<p>I was losing hope, and this took what was left, ripped it up, spat on it, and then handed it back to me like nothing happened. </p>
<p>Don’t get me wrong, i’ve been accepted to some great schools, but this makes me want to boycott the college process all together, (obviously, not going to happen haha) I mean common! I’m telling my siblings to take an Advertising class instead of that extra AP</p>
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Firstly, it’s far less so today than it was during my days since there are a lot more institutions, and different criteria. And secondly, the one set of tests was the culmination of years of prep in math/phy/chem. It wasn’t so much as to how well I did then, but how steady and comprehensive my preparation was over a long period of time. At least in my case, this is where I discovered how much I really liked these subjects, and went far beyond what was taught in HS. </p>
<p>Interesting thought is that it appears for tertiary study in the US to med/vet school, grades and test scores become much more important, and geographic diversity is actually a negative.</p>
<p>I like how this thread separates the optimists from the pessimists. The optimists say things like, “This takes the pressure off because it’s so random.” The pessimists are thrown into further despair by the random nature of college admissions.</p>
<p>Thanks for sharing the link; I finally got to listen. And honestly it sounds exactly as I would expect it to. Due to the joy of media editing, I’m sure there was a lot more to say about that one kid than just “chicken nuggets” along with the other candidates they mentioned. </p>
<p>It validates my telling my kids that for a certain level of schools, admissions are a lottery of sorts. Yes you do have to have certain scores and grades and leadership; that admits you to the pool. Once you’re in the pool though, it can be so random. Can you imagine being one of the kids who originally got into the admit pile, only to be pulled out because there were too many excellent applicants (not that they’d know of course)</p>
<p>Regarding the essays, one word of wisdom I heard a few years ago was “your essay should sound like you, to the point that if you dropped it on the lunchroom floor someone could pick it up and say Hey! this sounds like (fill in your name) wrote it.” I think a lot of kids get so stressed about how their essay will be received by adcoms, that they strip out a lot of their true voice to make it more “pleasing.”</p>
<p>For all the concerns about holistic versus ‘stats-based’ admissions, Harvard does attract and admit some amazing students in terms of stats in spite of the holistic admissions process.</p>
<p>SAT scores 50 percentile </p>
<p>CR 690-800
Writing 710-800
Math 700-790</p>
<p>Do we really think that overall, these Harvard students aren’t academically focused, but instead are a whole bunch of underqualified athletes/legacies/big donors/URMs/unique essayists who care little about education? With scores like this, is this really not mostly ‘meritocratic’?</p>
<p>As for those who say Cal Tech is more stats-based in term of admissions, it’s that much difference than Harvard in terms of its SAT 50 percentile, except for math, which is not surprising given the particular academic focus of the place. Of course, it’s also a lot smaller than Harvard.</p>
<p>CR 690-770
Writing 680-770
Math 770-800</p>
<p>Dad<em>of</em>3 some places may well do a closed ballot. When I did admissions for Columbia’s architecture grad school each folder was read by two professors and one student. We each gave the applicant a number - we weren’t allowed to see what scores the others had given the applicant. Someone in the office added up the numbers.</p>
<p>I like this system better though, I get the impression the adcoms really go to bat for kids sometimes who are a little less than perfect in the stats department, but are appealing otherwise.</p>
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<p>AmosK, very funny. :D</p>
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<p>Xiggi, that is the best description of what the essay should do that I think I have ever read! Anyone who thinks it’s about navel gazing isn’t really paying attention.</p>
<p>And I also appreciate your demolition of the idea that it’s random/lottery, etc. That we can’t guess outcomes doesn’t make them random. It just says that we don’t know all the parameters.</p>
<p>and as others have said, if this makes one uncomfortable, than it might make sense to apply elsewhere.</p>
<p>When everything being equal on SAT/ACT/GPA, how to position yourself and how to differentiate yourself becomes the deciding factor. Essentially, that is the essence of marketing. You are selling yourself to the adcoms and make yourself appear to be better than you really are. That is the game that is being played here in the admissions process. Believe or not, this skill is more useful in the workplace.</p>
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<p>^Insightful perspective. Although I may fall into a slightly different category: realist.</p>
<p>I believe they mention that the aps have been reduced by 85% before getting to the full admissions committee, which is where this NPR piece picks up the story (at least for a few partial sound blurbs of deliberation of a couple of applicants). It seems to me this is the LEAST interesting part of the process; where the holistic, arbitrary coin-flips occur; and the part where applicants have little or no control. </p>
