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| Thomas Jefferson's Monticello |
I have tried to link this site to College Confidential in order to support certain things I have posted there. The people in charge, however, do not consider it professional enough for their readers. So I cannot mention its existence there. So much for free and open discourse... I know Thomas Jefferson would not agree as his fight for freedom of speech still echoes around the city I call home.
There are some of the world's leading experts on all sorts of issues on quora and they are happy to answer some very tough questions and some very funny and simple ones too. I hope some of you will check it out and ask your won questions. And answer a few too.
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Please
go to the following site to see an example of an essay for a highly
selective school and then the responses I solicited from various sites
around the web. You will see there is very little agreement. Why?
lhttp://onlyconnectparke.
lhttp://onlyconnectparke.
Parke Muth, Founder, Parke Muth Consulting, forme... Edit Bio
I
agree completely with Bryan about the essays being a matte of taste. I
think the recent evidence I posted certainly supports this.
I wonder, however, if there might be a way of doing some digging, on the parts of students (or others) about which schools promote which kind of writing. For example, if MIT looks for one kind of writing while Amherst promotes another. My guess is that there are a few places that stress creativity and a few that probably want more of a straightforward narrative, and a few that want evidence of deep thinking, and a few that might want service etc. In other words is there a way to make it less open to chance so that a student will know, at least to some degree, who his or her audience is and what they want.
I know this sounds like shameless marketing but I believe all of us have more than one voice. We demonstrate that with friends, family, officers of the law, and even here on quora. So I am not asking for following people as much as learning the expectations that might be in place beyond the generalizations that make any essay worth reading.
Or maybe it is better to let the people who know better decide? I am not sure I agree with this in every case as the movement away from having faculty read applications means that the people reading may have a very different notion about what a"good" essay is than the people who do the most with students.
Or at least I think faculty should do the most, but maybe that is wrong in many places too. They are hiring many more support people than faculty these days.
And maybe that is for the best.I guess that is why I raise this issue. Maybe I should have asked do we really know who the people are who now do the reading and how are they trained to assess essays?Edit
I wonder, however, if there might be a way of doing some digging, on the parts of students (or others) about which schools promote which kind of writing. For example, if MIT looks for one kind of writing while Amherst promotes another. My guess is that there are a few places that stress creativity and a few that probably want more of a straightforward narrative, and a few that want evidence of deep thinking, and a few that might want service etc. In other words is there a way to make it less open to chance so that a student will know, at least to some degree, who his or her audience is and what they want.
I know this sounds like shameless marketing but I believe all of us have more than one voice. We demonstrate that with friends, family, officers of the law, and even here on quora. So I am not asking for following people as much as learning the expectations that might be in place beyond the generalizations that make any essay worth reading.
Or maybe it is better to let the people who know better decide? I am not sure I agree with this in every case as the movement away from having faculty read applications means that the people reading may have a very different notion about what a"good" essay is than the people who do the most with students.
Or at least I think faculty should do the most, but maybe that is wrong in many places too. They are hiring many more support people than faculty these days.
And maybe that is for the best.I guess that is why I raise this issue. Maybe I should have asked do we really know who the people are who now do the reading and how are they trained to assess essays?Edit
That
would be the huge secret, I think--who is paid to read these, and who
tells them what to look for? We would like to think that professors of
some stripe have some say in who attends their classes in the first
place, but in reality, I'd bet they have no say at all. In much the
same way, we all like to think that professors are the people we're
paying to teach and grade our students, but in certain reality,
assistants and those lower on the payroll are doing the bulk of that
work as well.
So, what does the modern Bachelor's degree (at least) mean? Getting into a "good school" requires what, exactly? And what does one get out of it (other than an impressive line on one's resume) compared to what someone else got from a "lesser" school?
So, what does the modern Bachelor's degree (at least) mean? Getting into a "good school" requires what, exactly? And what does one get out of it (other than an impressive line on one's resume) compared to what someone else got from a "lesser" school?
