Sun 29 Jan 2006
Ben Fleming ‘04 asks if making fun of an Amherst graduate is EphBlog worthy. Yes!
I suppose it’s a little meanspirited to highlight this, but this op-ed in Sunday’s Washington Post is a humdinger. Amherst grad Bess Kargman writes that until recently she had been earning some extra money editing and proofreading college applications
…
Do I have any Amherst grads out there? Is it really possible that a grown woman who spent four years there is so painfully naive that she didn’t realize her essays were being used for a wee bit more than “inspiration”? And furthermore, was shocked to discover that an online essay writing company might not be entirely on the up and up?
The mind reels.
Indeed.
January 29th, 2006 at 2:48 pm
I have not previously relected on this subject, but it seems that there exists a very substantial (perhaps a convincing) argument for eliminating the essay from the application process. Where does Williams stand and why?
January 29th, 2006 at 2:58 pm
It is always good for a college to be able to know if a student can write effectively. The process in the linked article circumvents a college’s effort to find out, but how else could the college know if a student could write without asking them to do so?
Well, now there’s the writing portion of the SAT. The SAT people go to great lengths to make sure that the person sitting at the desk is the same person whose name is on the form. Thus, the college can be certain that the score reflects the ability of the person whose application they are reading.
However, the writing SAT has problems. As Professor Kirby told us in a guest lecture for Professor Cruz’s cognitive science class, there is a 0.9 correlation between the length of the essay and the score it receives (1.0 being a perfect positive correlation, 0 being no correlation). Students who do not write the two pages that the SAT requests get a lower score than those who do.
Fair? Some say that essays should be graded on their quality rather than their length. This sounds like a good idea, but SAT essays are graded by three people, each in between 60 and 120 seconds. This is not the way to find out if someone can write. A better way is the college essay, don’t you think?
I don’t know where Williams stands on the subject.
January 29th, 2006 at 3:19 pm
1) The reality of the marketplace will force Williams to accept the Common Application (with its essays) for years to come. So, there will always be an essay for Williams to consider.
2) The essay portion of the SAT (as well as the old writing exam) is one of the most useless parts of the exercise. Jen Doleac ‘03 demonstrates fairly convincingly in her thesis. She recommends that that “the two indicators of writing ability — the writing attribute and the SAT II: Writing — should be largely disregarded.” She’s right.
Multiple choice exams and high school grades tell quite a bit about how someone will do at Williams. Essays, whether or the SAT or the application, do not.
January 29th, 2006 at 3:24 pm
Williams is one of the few elite colleges I’ve run across that asks for no additional essays beyond the two on the Common Application:
a) a “personal statement” essay — the main college app essay basically on the topic of your choice.
b) a short (150 word) answer describing which of the extracurricular activities listed previously is the most meaningful and why.
When my daughter was working on her apps, she actually had to double check because the light essay load for Williams was so unusual.
The question that is notably absent from the Williams app is th “Why Williams?” question. This one is a staple at most colleges and is given considerable weight at least at some liberal arts colleges because it can indicate a fully researched and carefully considered college choice. In other words, does the applicant really know the college and why it would be a specifically good fit? Or is he/she just picking schools from the USNEWS rankings?
January 29th, 2006 at 3:26 pm
Does Williams have access to the raw essays from the SAT essay test? If all they get is the score, I would wholeheartedly agree that a score is virtually worthless. But, if they get the actual essays, I think they are a valid comparison of writing ability, especially the kind of writing ability that the students would have to put to work in bluebook format.
January 29th, 2006 at 3:27 pm
I agree. The writing portion of the SATs is a total joke. It’s a handwritten essay churned out under unreasonable time constraints. It is not reflective of any writing that would be done in the real world. It is largely a test of handwriting speed because it is difficult to get the desired five full paragraphs written in the alloted time.
January 29th, 2006 at 3:30 pm
But, the “bluebook” essay is an anachronism, too. College students have written their essays on computers since they were in 1st grade and are likely to do so for the foreseeable future.
I don’t think the main value of college essays at the level of elite colleges is to judge writing prowess per se. The essays serve more as a window on the kid’s personality, interests, etc.
January 29th, 2006 at 5:31 pm
Maybe in a couple years Williams will ask applicants to submit the URL of their blog. If you want to see (1) the quality of a student’s writing and thinking over time and (2) his or her interests and attitudes, I can’t think of a better mechanism.
January 30th, 2006 at 1:18 pm
Unrelated, but there is an Amherst grad on the new season of Survivor.