Hitting “Shuffle”
My birth year says that I’m a member of Generation X. We were one of the first to embrace random bite-sized info. Early adopters of ADD. That and grungy plaid. And maybe a culture of ennui too . . . so like whatever.
Chance me
It is a guilty pleasure to log on to College Confidential and feel the glow of college admissions hype radiate from my computer screen. I’m not knocking it, I mean if colleges could be more upfront with what we all wanted, maybe CC wouldn’t be as popular or needed. Any high stakes process that emphasizes restriction of information will invite efforts to pull back the curtain, and the internet is the ultimate medium for it. Be careful though. Like any sugary guilty pleasure, too much, too often makes your head hurt. Plus, how do you know that “FanMan847” really knows anything about your shot at getting admitted to Vandy. We’ll be here, trying to make what we do as transparent as possible.
How do you spell SAT?
The SAT and ACT writing score. What do we do with it? Not much. We collect it, to look at later, like people who collect beanie babies or stamps. At some point down the road it might be worth using for something. For now, we ask students who take the ACT to take the optional writing portion, and of course, the SAT has it as a required part. For admissions decisions, we lean more on testing sections that are at least old enough to drive (Math and Critical Reading).
Santa first, then AMC
This time of year brings a little ritual in my family. Going to the movies. Stealing away to a movie when you have a toddler does not just happen. It takes careful planning. We’ve arranged childcare and we’re going to see Charlie Wilson’s War. I’ll let you know how it goes.
That sound you hear? That’s my files piling up . . .
We have a policy in our office that an application cannot leave the metropolitan Nashville area, and should never be taken to a public place. It’s a security measure to protect the highly sensitive information contained in them (which we take VERY seriously). Over the holidays I had a chance to get away from campus for a little while, which provided a wonderful opportunity to take a break. I love reading Chicago students, they’re truly amazing . . . but I was excited to be able to recharge a little, and leave the files to pile up back home for a bit. It’s a wonderful side effect of our policy. If you get a chance, once you’ve hit submit on those applications (our Regular and EDII deadline is Jan 3), try to breathe, take a look around a little. It is a beautiful time of year really, even with the grey skies. You’ve earned a break, take it.