<p>SORTING HAT. Yes. Whoever said that, please get a doctorate in education and change the world. Please do that for us.</p>
<p>I wish I could just go to the Common App, type in my data, write a few interesting essays, explain what I'm looking for in college and in life, size-wise, academically, geographically, financially, etc, and fill out a modified FAFSA (if the bank didn't already to that for me). Of course, because I took the SAT/ACT/APs and already told the College Board/ETS/ACT people that I'm graduating in 2009 and that I plan to attend college, they've already put my files on the database which connects with my application info on the colleges' end.</p>
<p>The lucky colleges get everything sent to them, including my standardized recommendations which my teachers can conveniently submit online like the common app, and my supplementary materials which may be uploaded.</p>
<p>Then I can go watch the Simpsons, come back to the website or my email a few months later, and have 5 responses, complete with financial aid quotes and a little personalized explanation of why I should really go to that school.</p>
<p>For example:
From- admissions@yale
To- <a href="mailto:holly@los.ange">holly@los.ange</a>les
Subject- WE WANT YOU
Dear Holly, we had to fight tooth-and-nail for the opportunity to request your presence in our class of 2013. Please come be a Bulldog. Please. Here's a free ride and we're shipping a pendant to you now.</p>
<p>See? Isn't that so much better than what we have now. I sure think so.</p>
<p>I like very much of post 73, very much indeed. The only thing I would add is that for the most insanely sought-after privates (such as Ivies), I would institute the consortium match arrangement I detailed on much earlier threads. (It would not necessarily negate the process enunciated in post 73, but it would limit the application-mania which is actually detrimental to a careful read of the applications.) </p>
<p>(Since my D's were among those who do NOT pad resumes, I would have no problem with an outside adult in those e.c.'s verifying their accomplishments. Actually, the music teacher verified one anyway, unsolicited, and the other major e.c.'s were verifiable if anyone wanted to check, since they were publicly listed competitions.)</p>
<p>I think the policy needs to be changed for nontraditional students. For instance, many applications require high school transcripts, but how is this relevant to 40 year olds that are returning to school? I think there should be a different process for people that have been out of school for more than 5 years.</p>
<p>o well the best process would be that EVERYBODY get's in regardless of academic merit of course and financial aid wasn't so complicated. Of course, that'll never happen, but schools should be less hard to get in to.</p>
<p>freakylocz: the EXACT school system exists already, did you know?</p>
<p>It's called the community college system -- a chance for collegiate courses for anyone that has a HS equivalent degree. 100,000s of people get valuable educations there and many who were unlikely ever to get BA degrees get the boost necessary to get up to speed. However, what do you do for those who want a more strenuous program????? Well, you turn that over to traditional publics and private 4-year colleges.</p>
<p>alGorescousin: Truth in lending laws exist to clearly spell out hidden fees and what the actual annual rate of return or interest fees REALLY are. Truth in Admissions laws -- yeah right. You want a Govt bureaucrat or a judge to tell the college what's legal or not? Because that's what it'll turn into -- what is behavior that can be litigated or not. </p>
<p>Do you want your company or your next employer to abide by "Truth in Hiring" rules? Or better yet. The next time YOU SIFT THROUGH RESUMES AND INTERVIEWS, do YOU want to abide by "Truth in Hiring" rules?</p>
<p>Wow, that would make everything SO much easier, instead of having to wait until April for a decision. I find myself continuously checking my application status, even though I know I won't get an answer until MUCH later. Honestly, though all colleges should just do that. =)</p>
<p>One film school in Poland (the best one, though) has almost perfect admission process, based on your real potential in that field. For example, if you're applying for film-producing, then you have to submit some of your photos, one short documentary, one short fiction, some prose or screenplay, and if they like it, then you're invited for 3-day exam/workshops - doing tasks like scene arrangement, making short montages etc.</p>
<p>They are choosing the best ones, and GPA or test scores have nothing to do. I know, though, that not for every major such a practical exams are possible, but... it would be niceee.</p>
<p>Well sonicexx, if you were applying to a music conservatory or a top arts program, this is perfectly logical but for the hundreds of thousands of incoming freshmen students searching for a liberal arts degree -- how would that be implemented?</p>
