My girlfriend the other day asked me if I was familiar with Michelle Hernandez, and I was. She was reading this article in BusinessWeek. Michelle Hernandez was the Assistant Dean of Admissions at Dartmouth College when I was a student there. There’s even a good chance she skimmed my application

Since her days at Dartmouth College both as Assistant Dean, and student, class of ‘89, Michelle has gone on to start her on own college consulting firm. She advises students on how to get into their dream college. She boasts a 90-95% success rate on getting students in. For this, she charges over 10,000 for a weekend session. I applaud her drive, her success, and her entrepenuralship. However, I’m not a fan of the business, and not fan on a few different levels.

High end services like Hernandez consulting by virtue of its high cost is a case of those with money further advantaging themselves through money. Given that there are limited spots in selective colleges, Hernandez by giving a leg up for one kid is taking spot from another. That other kid is likely a kid who doesn’t have the means to hire someone like Michelle Hernandez.

More fundamentally, I feel that the college application process has become too competitive. Kids should get into good schools because they’re smart, work hard, have talents, and various interests. Kids should not be getting in because they’ve hired a consultant to tweak the application, nor should they pursuing different activities just to pad the resume. I feel for many high schoolers these days, what should be a relatively stress free youth is now encumbered by the pressure of getting into the right school. I don’t want to downplay the value of getting into a good school – it’s very important. However, I fear that many young kids and their parents are failing to see the forest from the trees.

As an aside, I interviewed with Michelle Hernandez to be a campus tour guide. I didn’t get the position, but found her to be a very focused individual, and am not surprised that she’s found success in her consulting business. In hindsight, given what I said during the interview, it would’ve been idiotic for her to have given me the job. In short, I didn’t exactly speak of Dartmouth in glowing terms. I expressed the issues I had with the school. I had pitched my concerns as a way I could offer prospective students a fresh take on the College. I wouldn’t have hired me if I interviewed me. The admissions office wants to hire tour guides who can sell the college atmosphere, not disparage it. While I enjoyed my time at Dartmouth, for some reason during my interview I wanted to “keep it real.” — I’m still not sure why.