Unpopular Opinions on College Admissions

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“Standardized tests reveal inequality, they don’t create it” - I never thought of it this way

I agree especially with the standardized tests part. Everything else is even more biased and unfair so I don’t understand the hate towards it.

I don’t get when kids with perfect GPAs say they are bad test takers. If you were a bad test taker, you wouldn’t have a perfect GPA. That’s why I am not against standardized testing— it’s a universal quantitative academic measure.

Also, impressive extracurriculars show wealth. Sports, instrument lessons, all cost so much money. I really don’t get what is so special for ex. about playing piano at Carnegie Hall. Admissions people think that’s so great, but all that shows me is that their family had enough money for a piano and pricey lessons for years. Even being a part of a school club costs money in many schools. Students are asked to pay for competition, travel, and bus fees that add up to $1000s per year. I really think the admissions people are out -of -touch with what high school is like today. If they understood I don’t know if they would place such high value on extracurriculars.

Standarized tests are definetely much more fair than GPAs. Is it perfect? No. Is it the best it can be? Probably.

First video in a while. I graduated last year with the class of 2021. I’m at Tufts university now and I got in through my Questbridge application. Thank you for all your work! It helped a ton along my college process and my senior year of high school

Very good point made about standardized tests. It frustrates me that some schools are test-blind. ACT/SAT is the only objective and comparative aspect of an application. Everything else is subjective to the viewer. I understand they were trying to solve a problem, but that was not the way to do it.

I agree with your stance on standardized tests. As someone who goes to a below average public high school, the SAT and ACT were some of the only ways for me to stand out. Thank you for your videos. They helped me get into my dream school.

In countries like Iran, China, India, UK, Turkey, etc there are standardized tests which are the main factor in college admission. There’s no grade inflation or wildly inconsistent grading systems in those countries.

All hail Brooke! The best source of college admissions advice we’ve found! To those high school students worried about getting into college. Stress not! As a former corporate recruiter in NY, i saw how the careers of graduates of elite high schools and colleges often played played out in the real world. Private industry has always been a better judge of a person’s capabilities and potential than our university system. Grades and test scores don’t correlate well with a person’s ability to excel in private industry. 5-10 years out of school, a candidate’s work performance, character, likability and determination always trumps an Ivy League degree. Over educated academics who don’t function well in corporate America are far more common than elite colleges would like to admit. The smartest candidates from the best universities were not what my clients wanted. In fact, I saw hiring managers as more often biased against graduates from top schools, because they were rarely graduates of top colleges themselves. “I saw she went to Harvard. So can she walk on water AND turn it into wine?” It’s a crime that these colleges are in a position to have so much influence on our children. They’re just not that good at it in my experience. To accurately assess people takes a lot more than 8-10 minutes per application…,go figure. Brooke’s best advice, IMO…..seriously consider state schools and community college; Because the school you desperately want to go to you isn’t as good as they’re leading you to believe; And hiring managers are tired of this system just like everyone else. When you graduate, try to find a company with quality people because corporate America is filled with people who’ve ‘found their passion’ but work for an asshole. 😊

You’re awesome! Thank you for what you do. Love your diversity of topics.

Some good points. I would take issue with one item - these elite private universities shouldn't be able to do as they please. As stated eloquently by others: "All these elite private schools are 501(c)3’s. They’re charities. That means that alumni donations are tax deductible, and it means that if they have endowments, endowments can get income without paying taxes. That’s a huge deal. It’s a massive subsidy to these schools — and even a bigger subsidy to elite, private universities. Just to give you an idea of the size of the subsidy, in a recent years someone calculated that Princeton University’s tax exempt status amounts to a public subsidy of $100,000 per Princeton student. State University of New Jersey at Rutgers spends about $12,500 per student per year. And the local community college spends between $2,000 to $3,000 per student per year. So the allegedly private Princeton is getting a public subsidy that is much bigger than the public universities in its neighborhood." That' simply not right. So, a fix is to eliminate this tax gift that all of us pay for. Then, and only then, should these "elites" be allowed to do as they please with their sham meritocracy.

#4 is one of those opinions that should be popular but are for some reason very unpopular. The SAT is a test where everyone gets the same test, same questions, same amount of time, and same venues (high schools). Sure the kids from private schools and tutors have a preparation advantage but compare that to GPA"s or even EC's where a kid from a private school can have a 4.0 whereas if they went to the local public school they would have got a 2.3. Or even that private school kids participate in EC's and that even middle class kids have never even heard of. The private school kid not only has an advantage in the EC that they participate in compared to the middle class public school kid but also have a larger variety of activities to choose from. That is like giving the private school kid 20 questions on a test and saying that they can pick the 10 questions they want to answer and giving the middle class public school kid a 10 question test and saying that they have to answer all 10.

The last 3 years has not treated me kindly, so a standardized test proving I'm as smart as I say I am is a great thing. Had I been a perfect high school student I'd be scoring the same as I am now as a not so perfect student. It's fair.

I was a tutor and SAT test prepper, and I can tell you that Brooke really hit this one out of the park. I agree that yes, standardize tests aren't perfect nor totally objective, but they are the MOST objective of all the other college admissions criteria. After all, ALL students took, basically, the same test so all competed against each other. What could be MORE fair than that. And yes, the schools get to choose who gets in. Nothing wrong with that.

Thank you for this honest take on the college application process.

"That must be a tough job... good thing it's not mine" got me dying 😂. But all jokes aside, this was really good insight! Thank you so much!

Excellent, Brooke. Probably the best video you've done.

Thanks a lot, Brooke! Makes a lot of sense.