There's Always More to the Story

It's not surprising that, in the wake of the college admission scandal, it seems college admission is in crisis.  The timing of the scandal doesn't help (not that there's ever a good time for a scandal, I guess).  At the same time news of the admission bribery scheme broke, students were receiving decisions from admission offices.  News of "elite" colleges' admission data gets shared at this time of year and reinforces the perception of just how difficult it is to get into college.  News that people were bribing their way into Yale somehow didn't seem so shocking when shortly thereafter, we learned that Yale's admit rate had dropped once again - to just below 6% this year.  The popular narrative around that completely separate but poorly-timed news only further stokes the uncertainty felt around college admission.  "It is harder than ever to get into a top-tier college," begins a NYTimes piece on admission results.

Too frequently, that narrative morphs into, "it is harder than ever to get into any college."  Or, "it's harder than ever to get into the right college."  The admission scandal shined a light on what extreme anxiety can do to people with incredible means and a very broken ethical compass.  But the more run-of-the-mill anxiety felt by families and students who believe that virtually every college is harder and harder to get into is hardly less harmful.  It is not helped by the looming sense that only a small group of colleges are "acceptable" or can "position students for success" or can provide "return on investment."  We know that isn't true.  And the college you go to is probably less important than you think, depending on your family and educational background.  What does "top-tier" even mean, in this context?  Are we talking about rankings?

A more accurate story is that in reality, most colleges admit most of the students who apply.  There is indeed a 4-year college home for just about anyone who wants to pursue a college degree.  In fact, there's a good chance that many colleges may face shortages of students in the not-so-distant future.  Regardless of where you go, it's more about what you do once you're there than the name of the school itself.  And, making the most of college is not necessarily as simple as drawing a distinction between return on investment and self-development.  A worthwhile college experience involves much more than rankings or name or return on investment.

If you turn your attention beyond the minuscule group of colleges (about 20 in total) that admit so few applications and enroll such a tiny percentage of college-going students, you'll find the landscape might be quite different than you've been led to believe by the selective-college-dominated narrative of college admission.  And that, in fact, there is a good college fit for just about every student out there if they are willing to keep an open mind.

Mental Health, Happiness, and College Choice

Here are a couple things I’m thinking about this week in the world of higher education, and the additional reading that goes with these thoughts. 

Mental Health and Education          

Yesterday, an impressive guest spoke to our juniors and seniors about mental health and addiction.  Among many powerful themes, she touched on achievement pressure in private schools.  This is an increasingly anxious generation of students.  High-achieving kids and affluent communities aren’t immune; in fact, they suffer higher levels of anxiety, depression, and substance abuse.  And it’s too easy to just blame smart phones, or social media, or safe spaces.  Maybe it’s the way kids are taught to “do school.”  If there are ways to improve the lives of our high school students, we should take them seriously.  And that needs to go beyond teaching coping skills and symptom management.  Shouldn’t we examine our systems, structures, and educational models so that engagement doesn’t so dramatically plummet over high school?  These are timely questions considering our school-wide theme of mental health this year.  There’s no magic bullet, but I especially like the work of Stanford’s Denise Pope and Madeline Levine as a starting point for the conversation. 

Behavioral Economics and College Choice

People tend to discount long-term satisfaction in favor of short-term happiness.  We’re just not very good at predicting what’s likely to bring us sustaining contentment and meaning, which is something different than momentary, fleeting pleasure.  Economist Tyler Cowen suggests that it’s becoming easier and easier to choose the short-term dopamine burst over the more meaningful long-term investment.  I’d extend his discussion to wonder if this impacts how students choose colleges.  If kids are more likely to choose short-term pleasure in other parts of their lives, are they also more likely to look for the most fun freshman year instead of an intellectually stimulating (and more challenging, though perhaps more rewarding) four-year experience?  Could that type of thinking correlate with the debate over college as a time of thoughtful growth and exploration (long-term satisfaction via personal development) versus a return-producing investment (short-term happiness via higher income)?  And in the end, is the highest return on your investment (with return measured by future income, status, power, or some combination of those) really a recipe for a life well-lived?  Or, at least, a satisfying and fulfilling life?  Maybe not.  In short, what, if anything, does our relatively poor ability to predict future happiness mean for college choice? 

