One of the core objectives of our college admissions blog is to keep folks involved in the college admissions process honest. At the very top of our blog is a quote, one from America’s oldest college newspaper — “The Dartmouth.” It reads: “Way to tell it like it is, Ivy Coach.” It is a quote that personifies not only the spirit of our college admissions blog but the spirit of our college consulting firm. There are dozens of articles each and every day on the highly selective college admissions process and so many of these articles contain inaccuracies, even fallacies. So many of these articles perpetuate commonly held misconceptions about the process, serving only to make the process more stressful for college applicants and their parents. The mission of our blog is to cut through this noise and speak the truth to our readers. And sometimes, yes, that means speaking truth to power by calling folks out. Speak an untruth about the college admissions process (or receive kudos for something we don’t believe is deserving of kudos) in your home and you won’t show up on our blog. Speak an untruth in major news publications and you bet we’ll offer a counterpoint.
Proudly Telling It Like It Is Since 1992
In a recent blog, we offered our opinion about the decision of an exceptional young man who chose to receive offers of admission — rather than withdraw his applications — from several schools after learning that he had earned admission to Stanford University in the Early Action round. In a series of comments the student made to our blog, he expressed that he chose not to withdraw applications to schools after receiving word that he had earned admission to Stanford (a school his mom said was his first choice) essentially because he “put in the hard work for [his] apps.” We believe this decision was wrong because he earned admission to 20 schools and it is not conceivable to us that he would choose to attend 19 schools over Stanford University. Harvard, sure. But not Pomona. Sorry, Pomona. We believe the student had no intention of attending many of these schools and only didn’t withdraw his applications so as to accrue feathers for his cap. We stand firmly against an ego-based admissions process.
And in spite of calls for us to not criticize this student for failing to withdraw his applications, we stand firmly behind our decision to shine a spotlight on his decision, one we believe was selfish and to the detriment of many students who actually hoped to not only earn admission but actually attend many of the schools this young man we believe had little or no intention of attending. This young man — who seems like a very bright and kind person — chose to tell his story to the press. His story was told in “The New York Times,” “The Washington Post,” “CNN,” “Texas Monthly,” “USA Today,” and so many other publications. This young man’s life story seems like a shining example for young people everywhere. And his example seems like a good one — with one caveat. We would never wish for other students to follow the example of applying to schools they have little or no intention of ever attending after earning admission to a Harvard, Yale, Stanford, or Princeton in the Early round. And when one’s story is told in the press, one can’t just expect praise. We proudly live in a nation with a free press. This is not the world of “The Giver.” We are not all of the same opinion.
Our History of Telling It Like It Is
When a student comes to us and feels in her heart of hearts she can earn admission to Harvard in the Early Action round and we don’t believe she stands a shot on God’s green earth of earning admission, we’ll tell her as much. It may hurt for a day, maybe two. But on that third day, she’ll get over it and apply to a school in the Early round that she just might get into — so she doesn’t waste her Early card on a pipe dream, so she’s able to use her Early card wisely and earn admission to a reach school (but not an impossible reach).
We’ll praise schools that put forward LGBT-friendly admissions practices, like adding an optional question to their application supplement that asks student to self-identify their sexual orientation and/or gender identity. We’ll chastise the CEO of the Independent Educational Consultants Association for having the audacity to, we believe, openly attempt to restrain trade in violation of federal law. We’ll praise schools that champion our nation’s military. We’ll champion deans of admission like the University of Pennsylvania’s Eric Furda and Duke University’s Christoph Guttentag who regularly tell it like it is when it comes to the admissions process — in stark contrast to many of their peers.
We are not a company for everyone nor do we profess — or hope — to be. Ours is not a college admissions blog for everyone nor are we writing for the masses, though the masses sure do come. Hey, we’re not applying to college. We’re a business. We’re allowed to brag. And we’re mighty proud to tell it like it is. In a sea of private college consulting firms, yes, we’ve got spunk. And, by the way, so too do our students. It’s a big part of why they so often, well, get in.
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