61–70 of 71 posts
I'm married to a Deep Springer. I've been lucky to go there once, during the Centennial. Yes, they are brilliant. Yes, they are hilariously weird and counter-cultural. The college is absolutely gorgeous. I would cherish the opportunity to go again.
I made it to the final interview round in 2018 (1 of ~50). It was a delightful experience, though I was a little heartbroken when I didn't make it in. It was also the first year they were accepting women, which I suppose cut my odds in half. I believe their plan was half women this year, then all women next year, and then leave it up to the student body for future classes, but I'm not certain if they put that in plac…
Question: TASP, a related summer program, has recently gone through some painful convolutions related to race and inequality[1]. How much if at all has Deep Springs been affected by currents like this? [1] https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/arts-letters/articles/a-c...
These conversations have been live on campus for some time (80s) and continue. Though we're isolated, most conversations happening elsewhere also happen here, but, because everyone's so weird, the conversations get turned on their head or don't present in the same way in other places. Mostly it just makes the environment less reactionary. That can be frustrating for some who want change now, but, at the end of the da…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
The application committee is a group of about 10 students and 2-4 staff and faculty. By the time of the interview, everyone will have read all parts of the applicants materials. Close reading and critique still characterizes much of the interview. But in my experience, someone can have major mistakes in the essays/tests/transcript and be admitted. Sometimes the application is deeply rooted in a specific intellectual…
So if only 10 students are on this committee[1], that makes more sense. Either this has changed since the time of the author's story, or he misremembered, or exaggerated (re: saying that all 25 students, the whole student body at the time, was at his interview plus talking about his essays for days leading up to his interview). I understand that the idea isn't meant to scale up to larger schools, but it sounded like…
I agree with the other commenter here that the students probably didn't think, "this 18 y/o applicant's theories are ground breaking!!!" They probably thought, "what a crazy (but well written) essay, we gotta talk to this guy." Not clear to me if that essay was also the Jungian essay he talks about in the interview, but that gives a good indication of how students tend to approach interview questions about essays and following up on responses.
But yes, the current set up has just over a third of the student body serving on the application committee and only the application committee interviews the applicants. The student body still collectively interviews any long-term staff and faculty; one of the highlights of my time at deep springs (even if it was before I began).
I'm married to a Deep Springer. I've been lucky to go there once, during the Centennial. Yes, they are brilliant. Yes, they are hilariously weird and counter-cultural. The college is absolutely gorgeous. I would cherish the opportunity to go again.
What does countercultural actually mean? There hasn't been a universal culture since the Boomers more or less, so you need to pick something to counter.
Imagine someone went to Harvard, you'd expect that they have a classic high paying industry job.
But instead they are a farmer.
Or it's standard in the culture to be married, but the vast majority of Deep Springers are not.
I agree countercultural is overly vague. At the same time, its hard for the mainstream culture to understand what they take for granted until they come across people who are explicitly unaffected by it.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
These conversations have been live on campus for some time (80s) and continue. Though we're isolated, most conversations happening elsewhere also happen here, but, because everyone's so weird, the conversations get turned on their head or don't present in the same way in other places. Mostly it just makes the environment less reactionary. That can be frustrating for some who want change now, but, at the end of the da…
Does the college remain a pipeline to good schools? In the past, a very significant portion of the student body, some years the majority, transferred to tier-one, four-year universities (Harvard, Yale, Brown, Cornell, Cal, Chicago, Stanford). This ensured that it attracted smart and ambitious applicants who knew they were not giving up the chance to attend those schools. What is the current rate of admission to tier-…
Once US News started more heavily weighting 4-year completion rates, schools responded by attempting to select for folks who would complete in 4 years and providing more support for first and second year students. That left fewer spots for transfer into upper-level classes because of fewer dropouts / transfers-out.
Like I commented elsewhere, most students until the 60s went to Cornell to the Telluride house. That relationship was very helpful for generations of students. Deep springers still do follow this path, but much more rarely, i.e. every few years someone will go.
The stories from the modern era about a quarter or more of the class going to Harvard of UChicago are mostly gone now, although every so often an admissions director starts trying to get as many dsers as they can -- looking at you Columbia ;) But basically, top schools seem to accept about one deep springs student a year as part of their upper-level transfer class. For example, this year, harvard accepted just 14 students for upper-level transfer, including one deep springer.
So things seem to be getting harder, but the student experience here is so unique and the student quality so excellent, that they're still able gain admission to top schools despite the changing landscape (most of them get into one or more of these schools before they attend deep springs).
There has been some conversation as this has been taking place about new arrangements or additional support (e.g. 4 year scholarships, a formal relationship with another school, etc.), but at the moment, the need isn't acute enough, though vision for this aspect of the experience will be included in the next strategic plan.
Generally, the quality and curiosity of life on the ground here is what attracts great and weird students to enroll rather than a pipeline effect; applicants attached to that don't tend to make it into final class.
I'm a current student at Deep Springs College. I recently gave a Reddit AMA about the school, but I'm also happy to answer any questions here.
How many teachers are there and how long do they usually stay at the college? It seems like it would be hard to sustain much of a faculty at that size.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Does the college remain a pipeline to good schools? In the past, a very significant portion of the student body, some years the majority, transferred to tier-one, four-year universities (Harvard, Yale, Brown, Cornell, Cal, Chicago, Stanford). This ensured that it attracted smart and ambitious applicants who knew they were not giving up the chance to attend those schools. What is the current rate of admission to tier-…
The college does remain a pipeline, though the landscape of junior + senior transfers has changed. Once US News started more heavily weighting 4-year completion rates, schools responded by attempting to select for folks who would complete in 4 years and providing more support for first and second year students. That left fewer spots for transfer into upper-level classes because of fewer dropouts / transfers-out. Like…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
TASP was renamed TASS a couple years ago, and it now offers only two seminars: Critical Black Studies and Anti-Oppressive Studies. The program has been taken over by woke radicals both on its board and in the administration, which is led by Amina Omari, someone with near-zero experience in education prior to her appointment. I receive desperate emails from them asking for volunteers and financial support, which sugge…
Everything about that sounds like a SNL skit. TASS? Like really?
Earlier quoted context omitted.
What does countercultural actually mean? There hasn't been a universal culture since the Boomers more or less, so you need to pick something to counter.
Hmm, I think there are some kinds of universal cultural expectations that the Deep Springers I know have tended to defy. Imagine someone went to Harvard, you'd expect that they have a classic high paying industry job. But instead they are a farmer. Or it's standard in the culture to be married, but the vast majority of Deep Springers are not. I agree countercultural is overly vague. At the same time, its hard for the…
Actually the one Harvard Law grad I know draws anime porn.