My DD started filling out the Common App today. It's been 3 years since DS did it, but it only took about 5 minutes to remember why I *loathe* it. How many institutions did I attend? Where? When? What degrees? Did I ever work for a university? Where do I work? What to do when the full name of my employer won't fit in their text box? Repeat for my husband. Then more questions about my DS, who is currently in college.
None of this information should have any bearing whatsoever on how her college application is evaluated ... and if it does, then WTH kind of a process have we created? So why is all this information *required* for a completed Common Application? Because they know they can hold students' applications hostage to provide data for them to mine. Oh sure, she could get out of providing information about her parents if she listed us as, "unknown." But she can't do that, because her conscience won't let her and being dishonest on a college application is Not A Good Thing. All of this info is redundant to what is contained on the FAFSA ... they do not need it as a part of the application for admission. If she doesn't want their financial aid, she should never have to tell them anything about us at all. It should be just about her.
So aside from collectively flooding them with emails telling them to cut out the intrusive family questions and focus on the student's own information, how can we collectively revolt against this coerced invasion of privacy? Not that it will make a difference for this year's applicants, but maybe we can get them to change it for the future....
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