History Main / ArtisticLicenseUniversityAdmissions

And remember, university admissions processes are different all over the world. This list is very America-centric, but some of the worst abuses of this trope are when American media try to portray foreign universities. For example, in the UK there are processes known as "pooling" and "clearing" that would be seen as massive violations of admissions policy in America. Respectively, they are: [[Main/{{Oxbridge}} Oxford and Cambridge]] applicants who were rejected being entered into a pool for another college to look at their application and offer a place, and 'clearing up the last university spots' a month prior to the start of the academic year for students who didn't apply to literally just call up universities advertising places remaining and ask for them.

* In season five of ''Series/ParksAndRecreation'', April has decided to go to vet school without any references from actual vets, any practical experience that we know of, or possibly even the mandatory prereq classes (biology, chemistry, math, and so on). This is particularly jarring because vet school is generally one of the most difficult to get into -- even more so than law schools and med schools. Kids who want to be vets need to be making decisions accordingly when they're still in ''high school''.

And remember, university admissions processes are different all over the world. This list is very America-centric, but some of the worst abuses of this trope are when American media try to portray foreign universities. For example, in the UK there are processes known as "pooling" and "clearing" that would be seen as massive violations of admissions policy in America. Respectively, they are: [[UsefulNotes/{{Oxbridge}} Oxford and Cambridge]] applicants who were rejected being entered into a pool for another college to look at their application and offer a place, and 'clearing up the last university spots' a month prior to the start of the academic year for students who didn't apply to literally just call up universities advertising places remaining and ask for them.

* Kurt and Rachel focus exclusively on the highly selective NYADA (the fictional New York Academy of Dramatic Arts) with no plan B for either of them. When Kurt initially fails to get in, he resigns himself to attending community college in Lima, as if he's not aware that Ohio has over a dozen public universities--all of which have theater programs and Kent State has a renowned fashion school--that he could have attended instead.

* ''Series/{{Glee}}''...dear gods where to start? Most maddening is how none of the kidsmeven think of going to school in Ohio, which has over a dozen public universities and several prestigious private ones.
** Kurt and Rachel focus exclusively on the highly selective NYADA (the fictional New York Academy of Dramatic Arts) with no plan B for either of them. When Kurt initially fails to get in, he resigns himself to attending community college in Lima, as if he's not aware that Ohio has over a dozen public universities--all of which have theater programs and Kent State has a renowned fashion school--that he could have attended instead.

* ''Series/{{Glee}}''...dear gods where to start?
** Kurt and Rachel focusing exclusively on the highly selective NYADA (the fictional New York Academy of Dramatic Arts) with no plan B for either of them. When Kurt initially fails to get in, he resigns himself to attending community college in Lima, as if he's not aware that Ohio has over a dozen public universities--all of which have theater programs and Kent State has a renowned fashion school--that he could have attended instead.
** Finn basing his goals on a football scholarship to Ohio State University. When that fails, his next goal is Pace University, home of ''Series/InsideTheActorsStudio,'' despite being way out of his league, which predictably fails too.
** Carmen Thibideaux, the new dean of NYADA's music department, travelling across the country to hand-pick her inaugural class. And when Rachel is initially rejected after choking during her audition, the lengths she goes to get Thibideaux to change her mind would have resulted in a restraining order in the real world.

** Lauren applying for a wrestling scholarship at Harvard, despite the fact that Ivy League schools have been prohibited from awarding athletic scholarships since at least 1945. And that's just for starters. Harvard has never sponsored women's wrestling, at least not as a varsity sport. In fact, anyone care to venture a guess as to how many NCAA Division I members had varsity wrestling programs when ''Glee'' aired its final episode in 2015? We'll make it simple for you: ''none''. It wasn't until ''2018'' that Presbyterian College, a small South Carolina school, became the first D-I member to sponsor varsity women's wrestling. (Several D-II and D-III members had previously done so, but D-III also doesn't allow athletic scholarships.) Unsurprisingly, the NCAA has yet to recognize women's wrestling as an official sport, even as an "emerging sport" for women.

** Finn basing his goals on a football scholarship to Ohio State University. When that fails, his next goal is Pace University, home of ''InsideTheActorsStudio,'' despite being way out of his league, which predictably fails too.

** Lauren applying for a wrestling scholarship at Harvard, despite the fact that Ivy League schools have been prohibited from awarding athletic scholarships since at least 1945. And that's just for starters. Harvard has never sponsored women's wrestling, at least not as a varsity sport. In fact, anyone care to venture a guess as to how many NCAA Division I members had varsity wrestling programs when ''Glee'' aired its final episode in 2015? We'll make it simple for you: ''none''. It wasn't until ''2018'' that Presbyterian College, a small South Carolina school, became the first D-I member to sponsor varsity women's wrestling. Unsurprisingly, the NCAA has yet to recognize women's wrestling as an official sport, even as an "emerging sport" for women.

