, being on an adcom does sound like fun!</p>

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<p>Here is a situation: You are in college. You are a senior. Your girlfriend is a sophomore. You graduate, but dont want to move away. You look for a job at the college, and start working at the admissions office. You do this until your girlfiend graduates, and then you get married, move away, and live happily... ever... after.</p>

<p>nerds.</p>

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<p><em>alternate ending</em></p>

<p>You decide you love controlling people's futures so much that you ditch your girlfriend and work as an adcom forever...</p>

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<p>cal<em>girl</em>21:</p>

<p>that is what i said...</p>

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i 100% believe that going to a school that is not considered "top," has no correlation to anyone's intelligence, and that clearly a harvard degree is similarly not a passport to success.

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<p>I am dyslexic so i make mistakes all the time. It drives me mad as people do judge intellegence on your ability to communicate. It is instinctual to judge by appearences. </p>

<p>I also think being a adcom sounds interesting! I would not mind doing it for a year or two. Although where i am from there is not really such a job, or at least it does not involve picking students as entry to university is judge on grades alone for the most part. Fine arts may ask for portfolio's.</p>

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<p>It's clear you think they are too lame to find other, worthier work. You went on to suggest that smart adcoms are the exception rather the rule when you wrote:</p>

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<p>So despite your subsequent denials, it's pretty clear at face value that you question the intelligence of adcoms - a prejudgment that does you no credit.</p>

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<p>sid19-- i completely realize this as well. my sister is dyslexic, so i have been aware my entire life about this issue. she has been able to overcome the problem and is doing very well now, but i would not think that someone is stupid because they made a grammar mistake. </p>

<p>coureur-- im sorry that you think that about me. the quote you used is from my original question, BEFORE some nice people provided me with the information that i was looking for, that many adcoms are actually people who are interested in that career or love the school or graduate students. i thought i had made it clear that i was mistaken in my first post. and i'm sorry i keep making "subsequent denials," but i am just trying to make it clear that i was in no way saying that i was better than an adcom, and people keep misinterpreting what i am saying. as for "a prejudgment that gives me no credit..." i honestly am not THAT worried about what YOU think an anonymous post on a website says about me as a person.</p>

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<p>It is nice to know that your sisters experience has impacted on you.It helps when people in society have experience with it and learn from it instead of ignoring it. </p>

<p>My comment was not a attack on you... i was just commenting on how its a natural instinct to judge peoples intellegence on their ability to communicate. Look at how people treat people who stutter... </p>

<p>Its sad but i am hopeful that people's attitudes are slowly changing as people become more aware.</p>

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<p>i understand sid; i agree with what you are saying. i am just feeling a LITTLE defensive because i am being attacked on this thread. you brought up a completely valid issue, and i realize that i was ignorant of me to use that as an "example."</p>

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you know, i really wouldn't mind being an adcom when i grow up. i think it sounds fun!

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<p>From the books listed above, it would seem that there are two types of adcoms. The first are the ones who are older and have drifted into the field from many different directions. They often shift back and forth from being adcoms to being counselors perhaps at elite high schools. The second group are younger and gone directly from graduating college to being adcoms at the colleges they graduated from. They may do the job for 1-3 years and then move on to something else. Perhaps you can grow up and be an adcom someday. :)</p>

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<p>well, if such is true, i think i'd like to do that for a few years after college.</p>

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<p>Pongo: Try reading the "Admissions Confidential" book. Really, it seems that Toors overshares a bit much about her personal life, but I think it does give a feel for what it would be like to have an adcom job.</p>

<p>You could start out by being a student tour guide for the admissions office. Learn to walk backwards.</p>

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<p>Some people work as an admission officer at their school because a perk of working for a university is free tuition. If a person decided to attend grad school at their undergrad school, it is a way for them to complete grad school debt free. Remember many graduate programs have classes in the evening allowing them to work and go to school.</p>

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<p>How strenuous are admissions officers' hours? It seems like it'd be fun to me as well.</p>

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<p>Admissions Officers aren't a part of everyone's everyday life like teachers or glorified the way that doctors or lawyers are so most people have no idea that such a job even exists until it becomes time to apply to college.</p>

<p>If you ask most admissions officers what led them to their career, most of them will tell you that they just sort of fell into it, meaning that it wasn't something they necessarily planned for. They are always interesting stories! But rest assured, they truly are passionate about what they do, the school they work for, and the students they work with. </p>

<p>This is a career that they they somehow came across, but that they since have pursued with great passion and interest. At least the ones that I know :)</p>

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<p>here's my take on being an adcom: i think it would be fun to do the choosing part because that is alot of power (lol i am a megalomaniac). but i don't think it would be very much fun to read the thousands of essays... like 95% of them are incredibly boring, im sure. i guess if you don't mind reading those than yeah it would be kind of fun.</p>