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Why Is College Admissions Such A Mess Analysis

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Recommended: Affirmative action in college admissions

Julia Nerby
Ms. Hauber
College Prep
1 March 2018
The College Application Process

Imagine you are 16 years old and you have just started your first college application. This application is nothing like a job or driver’s license application, though; it is much more complicated and extensive. Many kids and parents report the system as being stressful with many admissions offices offering little to no help and limited knowledge when it comes to questions. My hopes for the future is the application process becomes more available for students that do not have access to a computer and also becomes a more standardized, high school student friendly process. College admissions have not always been this complex and are continuing to become more difficult …show more content…

Students are having difficulty with many aspects of colleges admissions, including unclear college application directions; diverse, confusing admissions policies; and the lack of accessibility and customer service on the part of many admissions professionals in colleges and organizations such as College Board and ACT.”
This is someone from the inside opposing the complexity of the college admissions; something obviously needs to be done about it. In Shaevitz’s article Why Is College Admissions Such a Mess? she also describes the techniques colleges take to raise their admissions rates as well as yield rates. This means colleges with acceptance rates of 5-8% “telling students they do not need sky-high grades and test scores” (Powell, …show more content…

“Five Lessons I Learned the Hard Way from the College Application Process.” The Washington Post, WP Company, 22 Jul 2016, www.washingtonpost.com/news/grade-point/wp/2016/07/22/five-lessons-i-learned-the-hard-way-from-the-college-application-process/?utm_term=.34169c141c6c.

Powell, Farran. “How Competitive Is College Admissions?” U.S. News & World Report, U.S. News & World Report, 22 Sept. 2016, www.usnews.com/education/best-colleges/articles/2016-09-22/how-competitive-is-college-admissions.

Ruderman, Danny. “The College Admissions Process Is Broken.” U.S. News, 19 June 2017, www.usnews.com/opinion/knowledge-bank/articles/2017-06-19/the-college-application-process-works-for-no-one.

Shaevitz, Marjorie Hansen. “Why Is College Admissions Such a Mess?” The Huffington Post, TheHuffingtonPost.com, 29 Mar. 2016, www.huffingtonpost.com/marjorie-hansen-shaevitz/why-is-college-admissions_b_9535524.html.

Staff, Peterson's. “College Acceptance and How the Admission Decision Is Made.”Petersons.com, Peterson's, 28 Jan. 2016, www.petersons.com/articles/college-admissions/college-acceptance-admission-decision.
Teare, Chris. “The Debate Over The College Admissions Process.” Forbes, Forbes Magazine, 26 Dec. 2015,

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