Molly can’t sleep because she doesn’t know whether she should drop AP chemistry. Leo hopes to get into an Ivy League college, but he fears losing touch with his Dominican roots. Michael thinks a lot about the dazzling academic success of his older sister as he tries to find his own path to college. Lindsay gets three or four envelopes from colleges each day, yet she wonders if she should go away to college at all, because of her mother’s illness.
These four students star in In 500 Words or Less, a documentary film about the admissions process. The film, which is scheduled for release in May, captures the lives of four families in suburban New Jersey; Yonkers, N.Y.; Atlanta; and the Virginia suburbs of Washington, D.C. It reveals the gut-churning anxiety of the application process, at least for those students who apply to super-selective colleges (all four here fit the bill). It captures the tense, lonely feeling of waiting for the mail carrier to deliver an envelope containing an acceptance or a rejection. And it shows teenagers staggering under the two-ton weight of expectations— their parents’ as well as their own.
If you’re allergic to the Ivy League, be warned. There is plenty of hand-wringing here over such questions as whether Princeton University’s admissions office would prefer to see a so-so grade in an AP course or a top grade in a non-AP course. At one point, one mother tells her daughter: “No decisions are made until Princeton is heard from!” Yikes.
Nonetheless, there are several scenes that cut to the bone of what all sorts of families experience, regardless of the colleges they consider. A memorable moment comes after one student learns that a prominent university has placed him on the waiting list. His disappointed mother describes what the process has taught the family: “Agendas are operating beyond your agenda.” It’s as insightful a comment as you’ll ever hear about the dynamics of college admissions.
On Tuesday, I talked to Alston Gardner, who worked on the project with his wife, Barbara Lee, the executive producer, and Molly Fowler, the director. Mr. Gardner, a partner in an Atlanta-based private equity firm, is also a member of the Board of Trustees at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Q. Each of these students ends up at a very selective college. How did the students in the film end up there?
A. We followed nine high-school seniors. The four in the film ended up being four going to elite schools. That was not our original intent, but those just turned out to be the four best stories. In a sense, the schools they go to are really a distraction. The real issue in this film is defining who you are and where you want to be, and navigating this whole process. Ultimately, it’s the relationship between the parent and child as they go through this. Some people have said to us, “I wish you had made it broader,” but I think that’s missing the point.
Q. You followed students around for months and months. During that time, something unexpected must have happened. Tell me about one of those moments.
A. With all nine students, we saw them continually making some pretty big mistakes. As a documentary filmmaker, you’re really obligated not to interfere in the story. There were numerous times where I wanted to help Leo, because his family just didn’t have the context to help him.
One of the students we filmed wanted to follow a boyfriend who was a year older and in college. Her parents, who were divorced, got in this big conflict right in front of us. Our director wanted to give the parents and the kids advice, and she really had to hold off on that.
Another kid—his parents barely spoke English and picked mushrooms outside of Philadelphia—-applied to Harvard, Princeton, and Yale, and he got into all three. The father was talking to the director and, in his broken English, said, “How am I going to afford this?” Our director said, in her broken Spanish, “Don’t worry, your son will have a full scholarship.” The man fell to his knees, weeping.
Q. What did you learn from this film?
A. For the most part, that you’ll be happy wherever you end up. The biggest thing is that the parents shown in this film often create a level of pressure that just doesn’t need to be there. That was the shocking thing to me. I’m not sure my parents even knew where I applied. They just weren’t engaged in the process at all. Now, unfortunately, the norm is much more like Molly’s mom. Our experience is that this is not a function of the elite status of the schools or the socioeconomic status of the families.
Q. Much of this film reveals what’s difficult about the admissions process. But what’s good about it? Is there something good that happens to students as they pass through this threshold?
A. Despite the stress of the process, it generally turns out OK for most students. The bad news is this process is way more stressful than it needs to be. … Parents want to make this process rational and efficient, and they want to drive it. The reality is, students will often make a decision that’s more emotional than anything else.
