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Comments about "Admitting mistakes"
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15 Comments on this article:
I agree completely with this editorial. Stanford needs to remain able to detect and recruit students with that special Stanford spark. A customized application is important to that. Having a unique application may limit Stanford from receiving applications from students who are not passionate about the school, but that is purely a benefit to the school.
The University of Chicago's Uncommon application really was idiotic. Truly creative people don't need stupid questions to give creative answers. In fact, such questions limit creativity.
While moving to the common app really was a mistake, and a by-product of the corporatization of the American school system, let's not romanticize the original apps. Chicago is on the common app now too and it's probably better off because of it.
Stanford's original app did leave room for a bit more exploration, but it's the way you write an application that matters, not what questions it asks.
Trying to read between the lines, it sounds like you are wanting to harken back to an earlier time when the University was more interested in recruiting the "Stanford Type" and goosing the yield rate than in seeking a diverse and talented student body.
Let's not turn Stanford into a west coast Princeton!
What's the deal with the Chinese character at the end of this article? 畲, or yu(2), means to cultivate land by first setting fire to it. Why is this here?
I hadn't really thought about this issue before the editorial. When I heard that Stanford was switching to the CommonApp, I thought it was great because it meant less stress for the people applying.
But now, I think you are absolutely right-- Stanford should keep its character and have a separate application.
really, a formal editorial word, I'm not sure
{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.}
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The old application had fewer spaces to fill extra curricular activities, but because the common form has more spaces, the FOUR EDITORIAL BOARD MEMBERS think that the new form will discriminate against people who sanely choose not to join every social club in high school.
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"That fucking bitch is going to get into Stanford (and not me) because she is ten times smarter than I am and has time for all those extra curricula activites—while I have to read a passage twice in a book before it sticks in my noodle."
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Do you actually think that those uppity white folks at the admissions office are going to check out to see if you are actually a member of the Chinese Club. They have a Hoover Institute crib-sheet full of lies that they use to keep all of the tall buildings in New York City flying high and mighty against Islamic and Chinese terrorists. Cheat and lie on the application, it is going to go down on how you placed on your AP Physics Test and AP Demolition Test anyway, isn't. [Damn right, I got that aced!]
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畲: Chinese nationality [She].
Maybe the Common App website is unwieldy and difficult to use, but at least it prepares prospective Stanford students for the horrifyingly unwieldy and difficult-to-use Stanford websites they will have to use every day. I mean, seriously, have you ever used Axess?
What a dumb ass editorial. All you people who are on the Editorial Board did it the old way. Don't you recall what a pain in the ass the "unique" Stanford form was? Why is Stanford so special it needs it own form? Every institution could make a similar claim. If you love the old form so much a Stanford supplement with a few Stanford unique questions would be OK, but don't complicate a busy high school senior's life with unnecessary complications.
The Common App is a great thing. Thinking your own app is so necessary reeks of arrogance. "The Common App is good enough for Harvard, but not for Stanford." It creates a bad impression in the minds of applicants and their parents from the get go. Why carry that burden?
Ignore this tripe, Dean Shaw. Keep the Common App.
I disagree with this article completely... It's a cost versus benefit thing - yeah it's true that there may have been advantages to the old app, but the newfound advantages from using the common app just blow those away. It's so much less stressful to have to deal with all BS of a paper app and having to write 12 different essays.
As was stated earlier - if you are an outstanding applicant you will give an outstanding response... and if everyone has the same essay questions it basically levels the playing field anyways.
The fact that the internet is "open to phishing scams" is basically a moot point, people do their banking and financial transactions online, we live in the 21st century.
The fact is that the common online app makes it twice as easy to apply for about 98% of people. If we get more applicants it's a good thing!
You guys act as if the application itself is a huge deal, the fact is what people *do* is a lot more important and if someone has done something outstanding it will show through -- regardless of if it's on common app or stanford app
This article kind of pisses me off at the daily editors
I didn't hear one thing in this article about beer!
If I get the old form...can i get a free beer at Tresidder?
I think Marvin needs a beer!
This has to be the most ridiculously insignificant- not to mention misguided- things to write an editorial about. I too am "kind of pissed off" and second PS; truly creative people don't need hokey questions and an uncommon app a la Hyde Park. (Nothing is more annoying than their pretentious "Uncommon" shirts. Nothing.) Fact: The CommonApp is one of the greatest innovations of the college application process. Fact: No one likes filling out forms. No matter how much the forms are personalized to seek out "individual spark," the sparkless humdrum (name, social security number, parent information) is often the most tedious. In that regard, CommonApp is a savior. No memorizing a billion access codes and uploading the same information ten times. Plus, there are still individualized supplements, and the main essay is open-ended. The caliber of the applicant will still shine through just as clearly, if not more so since there are no forced-quirkiness questions. There really is nothing to complain about.
I am a member of the class of 2012, and I used the common app without any problems. The application itself really isn't difficult, and had I been forced to choose between two long essay topics my creativity would have been severely limited. I agree that students who have a legitimate reason for needing to turn in a paper application should be able to, but overall the convenience of the common app outweighs any small sacrifices in control over the application Stanford may have made.