Bill “Fitz” Fitzsimmons, celberity admission dean for Harvard, offers insights and advice on the New York Time’s Blog–The Choice–in a five part series. Some samples:
Which schools do Harvard prefer:
A.Underlying the many questions we receive each year about finding the “right” schooling to prepare for college are two themes:
1. Do colleges prefer some types of high schools over others and thereby offer an admissions advantage to students from such schools?
2. Are there certain kinds of schools that provide exactly the right preparation for college?
The first question is easy to answer: No. We admit students and not schools, and there is no admissions advantage for attending any particular type of school. There are thousands of secondary schools in the United States, and one of our greatest assets is their astonishing diversity. Of course, some students are home-schooled, and there are others who have experienced several different kinds of schooling.
We are vitally interested in whether or not applicants have taken full advantage of their educational opportunities, whatever they might have been. If so, they have a much better chance of maximizing the use of Harvard’s resources.
Or Harvard obessed parents:
Q.I once attended a preschool admissions tour where a parent actually asked how many of the preschool’s graduates had attended Ivy League colleges. My daughter is now in third grade and participates in only one extracurricular activity because she values free time and wants to play. Nonetheless, when I cross paths with my daughter’s overscheduled horse-jumping, violin-playing peers, I can’t help but wonder whether my choice to let my girl play now will eventually leave her wanting in the eyes of an admissions committee.
I work in a children’s hospital and see more than a few pressured and stressed out teenagers who have been on a long march toward college that began at birth. What can the admissions committee at a school like Harvard do to help return childhood to the children of education oriented parents?
—Colleen Smith
A.Nearly a decade ago, we wrote a paper, Time Out or Burn Out for the Next Generation which we continually update. We believe that many students are under enormous pressure from various sources, including college admissions.
On admission essays:
Writing a great essay cannot lead to admission if the rest of the application is not at the same level. What students achieve on a day-to-day basis during high school is far more compelling. But the essay provides an opportunity for students to tell colleges about something that is important to them, perhaps something that will not be found in other parts of the application.
One of the great clichés of college admissions is the exhortation that students find their own voices in the essay (and interviews)—and “be themselves.” It’s a cliché because it’s good advice.
Letters of recommendation (they matter):
Recommendations can help us to see well beyond test scores and grades and other credentials and can illuminate such personal qualities as character and leadership as well as intellectual curiosity, creativity, and love of learning. Along with essays, interviews, and other materials in the application, recommendations can offer evidence of an applicant’s potential to make a significant difference to a college community and beyond.
Who gets in?
Students’ intellectual imagination, strength of character, and their ability to exercise good judgment — these are critical factors in the admissions process, and they are revealed not by test scores but by students’ activities outside the classroom, the testimony of teachers and guidance counselors, and by alumni/ae and staff interview reports.
With these aspects — academic excellence, extracurricular distinction, and personal qualities — in mind, we read with care all the components of each application.
Efforts to define and identify precise elements of character, and to determine how much weight they should be given in the admissions process, require discretion and judiciousness. But the committee believes that the “best” freshman class is more likely to result if we bring evaluation of character and personality into decisions than if we do not.
We believe that a diversity of backgrounds, academic interests, extracurricular talents, and career goals among students who live and learn together affects the quality of education in the same manner as a great faculty or material resources.
