The Freshman Application
Why CMC Should Maintain an Application that's Distinctive
Patricia Ingrassia
Last Updated: 12/29/09 Section: Campus News
If we don't take our lead from previous years, perhaps we can take it from peer institutions. Similar colleges such as Amherst, which has a comparable acceptance rate to that of CMC, require two essays in their supplement. The supplement offers a list of thoughtful quotes by professors and students from Amherst and invites a personal reaction. Applicants are asked to refer to the text of the quote and present an original response, not an argument or analysis.
On the other side, some colleges, including Pomona, have an optional supplement. Not only are their admissions officers limited in terms of understanding the applicant's background and purpose, but due to the lack of individualized requirements, such colleges are more likely to receive a mass of applicants with only minimal personal interest in attending if admitted. Harvard does the same - to critics merely as a ploy to inflate its total number of applicants and drive up selectivity. Pomona, like the rest of the Claremont Colleges, prides itself on educating a distinct type of student - a supposedly well-rounded intellectual with the potential to be successful in any arena. If this is the image that Pomona seeks to maintain, we must ask why that image is not more distinctively defined in the application. As for, CMC, the College has a clear and an authentic purpose: to identify and train leaders. From admission to graduation, let us never lose sight of the distinctiveness of that mission.
On the other side, some colleges, including Pomona, have an optional supplement. Not only are their admissions officers limited in terms of understanding the applicant's background and purpose, but due to the lack of individualized requirements, such colleges are more likely to receive a mass of applicants with only minimal personal interest in attending if admitted. Harvard does the same - to critics merely as a ploy to inflate its total number of applicants and drive up selectivity. Pomona, like the rest of the Claremont Colleges, prides itself on educating a distinct type of student - a supposedly well-rounded intellectual with the potential to be successful in any arena. If this is the image that Pomona seeks to maintain, we must ask why that image is not more distinctively defined in the application. As for, CMC, the College has a clear and an authentic purpose: to identify and train leaders. From admission to graduation, let us never lose sight of the distinctiveness of that mission.
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