College Majors and Occupation

A few days ago, my post linked to an article in The Wall Street Journal asking how narrow an undergraduate academic focus is too narrow, considering how rapidly the job market changes.  I agree with the article's assertion that pushing students just towards majors in fields that currently seem "safe" (high starting salaries, plenty of jobs) can be problematic.  That's not only because of the rapidly changing job landscape, but also because one's college major frequently doesn't have a whole lot to do with what one actually pursues as a career after college.  And here's a really beautiful graphic from the University of Virginia's Office of Institutional Assessment that shows how varied the outcomes really are.  For the graphically disinclined (I had to stare at it for a minute), the majors are colored on the left; the occupations are the gray bars on the right. 

Indeed, "the path you take as an undergraduate matters, but your major is just one of many decisions that contribute to your occupational choices."  You don't have to be a business major to succeed in the business world; you don't have to be a biology major to be admitted to medical school.  And yes, you can even be a philosophy major and be successful.  Interested in grad school?  An undergrad major in philosophy might actually be your best preparation.  According to George Washington University (whose philosophy department was happy to share this info on my visit a few weeks ago), philosophy majors scored the highest of all majors on the GRE verbal, the second highest on the GMAT (outscoring business majors by 15%), and the third highest on the LSAT.  48% of philosophy majors who applied were accepted to medical school, compared with 43% of biochemistry majors, 42% of pre-med majors, 35% of biology majors, 25% of nursing majors, and only 22% of pharmacy majors.  Those oft-made-fun-of philosophy majors even make a good living.  So when someone asks what in the world you're ever going to do with that major in philosophy, there's your response.  Although I can't promise people will stop asking.

Moving right along.

Well, we've made it through the first big deadlines (Nov. 1 and Nov. 15) with minimal drama and (knock on wood) few Common App snafus.  If you sent an application, you now must sit around and wait - arguably just as challenging a proposition as actually working through the applications.  And I wouldn't be surprised if the waiting lasts a little longer than initially advertised by some colleges this year.  If a college extended the deadline for you to turn in your application, odds are they may need to request the same courtesy from you; they may ask you to wait a little longer to be notified so they can read all those files that didn't come in quite as early as they had planned.  Flexibility and adaptability will continue to be the themes for this application year.

On Campus at Furman

Colleges have been accepting applications since the mid 19th century.  Here's a good history of the evolution of application requirements at Tufts, from Latin to YOLO.  Aside from the interesting history, the other thing to note here is that though this is your first time ever applying to college, this is not the first year colleges have had to receive, process, index, and read applications.  It's not a perfect process and never has been.  But high schools and colleges partner to make sure everything works and to troubleshoot problems when things go wrong.  The post I've linked to is written by Patrick O'Connor, college counselor extraordinaire, who is consistently the most rational, steady voice among the anxious noise and misinformation that circulates online about college admissions.  I'd like to be like Patrick when I grow up.  If you like the link above, Follow him on Twitter and subscribe to his blog.     

There's other news out there, though, besides all the Common App chatter.  Here's what else I've been reading and thinking about in between writing recommendations and visiting Furman and George Washington University (pics to the left):

How narrow an academic focus is too narrow?  What are the appropriate outcomes to expect from a college education?  What is the real return on investment?  The argument over vocational training versus a liberal arts education continues, and shapes college academic offerings across the country. 

The Lincoln Memorial, not far from GWU

Just how valuable are rankings?  Can playing to a ranking system actually be counterproductive for a university or for its undergraduates' experiences?  Personally I think there's minimal value in rankings, and only when their reader fully understands the methodology used and how he/she would assign his/her own value to the criteria used...which usually isn't the story for the typical reader.

Happy weekend, friends. 

Seriously, you aren't alone.

Common App's problems are officially all over the news.  It seems some things have improved this week - hopefully a sign of progress.  But if you're still in need of some commiseration, here are two more stories.  One individual even calls it "Application Armageddon."  Easy there, Ms. College-admissions-consultant-based-in-the-San-Francisco-area.  This is no Bruce Willis / Billy Bob Thornton thriller.  We'll get through this.  Most importantly, colleges are continuing to be understanding of the problems and are adapting as needed.  

More Angst For College Applicants: A Glitchy Common App

Early decision deadlines changing as Common App crashes

Common app problems? You aren't alone.

