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A panel of alumni working in different areas related to college admission spoke on “Preparing for College in a Time When Everyone is Above Average” in Dodds Auditorium in Robertson Hall on Friday afternoon as part of the University's Reunions programming. The event was well-attended by alumni and their children who were preparing to apply for college,
The panel was moderated by Dean of Admission Janet Rapelye. Participants included Jim Wickenden ’61, president of Wickenden Associates and former University dean of admission, Don McCabe ’66, professor of management and global business at Rutgers Business School, Richard Kling ’86, executive director of Educational Testing Service, Nandita Gupta ’06, an admission officer at Stanford University, and David Evans GS ’66, a senior admissions officer at Harvard University.
King spoke on how students can prepare for the college applications process, advising them to use a three-step process: set goals, figure out priorities to reach those goals and discipline oneself to the priorities. However, he added, students must remember to enjoy themselves and their high school years at the same time and strike a balance between the two pursuits.
He encouraged parents to listen to their children, helping them figure out their interests and then pursue those interests so that they can reach their full potential.
“It’s creating a culture in your family and your home,” he said.
Gupta reminded both parents and students to keep a perspective during the “frenzy surrounding the college admissions process.” She reminded the audience that life is not “made nor broken” at age 17 or 18 if a student does not gain admission to the college of his or her choice.
McCabe spoke on research he has conducted on cheating in academia. “Twenty percent of the students that I have surveyed over the last 20 years ... admit that they cheated on a test or exam in the past year, and almost half on written work,” he said.
Additionally, almost 10 percent of the students surveyed in the past five to 10 years admitted that some part of their application was fabricated in some way, he added.
McCabe said that this pattern places a burden on college admission officers to figure out “who’s above average and who told you they’re above average."
With its strict Honor Code, McCabe said, “Princeton can really be in the nation’s service and can address the problem” by encouraging high schools to follow suit.
Wickenden emphasized the many students who are not average because of their environment, not for lack of trying.
“There are many youths in this country who have neither the opportunity nor support to gain admission to places like Princeton,” he said.
He stressed the need to help these underprivileged students, looking to programs at Yale and Massachusetts Institute of Technology as examples. MIT has posted all of its lectures and classes online, and Yale funds students from New Haven with a 3.0 GPA and above to attend public colleges for free, a program that costs the university $4 million annually.
To follow suit, Wickenden proposed founding a school to “encourage students to remain in school to develop confidence and skills” in order to “offset disadvantages” of their lives.
Evans spoke on how to set one’s application apart from the rest.
“What we do, as you know from the numbers ... is that we turn away many more students than we admit,” he said. He alluded to a statement of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt — “Each time you appoint a federal judge, you instantly make 300 enemies” — to describe the situation.
He encouraged students to “try to understand the philosophy and mechanics of the colleges” to which they are applying.
He also advised that colleges are not looking to admit just students who would excel academically, but students, roommates and teammates as well, and that it was important to let one’s personal qualities shine through in an application.
“Share personal qualities in essays, interviews,” he advised.
He also emphasized the need to visit the campus for the “gut feeling” that one gets from merely being present.
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