College Applications & Frustrations

Marion,

Thanks for your summary of your study—it’s helpful to be aware of such a tool and I’m ordering it today. The big surprise for me was your “big surprise.” This past Friday I spoke to educators from a few colleges on the University of Houston Campus—all there because of their interest in student success and in, part, because of McGraw-Hill’s generosity. They want these students to succeed once they reach college. As we discussed Strauss and Howe’s new text, Millennials and the Pop Culture, a few noted that the book (though very helpful) seemed to describe a different profile than the students that come to some of their campuses. These students (not necessarily at the U. of H.) are on the other side of the digital divide. In your IHE article above you cite interviews with a dozen or so parents, and it appears that you interviewed those from affluent areas. My main question is whether your book represents select schools (Dart.)or the majority. Noting that JB published this text, I’m looking forward to reading it and assume these aspects are covered. Thanks for sharing your research. JP

Jerry Pattengale, AVP for Scholarship & Grants at Indiana Wesleyan University, at 7:55 am EDT on April 3, 2006

Marion,

What parents and students need to know is that they msut start early in the process. Unfortunately virtually all schools systems take a very passive approach to the college process. The schools will provide a brief introduction in the junior year which will generally consist of a discusssion on SAT exam taking and a cursory look at colleges. This will be followed up by a “financial aid” night held in January or February of the senior year. This will generally involve a financial aid officer from a local college review (drone) line by line a FAFSA application.

This college education process must start as a Freshman and parents must take an active role. Unfortunately my experience has been that less than 10% of parents even attend these school sponsored events probably due to their reputation.

What parents want to be told is that they CAN AFFORD to send their children to college and what they want to know is, how do we pay for it. When colleges and high schools begin to show families how to pay for college without RELYING on financial aid the anxiety levels of parents and students will be reduced. For those families that will qualify for need based aid they need to be encouraged to apply and educated on the process in the sophmore of at the latest junior year. Preparing for college can be a great opportunity for parents and kids to share ideas, stimulate conversation and celebrate their decisions.

High schools that begin a program early to educate their students will have more motivated students and a larger percentage furthering their education. Colleges that offer a program to prospective families on how to pay for college will see increased enrollment, higher retention and better use of their financial aid resources.

Jack Girvan, Founder at Educational Funding Consultants LLC, at 9:55 am EDT on April 3, 2006

The information is out there

While I enjoyed Ms. Franck’s book, and indeed interviewed her co-author for my blog on college admissions resources aimed at parents and students, I have to take exception to her suggestion that it is difficult for parents and students to find information to help them sort out college options.

The problem isn’t a dearth of information. There are literally thousands of useful and reliable resources available on the internet and bookstores to help students and parents through the process of finding and applying to college. Parents and students can find these resources with a few google searches and a trip to the local library. Many colleges and universities also do an excellent job of sharing information with students and parents about their educational offerings and how they make admissions decisions.

If a dearth of information isn’t the problem, what is? Simple. The media has created a great deal of histeria around the college admissions process. If you read any newspaper article on college admissions, you’ll quickly find yourself starting to believe that it is absolutely impossible to get into ANY college these days. The media fails to report that there are over 2,600 4-year colleges in the U.S., and of those, only about 135 accept fewer than 50 percent of applicants. The rest — including hundreds of excellent schools where one can get a terrific education — accept more students than they turn away.

Unfortunately, many parents (more so than students I have found)have fallen into the media-induced frenzy of equating selectivity with quality. They don’t want information on a broad range of options in order to find the best fit for their child — they only want to know the “secret formula” that will get little Johnny or Sally into Harvard, Yale, or UC Berkeley. And, they are frustrated when they discover there is no “secret formula” that will guarantee admissions to schools that reject more applicants than they accept.

Through my blog and discussion forum, I’ve talked to literally thousands of parents and students. They are almost always surprised when I point them towards schools they may not have yet heard of, but which they discover do a great job of educating students yet aren’t impossible to get into. Once they start to see that there are other options out there, they become more open to actually learning how to use the many information resources available to help them sort through all of the options. They also become less focused on finding the “secret” to admissions, and more focused on the secret to finding a great school for their children, whether it turns out to be one of the most selective schools in the country, or a less selective but excellent liberal arts college in the Midwest.

