[INTERVIEW] College admission is not prize to be won

Becky Munsterer Sabky, a former director of international admissions at Dartmouth College and the author of the 2021 book, "Valedictorians at the Gate: Standing Out, Getting In, and Staying Sane While Applying to College" / Courtesy of Becky Munsterer Sabky

Former IVY League admissions officer regrets students have no time to wander, think amid the rat race for top-ranked universities

By Kang Hyun-kyung

Becky Munsterer Sabky's 2021 book, titled "Valedictorians at The Gate: Standing Out, Getting In, and Staying Sane While Applying to College," gives answers to the most sought-after question from some Korean parents about how prestigious U.S. universities select their students.

Delving into what kinds of students top-tier universities like Dartmouth are looking for and how they are chosen, the author sheds light on who got in and why.

The book is her account of what happens behind closed doors when the selection committee members sit down to review each applicant's essays, recommendations and files related to their extracurricular activities.

Although written mostly for American readers, Sabky's book resonates with Koreans at this time when online campaigns were initiated by some Korean Americans to pressure in vain the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) to reconsider its decision to admit Justice Minister Han Dong-hoon's daughter. They accused her of plagiarism, calling her a cheater, although the allegations have not been verified.

In response, MIT stood by its initial decision and showed no signs of reversing its offer to the younger Han.

The Korean public's reactions to media reports about the Korean American women's online campaign are poles apart. Some are sympathetic, while some raised their eyebrows at their collective action to influence U.S. universities and said they went too far.

Sabky, a former director of international admissions at Dartmouth College, said universities handle such allegations differently, implying that allegations without hard evidence are unlikely to influence U.S. universities to reverse their decisions.

"In my experience, when I worked in college admissions, deans and directors were very thoughtful in regard to outsider commentary," she said in a recent email interview with The Korea Times. "While all materials were reviewed, they would handle each case individually and with care. Typically, tangible evidence was helpful if an admissions committee was to re-review a case. Again, each case was individual."

Sabky regrets the rat-race experiences many students are going through during their high school years with their single-minded goal of getting into prestigious universities. Students have no free time to be wanderers or thinkers as everyone is trying to stand out for college admissions.

"In general, I tell parents that they should set an example for their children by encouraging them to focus on high school for the sake of high school and not make college admission the prize," she said. "The prize should be education, regardless of where it happens."

She encouraged students to apply to "their schools," rather than chasing rankings.

"My best advice to students is to not focus on only the Ivies," she said. "There are so many wonderful colleges and universities in the United States. Focusing on just the Ivies is missing the point. A student should apply to a school which is a good fit."

Sabky had her first-hand experience with Koreans' craze for top-ranked U.S. universities when she visited the country three times in 2006, 2008 and 2010.

During those trips, she met students, their families and school administrators and realized that Korean students were incredibly interested in attending schools in the U.S., including the Ivy League schools.

"Recruiting on a group trip in Seoul was the closest I'd feel to being a rock star. Students were maniacal about face time with us," she recalled in her book. "Yale was the Paul McCartney of our travel group, with a never-ending line of people just waiting to say hello. Dartmouth was more of a Ringo."

Sabky said international students find it harder to get in, as the international admissions process at Dartmouth was more competitive than the domestic process.

"During my time on campus, our international admission rate was around 2 percent. On average, we received around 4,000 applications from students with foreign citizenship," she said.

She said the selection criteria between U.S. and international students are slightly different. While universities focus on the overall strengths of U.S. applicants, she said test scores carry greater weight with international application reviews as they help to confirm a student's language comprehension and overall academic preparedness for the college.

Cover of "Valedictorians at the Gate: Standing Out, Getting In, and Staying Sane While Applying to College" / Courtesy of Becky Munsterer Sabky

"Valedictorians at the Gate: Standing Out, Getting In, and Staying Sane While Applying to College" explains why some strong candidates with perfect SAT scores and GPAs with impressive extracurricular activities failed to make the cut, a question that many college admission coaches have tried to answer.

Sabky said schools look at the "overall strengths" of applicants, rather than focusing on single factors such as scores or GPA.

Her book untangles how political consideration and affirmative action can affect the selection process.

"After every applicant was reviewed, we'd have the chance to tinker with the class to ensure our goals were met," her book reads. "If our profile was low on parochial students, we'd re-review applicants from the Academy of St. Someone. If we needed first-generation students, those without college-educated parents might become swapped for those whose parents had multiple degrees."

The last-minute tinkering process gives a clue as to why college admissions are sometimes seen by outsiders as being random as opposed to being convincing. It so happens that applicants considered very competitive are eliminated in the selection process, while those who are initially viewed as the ones with lesser chances are admitted.

Sabky describes college admissions as a "business."

"There can be (and are) tens of thousands of students standing at any one college gate. But in creating a class, admissions officers make decisions based on the overall strengths, needs and statistics of their own existing applicant pool," her book reads.

She hinted that the selection of students is related to the interest of the college itself.

"There are pressures to strengthen the quantitative data of the class," she said. "There is a tension to add to the community that already exists on a campus. There's a concern to select applicants whose tangible and intangible attributes would best enhance the college's own reputation, stature, and profile. A competitive college selection process is based on what's best for the college. Not what's best for the applicant."