Questions and Admissions: Reflections on 100,000

WritteninalivelyandaccessiblemannerbyaformerDeanofUndergraduateAdmissionsatStanfordUniversity，thisbookwillenlightenprospectivecollegeapplicantsandtheirparents，teachers，andguidancecounselors-aswellasinterestedfacultyandalumni-aboutmanyofthepractical，fundamental，philosophical，andethicalissuesinvolvedintheselectionofanycollegefreshmanclass.AlthoughitisafirsthandaccountoftheprocessforselectingundergraduatesatStanfordbetween1984and1991，thediscussionisnotlimitedtotheStanfordexperience.Mostofthetopicscoveredarerelevanttotheproceduresfollowedinmanyfour-yearcollegesthroughouttheUnitedStates.Therearesectionsdevotedtotheuseandabuseofstandardizedtestsandtospecialconsiderationssuchasextracurriculartalents，alumniparentsandsiblings，anddonors;andonechapterconsidersvariousethicaldilemmas，notablythepossibilityofdishonestybyapplicantsandhighschoolandcollegeadmissionsofficials.Twochaptersdealindetailwithsubjectsthatfrequentlyengenderpassionatecontroversyanddeepmisunderstandings：theunderlyingphilosophicalissuesandpracticalapplicationsofaffirmativeactionpoliciesandthemultitudeofproblemsassociatedwithvarsityathletics.Thoughthebookisnotabout"howtogetinto"Stanfordoranyothercollegeoruniversity，theinformationpresentedwillinevitablybehelpfultoallthoseconcernedwiththeadmissionsprocess.