** Lauren applying for a wrestling scholarship at Harvard, despite the fact that Ivy League schools have been prohibited from awarding athletic scholarships since at least 1945.

And remember, university admissions processes are different all over the world. This list is very America-centric, but some of the worst abuses of this trope are when American media try to portray foreign universities. For example, in the UK there are processes known as "pooling" and "clearing" that would be seen as massive violations of admissions policy in America. Respectively, they are: Oxford and Cambridge applicants who were rejected being entered into a pool for another college to look at their application and offer a place, and 'clearing up the last university spots' a month prior to the start of the academic year for students who didn't apply to literally just call up universities advertising places remaining and ask for them.

And remember, university admissions processes are different all over the world. This list is very America-centric, but some of the worst abuses of this trope are when American media try to portray foreign universities.

* In ''GravityFalls'', a character's admission to a prestigious university hinges entirely on a single science fair project which he presents personally to an admissions officer. When the showpiece of the project doesn't work as planned, the officer rejects the student immediately without looking at any of the student's documentation of his work or giving him a chance to explain what's wrong. Despite being an academic prodigy and a lover of science, the student in question had apparently not applied to any other good schools or even seriously considered going to college prior to receiving a leaflet from this on particular school.

* A character pulls a wacky stunt or confronts an admissions officer with a WorldOfCardboardSpeech to get into the university of their dreams. (In real life this will get you summarily rejected and possibly arrested)
* A high-ranking admissions officer or professor makes all admissions decisions personally, conducting one-on-one interviews with applicants. (Most well-known schools receive thousands to tens of thousands of applications, and direct contact between applicants and admissions officers is often discouraged to preserve the appearance of impartiality)

* A character gets into a prestigious school with terrible grades and only one reference. (Most schools require multiple references and reject incomplete applications without even looking at them.)
* A character with a decent-enough application can't get into ''any'' school, even the community colleges, for-profit schools, and state universities that admit everyone.

* A character hinges all of their hopes on one competitive scholarship and/or one highly-selective school.

IvyLeagueForEveryone is a related trope.

* A character with a decent-enough application can't get into ''any'' school, even the community colleges and state universities that admit everyone.

* A character with a decent-enough application can't get into ''any'' school, even the community colleges and state universities that admit everyone. (Community colleges are required by law to admit anyone with a high school diploma or GED)
* A school has specific, bizarre, or arbitrary admissions criteria that one couldn't reasonably expect a student to meet through regular schoolwork. (Schools want lots of applicants, because more applicants means a lower acceptance rate, which makes them look more prestigious)
* A character hinges all of their hopes on one competitive scholarship and/or one highly-selective school. (Any good high school counselor/placement officer will tell a student to have at least a Plan B)

The above scenarios can be great set-ups for drama or comedy, or convenient ways to keep the narrative moving, but all of them unrealistic, either because they require someone (the admissions office, the applicant, or some university employee) to behave in ways that would be highly impractical or even unethical in real life.

Generally, it is to either kickstart the plot of the work or to keep all the characters in the same setting after they graduate high school. IvyLeagueForEveryone is a related trope.

* A character pulls a wacky stunt to get into the university of their dreams. In real life, this is a great way to get summarily rejected.
* A high-ranking admissions officer or professor makes all admissions decisions personally, conducting one-on-one interviews with applicants. A great set-up for drama, but most schools receive far too many applications (sometimes tens of thousands) to do anything like this in real life. Many schools actually discourage direct contact between applicants and admissions officers, so as to maintain the appearance of impartiality.
* A character rushes into the admissions office to confront a high-ranking admissions officer with a WorldOfCardboardSpeech, and the admissions officer is so impressed by the character's courage that they grant the character admission. This is another great way to get yourself rejected in real life, and probably removed from the premises by campus police if you aren't getting the hint.
* A character gets into a prestigious school with terrible grades and only one reference. Most selective schools have a minimum GPA that a student needs to have to be admitted, unless there is something else really extraordinary about them, and most require multiple letters and will reject an application outright as incomplete if you don't send everything they ask for.
* A character with a decent-enough application can't get into ''any'' school, even the community colleges and state universities that admit everyone. Note that, in real life, community colleges are required by law to accept everyone who applies there as long as they have a high school diploma or GED.
* A school has specific, bizarre, or arbitrary admissions criteria. While every college's application requirements are different, there are governing bodies at work that make sure a university's entry standards are at least theoretically reachable through normal schoolwork. Ivy League universities and other such prestigious schools can have very high standards, but even ''they'' will keep it realistic. Having requirements that no one can meet means no students, bad word-of-mouth, and no money to fund anything.
* A character hinges all of their hopes on one competitive scholarship and/or one highly-selective school. Another great set-up for drama, but prospective students in real life are ''always'' advised to have at least a Plan B, preferably a Plan C as well.