That would be the huge secret, I think--who is paid to read these, and who tells them what to look for? We would like to think that professors of some stripe have some say in who attends their classes in the first place, but in reality, I'd bet they have no say at all. In much the same way, we all like to think that professors are the people we're paying to teach and grade our students, but in certain reality, assistants and those lower on the payroll are doing the bulk of that work as well.
So, what does the modern Bachelor's degree (at least) mean? Getting into a "good school" requires what, exactly? And what does one get out of it (other than an impressive line on one's resume) compared to what someone else got from a "lesser" school?
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Bryan,
I would very much like to take your answer and post it on my blog. I think the issues you raise are essential to any current debate about the value of an education and the value of attending a 'big name" School. Professors there must worry about publication before they worry about students. That does not mean professors do not continue to change lives. I see that all the time. But the professors in question already have tenure for the most part. The bright young recruits are often forced to choose and the administration makes it clear that publications and research grant money and specialization are the order of the day. The generalist is in big trouble and almost an extinct species.
For those that do write books that survey large swaths of a field, the comments from peers are often that they are selling out or not a "real" scholar. For shame. To bring a love of a discipline to tens of thousands seems, at least to me, more enlightening (and I use that word purposely) to the people, those who we want to include in the Jeffersonian vision of an educated citizenry.
Gladwell is now getting pounded for being a lightweight by the academics. So too has Wilson's new book by one of my intellectual heroes, Steven Pinker. I don't know enough to judge the legitimacy of some of the critiques but both thees writers have brought attention to evolutionary biology, and what is now the thinking fast and slow glut of books on the way the brain works. I don't think the pretended to be the final word on anything but they are clear and popular writers.
The public intellectual is a dying breed. Literally. One of the best, William Miller, a friend of mine, recently passed away. A Lincoln scholar who also took strong political stands, is already missed.
As for the reading secrets, it would not surprise me if some of the people out there are employing the kinds of people big companies bring in for jury selection evaluation. As most schools read by region a little research will yield results on that person's interests and beliefs.
The admission to big name schools is also big business. And the people who can pay the most will get the inside track on the ways to improve chances The market is there. I would prefer if there would be a movement to make sure there is some sort of approved training for readers across the board. But that will never happen.
Thank you for such a thoughtful comment. You have great things to add to this and many other discussions.
I would very much like to take your answer and post it on my blog. I think the issues you raise are essential to any current debate about the value of an education and the value of attending a 'big name" School. Professors there must worry about publication before they worry about students. That does not mean professors do not continue to change lives. I see that all the time. But the professors in question already have tenure for the most part. The bright young recruits are often forced to choose and the administration makes it clear that publications and research grant money and specialization are the order of the day. The generalist is in big trouble and almost an extinct species.
For those that do write books that survey large swaths of a field, the comments from peers are often that they are selling out or not a "real" scholar. For shame. To bring a love of a discipline to tens of thousands seems, at least to me, more enlightening (and I use that word purposely) to the people, those who we want to include in the Jeffersonian vision of an educated citizenry.
Gladwell is now getting pounded for being a lightweight by the academics. So too has Wilson's new book by one of my intellectual heroes, Steven Pinker. I don't know enough to judge the legitimacy of some of the critiques but both thees writers have brought attention to evolutionary biology, and what is now the thinking fast and slow glut of books on the way the brain works. I don't think the pretended to be the final word on anything but they are clear and popular writers.
The public intellectual is a dying breed. Literally. One of the best, William Miller, a friend of mine, recently passed away. A Lincoln scholar who also took strong political stands, is already missed.
As for the reading secrets, it would not surprise me if some of the people out there are employing the kinds of people big companies bring in for jury selection evaluation. As most schools read by region a little research will yield results on that person's interests and beliefs.
The admission to big name schools is also big business. And the people who can pay the most will get the inside track on the ways to improve chances The market is there. I would prefer if there would be a movement to make sure there is some sort of approved training for readers across the board. But that will never happen.
Thank you for such a thoughtful comment. You have great things to add to this and many other discussions.
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