As the legendary Mick Jagger belted, “I ain’t got no…sa-tis-fac-tion.” Mick’s words of wisdom can apply to many high school seniors and their families as the college decision making season descends.
Robert Barkley via Rick Clark, seasoned Director of Admissions at Georgia Tech, is confronting the possibility for dissatisfaction regarding outcomes in the expectation laden college admissions process.
For many students, a college acceptance or denial IS personal. In their view, they’ve, many for the first time, taken the risk to request an invitation, posted their qualifications, and published their life’s story, submitting the entire dossier to a stranger, who then judges their character and fitness to join their community.
For a generation who’s been schooled in an “A or Fail”, take every advanced and honors class available, while participating in a plethora of extracurricular activities an admissions decision is a validation of their life’s work.
It’s like standing on the playground waiting to be picked for a team, hoping not to be the last one picked, eyes darting to see who’s watching them, until the team rosters are chosen. Everybody wants to be on a specific team with close playground friends and may end up on the team they least want playing the position unknown with the outcome of victory less assured then before the game started.
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