The Zinch Report

As many have seen or heard by now, this year seems to have been especially difficult to gain admission to the most selective colleges and universities. The New York Times (April 1, 2008), and many college newspapers, have reported acceptance rates in the single digits for Columbia, Yale and Harvard. No question, it’s tough, and has been getting tougher, to get into those schools. If you are one of the vast majority of students who applied but did not gain admission to these schools, whatever you do, don’t second guess what you’ve done in high school. It is essential that you keep in mind that what you’ve accomplished and contributed during your high school years is for a purpose greater than getting a fat envelope from a prestigious school. Does that fat envelope feel like validation for your hard work? Absolutely. But a denial letter is not an invalidation of that same spirit, intellect, talent and passion. Rather, it is a reflection of the tens of thousands of other students throughout the world who are accessing higher education at rates that history has never before seen. This may sound like the sound byte rhetoric spouted by admissions officers which comes across as paternalistic, condescending and insensitive. Bear with me. I promise you it doesn’t have to seem that way.

Consider, perhaps, what Zinch aims to do....

Zinch is trying to get students to the table - students who may not have always been part of the traditional applicant pool. And if you believe that more students should be discovered for their special talents and passions, you become a complicit supporter of the increased competition of college admissions. If you believe that all sorts of students should stand up and be counted, you accept the impact that that has on admissions rates. The rules are changing and we must accept the consequences of that change.  

You were outstanding before April 1 and you are still outstanding. We must not conflate our society’s obsession with labels, prestige, and the extent to which we and our peers have internalized that obsession with the actual experience we gain from attending college. If you did countless hours of community service, lead your sports teams to winning seasons, and got every award and academic honor possible, and didn’t get into your top choice school(s), do not think for a second that those accomplishments have been stripped from you or brushed aside from these so-called “elite” colleges. And if you do, you should rethink why you do the activities you do, and why and for what you strive (unless of course, you concede that you attribute quality to ranking… if that’s the case, I’ve got nothing for ya). If you believe you could’ve been great at elite college X (but didn’t get in), you will be no less great at another institution. The size of the envelope from the April 1 mailing date provides no indication of your success or potential.