College applications are stressful enough when everything goes smoothly.  There's all the time spent editing essays, worrying about activity histories, and wondering whether your application is a good representation of what colleges want to know about you.  Then there's that agonizing moment (or moments, or hour, or hours) where you hover the mouse over the submit button and try to get yourself to actually click it.

But things really get complicated when you aren't even able to sign into or submit an application via the most common method for applying to colleges.  It seems that's exactly where we are.  The common app has acknowledged some serious problems with students trying to log in and submit applications over the weekend.  That's not great timing - UNC and Georgia Tech's original Early Action deadlines were, oh.... tomorrow.  Both schools have pushed the deadline back to October 21st, to account for the problems with the common app.  I would imagine they'll consider pushing the deadline back again, if problems continue. 

Be patient and rest assured these colleges won't fault you for the common app's problems.  They'll continue to be flexible if the issues continue.  Take solace in knowing that it's not just you, and that most colleges are just as anxious about the common app problems as you are.  You can check the common app's Facebook page for more updates, but please, please, please refrain from posting snarky or panicked comments there.  I'm certain some of the students who have commented were too frustrated to use their best judgment.  As always, stay in touch with your college counselor if you continue to struggle with the application.  We're going to power through this. 

On the lighter side...

Last week was homecoming week at HIES. As a college rep, I always enjoyed visiting a high school during their homecoming week. There was something ironic and entertaining about sitting in a suit, telling a group of students dressed as superheros how seriously Emory would take their applications. I conducted high school visits with batman and superman, various pop stars and boy-bands, tacky tourists, the full Anchorman Evening News Team, and hippies.  It wasn't always easy to keep my composure, and there were times that I just couldn't keep a straight face while answering a question from a student dressed as Ron Burgundy.  I remember those visits as a welcome break from the monotony of travel. What I realize now is that for the students, those dress up days serve the same purpose - a break from the normal routine.  Some time to be silly among the busyness and seriousness of senior year. And I think that's important. I believe we should all take time to play, to be silly, and to not take ourselves so seriously. Students at HIES have shown an ability to do that this week, as well as a remarkable creativity and dedication to dressing up. From adult-sized onesie pajamas to gold MC Hammer jumpsuits; from life-size Gumby and teletubby costumes to some uncanny impressions of Toy Story characters, there have been some really thoughtful, imaginative costumes on display this week. Well done, HIES.  Oh, and then there's this:

Since this blog is about college counseling and college admission, I'll share an instance of some college admission folks taking a moment to be a little silly.  Rick Clark, Director of Admissions at Georgia Tech recently appeared on NPR's This American Life to share stories of the crazy things people do while applying to college.  A fellow admissions director at a different university in the southeast heard the story and crafted this hilarious email response, posing as a slightly overbearing parent.  Enjoy.

What is the real meaning and impact of college cost?

Last week, I attended the NACAC Conference in Toronto.  One of the more interesting and potentially controversial sessions I attended asked whether college costs have reached a tipping point (you can view the presentation slides here).  These presenters said no, actually some colleges are under-priced.  Apologies if your head just exploded, and no, that's not a typo.  That's the controversial and counter-intuitive statement they made.  More about that in a minute.  First, some background on the higher ed cost conversation: 

• The amount of American student debt recently surpassed the amount of American credit card debt for the first time since the fed started keeping track of this data in 2003.  There are real and potential problems with this, best explained by someone more qualified than me.  
• At the same time student indebtedness is increasing, the economic landscape remains uncertain.  Taking out a loan for college presumes that you'll make enough money after college to pay the loan down without sacrificing too much of your quality of life.  Getting a job that fits that criteria is not a guarantee. 
• Higher education costs are continuing to rise substantially above the rate of inflation
• Mean family income has decreased over the last ten years
• State and federal contributions to public universities are being cut, forcing many universities to find other sources of revenue (in many cases, through increased tuition)

So given all the doom and gloom, how is it that two consultants and a dude who works for the College Board told a room of admissions professionals that some colleges actually ought to be charging more.  Let's discount the cynical notion that these folks simply have an incentive to tell the colleges what they want to hear (a distinct possibility worth acknowledging) and assume they've done their homework (their colorful graphs indicated they were, at the very least, experts in colorful-graph-making; they had also likely done their homework).  Here are the big points, as I heard them:

