Arlington, Va.—Samuel Beckett told us that “words are all we have”—a strong statement about the power of language. The words we choose matter, which is why politicians and bureaucrats so often choose vague or empty ones.
The admissions world has its own language, full of poetic terms, such as “demonstrated interest,” “need-based aid,” and “holistic review.” Don’t forget the beauty of “binding early decision” and “single-choice early action.” But how do the words admissions officers and college counselors use affect the admissions process? What can they do to reform the ills of admissionsese?
On Monday afternoon, I listened to an intriguing discussion of these questions here at the joint conference of the Potomac and Chesapeake Association for College Admission Counseling and the Southern Association for College Admission Counseling. The consensus: some words in the “admissions lexicon” need more clarity, and others just need to go.
Nancy Beane puts the term “safety school” in the latter category. Ms. Beane, a counselor at the Westminster Schools, in Atlanta, says the term implies that a college on a student’s list isn’t a good one. In turn, several counselors agreed, some students internalize the message that they, too, are no good if they end up enrolling at a—um, what should we call it? Ms. Beane uses the term “foundation school,” and encourages her students to do the same.
Much confusion arises from the terms “need-blind” and “meets full need.” Some parents perceive them as the same thing. This is why Ms. Beane suggested that admissions offices publish clear definitions of such terms on their main Web pages.
Ms. Beane also wished that colleges would use the term “grant” when referring to need-based financial awards. This, she suggested, would help prevent confusion about the difference between “merit-based scholarships” and “need-based scholarships.”
Only it’s not that simple, one admissions officer replied. Although he agreed with Ms. Beane’s suggestion, he said that some colleges shy away from the word “grant” because the word “scholarship” has “more shine to it.” That shine just might make an applicant feel special. In other words, sometimes transparency sometimes works better in theory than in practice.
Even the word “application” can cause confusion. One admissions officer said sometimes families ask if “application” refers collectively to all of its parts, including recommendations and transcripts, or just to the document that students must complete. Another admissions officer said he and his colleagues have realized that many applicants just don’t get what “defer” means.
Confusion over admissions lingo doesn’t affect just families. One admissions officer from Georgia said many administrators on her campus don’t understand popular admissions terms, either. This confusion extends to the ethical standards—such as NACAC’s Statements of Principles of Good Practice, or SPGP—that are supposed to govern the admissions profession. “If I say, ‘I can’t do this because of the SPGP,’ they look at me like I have three heads,” the admissions officer said.
One counselor from South Carolina complained about the variations on a particular theme. A college in her state offers an “early answer,” while others have “early action” programs that work differently. “That drives them absolutely crazy,” she said of students and parents. This prompted one admissions officer to say that an institution where he previously worked had once used the term “early action” to describe its binding early-decision program; the mention of this linguistic maneuver prompted several groans from the audience.
It’s hard to hear all this without picturing the admissions world as an ivory Tower of Babel. ”One the most frustrating things is that there is no universal answer,” one counselor said.
And that’s the rub for students and parents. American colleges and universities are diverse, and this diversity extends to their admissions philosophies and practices. “Every college has its own dialect of the same language,” said Matt Kaberline, assistant dean of admissions at the University of Mary Washington, in Virginia. “Whose responsibility is it to create the translation chart, the dictionary? I think it’s all of us.”
Sure, but what does he mean by “responsibility”?
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