* A high-ranking admissions officer or professor makes all admissions decisions personally, conducting one-on-one interviews with applicants. A great set-up for drama, but unless a school has an extremely small applicant pool, they simply wouldn't have time for such a set-up to be practical. Real-life universities might get tens of thousands of applications per year.

* A character gets into a prestigious school with terrible grades and only one reference. Most schools have a minimum Grade Point Average (GPA) that they want applicants to hit before they'll even be considered, which ''might'' be able to be fudged with extracurricular activities and/or charity work, or if the student is part of a demographic group the school is ''particularly'' looking for. Also, most universities would want multiple references, so you can't just use your friends or that teacher who likes you.

* In ''Series/TheFreshPrinceOfBelAir'' episode "Alma Matter," Will meets with a Princeton recruiter after Uncle Phil insists. He flat-out states that he doesn't care about Princeton and is only there under duress. The recruiter isn't surprised: "Your scores are mediocre, your grades would make an impressive batting average, and your extracurricular activities are non-existent. Unless one counts detention, in which case you lead the league." On his way out, just for giggles, Will grabs a Rubik's cube off the desk and solves it in seconds. The recruiter ends up begging him to attend Princeton. Desperate to get in himself, Carlton tries acting like Will at his own interview, which...doesn't impress the recruiter: "Mr. Banks, you're nothing like what I expected. Your scores are topnotch and your grades couldn't be better...Unfortunately, at this time Princeton doesn't accept the clinically insane...Close the door on your way out." So Will, who's a total screwup, gets in because of a Rubik's cube, and Carlton, who's spent his entire academic career getting top grades and participating in carefully selected extracurricular activities, is blown off by ''acting exactly like Will.''

* In ''Series/BeverlyHills90210'', Steve gets into CaliforniaUniversity (which, in-universe, ''is'' the actual name), despite his terrible grades, his [[BookDumb book dumb]] personality, and he seemed to have only one reference from his principal. Additionally, he broke into his school's computer system to change his grades (admittedly with the help with a [[HollywoodNerd nerdy]] [[BlackAndNerdy freshman]]) and was actually ''expelled'' from West Beverly High for the incident (albeit temporarily). And by the frequent remarks by other characters, it seems as if California University was a very hard school to get into.
** Ditto for non-studious students like Kelly, Donna, and Brenda. FridgeBrilliance could be applied, if you consider the fact that many of them are wealthy (hence connections, including Steve's father being an alumni of California University), though in reality, it may take more than just connections to get into the school they want.

* In season five of ''Series/ParksAndRecreation'', April has decided to go to vet school without any references from actual vets, any practical experience that we know of, or possibly even the mandatory prereq classes (biology, chemistry, math, and so on). This is particularly jarring because vet school is generally one of the most difficult to get into -- even more so than law schools and med schools.

** Kurt and Rachel focusing exclusively on the highly selective NYADA (the fictional New York Academy of Dramatic Arts) with no plan B for either of them. When Kurt initially fails to get in, he resigns himself to attending community college in Lima, as if he's not aware that Ohio has over a dozen public universities--all of which have theater programs and Kent State has a renown fashion school--that he could have attended instead.
** Finn basing his goals on a football scholarship to The Ohio State University. When that fails, his next goal is Pace University, home of ''InsideTheActorsStudio,'' despite being way out of his league, which predictably fails too.

* Rory from ''Series/GilmoreGirls'' gets into Harvard, Princeton, and Yale. While she's portrayed as very smart, the likelihood of that happening is virtually nonexistent while her equally smart friend does not get in despite having more outside activities, volunteer work, etc.
** Paris was rejected from Harvard because of her behavior in the interview. Also, she doesn't make valedictorian or salutatorian, so her final GPA is lower than Rory's and a boy who transferred schools twice in one year and took time off to perform ''Theatre/IntoTheWoods'' on Broadway (it's probably still exceptionally high, since she would have been complaining otherwise, but it still casts some doubts on her academic performance). Rory was valedictorian, gained some extracurriculars/volunteer work, and is charming enough to wow her interviewers.

In real life, university admissions are a long, tedious process, and involve a lot of waiting, a lot of hard work, and even more hoping and praying. In fiction, it involves a lot of high jinks and chicanery.