• Cost is a relative term, and must be differentiated from price
• The actual cost is frequently less for a family than the college's stated "sticker" price
• So long as financial aid is boosted too, some tuition increases lead to increased enrollment activity.  Prospective families, they find, would prefer generous aid and a high sticker price than that the college cut tuition.  
• In some cases, they project enrollment to drop when colleges cut their tuition price

The consultants, from Art and Science Group, have found that some schools - private and public alike - can go ahead and increase price as long as need-based aid is increased at the same time.  I understand from an enrollment perspective why that may make sense in some situations.  I also understand that might be in the best interest of the college's bottom line.  And I agree with the presenters that the generalized panic over college cost may indeed be over-exaggerated. 

I also have some concerns.  Full-pay families receiving no aid are crucial in this model.  Presumably, the money used to increase need-based aid is coming at least partly from the increased revenue of these full-pay families being asked to pay more.  Even if you incentivize this group with discounts in the form of merit aid, at some point, won't these families stop being willing to pay?  And if/when that happens, where does the aid money come from to continue funding the needy families?  Relying on full or high-paying families to provide generous aid to the needy also ends up boxing out the middle class - a problem the presenters acknowledged.

But here's the biggest problem: A model that predicts enrollment increases at rising tuition costs (so long as aid is provided), ignores the type of information asymmetry that exists between savvy college-going populations and those that are most vulnerable.  For many of the neediest, most under-served communities, sticker price does matter.  I would argue - and research backs this up - that high sticker prices can scare away the neediest students.  Moreover, complex financial aid applications are often a deterrent to these under-served populations.  If a college increases cost and financial aid in an effort to boost enrollment, it should be very aware of what types of students compose that increased enrollment.  They are likely to be students who are savvy enough to understand that the sticker price isn't the same as the cost, and who are comfortable navigating the financial aid application.  They almost certainly won't be the high-achieving, low-income and first-gen kids for whom elite, expensive colleges claim to be (and ought to be) working to provide access.

In short, the fundamental idea here is that tuition increases are acceptable because people understand that their individual cost will likely be something less than the sticker price.  I don't think that's something that all prospective families understand; I think that's something that traditional college-going populations understand.  And that ignores a major underrepresented socioeconomic demographic, within which there are indeed many high-achieving kids who never consider going to college at all, let alone one perceived to be prohibitively expensive. 

I would be interested in finding out which colleges and universities have used the model prescribed by Art and Science Grp, and to see 1) if their enrollment indeed increased; 2) if that increase was disproportionately made up of upper-middle class kids; and 3) if the increase in sticker price preceded a decrease in applications from low-income students.  If the answer is yes to questions 2 and/or 3, a college interested in socioeconomic diversity ought to question the ethics of the model.  Boosting financial aid is the right idea.  But I'm afraid many families who need that aid frequently aren't college-savvy enough to see beyond the sticker price and understand how increased aid could help them.  

Oh, Canada

I'm spending this week in Toronto for the 2013 NACAC Conference.  Wednesday, I toured Ryerson University and spent some afternoon downtime at the Hockey Hall of Fame.  It was amazing.  My wife (who works at Lovett, is here for the same conference, and deserves credit for a number of these photos) says I was dashing from exhibit to exhibit like a kid at the zoo.  Yesterday I attended morning meetings, lunched-and-learned with the University of California schools, and enjoyed a welcome address from New York Times columnist and author, Thomas Friedman.  The next couple days I will be busy sitting in learning sessions and presentations.  I'm including some photos from the trip so far, and I hope to add more soon.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

Above: The CN Tower.  People pay money to get strapped into a harness and walk around the edge of the visitor center midway up the tower.  Crazy.  I don't think I'll be doing that on this trip. 

 

 

 

Left: Ryerson University's founder, Egerton Ryerson, also affectionately the namesake for their mascot, Eggy the Ram.  













  

Right: On campus at Ryerson University.  With about 33,000 undergraduate students, it's one of Canada's smaller universities (!!).  The University of Toronto boasts 67,000 undergrads. 

