Hmm. If I were the admissions committee, and this was a kid I didn’t otherwise want to admit, I’d waitlist him and see if the donor calls again.
I take college tours for a living, and that’s a bad enough story that I would email the dean about it. I don’t think I’ve ever encountered that. (Terrible, un-knowledgeable guides, yes. This, no.)
I’d never been in the main library when I was a tour guide…because there are about 90 libraries on campus. Everything I needed was in the psychology/social science library.
Had a recent example where an applicant who was waitlisted at a top 10 LAC became assisted in the quest by an alum who had endowed two chairs plus a large building donation. The school seemed very cooperative in requesting letters, statement of intent, etc.
By that time the applicant had gained acceptance to several other top schools, but waitlisted target was still the “dream school”.
Never got admitted there.
Went to another top LAC on 100% scholarship.
Hanna,
It was years ago. Student is long gone and hopefully the knitting lady has retired ( she seemed to be a “senior” staffer back then and we are talking a decade ago. If it happened now I would probably address it.
We did get a feedback card from the school where the guide answered nearly everything with, “I don’t know” or mentioned she was just back from jr year abroad, as some excuse. I was polite but let it rip.
What is it with CC and the obsession with “not going to the library”=“lazy, dumb student”? I went the library at my undergrad maybe 3 times in total and all during my senior year, and they only reason that I’ve been to library at either of my grad schools was either because I was TAing a class located there or to go the cafes in there. I’ve used library services at all my schools a ton to get journal articles, mind you, but that never required actually going there in person.
I know kids who got in because their grandfather bought a building at an Ivy.
But it is silly to think that everyone who knows a big donor can get a recommendation letter, short of the kid actually working for the big donor or being the adopted son.
psych,
When this occurred, a decade ago, not all students had computers, (and those who did, many were towers, not laptops so not easily transported, so researching stuff between classes wasn’t as easy). And in many cases, classes will require students to go to original sources, hence… a trip to the library. This girl… sorry to say, came across like an idiot.
@jym626 , the tour guide does sound dumb… or at least non-academic. I’ve just seen numerous posts on CC that are along the lines of “omg, our tour guide said that they never went to library, so therefore they must not study!” and it baffles me. I started college almost a decade ago (man, I feel old! : ( ), and everyone who I knew in college had a laptop. I can think of one person who didn’t have a cell phone, but I can’t think of anyone who didn’t own a laptop, This was a state school with a lot of relatively low income students, too.
Again. I’ve used the library extensively and loved it (bless those journal subscriptions!), but I just don’t get the big deal about whether or not one goes to the actual brick and mortar library as a key indicator of academic inclination.
Haven’t seen those types of posts making assumptions about study habits.
The tour I am referring to was over a decade ago, and at that time some students did not have laptops. Towers were way more affordable than laptops back then, even with the extra monitor and keyboard. And laptops were not small, and not light, IIRC. And, this tourguide had already been in school 2 years or so,so was less likely to have had a laptop (back in “those days” they were many thousands of dollars). Then again, that was probably a drop in the bucket to her family.
And not all majors can rely primarily on online resources.
The point here, it seems, was more how willing that guide was to admit something on a tour that sounded so limited. She could have said, eg, “For my major, so much is available via the web.” it could have created a different impression. Etc.
For the school where our guide was so incompetent, DH and D2 went back for another tour (he hadn’t been on the first and was curious, as one program was an advantage to D2.) Second tour was just as bad, with actual complaints about the school and fellow students. That is just poor management and yes, sheds a poor light on the college, by extension.