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.