Above: Ryerson is home to a number of "zones" on campus.  These are collaborative work spaces for students and alums to come together and share ideas.  Similar to small business incubators, these zones bring together people with different interests in one general field of study.  Above is one of the spaces in the ultra-modern "Digital Media Zone," or DMZ.  A number of successful start-ups have been born of ideas developed in this particular zone. 

The conference is taking place at the Metro Toronto Convention Center, in the heart of beautiful downtown Toronto, also home to the Hockey Hall of Fame and the Stanley Cup...

The person behind that table may read your application

College fairs are more than just a good way to gather information about colleges.  Yes, in the early stages of one's college search, fairs provide an opportunity to collect material and get a brief idea of what a particular college or university might be like.  But for many schools, fairs are also a good way to demonstrate interest and to hear from the person who may later read your application.  In that sense, they can be almost as valuable an opportunity as a high school visit (ps - there are LOTS of those at HIES this week; check the board outside Mrs. Best's office for a full schedule).  Even if you chatted with a rep at the Lovett fair (more photos below), I would still encourage you to come to that school's visit to HIES.  The more times you put yourself in front of a college rep, the more chances you have to make a positive impression.  I'm a firm believer in finding ways to humanize the college application process.  Putting your smiling (also composed, well-spoken, polite, poised, thoughtful, respectful.... you get the picture) face in front of a college rep is encouraged!   

News and articles from the week

HIES seniors aren't the only ones with college on their minds.  It seems articles about higher education and college admission are everywhere.  Here are a few links to interesting articles and happenings from this past week:

Obama proposes policies for accountability and transparency in higher ed

College costs: looking beyond the "sticker price"

Campus culture: scholarly enclave versus corporate city

You really expect me to answer that?! 

You wanna play music during your convocation speech?  You can do that.  I'm DOING THAT! 

Beloit's annual "Mindset List" for the Class of 2017

Tips for writing college admission essays

I haven't met with many students who are genuinely excited to write their college application essays.  And that's OK.  But whether you enjoy writing or not, some written work is required in most college applications.  While a great essay won't overcome low grades and sub-par test scores, it is an opportunity to set yourself apart.  Really, the essay is the only substantial opportunity for an applicant to have their "voice" heard among the other quantitative stuff that fills a college application.  Here are some tips for crafting compelling college application essays.  If you have other advice you've come across and wish to share, feel free to leave a comment.  

Johns Hopkins University's "Essays that Worked"

The University of Georgia's Suggestions

The Huffington Post's Do's and Don'ts

Video Advice from Boston University

Welcome back, Class of 2014!

After a Sunday of tailgating and Braves baseball, it's back to school for the Class of 2014.  Welcome to senior year; only 276 days until graduation!  Enjoy these first few days of school and do your best to maintain the energy and enthusiasm you feel now throughout the year.  Not long from now, you will close this important chapter of your life.  Among the ups and downs of the school calendar, remember to take time to enjoy your final year.  276 days will fly by faster than you think. 

Wait, where did Mrs. Best go?

Upon returning to HIES, you may be surprised to find that Mrs. Best no longer occupies the space outside of Mr. Durst's office in the Riley Building.  You will also notice that the college counseling conference room is different (cleaner, more inviting, more organized, no funny smells, etc)...and is occupied by Mrs. Best!  Thanks to the Parents' Association, what used to be known as the college counseling conference room has morphed into the renamed and much-improved College Counseling Resource Room.  It is also now home to our registrar and college counseling assistant, Mrs. Best.  We're pretty excited about the new space and about Mrs. Best's new title.  When you come over to Groesbeck next week, stop in and say hello.  In the new space you can browse college guidebooks, visit with college reps when they visit throughout the year, or just hang out with Mrs. Best while devouring her stash of Hershey's kisses (but stay away from the cookies and cream ones - those are my favorites). 

Summer time, and the livin's easy

 ...unless you're in HIES College Application Bootcamp.  In that case, you've committed three of your precious last days of summer to working on essays, filling out the common app, and making lists of college deadlines and requirements.  Consider this time an investment.  The hard work spent on this stuff during summer means less to worry about when school starts back up and your lives again become consumed by homework, sports, clubs, and the like.  For those who didn't attend a bootcamp session, there's still plenty of time left before the start of school to start knocking out applications and working on essays.  Here are some helpful links to get started:

Common App's List of Schools and Their Requirements

Common App Essay Prompts

UGA Essay Prompts