Highly Selective? Forget about it!

So, we're reading applications now, right. Everyone gets a stack every week, and we go through and make recommendations for action - that can take many forms, from acceptance with a scholarship to asking for an interview to recommending someone else read it, etc. Every application gets a second read, by the way - some just need approval and some need more serious debate. No one gets a red stamp that says Heck No.

Anyway, it's a fascinating process, and it has some controls in place to encourage consistent decisions. I've read about 50 applications so far, I think. Some of them you really feel like you get to know them, and have a good sense of who they are and what they're all about. And then others just don't give you any insight into their inner workings - perhaps they don't know who they are and what they're all about yet, either. And that's ok, they don't need to yet.

Last year our acceptance rate was 61%, which puts us at not too selective but selective enough. In other words, we're looking for someone who can succeed academically, sure, but we're also really looking for a good match.

[You know, it's kind of like working for eHarmony or something. First, you advertise your organization heavily and spread the good word to get people to sign up. Then you analyze the college's personality traits and needs, and search through a large database for compatibility. Matchmaker, matchmaker...]

Right now I'd guesstimate that I, personally, have an acceptance rate of about 95%. And I think only 1 of that 5% was a flat-out "I-think-we-need-to-say-no" deal.

When I thought about this yesterday, I was at first a little bummed because I clearly must just be too lenient - I am just lapping up every word these students feed me!

But fortunately, the reality is that this is early in the game. The people who are applying to this type of school right now have generally done their research and have some sense of whether they'd be a good fit here or not. Also, obviously, the more motivated students not only do well in school but they also get the college ball rolling sooner.

So, fear not. Not yet. It feels like a delicate balance between being too nice and being too harsh, and I'll have to find where it is.