There exist several organizations which have the general template: Hello, academic high achiever. You've spent your entire life in a series of meritocratic competitions. You're socialized to seek the validation of decisionmakers above you, by hewing exactly to their published rubrics. This is gives you a powerful sense of self-worth, brings you status with your peers, and makes your parents feel like you've finally made it.
And now you're graduating from undergrad. And there's a wild, crazy world out there. And many processes in it are not judged by meritocratic competitions.
#%(& that noise. Come do our program. It's like everything you've ever done in life, except this time you'll be paid. Here's the application form, format for the essay, and description of the interview.
For a certain psychograph of young people, surrogate teachers at surrogate schools offering surrogate classes after surrogate admissions processes are incredibly compelling. (I rush to say that I fit this to the nines after graduation. My first job was an academic appointment and my second used exactly the above playbook to sell a job opportunity I would never have had any interest in as a quasi-study abroad option.)
And now you're graduating from undergrad. And there's a wild, crazy world out there. And many processes in it are not judged by meritocratic competitions.
#%(& that noise. Come do our program. It's like everything you've ever done in life, except this time you'll be paid. Here's the application form, format for the essay, and description of the interview.
For a certain psychograph of young people, surrogate teachers at surrogate schools offering surrogate classes after surrogate admissions processes are incredibly compelling. (I rush to say that I fit this to the nines after graduation. My first job was an academic appointment and my second used exactly the above playbook to sell a job opportunity I would never have had any interest in as a quasi-study abroad option.)