Penn Admissions Officer Mocked Applicant Essays [DP]

[iamanapp]

<p>

@TheDP

Near the end of 2012, Penn’s Office of Admissions was made aware of a series of online posts written by Nadirah Farah Foley — a 2011 Princeton University graduate who had been responsible for coordinating Penn admissions in Connecticut.</p>

<p>In the posts, which were made available through a collection of Facebook screenshots sent anonymously to Dean of Admissions Eric Furda and The Daily Pennsylvanian on Dec. 3, Foley mocked a number of student essays she had come across in her work.

</p>

<p>The</a> Daily Pennsylvanian :: Former admissions officer mocked applicant essays</p>

[45_Percenter]

<p>And this occurred soon after it was discovered (and in the middle of the busy admissions season):</p>

<p>

Although the exact circumstances surrounding Foley’s departure remain uncertain, the Office of Admissions removed her name from its online listing of admissions officers soon after learning about the Facebook posts. As of press time, Foley’s LinkedIn page indicated that she has not been with the University since the end of 2012 — just weeks after the Facebook incident was brought to light.

</p>

<p>[The</a> Daily Pennsylvanian :: Former admissions officer mocked applicant essays](<a href=“http://www.thedp.com/article/2013/02/former-admissions-officer-mocked-applicants-on-facebook]The”>Former admissions officer mocked applicant essays | The Daily Pennsylvanian)</p>

[T26E4]

<p>One system didn’t work: Ms Foley’s wisdom about privacy .</p>

<p>The other one did: Penn’s actions following the disclosure.</p>

<p>These situations happen all the time in employment situations. Someone violates a regulation and consequences follow. Kinda sad, frankly. Good teaching moment for admissions professionals (I hope).</p>

[alexissss]

<p>I revealed many personal things in my apps. I would be very sad to know any of those things could be used as comedic fodder. T_T</p>

<p>And mere kids are reviewing these apps? Whhaattt? Guess it’s Pollyannish to assume all apps are taken seriously.</p>

<p>Edit: K. The tumblr page is kinda hilarious.</p>

[Madaboutx]

<p>The number of admissions reps that are only recently out of college shocked me too.</p>

<p>I hope that the filtering process ultimately gets to seasoned pros. </p>

<p>It seems like a lot of power and influence for such young people to handle. On the other hand, admissions requires a certain level of ruthlessness and I know I’ve grown softer and gotten more mellow with age. Maybe young folks are needed to reject tens of thousands of kids every year.</p>

[texaspg]

<p>It is common practice at top schools to see new graduates working in admissions. They seem to be replaced by other new graduates an year or two later.</p>

[lookingforward]

<p>Don’t assume ‘recent grad’ translates to ‘renegade.’ The power belongs to senior staff.</p>

<p>Privacy should protect both the kids and the U. But yes, many essays are real head smackers.</p>

[iamanapp]

<p>@45 Percenter: Apparently Penn was made aware of her behavior during the summer, after she openly made fun of applications from the high school of one of the tour guides. But it chose not to do anything about it until now.</p>

[45_Percenter]

<p>^ That’s not what the DP article says. That also doesn’t make any sense, given that Penn doesn’t receive applications over the summer. Furthermore, it doesn’t make sense that the Admissions Office would learn about it over the summer, but then wait until the heart of the admissions season–with tens of thousands of applications needing to be reviewed–to terminate her.</p>

<p>And then there’s this College Confidential thread, which corroborates the timing set forth in the DP article:</p>

<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-pennsylvania/1424850-if-you-wrote-your-essay-take-note.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-pennsylvania/1424850-if-you-wrote-your-essay-take-note.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

[alexissss]

<p>The one about defecating. </p>

<p>Ohmygawd.</p>

[undercover007]

<p>the admissions officer’s faults aside…I’d like people to consider that it is actually the faculty and higher level administrators that determine what characteristics to look for when admitting students. Its the admissions office’s job to then go and find those type of students. So, it IS “seasoned pros” that really make the determination.</p>

[rpeli45]

<p>Ms. Foley talked to a group of fellow seniors and me touring Wharton last spring and she filled her presentation with an obnoxious air of supremacy and condescension towards us. It really left me with a very negative impression of the school. Glad to see she was let go and I applied anyway.</p>

[SirStPierre]

<p>The Tumblr blog ‘Admissions Problems’ countered the article in what I can assume is a scathing response:</p>

<p><a href=“Untitled on Tumblr”>http://admissionsproblems.■■■■■■■■■■/post/44266805918&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>:/ Oh well. They’re supporting Nadirah Foley (the Penn adcom who was let go).</p>

[T26E4]

<p>LOL: the writer suggests Foley hire an atty and sue Penn. I guess that person isn’t heading to Law School. Rotsa ruck</p>

[temberger93]

<p>I just love how easy that blog is to hate.</p>