Today's navel-gazing topic, to fill the time for the denizens of Installment 9, a little interesting nugget I stored away that I've been meaning to share.
Last year the admissions director of Lehigh visited D's school to talk to the juniors about college admissions from the other side. One point he made is that he's started to advise parents and students to stop thinking of applying to college as a "process" and start thinking about it as an "endeavor."
Why? "Processes" have a more predictable relationship between input and output than college admissions do these days. Those of us who remember how it worked a generation ago probably remember a much higher degree of predictability. You do "A B and C," apply to "X Y and Z," and you have a decent idea how things will turn out. You want to get a driver's license? Here's the process...
An "endeavor" or "project" is something you're trying to do, but the outcome is less sure. It's not a checklist you're checking off, it's a holistic effort. Given that factors outside an individual's control are much more at play these days, and especially so in artistic admissions, maybe thetas indeed a better way for parents to talk about it and students to think about it.
To be sure, there are processes contained within the endeavor. You want a live audition? Here's the process- record four songs fitting these criteria, upload them here, etc. But overall, it's not a process, it's a project.
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