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I recently took it upon myself to go on a one week tour of the colleges I had applied to (well, at least the ones I really wanted to attend that were in proximity to each other). Anyway, I found some quite disturbing information from one of the institutitions I had applied to.

The school had sent me a CD overview of their university, including a campus tour, academic programs, application, statistics, etc. after sending my application in. The CD even included a grad school acceptance figure: "over 99 percent of students admitted to medical school".

It was discerning to find that, when visiting the office and rummaging through their school profile booklet, the numbers weren't as promised. In the last 10 years, the school had never even come close to 99%. 5 years ago- 77%, 3 years- 81 %, 1 year ago- 90%. There certainly was an upward trend, but I felt a little mislead by their CD. Is this at all common in the admissions process? I feel lied to.

Maybe I'm making this into a deal bigger than it is, but- where is the integrity? Colleges make it a big deal for us to be completely open and honest in our applications (don't exaggerate activities-be yourself), but, in return can provide figures that are an exaggeration of the reality? Just doesn't seem right.

By Candi1657 (Candi1657) on Friday, February 27, 2004 - 09:07 pm: Edit

No, you are not overreacting. It's not unreasonable to expect colleges/universities to tell you the truth, and it is a shame if some of them don't.

By Collegewannabe7 (Collegewannabe7) on Friday, February 27, 2004 - 09:37 pm: Edit

Thanks, I thought I was just being nit-picky. I know that colleges these days seem to be businesses, but how can you lie to students about numbers that just don't exist?

By Northstarmom (Northstarmom) on Friday, February 27, 2004 - 09:47 pm: Edit

You are not being nit picky. Colleges should be honest about the info they provide. I wish you'd name the college, too. No reason to hide that info.

By Mzhang23 (Mzhang23) on Saturday, February 28, 2004 - 12:29 am: Edit

Some common lies:

ED/EA doesn't increase your chances of admission.

Your potential major really doesn't count that much (hence the undecided box and "It's all right to put undecided").

By Collegewannabe7 (Collegewannabe7) on Sunday, February 29, 2004 - 10:07 am: Edit

Any other opinions?

By Daggerlee (Daggerlee) on Sunday, February 29, 2004 - 10:14 am: Edit

Your potential major really doesn't count that much (hence the undecided box and "It's all right to put undecided").

*sigh* I wish I knew what I know now back when I should have known!

By Pnyer (Pnyer) on Sunday, February 29, 2004 - 11:24 am: Edit

Being a newbie to this, what is the truth behind 'Your potential major really doesn't count...' Is it better to declare a major or not? Or does it depend on whether the particular major is heavily impacted?