College Admission Forum: 2019

On Wednesday, January 9, 2019 we hosted four colleagues from the "other side of the desk" to share their wisdom on college admission.  They spoke about their own institutions, about their personal journeys to college, and about the higher education landscape generally.  Below are my notes from the panel, hopefully presented in a way that makes some sense to the reader, beginning with names and titles of our guests. 

Mike Drish – Deputy Director of Undergraduate Admission, UCLA

Melissa Cline – Associate Director of Admission, Furman

Owen Knight – Senior Admission Counselor, Tulane

Amy Ruff – Regional Recruiter, University of Michigan

Holistic admission – how do you read applications?

UCLA: no letters of recommendation considered, look for academic performance, extracurricular involvement, and potential campus engagement; Importance of self-advocacy through UC application – students control the narrative

Furman: most emphasis on academic career in HS; test optional – no SAT/ACT required; activities, essays, recs encouraged (not required); high school context is important

Tulane: look beyond GPA and tests; add “interest” (why do you want to be at Tulane? Do you know about our community?)

Michigan: interest considered through required essay (why Michigan); focus on reading contextually by HS; how do you maximize what’s available to you; lots of emphasis on student voice via essays; “impact” is important

What type of curriculum do you look for?

Examine what your school offers, make choices based on strengths and weaknesses; context of HS curriculum is important – what is considered rigorous at your school? How do your choices match your interests? (Michigan)

Furman: we read by high school group, spending a couple of hours with HIES.  Important to get to know the school, understand what a student has done in context of that place beyond just AP – what is most rigorous at your school?

How do you weigh the components of an application?

You don’t need to be perfect at everything, individually.  Colleges want a well-rounded “class” that they’ve built and need a little of everything.  (Tulane)

UCLA: there is no road map.  Be careful looking at other students who get in and thinking that’s the guaranteed path.  It’s about being true to what you love to do. Do those things at a high level; have an impact.  Maybe that’s a handful of things, maybe it’s only a couple. Aim to be impactful. 

How about testing?

Furman: Test optional doesn’t mean GPA optional.  Go ahead and take the SAT or ACT.  Sometimes scores line up nicely with academic performance and abilities.  Sometimes not.  When your academic abilities are something you’re prouder of than tests, you can omit the tests without penalty.  When no test scores, larger emphasis on grades and rigor.  It is important to ask if a college superscores the SAT and ACT or not.

Tulane: AP test scores are less important for admission, but take your AP classes seriously because students can get exempted out of college classes. 

How do you read files once they get to your office?

UCLA: 113000 apps last year.  Most populated state in the country, with most high school students.  But we read these.  There is no cutoff and no automatic cut number; we employ 70 admission officers and hundreds of readers to get through all these apps – lots of anti-bias training and norming that makes the review process work; large investment in human element of app review

Michigan: 65000 apps.  Read all individually; use outside readers for first read, then onto the regional rep for second read (Amy knows and reads HIES).  Then onto a third person who helps make a final decision based on first two reviews. 

Furman: smaller pool means all apps are read in-house.  Melissa does the first read of every file for all high schools she works with (HIES included); after, reviewed two to three more times and then sent to committee

Tulane: Similar – Owen is first reader for his territories, an advocate for our applicants

How do you make sense of differences between GPA’s?

Michigan: recalculate GPA on unweighted, 4-point scale using all classes; GPA matters, but how you got there is more important.  What types of classes did you choose?  What are your trends in various subjects or areas? 

Furman: recalculate using your HS grading policy, but dropping non-core classes from GPA

How are groups of apps from one school reviewed?

Tulane: don’t read all of one school at a time; sometimes admit 90% from one school, or 10% from same; no quotas, no caps per school

UCLA: every class at a high school, every year, is different.  This plays out in admission.  Sometimes seniors send lots of apps to one school, but the rising juniors don’t.  Expect a different number and type of applicant each year.  UCLA also considers what program people apply into.  Some programs are talent-based; some are harder to enter than others. 

How do I figure out if a college could be a good fit?

Tulane: think broadly about size, location, type of school, setting; need to see types of places in person.  Cast a wide net, think open-mindedly and see some places that might help narrow your focus

Michigan: if you can’t visit, use the online virtual tours – hear from a student tour guide, get a sense for campus; trust your gut (and maybe look at the pictures online before you go); OK if seemingly trivial things matter to you.  Pay attention to what interests you – don’t lean too heavily on rankings

UCLA: rely on your college counseling office – they are people who visit campuses, have worked on college campuses, guide people through process individually without bias and with your best interests in mind

Do you have to visit before you apply?  Should I reach out to someone if I can’t visit?

