It is different than it was a generation ago. The students are more accomplished, but I think we've lost something, too. We're approaching the point where it will become counterproductive for their college experience and their life experience. Five or six years ago, UNC-CH admissions officers noticed that the level of stress among applicants seemed to increase, said Jerry Lucido, associate provost and director of admissions. Across the country and in the Triangle, parents began paying education consultants to help their children get into the right school.
Parents tend to live overprogrammed lives, and it filters down to kids.
He estimated that he'll have written a dozen essays before he is done. One scholarship application consisted only of a box that students could manipulate however they wished. They knew they had to do different things to be desirable, to get into colleges. Colleges should be more concerned about who you are as a person. There are the occasional stories of students who do community service just to pad their resumes and parents who fill out application paperwork for their children.