This article regarding college applications was published in the New York Times:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/17/education/17admissions.html

As the end of Junior year is getting near, I have found myself spending a lot of time worrying about college. My parents are of Indian origin, and Indians are extremely competitive when it comes to academics. A smart kid is usually seen as better than an athletic one. If your child isn't one of the smartest kids in his school, then he's looked down on. The fact that I'm a DJ in high school makes matters worse, because I get a lot of pressure from my parents and the community to do well in school. There is a stereotype that kids that are interested in music and arts are not smart academically. My parents want me to go to a well known big name school just to show people that I'm not a stupid kid that spent all of his high school years partying.

Right now for me it's all about GPA and standardized test scores. It's no longer been about what I like to do, it's more about what I need to do to beat the system and get into a big name school. The big name schools are getting harder and harder to get into, as the popularity for these schools is constantly going up. In 2009, the largest population of high school students in our nation's history will graduate. As a high school student it is really hard to figure out this whole college game. I have no idea what the colleges are looking for, because they all say that academics are important, but they also look for well rounded students.

The increasing applications and competition for college admissions is not solely due to the increase in the college age population. Students are applying to more colleges than ever. The average student used to apply to 3 or 4 colleges. Now the average student applies to five or more colleges, and it is not uncommon to see students applying to 10 colleges. Also, big name schools have expanded their marketing reach to middle and lower class families. They do not want to be seen as elitist colleges, so they reach out to large populations of people. All of this contributes to the increasingly competitive nature of college admissions, and adds a considerable amount of stress to the average high-school student.

I feel that the whole college admissions deal is a big game. My goal is to show that I have a strong work ethic by taking a full load of challenging classes and doing my best in them. I do not believe standardized testing gives a true measure of intelligence and knowledge. I believe anyone can coach themselves to do really well on the SATs and ACTs, and that is exactly what I plan on doing. The scores are nothing but numbers, so it is pretty easy to beat the system. GPA is also a joke, because anything above a 3.5 is hard to distinguish between different districts. Every district has a different method of calculating GPA, so the number doesn't say much to colleges. In terms of extra-curricular activities, I do not participate in many activities that go through the school, because they are not aligned with my own passions. I believe students should choose activities that display their passions and demonstrate leadership. Students should also have a strong impact in the community, because these are the people that will be successful in their lives. Colleges want people that are both smart and driven to achieve success.

The issue I've been having is that I have stopped being myself. I am basically coaching myself for something that has no relevance to my own life, other than the fact that I can get into certain colleges. I do not believe in doing activities I don't enjoy, just for the credit. Students should be driven to learn, and not pressured to learn by threats like grades and college admissions. They should learn the core subjects to be successful in life, but think beyond just the classroom. They need to learn to think for themselves and be creative. The issue with the education system right now is that students are taught to model their teachers. They learn everything that is taught in the class, but they never think for themselves or come up with their own ideas. Colleges are currently measuring students' intelligence through standardized methods which means everything is based on the numbers, so as long as students can take information in and regurgitate, they will get into the college they want. The competitive colleges have such a high volume of applicants that they must use some sort of formula and base their decision off test scores, GPA and class rank. This means that smart, driven individuals that have significant impact in society, but may not measure up with the student that memorizes everything and learns to beat the system and return stellar test scores will be cut out by these filters the colleges use. They may be better students, but they will not get the chance to get into these colleges. The education system is completely flawed, but the issue is one of efficiency. If there are too many applications, there needs to be a quick way to cut out all the junk, and the easiest way to do that is to look at the numbers.

Posted in 5 comments Posted by Umang Patel at 8:15 PM  

The magic number is 150. It is the tipping point between groups that work effectively and ones that don't. Why 150?

The brain has a limited amount of space to store certain kinds of information. This limit is called the channel capacity. Phone numbers are seven digits because the human mind can remember up to seven digits before they start making mistakes, so their channel capacity for information is up to seven numbers in one group. The same concept applies to social and emotional relationships. Humans have the capacity to hold a strong relationship with a limited number of people. This limit is determined by the size of a particular part of the brain called the neocortex. A British anthropologist by the name of Robin Dunbar came up with a ratio between the size of the neocortex and the social channel capacity of a living being. When Dunbar plugged the ratio into the equation, he found that the social channel capacity for homo sapiens including humans was 147.5, or about 150. This means that the maximum number of people we can have a genuine social relationship with is 150. Beyond that, our friends are just acquaintances, but we don't truly know them well. Gladwell says that "The rule of 15o suggests that the size of a group is another one of those subtle contextual factors that can make a big difference" (182).

So humans can have a maximum of 15o close relationships with others, but how does this have to do with an idea tipping and turning into an epidemic? To find the answer to that Gladwell writes of a case study done at Gore and Associates, the company that manufacturers GoreTex fabric and Glide dental floss. Gore does not have any bosses or positions within the company. Everyone in the company is an "associate" of equal importance. The only way this is possible is by creating a community small enough to create loyalty. They abide to the rule of 150 by capping all their operations to 150 employees. When they reach this limit, they create a new plant and have a completely different team working together. Since every employee knows the other employees working in the company, this creates a sense of peer pressure to get your work done right. Employees are encouraged to work hard because what they do matters. People know them personally, so they can't get away with doing something and not being noticed.

People can draw many parallels between Linworth and Gore and Associates. Linworth is a small community with just over 150 students, so almost everyone knows everyone else. There is also a sense of social responsibility within the community, so people can't get away with doing things anonymously. At Worthington Kilbourne I have caught myself on numerous occasions, doing the minimum necessary because I know none of the teachers really know. At Linworth I truly need to work hard because all my teachers are close enough that I know that my work ethic can be seen even when I'm outside the classroom. And with class sizes as small as they are, I can't be that kid that sits in the back of the classroom going unnoticed, texting people with his cell phone. There is a real sense of equality at Linworth because the teachers do not hold themselves in a higher position than the students, and at town meeting, their vote is worth the same as any student's vote. Also, teachers and students are both called by their first names, so there is nothing to distinguish teachers and students. Everyone is treated equally.

One of the biggest advantages companies, organizations and groups can tap into by following the rule of 150 is the ability to collaborate and learn from each other. Everyone has their own memories, but many of the memories people have are stored outside of their own mind. Other people hold certain details which provoke your own memory. Your mind puts the bits and pieces of a scene together to give you the memory you think you have. Every person picks up on different things, and when people know each other well, they can rely on each other to remember things because they know who remembers what kinds of things. This allows people to remember specific things and collaborate with others to recall further information. Since the mind has a certain capacity to remember things, the more information you can get from others, the more room you have to remember new unique things. As a group, this allows people to learn new things and rely on others to fill in details that they don't remember as closely. Once the group size passes 150 though, people don't know each other well enough to know exactly who knows what, and they are forced to use up their own memory.

Posted in 0 comments Posted by Umang Patel at 1:01 AM