Michigan: don’t have to visit before you apply; OK to apply and then see what happens, visit as admitted student; reach out to your local rep

Furman: demonstrated interest matters, but that doesn’t mean you have to visit campus.  We know it takes the right type of student to thrive at Furman, so we want to know you’ve taken some deliberate steps to research us.  If can’t visit, connect with me in Atlanta.

Tulane: start with local visits – places around Atlanta can be a good proxy for other types of places: Tulane is very similar to Emory, for example

How do you actually apply?  What does ED, EA, RD mean?

Tulane: Early Decision is binding – you sign a contract that your parent signs, counselor signs; if you get in, you’re going.  Not just about fit, also about committing to tuition.  Early Action is non-binding – hear back earlier, not bound to go if you get in; Regular Decision is a Jan. deadline and from where we accept fewest students – RD is most competitive, fills in gaps from ED and EA admits

At UCLA and Michigan, how do you prioritize in-state vs. out-of-state?

Michigan: state has declining student population, so out-of-state is very important.  You can see this in the regional positions placed around US – making sure to mine places where competitive and qualified students are.  No state mandate for amount of in-state kids on campus.  Try to shoot for 50/50 enrolled students; most demand comes from outside state

UCLA: 23% non-residents – a fiscal decision based on what’s needed in out-of-state tuition for campus to continue functioning; have always had non-residents, not easier or harder to get in – same review and expectations; admit rates vary, but mostly because of yield.  If I admit CA kids – I’ll get lots of yesses.  May have to admit more Georgians to get same number of kids to yield

Do students need to know what to major in?  Does that matter in file review?

UCLA: College of science and letters at UCLA is basically undecided – actual major doesn’t matter; but film school requires portfolio and different review, along with some other specific colleges within the university

Michigan: You must apply to one of 7 undergraduate colleges within the university.  In college of Literature, Science, and the Arts (LSA) – prospective major doesn’t matter.  Engineering, must apply directly to general engineering.  Musical theater and dance requires portfolio and audition and specific program; kinesiology looks for experience in the field

Furman: traditional lib arts – come explore.  List up to 3 majors on app to get matched with mentors/advisors (same at Tulane)

What about cost and scholarships?

Furman: Students are automatically considered for merit scholarships – understand applicant’s context, know they’re competing with HOPE in GA; we try and provide appropriate assistance to compete

Tulane: all applicants considered for merit scholarship when they apply; big full-tuition awards tend to reward kids with a clear sense of an independent project or interest

Michigan: be aware, too, of outside scholarships (like fastweb.com)

UCLA: don’t start with cost as way to sort universities – the sticker price is likely not what you’re going to pay.  Merit-based aid and need-based aid are common ways to reduce the cost.  Be concerned with institution, fit, and then how you might curb or reduce cost.  If applying EA or RD, you’ll have the opportunity to weigh options and potentially have conversations with the campus’s Financial Aid office to see what’s reasonable

What would you have done differently?

Owen: wish I had taken my search more seriously; do good research, check with kids you can connect with on campus; know what matters to you

Melissa: would have been more private about search – keep conversation between you and your parents, not among your friends.  College apps are personal, and picking a college is personal

Do you look at applicants’ social media?

Tulane: no.  It’s too much work; not worth the effort

Michigan: don’t be a jerk online; when troubling things are brought to their attention, they have to check into it.  Do connect with colleges online – insta, snap, etc – keep up with campus

Furman: be careful with hashtags – colleges keep an eye on who is tagging them or using related hash-tags

Final piece of advice…

Mike: carve out time to actually talk about college; create boundaries, which also helps college not become over-riding force

Melissa: parents should be honest with kids about what’s realistically affordable; difficult conversations come up when a student gets admitted and parents won’t or can’t pay

Owen: parents, don’t be more memorable than your student – I want to get to know your kid, I don’t want you to be infamous.  Kids, remember your parents just really want what’s best for you.

Amy: remind yourself when feeling stressed or overwhelmed to just be yourself.  Ok to change your mind; ok to explore wacky or weird places; do what feels right to you without comparing too much to others.