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Why would removing the “common application” remove heartache? I’m not familiar with that idea.
by hawaiianbrah 4y ago
Why would removing the “common application” remove heartache? I’m not familiar with that idea.
- gumby 4y agoThe common application encourages people to apply for schools they aren't qualified for ("what the hell it's only another $30"), a phenomenon which has been exacerbated by the schools themselves. The USNWR ranking includes acceptance rate ("more selective" means a higher proportion of rejections), so schools send letters to kids who can't get in, encouraging them to apply. I saw these letters last year. In addition, the common app really restricts what you can say. For example two kids might have earned an Eagle Scout rank: one just did the minimum to get a check box; the other might have really used it to learn and develop. In the common app there isn't really room to differentiate unless you devote your essay to it. Back when each school had a unique application, the burden of applying makes you more judicious in your choices. However it also allowed you to adapt your application to what you wanted to emphasize to each school. For a quantifiable difference: back when I was applying to universities in the 1980s, MIT had quite a high acceptance rate compared to its peers, ~18% IIRC. Why? Turns out few people applied because they (probably correctly) assumed they wouldn't get in anyway.