Post by Dr. Michele Hernandez
Thanks to some clever Stanford students, admitted students may be able to gain access to their college applications complete with admissions officers’ comments. But, that sounds easier in theory than it is in practice. Some schools actually shred files after the admissions season so you can’t gain access to information that isn’t there (and many colleges may start doing this to avoid the issue and protect their private comments).
Though the “sell” is that students will finally be able to gain a window into the admissions process, I’m not sure that’s really true. After all, when I published A is for Admission in 1997, I already took readers behind the scenes of the admissions process, including selections of readers’ comments, and this has been public for years. And then there are those very forthright admissions officers (like Mr. Guttentag at Duke) who give plenty of correct and accurate information already – if you watch his interview, I suspect you will learn almost as much as you would reading admissions reader notes, which are simply summary observations about an applicant.
As a postscript, if you signed the teacher recommendation waiver (which you should out of courtesy to your teachers) you still won’t be able to see your teacher recommendations, and corresponding admissions reader notes on those.
The big thing to note is that FERPA protection and access to your educational records comes into play in this situation when you are an admitted student. The request to see admissions officers’ notes on your application if you were denied or waitlisted (and then denied) does not come into play –and that’s MOST applicants at top tier schools like Stanford. In fact, one of the main reasons we launched our Waitlist and Deferral Analysis Package years ago is because students wanted to understand the reasons behind their waitlist or deferral decision. Ideally, colleges would email you notes letting you know exactly why you were denied or waitlisted, and you’d utilize that information in the best ways possible. FERPA protection won’t help you there, so moving to ensure your college applications and essays are in their best possible form before you submit is still your best bet!
Dr. Michele Hernández has written the best-selling books: A is for Admission, The Middle School Years, Acing the College Application and Don’t Worry You’ll Get In which she wrote with Mimi Doe. Her new book on hiking all the Northeast mountains over 4000 feet is now available on Amazon.
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One reply on “Accessing What College Admissions Officers Wrote About You”
The NYT article mentions notes “…[from] interiews…”. Are these “interviews” alumni interviews? I did not think Stanford offered (even allowed) on-campus interviews with Admissions.