40 Years Later

by Patrick O'Connor, Ph.D.

There’s a teenage kid
No matter what he did
Nobody ever understands
And he don’t measure up
And he’s had enough
Can’t be his daddy’s little man
So he pulls out that hot rod Chevy
Puts in his favorite cassette
He ain’t goin’ to no college
The world is waitin’ up ahead *

It's hard to believe it’s over 30 years since Bob McDill wrote those lyrics as part of the Leroy Parnell hit, On the Road—and while some of the references are dated (cassette tapes?), so much of it is still true today.

I’ve been thinking about that, as I complete year 40 as a college counselor. When I started, I saw what our work was doing for-- and, unfortunately, to-- so many students who weren’t at the top of the socio-economic heap. I remember chuckling to myself and thinking, well, all that will be fixed by the time I hang it up.

And then I went to my first College Board fall counselor update, the annual program that let counselors know what was new and exciting in SAT land. The presenter gushed, as she talked about how the SAT had been recentered, and was designed to better measure what it purported to measure. We then took a break, so I thought I’d let them know their message really hit home.

“Wow, it’s great to hear about the changes to the SAT.”

“Yeah” she said, warily.

“So, you can fix the cultural, gender, and racial biases in the test, and create a level playing field.”

She looked at me like I was the stupidest guy on the planet. “We’re not doing that” she scoffed. “If we did, there’d be no way to compare old SAT scores with new SAT scores.”

And that, my friends, is one of the major themes of the world of college counseling—we can’t change anything, because—well, we can’t.

The goal with some of the few changes (test-optional policies, college access organizations) was clear—to de-snootify college admissions. This is an uphill battle, since—let’s face it—there’s so much money and prestige involved in making college admissions an American caste system. It’s how The New York Times education section stays in business (its latest piece on college admissions in six words or less: Harvard is hard to get into); it’s how too many (and by no means all) independent consultants charge an average of $4200 per student; and it’s how test prep organizations guilt blue-collar families into paying way too much for a test they might not even need. The message is the same: College is about being one of them.

The funny thing is, I’ve tried to spend the better part of my career telling students—and many, many, many families—college isn’t about being one of “them”. College is about being more of yourself. College can help first-gen kids make more money, but it can also help them understand the world better, and maybe be more comfortable with the gifts they may have that make them remarkable—something that isn’t always embraced in our blue-collar world. College can help upper class kids find the grounding so many of them need, getting past who they think they are, or what their trust funds say they should be, discovering an air of authenticity we all long for.

That’s why I went into the field—so students could explore their college options, and see if it opened up avenues of identity. 40 years later, it could still be much better at doing that.

I may be at this for a while.

* from "On the Road" by Bob McDill © 1992 Bob McDill, PolyGram International Publishing, Inc. & Ranger Bob Music.

College Counseling for First Generation Students

by Patrick O'Connor, Ph.D.

There isn’t a lot of research on the best way to talk about college with students who would be the first in their family to attend, but it’s a research field that’s growing. The Journal of College Access is a space devoted to such research (full disclosure—I am a founding editor), so I’ve had a chance to peruse some quality work on this topic. Combined with conversations with professionals who work with these students, here’s a quick guided tour of things to do to shape a college counseling curriculum for first gens:

Start early Students who only know about colleges thanks to the NCAA and what they’ve “heard” about Harvard need a full-blown introduction to college—what it is, the kinds of colleges that exist, and why people go.

For high school counselors, the challenge here is that this education for first gens needs to start way before ninth grade—ideally, no later than fifth-or sixth-grade. This means working with your K-8 counseling colleagues on college awareness—or, if push comes to shove, going down to their buildings to present it yourself. It’s better if they buy in, but either way, it has to get out there, and early.