* A high-ranking admissions officer or professor makes all admissions decisions personally, conducting one-on-one interviews with applicants. A great set-up for drama, but unless a school has a relatively small applicant pool, they simply wouldn't have time for such a set-up to be practical. Real-life universities might get tens of thousands of applications per year.

* A character gets into a prestigious school with terrible grades and only one reference. Most schools have a minimum Grade Point Average (GPA) that they want applicants to hit before they'll even consider said applicants, which ''might'' be able to be fudged with extracurricular activities and/or charity work. Also, most universities would want multiple references, so you can't just use your friends or that teacher who likes you.
* A character with a decent enough application can't get into ''any'' school, even the community colleges and state universities that admit everyone. Note that in real life, community colleges are required by law to accept everyone who applies there as long as they have a high school diploma or GED.

* In ''Film/{{Legally Blonde}}'', Elle Woods submits a video application, rather than the requested essay, allowing the Harvard Law admissions committee to see how pretty she is. It works. [[SubvertedTrope Then again, her near-perfect LSAT scores and 4.0 GPA would have gotten her in anyway.]]
** Actual college admissions officers have commented that given her otherwise near perfect academics, the video would have made her seem *different* than the piles of personality challenged resumes they wade through, thus assuring her admittance.
* ''Film/{{Accepted}}'' plays with this, since the whole student body of the fake school was rejected for one reason or another from legitimate universities but one of the characters mentions throughout the film just how illegal and crazy their actions are. [[spoiler:In the end, it saves them, since he applied for accreditation in case something happened.]]

** Hiro goes through way too much trouble to get into SF Institute of Technology. Being an academics and robotics prodigy, they would be begging him to join.

* Naturally a film titled ''Film/HowIGotIntoCollege'' makes use of several of these.
* At the end of ''{{Film/Undefeatable}}'' the main character Kristy reveals she enrolled a bunch of friendly neighborhood gang kids to college, completely without their knowledge, which is played for laughs. Then she says classes start tomorrow. Presuming they all had good enough previous school records, there's at least a couple of problems with this scenario:

* ''Literature/FiftyShadesDarker'' and ''Literature/FiftyShadesFreed'' both refer to villain Jack Hyde as having won a scholarship to Princeton University because he was bright. Princeton does not give scholarships. It says so right in their [[http://www.princeton.edu/admission/financialaid/financial_aid_faqs/ FAQ]]:

* In season five, [[spoiler:April]] of ''Series/ParksAndRecreation'' has decided to go to vet school without any references from actual vets, any practical experience that we know of, or possibly even the mandatory prereq classes (biology, chemistry, math, and so on).

* ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}'': Ruby gets accepted into Beacon Academy two years early after having an interview with the school's headmaster, Ozpin, that was instigated by another professor as a ''punishment''. Ozpin has a habit of making exceptions when he sees something that might be useful and his refusal to explain himself to others eventually [[RealityEnsues gets him into trouble]] with the Vale Council.

* The University in ''Literature/TheKingkillerChronicle'' has ''every'' single student go through admissions ''every'' term (which is around two months long), wherein all seven professors interview the student in their own field of study and set a tuition for his or her next term. Understandably, the process takes ''weeks''. Kvothe gets into the University in a classic case of no-plan-B (then again, it is pretty much the only university ever mentioned in the books, so there may not be a plan B to speak of), his hopes hinging on a single recommendation (he no longer has), spying on earlier students' admissions to prepare for the exam, and on a passionate speech he hopes to impress the professors enough with to essentially pay ''him'' for the privilege of studying under them. Still, seeing how this is [[MemeticBadass Kvothe]], his plan, of course, works perfectly.

* In the ''Series/SavedByTheBell'' episode "SATs," Jessi scores a 1205 on the SAT and gets the cold shoulder from the "Stansbury" recruiter. Zack scored a 1502 and the recruiter wants to eat him up. Meanwhile, Jessi's had one B in her life and has an impressive list of extracurricular activities. Zack? He's lucky he never had to repeat a grade, and the only time he ever took up an extracurricular was for the [[SuddenlyAlwaysKnewThat occasional plot point]], after which it was [[LetUsNeverSpeakOfThisAgain never mentioned again]].

* A character with a decent enough application can't get into ''any'' school, even the community colleges and state universities that admit everyone. Note that in real life, community colleges are required by law to accept everyone who applies there as long as they have a high school diploma.

** Class registration is a cut-throat business, with most classes being filled as soon as registration starts. Signing up for them weeks after actual classes start would be rather impossible.
*** Not necessarily. Remember that Hiro is a first semester freshman. Most of the beginner classes he would be taking are offered with many sections available. As for the higher level courses (if he as a freshman would even be allowed to take them) wouldn't necessarily be full. And after a few weeks, a number of students would have dropped out or transferred, opening up space in classes.