Common App. SATs. Naviance. The college application process is already complicated, and now is only becoming more so.
The new platform encompasses every aspect of applying to college, including a digital portfolio, or Locker, in which students can upload their extracurricular resume, essays and videos starting from freshman year. This Locker can then be shared with guidance counselors for feedback, and will also serve as an application to to the 80 schools in the Coalition; this includes all Ivy League schools, as well as liberal arts and public schools. These colleges will accept both applications, but would encourage applicants to use the latter.
Although I am excited about the Coalition’s efforts, I worry that another change in the 2016-2017 admissions cycle–in addition to the redesigned SAT–will only worsen an already hectic process. Moreover, this application does not solve the underlying problems preventing many students from attaining higher education.
This new, radically different approach could make the application process even more daunting for low-income students, the very demographic it was made to help. Underprivileged kids often lack the means to hire a college counselor, and thus, without this guidance they might struggle to take full advantage of the platform. In comparison, anxious parents of their more privileged peers might feel the pressure to meticulously curate their child’s Locker once they turn 14. For everyone, the application process becomes inundated with more stress earlier on.
Overall, I am skeptical of the Coalition’s efficacy. It is extremely optimistic to think that a new college application will magically turn everything around for disadvantaged students after 18 years of receiving substandard education. Application reform must address the socioeconomic issues that cause education inequity in the first place.
I do wholeheartedly appreciate the effort to reform a flawed and overcomplicated college process, and am in fact, vying for its success. I worry, however, that their initiative is too sudden and different, and will only wind up making the college process all the more intimidating and stressful for students.