The “Throw Out the College Application System” article was written by Adam Grant on October 4, 2014 in The New York Times. The article is centered on the poor performing or expired college application system. He argues that the time for formal application for vacancies in colleges is long gone. Good grades are not an assurance for excellence in life. They just define the academic prowess of the individual.
It is a major concern how the old college application system recommends certain grades for the applicants. To some extent, the system looks like discouragement to the most of the people. Academic knowledge is not a measure for success. The A and B students have been favored at the place of the C student who may not hold the academic significance but got talents.
The colleges must adopt necessary ways to gather adequate information regarding candidates. They must seek to understand the uniqueness that a student may hold apart from the academic knowledge. There are various examples of successful business people who were not outstanding performers in school. Some of the most successful individuals are school dropouts but were talented in carrying out certain activities.
The centers may go through the academic strength of an individual as well as other achievements to evaluate the best position for the individual. Business centers must be set to understand the young people with business acumen. They may be the people who will revolutionize the business world. Psychologists may be hired by the government to assist the students in realizing their potential through exposure to extensive thoughts and reasoning in the centers.
The assessment centers must be governed in such a way that they do not promote the continuity of the poor college application techniques. Necessary facilities are core to ensure the achievement of the necessary objectives of the assessment centers.
Through the centers, the recommendation letters, which are sometimes influenced by favor, will have no room. Instead, people will focus on merit based on one’s prowess in a certain field. It will be extensively difficult to inform the colleges to adopt the system as they find it impractical and unfavorable.
The assessment centers are not cheap facilities. They involve extensive financial requirements that are difficult to put up with by many institutions. It may be expensive to set the system and make it function accordingly. The institution will have to hire experts in different fields, which may be a bit hard since the experts may be expensive. Therefore, funding the assessment facilities within colleges requires special intervention.
It is recognizable that different institutions have different capabilities. Some of the institutions can setup very expensive and well equipped facilities while others cannot manage the task. There must be a balance on how the various colleges apply the assessment centers. However, it would be recommendable to have a common assessment center for colleges that would assist in handling the tough tasks of identifying and considering the various applications that students are likely to make.
The change from the outdated college application system is a sign of a developing nation that recognizes the potential of all the people. The assessment centers have proven to be significant through the number of professionals and businesspersons they have developed. Education is essential but should not be the only definition of one’s success in life.
