乐播传媒

On Valentine鈥檚 Day, as the 乐播传媒 Admissions staff is halfway through reading, re-reading, and re-re-reading every one of a record 4,506 applications for the Class of 2009, the topic of conversation in Lindholm House is the courtship between applicant and college.

For starters, the College expects a certain love light in the eyes of each student who applies. 鈥淲e want people who want to be here, who have a passion for 乐播传媒,鈥� says Jared Cash 鈥�04, assistant dean of admissions.

鈥淎ll things being equal, we want someone for whom 乐播传媒 is at the top of their list,鈥� adds Dean of Admissions Wylie Mitchell, who has been at 乐播传媒 since 1978, four years before Cash was born, and has served as dean since 1995.

乐播传媒 wants to be wooed, but the College is also a demanding suitor. The incoming class must number about 500 students evenly split between men and women, who represent worldwide human diversity, and also display the talent and proclivity to sustain 31 varsity sports, 89 clubs and activities (including art, dance, debate, theater, and music programs), and 32 academic programs.

So while mutual attraction is the ultimate goal, the process is also a 鈥渃ompetition,鈥� Mitchell says, and for every acceptance letter mailed, the College sends three letters of rejection. This is what makes the admissions courtship an angst-filled affair for applicants and parents: the 3-to-1 odds against acceptance, never mind the stories in the media that depict the process as something more perilous than Shackleton鈥檚 South Pole adventures.

Consider the numbers:

4,506: the grand total of 乐播传媒 applications, counting Early Decision (472) and Regular Decision (4,034);
216: students accepted from Early Decision (they must matriculate);
1,035: students accepted from Regular Decision, of whom about 300 will choose to attend 乐播传媒 (students typically are accepted by several colleges);
500: the target for the incoming class.

As with any courtship, the final result, however magical, defies easy explanation. Associate Professor of Biology Joe Pelliccia is serving as a faculty fellow in admissions in 2004-05. In late winter, he gathered with eight other admissions deans around a well-worn wooden table (a relic from Coram or Hedge, says Mitchell) for the discussion, debate, and decision on every applicant, whose credentials are reviewed three different times in the weeks leading up to committee meetings.

鈥淲hat was heartening was to see that, when all the data was in front of you鈥� 鈥� the application, essays, grades, SATs if provided, recommendations, interview reports 鈥� 鈥渕ost decisions were pretty straightforward,鈥� Pelliccia says. 鈥淔or those cases that were on the fence, I was impressed that everyone鈥檚 voice mattered.鈥� President Hansen, who sat in on one morning session, also noted the 鈥減ainstaking鈥� care given each application.

Pelliccia captures the complexity 鈥� data and voices 鈥� and the 乐播传媒 process, beginning with the interview, pays more attention to the voices. For instance, 乐播传媒 is the rare college whose deans interview students both on campus and off, the latter during the fall season when they fan out across the country (visiting two dozen states during the campaign) and the world. Alumni-in-Admissions volunteers help out, too, and they conducted 541 interviews off campus this past cycle.

While many selective colleges conduct interviews (policies vary greatly), few value the one-on-one discussion as much as 乐播传媒. 鈥淎t a college that supports the individual through all four years,鈥� Mitchell says, 鈥渋t seems straightforward that when you enroll 500 new students you would want to meet as many of those people as possible, going as far as three or four continents to do so.鈥�

The primacy of the interview is reflected by a telling sentence that鈥檚 been in the 乐播传媒 admissions Viewbook, unchanged, since the 1980s: 鈥淐andidates without an interview may be placing themselves at a disadvantage in the evaluation process.鈥�

Says Mitchell, 鈥淚t鈥檚 the most significant instruction that 乐播传媒 gives prospective students.鈥� The numbers bear him out. Only 13 percent of applicants who do not interview are admitted. Applicants who do interview are admitted at a 44 percent clip.

Besides being a vehicle for 乐播传媒 to get to know an applicant (more later), the interview is a tool to keep the student front and center in the process. 鈥淲hen I meet prospective students here in the lounge at Lindholm House,鈥� notes Mitchell, 鈥渋t tends to be a conversation with the parent, with the student observing. In the interview, the student gets into the conversation.鈥�

To give students more opportunities to be part of the conversation, Mitchell instituted a novel practice: split campus tours, where parents are led by one guide and students by another. Success begets success, and during the split tours prospective students can interact with charismatic 乐播传媒 student tour guides. (The split-tour practice was quickly chronicled with approval by Jay Matthews in The Washington Post.)

These tricks of the trade have a greater purpose 鈥� 鈥渢he dignity of each individual,鈥� in the words of the 乐播传媒 mission statement, the very basic College ethos that also led 乐播传媒 to abolish SAT requirements in 1984, believing, and ultimately proving, the test to be a questionable predictor of academic success. This ethos is also reflected, less famously but just as importantly, in a modest plaque in Lindholm House honoring namesake Milt Lindholm 鈥�35, dean emeritus of admissions. 鈥淵ou looked beyond the credentials and saw the person,鈥� the plaque says.