<p>Would it not have made a much more interesting, informative news piece for NPR to use their access to have someone from the admissions committee describe, narrate, explain the initial 85% chop?</p>
<p>I think the power of the “chicken mcnuggets” essay is 3-fold:</p>
<p>1) It is unpretentious. I am sure that many college essays are overly pretentious, clearly written with a desire to impress the ad com with what a brilliant and insightful scholar the 17-year-old writer is … and it falls flat. None of the personality shines through and the ad com simply doesn’t buy the underlying premise of how smart the applicant is. The “smart” stuff is supposed to be demonstrated by the test scores, GPA, academic awards, & LOR’s. The essay is supposed to be demonstrating the “human” part. The kid didn’t try to impress writing something profound… rather, he wrote something that seemed to ring true and it worked for him. </p>
<p>2) Humor charms and disarms. It’s a wasted effort when it falls flat, but if someone says (or writes) something that genuinely strikes others as funny, then the people who are laughing simply like that person more and are a little less critical in their view. I think it has something to do with oxytocin produced in the brain when you laugh. I don’t think students should go out of their way to try to be funny – humor very rarely works if the person has to try too hard – but those who have the gift or knack of writing that way certainly should use it to their advantage. My d. wrote very unpretentious, self-deprecatory, and humorous essays and short answers for colleges, and she had a very good track record of getting accepted at reach colleges – at least the ones that encouraged supplemental short answer essays. (The “short answer” was ideally suited to the format or providing a direct, funny and sometimes almost flippant response; it’s a little tougher to sustain “funny” over a longer essay). </p>
<p>3) It’s memorable. At the end of the NPR piece, that’s one part we all remember. That’s the part that the ad com who read the essay remembered and chose to read aloud. Most of us can remember and retell jokes better than we can remember and recite poetry. It’s probably not real good if the reader marks and application “admit” but then when her time comes to present it in committee, can’t seem to remember what it was that she liked about it so much. </p>
<p>I don’t think the process is random. I think it the process you will get whenever there are far more qualified applicants for a position than there spots available. You have to <em>stand out</em> in some way to get in. Being brilliant and exceptional doesn’t work if all the competition is also brilliant and exceptional. So you need something else – for some that something else is humor, for others it may be a unique story to tell. </p>
<p>Apparently in the case of Amherst, by the time they get past all of the unanimous “yes” vote candidates, they’ve already accepted too many. Maybe at some other colleges this isn’t the case, and there is more room around the margins. It may be frustrating for those who end up on the wait list – but at least for this coming year, every kid admitted to Amherst will know that they were essentially admitted by acclamation. For those who got in despite thinking of Amherst as a huge reach, that might be an important vote of confidence.</p>
<p>I second what Hinsdale1 said. </p>
<p>I want to know what stats/transcript/LORs get you into that committee meeting. And what sorts of things cut you out of the running right off. That is the sort of info that might save me a $70 app fee.</p>
<p>Imo, effective use of humor in essays is almost always appreciated and is not a new or complex concept. I just didn’t think the “chicken nuggets” quip was funny, creative or even memorable. But I didn’t go to Amherst or a college of its calibre, so maybe that is my problem.</p>
<p>You also didn’t hear the whole passage read - you just got the media snip-- so you heard the punch line without first hearing the rest of the bits leading up to it.</p>
<p>^That is true. Maybe the passage began with something relevant to chicken nuggets that made his outburst funnier in context.</p>
<p>Or something that made the chicken nuggets comment more surprising and incongruous - since the element of surprise is often what makes people laugh.</p>
<p>thanks for posting the story. very informative.</p>
<p>When you hear/read the “chicken nugget” reference in context, it makes sense. I agree with calmom’s 3-point analysis.</p>
<p>The transcript is published with the podcast. [Behind</a> The Scenes: How Do You Get Into Amherst? : NPR](<a href=“Behind The Scenes: How Do You Get Into Amherst? : NPR”>Behind The Scenes: How Do You Get Into Amherst? : NPR)</p>
<p>"SMITH: And it’s a highly subjective one, where decisions can turn on as little as one line in an essay. </p>
<p>"Ms. NUEVES: He said while my parents and doctor simultaneously asked how I was feeling, only two words came out of my mouth: chicken McNuggets. </p>
<p>“(Soundbite of laughter)”</p>
<p>Well, I hope that many of our readers realize that there are many spots soon opening up in the next few weeks. My daughter has been accepted @ 6 (of 8 schools) she applied to (still waiting on results of 1 more). She can only go to one of these fine schools – so this should be a potentially happy day for a few hopeful students out there…? ;D</p>
<p>Keep in mind that the most selective colleges will offer admission to many more students than they have spots for, based on yield projections. So spots open up only after multiple students decline.</p>