<p>How about this as a means to "level the playing field" within the Ivies:</p>
<p>Have all the Ivies agree on two to three essay topics (lets be optimistic and pretend that such agreement could actually occur), and designate one or two dates as "Application Essay" days for Ivy applicants. Students at each high school who have applied to an Ivy League school would report to a "testing room" in the high school, where a guidance counselor or other school official (or perhaps an Ivy alum living in or near the community where the high school is located) would administer the "essay portion" question of the college application.</p>
<p>Each student would be given two or three essay questions, or have the option of choosing two out of three, and they would be given a specified amount of time (maybe 2-4 hours) to complete the essay assignment.</p>
<p>The essays could be done on computer, and submitted electronically to the Ivy schools. </p>
<p>This way, the student's work would be his or her own work, with no outside assistance. Also, it would test a student's ability to "think on his feet", because he wouldn't have days or weeks to formulate a response to the essay topics.</p>
<p>Just playing around with ideas. What do you think?</p>