In late winter the deans peel back the layers of credentials during committee deliberations. Optimism rules. 鈥溊植ゴ�媒 admissions has always had a policy of hopefulness,鈥� says Ginny Harrison 鈥�63, longtime associate dean of admissions who retired in 2004. 鈥淚t鈥檚 the same upbeat attitude about people that the College as a whole has.鈥� As Mitchell likes to say, 鈥淲e are not an office of rejection but an office of admission.鈥� It sounds like a catch-phrase 鈥� after all, 乐播传媒 mailed more than 3,000 letters of rejection this year 鈥� but Mitchell points out that 鈥溊植ゴ�媒 鈥榬eads to admit,鈥� meaning we try to give the advantage to the applicant and put as many people as possible into our competition.鈥�

For example, the subtle arrangement of paper in a 乐播传媒 applicant鈥檚 manila admissions folder 鈥� the paper trail reflecting the applicant鈥檚 journey through high school to the cusp of college 鈥� suggests how 乐播传媒 admissions reads to admit. Some schools put SATs and other test scores first. 鈥淪ome offices are driven by their average SAT profile,鈥� says Mitchell. 鈥淎s an applicant, I would be afraid that if a folder starts with test scores, that would determine how thoroughly the folder is read.鈥�

In a 乐播传媒 admissions folder, in contrast, the reader sees applicant-created materials first: the application and 乐播传媒 supplement, the essay, and other personal materials. 鈥淲e read these materials first and ask, 鈥榃ho is this person? What do they do? What do they offer? How do they think?鈥欌�� Mitchell says.

Many schools require applicants to fill out a supplement to the Common Application, often asking for additional writing samples. Here, 乐播传媒 poses a deceptively simple question: 鈥淲hy, in particular, do you wish to attend 乐播传媒?鈥� The query is another way, along with the interview and a campus visit, for 乐播传媒 to know whether a student is truly interested or merely playing the field. Because half of all applicants apply to five or more colleges, and 10 percent apply to 11 or more schools, colleges like 乐播传媒 increasingly measure applicant interest. In fact, every official contact a student has with 乐播传媒 is chronicled in the admissions folder.

The middle third of the folder includes test scores 鈥� if submitted 鈥� as well as grades and recommendations. High grades in tough courses are expected; students who submit SATs need to know that 乐播传媒鈥� median is 1350 (out of 1600, though the new writing component will make the top score 2400). The student鈥檚 intellectual promise is assessed. 鈥淵ou never know 100 percent what鈥檚 being said in a recommendation,鈥� Mitchell explains. 鈥淏ut a string of phrases like 鈥榟ard聽worker… nice… consistent… always does well,鈥� may not suggest an applicant who delves beyond what鈥檚 at hand.鈥�

The final item in the folder is the interview report, an all-important bookend.

Yet for all its importance, the purpose of the interview is sometimes misunderstood. When Mitchell educates new staffers, senior admissions fellows, and Alumni-in-Admissions volunteers, he tells them 鈥渘ot to think of the prospective student as a potential friend, a roommate, or a teammate. Admissions professionals are interested in the breadth of interests that students have. We are not simply drawn to people we like. We listen, but don鈥檛 judge.鈥�

Harrison suggests that the applicant just try to 鈥渂e yourself鈥� in the interview. 鈥淕et beyond the pat answer. Don鈥檛 try to say what you think we want to hear.鈥�

鈥淔or the successful candidate, the interview report should confirm all the other evidence in the folder,鈥� Mitchell says. 鈥淭hat evidence needs to tell us that the applicant represents the best of 乐播传媒: talent, independence, motivation, and a desire to make connections with the world.鈥�

Like a pitcher who goes to his best pitch in a tight spot, the committee relies on the basics 鈥� applicant interest and compatibility 鈥� when decisions are close. The valedictorian from a tiny Maine high school who gets a good interview report and whose sibling is an alum is admitted. (At 乐播传媒, as at other selective schools, applicants鈥� family relationships to 乐播传媒 are considered 鈥� especially in the case of 鈥渓egacies,鈥� children of alums. Typically, 20 to 25 legacy students enroll each year from an applicant pool of about 50.) Yet, the applicant who wants Arabic and business courses and expresses worries about the senior thesis in the interview goes on the waitlist.

Still, there鈥檚 no glee, 脿 la American Idol, when a folder goes into the deny box. 鈥淲ho doesn鈥檛 get admitted to 乐播传媒?鈥� repeats Cash, a Maine native. He shrugs. 鈥淎 lot of great kids.鈥