What’s really driving parents crazy is media-induced panic based on selective reality, and the snobbery of many parents who believe only a certain few colleges are “good enough” for their little darlings.

Carolyn Lawrence, AdmissionsAdvice.com, at 11:45 am EDT on April 3, 2006

Educational entitlement

I teach at one of the most selective private universities in the South—a school that any of those working-class kids would give their left arms to attend. And yet, I still hear complaints from students that they had to “settle” for this university because they didn’t get into their first choice (or any of their top ten schools, sometimes). And of course, they then proceed to blame it on minorities, affirmative action, unfair-treatment, or some other excuse for their disappointment. I’m always torn between two responses: On the one hand, YOU’RE AT AN ELITE UNIVERSITY, you ungrateful wretches! On the other hand, MAYBE YOU DIDN’T EARN admission to Harvard, Yale, or Berkeley!

Parents and students alike assume that good grades, lots of activites, wealth, or social class somehow entitles them to the best of everything, including that elite education. Not surprisingly, they often aim too high, too narrowly, or without any sense of appreciation for what they can actually accomplish at the schools that accept them. As one writer above notes, they want a “secret formula” for getting what they want, not what they deserve or can manage, either financially or academically. Not everyone gets to go to Berkeley—if they did, it wouldn’t be Berkeley.

Part of this is a result of media-hype, college-hype, prep-service hype, etc.—but just as often it’s part of the sense of entitlement cultivated by todays middle-class families. They scorn minorities who demand (much more needed) entitlements, but fail to acknowledge their own expectation of the same. The fact is, many of my students might “deserve” to go to Berkeley—they have the intelligence, the discipline, and the attitude to do well at any school. But typically, it’s not those complaining the loudest who demonstrate such ability.

If parents and students alike were honest in their assessment of themselves, willing to explore a full-range of options, and concerned about something other than prestige or social opportunities, they’d probably find many “good fits” out there, particularly among small liberal arts colleges, good state schools, and even religiously-affiliated schools (if they share that affiliation or are comfortable with it).

Earl Grey, at 4:10 pm EDT on April 3, 2006

First-Generation College

“My heart goes out to those kids who are first-generation college,” said one parent. ‘I don’t know what happens to those kids.’”

Many years ago I was one of those kids with the disadvantage that my parents were solidly lower middle class but didn’t have any sense that one college was better than another. I had excellent SAT’s of over 1400 and would graduate first in my college prep, religious high school. But the application fee was a hardship so that I applied to only a few schools; a trip to visit colleges, as the author suggests, was out of the question for the reason of both time and money.

While I did all right for myself with an eventual doctorate from an Ivy League school, I continue to be very sympathetic to the barriers that the “system” puts in place for very bright but poor or naive students. Some are subtle such as the fact that my local high school requires PowerPoint assignments from students whose families don’t own computers. Others are more obvious such that a $50 application fee may not be a trivial expense for many parents.

Bob Holley, at 8:05 am EDT on April 4, 2006

What Drives Parents Crazy

I’m glad someone is addressing these things and, although I don’t usually respond, I wanted to comment on this article. Yes, finding the right college, and then getting in, is a huge challenge. But, as other writers have noted, in the real/adult world, you don’t always get what you want or have worked for. The biggest problem with finding “the right school” is that the person deciding on which school to go through is not a fully formed individual! What drives me crazy is that, as a parent, I am being asked to make a $100k committment over four years (yes, that is to a state school) for someone who can’t decide what to wear to school and stick to it for a half an hour! My daughter being one of those who will have to “settle” for Berkeley, I am wondering how this high bar will effect her younger sister!

Rebecca Hollingsworth, at 1:40 pm EDT on April 4, 2006

drives parents crazy

From finishing this process one year ago, I can tell you a few things with certainty: most parents will not do their homework on colleges. They want the high schools, the universities, the magazines, private counselors—anybody or anything to impart knowledge on college admissions w/o actually working on it! Too obvious are the parents who ask questions at open houses or tours which are more than covered in the manual or on the internet. Can’t imagine how that works out, considering the apples don’t fall far from the trees.

kathy, at 5:00 am EDT on June 15, 2006