<p>Here's a link to a PBS on the Amherst admissions process, "The Best and the Brightest".</p>
<p>I dont think the link works.
Here's another link I found
<a href="http://www.pbs.org/merrow/tv/newshour/amherst.html%5B/url%5D">http://www.pbs.org/merrow/tv/newshour/amherst.html</a></p>
<p>I think this is the link northstarmom wanted: </p>
<p>It's very weird to watch that video. After enough hours on CC it's hard to keep from thinking of the actual decision process as some sort of all-seeing, calculating machine. But the people in that video are all very warm and laugh, smile, disagree. It's even weirder to think about what the conversation was like when they looked at my own file, how many people voted for me, if there was any sort of argument, etc.</p>
<p>I thought the man who was getting interviewed, had a hard time answering questions regarding Race and Athletics.</p>
<p>I liked the parts when they laughed at the person with the low gpa and when they waitlisted the kid with the best essays.</p>
<p>buffoons! No wonder schools like binding ED! They rejected some great candidates, and the ones they liked the best decided to go to school elsewhere. :rolleyes: How does that +- 40% yield compare to other elite schools?</p>
<p>Wow. One semester with poor grades and waitlisted? </p>
<p>I'm glad I got into Penn then. I have 4 bs and one A (b- in physics) junior year and I got into the engineering school.</p>
<p>seas is easier than college/wharton</p>
<p>It may have a high acceptance rate, but that does not indicate that it is "easier" to get into SEAS. Some people are suited for SEAS, others the College or Wharton. An aspiring theatre major would be hard pressed to garner admission into SEAS if she didn't take difficult math and physics courses. Most Joe Schmoes tend to apply to the college; hence, there is a lower acceptance rate. If you want, I can find my copy of USNEWS and show that acceptance rate and selectivity ranking does not correlate 1 to 1 (sometimes w/ a surprisingly large disparity)</p>
<p>Also, the applicant pool for SEAS is self-selective: the average aspiring engineering student tends to be a bit brighter than the average college student. This is true for all schools with different colleges for engineering and a college.</p>
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<blockquote> <p>I thought the man who was getting interviewed, had a hard time answering questions regarding Race and Athletics.</p> </blockquote>
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<p>Actually, I thought it was one of the more honest answers I've heard from an adcom on those topics.</p>
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<blockquote> <p>Actually, I thought it was one of the more honest answers I've heard from an adcom on those topics.</p> </blockquote>
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<p>Agreed. He answered it nicely. I have no problem with the admissions process. Legacies are necessary; where does the endowment come from? One also wants to have a heterogenous environment.</p>
<p>NJres, I love your "buffoon" comment. One of the teachers at my D's school called Amherst "the fools" for not accepting one of the h.s.'s star students last year. She was an accomplished singer & had an academic record like my D's, who was just accepted at an Ivy. The consensus of us families was that Amherst was the loser. (Their excuse -- despite all the backtracking you read in this interview -- was the student's "low" SAT scores, which were in the 1300's.) My D has already withdrawn Amherst from her list. Oh, and they were the only ones who were really weird about the app. fee waiver business. I mean, they want you to fill out this info form (many colleges do now -- before the actual app.) So we dutifully did, & sent it. BEFORE they receive any app from us, they're like harrassing us for the app. fee or an immediate fee waiver. We get this, like, collection demand letter in our e-mail boxes. None of the other 12 colleges on her list did that to us. For them, we sent in the fee waiver along with the app. (Duh, the instructions say to do that.)</p>
<p>UCB</p>
<p>You should hear UW-Madison's chancellor on race:</p>
<p>"To accept or deny somebody on the basis of race is just bull----. If we don't think he can succeed at Madison, we won't accept him."</p>
<p>Take that for what it's worth. This was in the context of him privately talking to a room of about 50-75 students.</p>
<p>the UCB video is also interesting, though I enjoyed the Amherst one a little more</p>
<p>thanks for the UCB link. I had seen the Amherst one when it first aired. I think the Nightline people did a better job of editing to let the kid come through to the TV audience. The Frontline people seemed to be avoiding anything that would make the UCB applicants identifiable, but it made the kids seem flat.</p>
<p>Is the UCB video the one that appeared in Secrets of the SAT? That one included students grades and essays as well as adcoms' comments so in that sense, it was far more informative than the Amherst video.</p>
<p>the UCB video included some grades and test scores, but only the vaguest references to the essays. They would say things like "this student overcame difficult circumstances", but then no clue as to what those circumstances were. It's worth watching (only 10 minutes).</p>
<p>Both of these videos are great.</p>
<p>anyone have any other good videos from elite schools?</p>