What do you want in a college application? And what kind of college applications can accomplish the dual goal of predicting college success as well as capturing the uniqueness of each applicant? These are important questions to which Goucher College has come up with an innovative answer.
The common app and other application processes might leave too much out. Such applications might discount the qualities and skills a student can provide to a collegiate atmosphere. Some students find the application format so stalled that they cannot express their talents and interests.
Goucher College now provides an alternative that may be of interest to many students. The application is as follows:
- No transcript or test scores necessary
- Submit two pieces of work from high school
- Submit a two minute video discussing yourself, how you see yourself at Goucher and what you hope to gain there
Here’s the Goucher College video explaining the process and the rationale behind it:
Early comments seem split on this idea. While fitting a niche, there have been questions by critics regarding the general applicability of such a process. However, for Goucher College, a small liberal arts school interested in creating a positive, diverse, engaged student body, this may be a fantastic option for attracting students who feel overlooked and undervalued by traditional metrics. Given that such metrics, particularly standardized tests, are often weak predictors of collegiate success, Goucher College may be on to something very important for the future of college admissions.
What say you? Is this an application process you and your student would find preferable?