Involve parents A good number of parents who didn’t go to college are convinced of three things:

• They can’t afford college—any college
• Their child doesn’t have the grades for college
• College is a waste of money if their child doesn’t know what they want to major in

You likely address all these topics with your 9-12 students when you talk college, and the same presentations will work with parents and younger students. Hint: Some of these parents will not come to a night presentation held at school. Instead, think about a Zoom presentation, or a presentation in the mall, the laundromat—or the local bar. Wherever it’s offered in person, bring raffle prizes, serve food (pizza works), offer childcare, and include case studies of students from your school who went on to college—there’s nothing like familiar faces to encourage families to open up.

Affordability, Part 2 A nice add-in for first gen presentations is a walkthrough of the Federal Student Aid Estimator and a Net Price Calculator. The Estimator asks 10 questions that give an estimate—yes, it’s an estimate—of how much Federal aid the student could get. Net Price Calculators are college-based estimators of aid the student might get at that college—take a look at this one for Michigan State.

These are both estimators, and some students and families may jump at the idea of loans, so you need to talk about what that means. It’s also wise to direct them to a college that’s more affordable for your average family, since the goal is to educate, not intimidate.

Take College Classes in High School The very best way to help students understand what college is all about is to have them go to college while in high school. Programs like Early College and Dual Enrollment allow students to do this, with the school district typically paying for all related costs.

It’s best if these classes are offered on a college campus—that offers the student the full experience. It’s also important to work with the student to take classes that will likely transfer for college credit when they go to college after high school. Not nearly all classes transfer, so work closely with the students to choose wisely. If they can take 3 or 4 college classes in high school, for free, they’ll see college as something doable, because they’ve already done it.

Advice for College First Years

by Patrick O'Connor, Ph.D.

Welcome to college! The opportunities you have here to learn about yourself and the world—from exploring the world of entomology to trying your first naan—are vast, and your goal is to finish your college experience without saying “Gee, I should have tried…” too often. That means staying open to the possible, all while using sound judgment, so that you will also get to the end of your college experience and say “Gee, I’m glad I didn’t try…” (translation: cans filled with mixed liquor should be avoided at all costs).

In terms of life in the classroom, the rules are few, and pretty simple. A vast majority of students who don’t do well in college don’t consistently apply these rules. Sometimes that’s not their fault, but it’s still the reason why college turns out differently than they expected. Ready?

Read the syllabus. The syllabus is the roadmap of how class is going to work. Each class is a different destination, so each roadmap will be different. This will require you to be flexible, and it will require you to understand each roadmap as different. Read it before class starts, and at least once each week for the first four weeks of class.

Go to class. Some colleges actually take attendance, which is silly—any professor who runs a class you can pass without showing up should not be teaching. Either way, being there means you are creating a space in your busy life to shut everything else out (yes, turn off your phone during class) and focus on the task at hand. Do that

Schedule study time. There was once a book called Making College Count that suggested students treat school like a 9-5 job. Schedule every moment for 5 days, and you get weekends off, either for a social life, or to make up for the times during the week where things fell off track.

This approach may be too strict for you, but you get the idea. You’ll need 2-3 hours outside of class for every hour you’re in class to study, take notes (by hand), copy your notes over (yes, writing them again makes you know them better), and complete assignments. Scheduling the same time each week to do these things—preferably right before or after class—helps you learn.

Use office hours. Professors hold times for students to come by and ask questions. Students only go there right before exams, and ask questions that were already answered in class. It’s vital to go to a professor as the class progresses and say “I heard what you said about elasticity, but I didn’t quite understand this part.” Focus your questions, and you’ll get more from the visit. It’s also OK just to go and say hi. Profs like that, too.

Be honest. If you get behind and need help, don’t pretend you aren’t. Ask for help, and see if the college has tutors or an academic support center to help support your efforts. If life gets overwhelming for any reason (academic or personal), mental health resources abound. Use them—and if a roommate or pal is hurting, get them to those resources right away.

Embrace humility. If the syllabus says late work isn’t accepted, it isn’t. If papers have to be written in multiple paragraphs, and yours isn’t, it won’t get credit. There are reasons for these rules, and if you don’t understand them, ask your professor. They aren’t being unfair; they told you the rules at the outset, and now they are just being incredibly fair by being consistent. Understanding this leads to personal growth.