The newly-admitted Class of 2012 has the distinction of being the first Stanford class to use the Common Application and of being the first class required to fill out its application online.

These revisions to the admission process are well-intentioned steps in the wrong direction. As a unique college, Stanford ought to have a unique application. The Office of Undergraduate Admission should revert to the old Stanford-specific institutional forms, and students should once again have the option of submitting their Stanford applications by paper.

The Common Application is a standard set of application forms used by 315 member colleges. Among its members are Harvard, Princeton, Yale and, now, Stanford.

Stanford does require applicants to fill out a special Stanford supplement to bolster the Common Application. The most important parts of the application, however, including the teacher recommendations and the long essay, are now beyond Stanford’s control.

For example, Stanford’s old application asked teachers to assess an applicant’s “energy” and “warmth of personality,” qualities that Stanford should seek out in its candidates. The current application does not ask such questions.

The quality of the long essay prompt has also suffered. Applicants to Stanford’s Class of 2010 had to select from these two choices:

• “‘A picture is worth a thousand words,’ as the old adage goes. Include a photograph or picture that represents something important to you, and explain its significance.”

• “As you reflect upon your life thus far, what has someone said, written, or expressed in some fashion that is especially meaningful to you?”

Nowadays, Stanford applicants choose from six prompts such as:

• “A range of academic interests, personal perspectives, and life experiences adds much to the educational mix. Given your personal background, describe an experience that illustrates what you would bring to the diversity in a college community, or an encounter that demonstrated the importance of diversity to you,”

• “Topic of your choice.”

The old questions were more inspired and hearkened to applicants’ depth and personality.

Other changes are more subtle. In the past, the Stanford application provided fewer spaces than the Common Application for students to list their extracurricular activities. In this way, Stanford encouraged high school students around the world to join a healthy, sane number of clubs and after-school activities. Now Stanford’s hands are tied in this regard by 314 other member colleges.

When asked about the switch to the Common Application last year, Dean of Undergraduate Admission Richard Shaw told The Daily that it “provides wonderful access for students.” He lauded the Common App’s “convenience” in a presentation to the Faculty Senate. This is all true. Indeed, the Office of Undergraduate Admission deserves high praise for making the admission process more accessible. Admission officers are now recruiting more heavily in inner-city schools, and Stanford’s financial aid program has received a much-needed boost.

But, in a bid to lure in even more applicants through the use of the Common App (as if 23,956 were not enough), the Faculty Senate and the Admission Office have stripped Stanford’s application of its teeth. At the most basic level, this is a bad trade. Stanford is an uncommon institution. It has no need for a common application.

Also last year came the Admission Office’s decision to drop paper applications. Unless a student has a disability or lacks Internet access, and unless that student has explicit permission from the Dean of Admission, he or she has to submit an online application. This change is misguided.

The Common Application Web site is unwieldy and difficult to use. But underlying the switch is a more fundamental problem. By forcing students to apply online, the Admission Office is forcing students to use a medium plagued by phishing scams, online traffic monitoring and, in some countries, outright censorship. Electronic systems are liable to glitches and hacking, and applicants may have legitimate concerns about submitting their personal information online.

The solution is simple. Any applicant who wants to fill out a paper application should still have that option.

Change is not always good. Dean Shaw and the Faculty Senate should return Stanford to a better time, a time when the University had more flexibility in preparing its application and when its applicants had more flexibility in filling it out. 畲