<p>After reading all the posts in this thread, I'm a lot happier with the current college admissions process than I was before. Sorting hat -- are you people serious? Do you really want Congress, or some bloated government agency, to decide your future and the futures of your kids? China, Mexico, and India take the "sorting hat" approach to varying degrees. So did Nazi Germany. If this really sounds like a great idea to you, I have one test for you. If you are liberal, imagine George W. Bush personally deciding where you'll go to college. If you're conservative, imagine Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama. If you're from Illinois, imagine Rod Blagojevich, and understand that you're probably not the highest bidder on that coveted Ivy seat.</p>
<p>One thing I would really like to see changed, is for government to get /out/ of the process as much as possible. Look at what the Title IX requirements are doing to athletics: Not expanding opportunities, but restricting them. Look at what federal need-based aid has done to baseline tuition rates.</p>
<p>Another thing I'd like to see eliminated, or at least re-engineered, is USN&WR ranking. Have you looked at the criteria they use to decide which colleges are the best? I'll tell you that colleges do, and many of them do their best to manipulate their rankings. One example: As long as "selectivity" is a plus factor, colleges will continue to emphasize "yield" by seeking the largest possible number of applications and rejecting the greatest possible percentage of those applications. And so the machine-gun application approach, a major complaint on this thread and elsewhere on CC, will continue.</p>
<p>How about this: Colleges try to sell themselves to you, and you try to sell yourself to them. You choose what you're looking for, and they choose what they're looking for. The colleges seek to build certain populations and attract students who would fit in well -- there are so many kinds of students out there, and so many colleges built around certain kinds of students already. Both sides are transparent about what they offer and what they're looking for (improving this aspect would be a great way to improve the process). A match is made. And there is much rejoicing.</p>
<p>Many, many outstanding students in China, Mexico, and India are desperate for a system like that.</p>
<ol>
<li>AA - eliminate it, or make it income based</li>
<li>SAT-ACT decrease importance</li>
<li>GPA greatly decrease importance, same with class rank</li>
<li>Sat II increase importance(and add a few tests)</li>
<li>Ap test scores(Ib equivalent) use to make sure SATII's are in line.</li>
<li>Essays-keep importance, recommendations - decrese</li>
<li>Sports. This is where US fails hard. Do not associate sports with school at all. Do not allow a student commit to a more than one competitive sport during high/middle school, and make them not seasonal(huge downfall of US), this way US would dominate Olympic Games(consider the fact that other countries usually have most of their atheletes come from specialized places, same for US but the pool is much smaller). This way people would be more committed to their sports. Maybe make youth divisions(18-20, 21+ adult) in order to compensate for college sports.</li>
<li>make instate admission automatic if you meet requirements for the public schools(but use rolling admission, so it's done up to a certain point).</li>
</ol>
<p>"International students are not allowed to come to the US for undergraduate"</p>
<p>Say what? Shouldn't everyone, irregardless of their current location, be given a chance to study where they want to? It's hard enough for us as it is...</p>
<p>It may not be the best thread for me but please do help me in finding a cheap community college. I was looking at many of them as international student and the cheapest I found so far is 191 USD per credit hour. I'm mainly interested in CA colleges but consider any other close to bigger cities. </p>
<p>That every applicant should have a meeting arranged with a board of admissions reps, bring their application, and allow the admissions people to read it and ask questions with the applicant present. This interview process would show colleges what kind of person the applicant really is, how they do under pressure, and would offer immediate results to the candidate for admission.</p>
<p>quadonfait- with SAT and GPA decreasing in importance, what WILL be important in your ideal admissions? Acceptance based on essays alone I don't think would ever work...</p>
<p>
[quote]
quadonfait- with SAT and GPA decreasing in importance, what WILL be important in your ideal admissions? Acceptance based on essays alone I don't think would ever work...
[/quote]
sat II subject tests and ap grades mostly(bettter would be only)</p>
<p>-International students are not allowed to come to the US for undergraduate </p>
<p>Xenophobia. The solution for all that ails us. LOL</p>
<p>I guess with this rationale, state publics should deny out-of-staters admission too. But of course neither of these are going to happen. The fact is int'l students have boosted the overall education quality for American kids in colleges -- it's undeniable. Many many 2nd tier schools have grown to depend on the Intl students full tuitions. It allows them to provide better education for the average American student.</p>
<p>Same argument can be applied to development kids too (which I support as well)</p>
<p>^This thread is more than a year old. Why did you bump it to say that it was not an important discussion? Your actions and words run contrary to each other.</p>