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Class of 2002
write a summary evaluation; recommend two ratings
based on a five-point scale for
academic achievement and extracurricular achievement, and another
"plus," "neutral" or "minus" rating for the degree of "intellectual
vitality."
Finally, the second reader recommends "admit," "deny" or "swim"; the
last designation means deferring the decision for another round.The
files are passed along to third readers and the same exercise is
repeated.
Third readings are conducted by the five most senior admission staff who
have the authority to make decisions. They also have the power to
overrule previous recommendations, based on insight gained through
experience.
During the regular reading process and, roughly, over any given week,
second readers may recommend "admit" on no more than 12 percent of the
files read, and "swim" on no more than 38 percent of the files. This
means they must recommend "deny" on at least 50 percent of the files
that have been determined to be in the top half of the applicant pool.
The winnowing process continues until the admit pool is filled. At the
end of this process, the dean and the associate dean sign off on all
offers of admission.
In theory, this sounds simple. But the process exacts a heavy toll on
readers, who must examine thousands of files apiece during the
four-month selection process from November to April. The tough decisions
admission officers face daily are best illustrated by an experiment
former admission dean Jean Fetter tried in 1985.
Fetter invited 10 highly respected professors emeriti to join in the
reading of applications. The seven who accepted were asked to read 100
files and to designate 20 to 25 percent as admits, 45 to 50 percent as
denies and the remaining 35 percent as swims.
"They put closer to 80 percent in the swim category," says Fetter. "Even
for faculty with significant experience in teaching Stanford students,
it was enormously difficult to make distinctions within a random set of
100 applicants, most of whom seemed eminently qualified to be Stanford
students."
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