Back in senior year of high school, when I saw that big white-and-red envelope with ‘Congratulations!’ across the front, I started to jump up and down.

It was to my surprise, then, that at Stanford’s Admit Weekend I found myself on the brink of going to another school I didn’t particularly like. I know I made the right decision to come to Stanford, but Admit Weekend was one of the worst experiences of my life. Many fellow ProFros, I have learned, shared this experience. Says one friend at Stanford, “I absolutely hated Admit Weekend. I think the ‘Camp Stanford’ quality of admit weekend was a huge turn-off.” Another student told me she wanted to go to Stanford her whole life and Admit Weekend nearly convinced her against it.

In 2004, Sarah Ball published an article in the Washington Post attacking Stanford’s Admit Weekend. This article attracted a great deal of negative publicity for Stanford. Ball, who declined to be interviewed for this column, criticized the “glitzy packaging, superficial presentation and the ever-peppy salespeople” and the immediate sorting of students into different minority, gender and sexual orientation groups. This disillusioned her so much that she chose to go to Duke. My experience at Admit Weekend two years later was similar.

Ball’s editorial touched a nerve at Stanford, and the negative publicity did induce some superficial reforms to Admit Weekend. But as the sting of Ball’s editorial fades, Admit Weekend has again become what she and other students hated so much. Ball criticized the sorting of students into ethnic groups almost immediately upon arrival, observing, “various ethnic groups are encouraged to stick to their own.” The number of class-wide events is frighteningly small, while the number of events targeted at narrow groups of students is growing.

This year’s iteration also had at least ten hours of dorm programming. One’s experience at Admit Weekend is remarkably dependent on his assigned dorm, which limits interaction with students outside the 10-30 others assigned to the same residence as you. The attitude of the HoHo’s (most of whom seem like RA’s-in-training) can be anywhere from “peppy” to “terrifyingly enthusiastic.” Admit Weekend should give prospective students an opportunity to meet as many others ProFros as possible. Instead, HoHo’s seem intent on recreating their own insular dorm experience at NSO, replete with flags.

If Stanford wants to attract a more diverse range of students, Admit Weekend needs serious reform. Instead of the rah-rah boosterism of dorm cheers and matching t-shirts, we should give ProFros an ample amount of time to interact with students uninfected with rabid enthusiasm. Dorm-specific events should give way to more class-wide events so students can meet hundreds, rather than tens, of their peers.

While the parents are shuttled off to Palo Alto for a fine Chinese or Italian meal, students are in their third hour of icebreakers back at the dorm. There is no organized system for students to get to Palo Alto even once during their stay. Students are not encouraged to go. Ridiculous. Insane.

Admit Weekend suffers from some limitations that prevent it from portraying a totally accurate picture. Pretending that college doesn’t have alcohol, for example, is a huge impediment to giving students a picture of what Stanford is really like. As another friend said of the generally egregious and egregiously sober “HoHoPalooza,” “It was one glaring example of how much Stanford invests to convince its admits that it has a social atmosphere, but it reeks of trying too hard. Admits ... grind with random 18-year olds for 3 hours. Perhaps it’s meant as a preview of the social scene that awaits.”

One Admit Weekend coordinator, speaking about students who don’t fit in at Admit Weekend, suggested, “We don’t want them anyway” or “they don’t belong here,” a response that seems to be shared by many students. To suggest that some students who were admitted don’t belong at Stanford smacks of the insularity and arrogance that many students at Admit Weekend find so unattractive. Students that don’t buy the “Camp Stanford” atmosphere might not pick Stanford because they are so put off by the lack of seriousness. Stanford is serious about academics and achievement and careers; to pretend otherwise to make the school seem more fun is dishonest.

Admit Weekend is run by students who love Stanford and can’t seriously imagine that ProFros would want to go elsewhere. Instead of giving students the information to make a good choice between colleges, Admit Weekend seems wholly focused on making Stanford seem great to students who already are committed. But some are considering other prestigious schools, and don’t we want those students too? The planners and organizers of Admit Weekend need to recognize that some high school seniors have to make a difficult decision and must be willing to engage those students on the merits of that decision.

Admit Weekend forces on students a dominant image of Stanford, or what the organizers and involved administrators think Stanford is. By putting off some students, Stanford is sacrificing diversity for the uniformity of Camp Stanford.

Stuart Baimel is pleased to induct Admit Weekend into the Insane Club, along with Ron Paul and the Olympics. Want to apply for the club? E-mail Stuart Baimel, President and Commander-in-Chief, at sbaimel "at" stanford.edu.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=807271&forum_id=1#9716289)

Replies to Stu's post were negative, as might be expected.

Then there was THIS column, too:

http://daily.stanford.edu/article/2008/4/25/resoundingMediocrity

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=807271&forum_id=1#9716426)

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=807271&forum_id=1#9720423)