MIT Admissions

Marilee Jones, the dean of admissions of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, resigned after admitting that she fabricated her academic credentials. In a recent book, Ms. Jones warns stressed-out students competing for admission to elite colleges to calm down and stop trying to be perfect. It is, of course, more than a bit ironic that given her lack of even a baccalurate degree, no academic institution would have considered Jones for her present job.

Yesterday, my youngest son competed in a district-wide math competition for the gifted, in which he placed sixth. My buttons were popping when I saw Our Boy collect his medal and also a third-place trophy for the school's team. But I perceived that he may have been disappointed that he didn't do better, given his strong drive to excel. I asked him about that, and it turns out that he was happy where he was and I was happy where he was in the rankings.

I'm not unsympathetic to the thrust of Jones' desire to reduce student and parental anxiety over academic performance. On the other hand, as her own experience shows, it is false to say that grades, scores, and degrees don't matter. They do matter, as they open doors to future opportunities that would otherwise be closed.

I tell my boys that I ask only one thing: that they do their very best. If their very best is an average grade, that's fine to me. On the other hand, they also realize that in many respects they are not average and thusly they need to make the corrsponding effort. Both of them now get top grades and, more importantly to me, their motivation in getting those grades is inner-driven and reflects a genuine love of learning for its own sake.