Shaking the Trees: The Psychology of Collecting in U.S. Newspaper Coverage of the College Admissions Process

A frame analysis was conducted to explore themes in recent coverage by print journalists of the college application process, with special attention paid to the use by reporters of "keywords, stock phrases, stereotyped images, sources of information, and sentences that provide reinforcing clusters of facts or judgments" (Entman, p. 52) about this experience. The analysis revealed checklist, panic, hunt, and packaging frames as the experience was reduced to prospective students collecting attractive experiences and cobbling them together into a compelling package. Through these frames, journalists and the experts they consult urge students to focus solely on how their experiences will make them more attractive to universities acting clearly as collectors. All of the parties involved in the college admissions process are collectors, at least as described by journalists. Students are persuaded that they must begin their collecting early, as early as junior high school. College recruiters and admissions counselors collect worthy students for their institutions.