A growing number of colleges are allowing would-be students to use fast-track applications, and in some cases that means that all a high school senior needs to do put a signature on the page. Application done. No forms to fill in, no recommendations to gather, no application fee, no essay. Just sign here.
I’m not sure what this says about the caliber of students the schools are trying to attract. If you can’t be bothered to fill out some forms, how bad could you really want to go to that university—and, if you’re accepted, how motivated do you think you’ll be to actually attend classes?
Regardless, you can see the obvious attraction to high school kids who dread the application process. These no-hassle applications are run by a marketing company that employs many veterans of the direct mail campaign biz, as the NY Times writes:
More than 100 other colleges and universities paid the same marketing company to send out variations of these fast-track applications last fall, more than a five-fold jump since 2006. Some have spent upward of $1 million on their application campaigns, and many have seen their applicant pools double or even triple in the last two years.
Some counselors are not exactly fans of the speedy, dumbed-down process:
Asked about the proliferation of such mailings, Robert Bardwell, a college counselor at Monson High School in western Massachusetts, said: “It’s disheartening that schools have to resort to this. I think they’re dealing with teenagers who don’t know what they want. I worry that they are applying just because it’s free, rather than that they think this might be the school for them.”
If a high school student is willing to put a little more work into the college hunt—and also, God forbid, pay application fees—SmartMoney lists some steps to take to avoid common errors, meet the required deadlines, and how to cope is some part of the application is incomplete.
Even when other people are involved in the application process, it’s up to the student to keep on top of things:
Several crucial components of a student’s application are sent in by other parties. The guidance counselor’s office will submit a student’s high school transcript to the colleges, the College Board submits SAT scores (assuming they’re notified of the colleges a student is applying to), and teachers and guidance counselors send letters of recommendation. In most cases, if these components are late, they won’t immediately derail a student’s application, but it’s the student’s responsibility to confirm that their guidance counselor and teachers have sent in everything.
Related:
Gearing Up for College Applications? Fees Are Being Waived If You Apply Online