It is difficult to ignore the new changes surfacing in colleges and universities. Admission to the Ivy League and other top colleges is now more challenging and competitive than ever before. Acceptance rates are actually dipping into the single digits. ‘Early action’ and ‘early decision’ are no longer alternatives for highly committed students; they are strategic options manipulated to increase chances of admission. The College Board is adding to the pressure by revamping the SAT to include a third section. The middle class can no longer afford the endlessly rising costs of college. Harvard’s solution is leaving other colleges, without a 35 billion dollar endowment, in dismay. Stanford, Harvard, Yale and others are looking to expand their class size for the first time in decades to accommodate obvious realities. And don’t forget to note the rise of college-level education over the internet, which will undoubtedly gain credibility as learning at a distance becomes commonplace in the new ‘flat world’.

To be fair, everyone saw this coming; it’s the legacy of the Baby Boomers. They control the nation’s wealth, and all of them want their child(ren) at the head of the pack. Of course their child(ren) must go to Harvard, Yale, MIT, or Stanford! Isn’t there an aura of guaranteed success evoked by these names? Remarkable schools, such as the University of Chicago, are often passed over in favor of the Ivy League. (This, even though UChicago commands a higher ranking than Dartmouth, Brown, and Cornell in the US News 2008 rankings.) That is the power of having a brand name.

With this rising uncertainty over the future of higher education, colleges and universities should be setting a clear course. Yet, the overwhelming response is silence. How will admission officers handle the new SAT I section in evaluating applicants? The response is confused and ambivalent. The sad truth is that, along with the students, they are figuring it out as they go. The College Board is a private business, and colleges are at their mercy. Colleges are facing pressure from more directions than ever before, and the students are left paying the price. The most common question asked of a Junior or Senior is “where are you going to college?”, and the futile quest to find an answer is leaving teenagers stressed, confused, and desperate for help.

Wherever there is opportunity, there are opportunists. That is the beauty of America. Consultants, counselors, and ‘coaches’ are coming en masse to help students craving an edge in the highly competitive game of college admissions. Many of these consultants are wonderfully helpful guides through the process, helping to make college searching fun and far less stressful for the youth. Of course, in parallel to the highly secretive nature of the college admission officers, college admissions consultants are operating in stealth to carefully craft the perfect student package. It is a trade that remains secretive by necessity; admission offices would not trust applications they know have been worked over by consultants.

Secrecy is the mother of mischief. Everyone would agree that writing an essay for a student to submit is wrong. But what about suggesting an idea for an essay that frames a student’s extracurriculars succinctly and persuasively? That doesn’t sound so bad. How about editing an essay so it is grammatically correct and sounds more mature? At least the original idea was the student’s. Oh wait, the consultant suggested the paper topic. It is not difficult to see how ethical considerations can become muddled.

It would be wrong to simply condemn admissions consultants. After all, there is a very real pressure upon them. Parents are paying thousands, if not tens of thousands, for the consultant to get their child into the Ivy League, or other top schools. Failure means angry clients, and few prospects for future business. Why not bend the rules a little?

The problem, I believe, is a lack of information. Information is power, especially in a process as secretive and misunderstood as college admissions. It is the confusion arising from rumors, myths, and lack of communication that is creating such a chaotic world for college applicants. Both students and colleges are victims.

This blog will chronicle an attempt to sort out the mess, to understand the strategies used by college consultants to win over the system, and, hopefully, to organize a debate over solutions. I will begin by organizing the arguments I have encountered in print, and providing reviews of top books I think an informed reader should, or should not (depending on the review), have in their library. From there, I will bring current information from within an Ivy League admission office to the table to answer the most common questions I have found on relevant blogs and forums, and perhaps some stories of what an admission office is really like.