Bradshaw: Who really reads your college application?

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Every fall, anxious parents and high-school seniors imagine the admissions offices at America’s elite universities as secret chambers of alumni zealots guarding the gates of privilege.

It’s a persistent myth — that Harvard only hires Harvard graduates, and that other top colleges fill their committees with loyal insiders who perpetuate an old network of influence. It’s a comforting illusion for some and a discouraging one for others.

But it isn’t true.

The reality is both less conspiratorial and far more professional. At these schools, the people who read and vote on applications come from wildly different backgrounds. They are trained admissions officers, faculty members, and deans who evaluate thousands of files each year according to prec