"The most disturbing trend, IMO, is the 'hyper-coached, machined little achievement products.' Upper middle class American parents have ground into an entire generation -- and in a way that I suspect is unprecedented -- that athletics, academic and artistic achievements, civic involvement, etc. are to be viewed primarily as means to getting into a top tier college, which is the only path to upper middle class comfort."
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http://www.timesrecordnews.com/news/2007/aug/22/admissions-applicants-and-colleges-each-look-authe/
In admissions, applicants and colleges each look for ‘authenticity’ in each other
AP Wednesday, August 22, 2007
If there’s a sign of the times in college admissions, it may be this: Steven Roy Goodman, an independent college counselor, tells clients to make a small mistake somewhere in their application — on purpose.
“Sometimes it’s a typo,” he says. “I don’t want my students to sound like robots. It’s pretty easy to fall into that trap of trying to do everything perfectly and there’s no spark left.”
What Goodman is going for is “authenticity” — an increasingly hot selling point in college admissions as a new year rolls around.
In an age when applicants all seem to have volunteered, played sports and traveled abroad, colleges are wary of slick packaging. They’re drawn to high grades and test scores, of course, but also to humility and to students who really got something out of their experiences, not just those trying to impress colleges with their resume.
[...]
“There’s a little bit of an arms race going on,” says Goodman, who is based in Washington. “If I’m being more authentic than you are, you have to be more authentic next month to keep up with the Joneses.”
[...]
But in the age of the hyper-achieving student, authenticity doesn’t always come easy. Some schools, such as MIT, now specifically ask students to write about disappointment or failure. Many can only come up with a predictable and transparent answer: perfectionism.
[...]
http://www.timesrecordnews.com/news/2007/aug/22/admissions-applicants-and-colleges-each-look-authe/