College Admission: Shaping Sausage And Slicing Salami

When I applied to college over thirty years ago, I had no clue how they were making admission decisions, and honestly did not give it much thought. For the general public, college admission remains shrouded in mystery–decisions are made behind a curtain in what often feels like a game of pin the tail on the donkey. Application review elicits images of admission deans blindly assigning acceptances, throwing darts at a board, or rolling dice to determine an applicant’s fate. There is little understanding of how the sausage is made as enrollment leaders build a class. Maybe that lack of full transparency is not all bad, because the truth is that it is not a “fair” process, nor was it designed to be. Knowing all the conversations that happen within an admission committee might be deflating for applicants who ultimately don’t control what goes into the meat of admission decisions.

This week, the U.S. Supreme Court is expected to render a decision about race-conscious admission, and there has been a hyper-focus on how and why decisions are made and who benefits from these systems. They are important conversations that will shape the lived experience of students in college and will have a long-lasting impact on our schools, workforce, and society. What colleges are permitted to consider could come down to subtle nuances, and like Justice Amy Coney Barrett noted during oral arguments last fall, these distinctions about identity and experience could be “slicing the salami pretty finely.”

What does this all mean for the average college applicant? To really “butcher” this metaphor, please focus more on how and where and you choose to buy your meat and less on the ways the sausage is shaped or the salami is sliced. This you do not control, just as you have zero agency over the way the system is designed. Leave that for the policymakers to screw up.

Here is what I hope you will consider:

Slots and spots: The truth is that almost every college (especially the most selective) are limited in how many students they can accept and enroll. I urge you not to approach admission as a zero-sum game wherein if you are not granted an acceptance, it means someone else “took your spot.” It was not yours (or theirs) to begin with and to view these decisions in such a narrow frame is destructive all around.

Just deserts: If you are denied admission, it is not a punishment for something you failed to do. Often when students are not accepted, their response is, “If I had just taken that extra AP course” or “If I had only been elected as president of my club.” These are false narratives and not helpful as you try to make sense of outcomes. The truth is the decision unlikely hinged on one factor.

The blame game: When you get bad news, it is natural to want to find fault. Where did things break down? Who is responsible? Students wonder if their recommender said something damaging in their letter or the high school didn’t send transcripts in time. Resist the compulsion to look for a culprit and if you need to blame something, chalk the decision up to an imperfect system.

Jedi mind tricks: Don’t try to get in the head of an admission reader or predict their decision-making process. You can’t anticipate what the admission committee is looking for or how they are going to react to your application. Honestly, what they had for lunch that day, the weather, or how they slept the night before might have more influence on the decision than anything. Use the space you have on the application to tell them what you want them to know, not what you think they want to hear. Be genuine and trust in who you are. This will lead to the right match and a fuller you.

Ultimately, I was denied admission to the college I wanted to go to most and waitlisted at the runner-up. I still don’t know why, nor is it important. I had other great choices, which I narrowed to two finalists and made a decision based mostly on extraneous factors that I am now embarrassed to reveal. I had a fulfilling college education and learned immeasurably about the subjects I studied and myself. I could have done this at any of these schools. I had friends that went to the schools on my initial list and transferred, and others who thrived. This is all to say that this process is neither linear nor predetermined. Focus more on the meat of the experience and less on how it is shaped or sliced and you will be bound for success.