Reforming College Admissions

by Patrick O'Connor, Ph.D.

It’s spring, and with most college decisions out, calls are blossoming for college application reform like daffodils. This call is usually led by counselors who are either exhausted from running the application gauntlet, or are disillusioned when a top student is denied admission to their dream school. Either way, they feel there is a better way to do this.

I’m always eager to see things improve—keyless remote car start is genius—and I’d love to return a student’s senior year back to the business of, well, being a senior. Still, it might be wise to develop a common understanding of what’s meant when we say we want the application process to improve. What might that look like, and how would we know it’s better? Here are some outcomes I’ve heard.

More students end up at their top choice school My top student (perhaps ever) was deferred by a college where he was well beyond the mean. It turned out that was the problem—the college decided the only reason a student that qualified would apply there would be to use it as a backup, and they resented the implication, so they decided to see just how serious he was.

If improving admissions means colleges stop doing things like that, I’m game. On the other hand, if the goal is to simply get more students in at their dream school, that’s just not feasible. Harvard would no longer be Harvard if they admitted twice as many students, and some students, bless them, don’t have a realistic understanding of what a particular college expects of them.

It should be easier to apply I like the spirit of this idea as well—six drafts of a personal statement is about three too many, and overburdened teachers shouldn’t have to write a student’s second letter of recommendation if the college gets the gist of the student with just one.

At the same time, the notion of making applying to college as easy as ordering at a drive thru—“One Ivy admission with an extra serving of Big Ten safeties”—can easily lead to students applying to schools without really considering if this is a place that offers the right mix of opportunity, challenge, and support. This isn’t about being a gatekeeper; it’s about making a responsible choice.

The real question, at least to me I enjoyed the last 15 years of my work at 2 schools where every student went to college, and I’d like to think I helped them make good choices. Still, there’s a good chance all those students would have attended a college that met their needs, if only because they went to a high school where every student went to college.

If we’re really serious about changing admissions, I’d suggest we start with this question, and see where it takes us:

Jamie is a 14-year-old student living in a large city. Jamie’s 15-year-old cousin Blaine lives in a rural area, some 100 miles from the nearest college campus. Both come from single parent households, with Jamie’s mom holding down three jobs just to pay the rent, and Blaine’s dad making just enough from his crops each year to stave off bankruptcy. Both attend a public high school where the one school counselor meets the social/emotional, academic, and career and college plans of 1800 students, and both come from homes where they would be the first in their families to go to college.

What would the college admissions process look like if we assume every student had the backgrounds and resources of Jamie and Blaine?

Ready? Begin.

College Admissions, Juniors, and COVID

by Patrick O'Connor, Ph.D.

This will be the last high school class that will have the culture-changing year of 2020-21 as part of their secondary school experience. While this initial year of COVID brought many changes to learning and college plans, the question arises—does this interruption of school as usual affect the class of 2024, who were ninth graders at the time? The answer is yes, but it’s likely to have less of an effect than it has for the students in the past three graduating classes. Here’s what that means to the world of college admissions:

Academic preparation Ample studies suggest student learning took a serious blow during the COVID-intense school year of 2020-21, when classes largely met online. For the Class of 2024, it also means they were denied a year of in-person ninth grade learning, a year that often includes instruction in study skills and other executive skills that serve as a foundation for successful learning in high school and beyond. This means these students returned to “high school as usual” in tenth grade without a thorough understanding of what it meant to be an in-person high school learner.

What does this mean to colleges? This lack of learning fundamentals may have been addressed by tenth- and eleventh- grade teachers, who realized what their students had missed as freshmen. However, the absence of a national plan on how to address these gaps left a hit-and-miss approach to making up this essential year of understanding what it means to be a student. Rising seniors will want to take a moment to honestly consider how this experience affected their learning, and if the holes of ninth grade were ever filled.

Extracurricular preparation The world of extracurricular activities was less affected by COVID, in large part due to many parents who insisted high schools continue to offer these experiences, since, to them, “that’s what high school is really all about.”

The mild effect of COVID, and the speedy return of nearly all extracurriculars since, means next year’s seniors largely had every opportunity to engage in a rich array of learning experiences outside the classroom. Colleges that value these activities are less likely to overlook students who took a complete pass on extracurriculars , in the last four years, since opportunities to participate in many activities, if only online, have been in play.

Explaining COVID to colleges Students who feel COVID limited their high school experience and success would do well to use the essay portion of their college application to give the colleges a clear, cogent understanding of their circumstances. As is the case with any student experiencing unusual circumstances, the colleges will be more interested in how the students have overcome the challenges they’ve faced, and if the student feels they will be able to give their all, and make the most, out of the college experience.

Reports from the field suggest many of this year’s seniors are appealing admission denials with the claim that the college didn’t understand just how strong a role COVID played in limiting their high school success. Appeal admits are rare, so the time to provide a thorough explanation of those circumstances is during the application process, not once a college says no. This will be especially true for next year’s seniors, since their high school experience was an additional year away from the epicenter of the pandemic.

It’s great juniors are planning ahead and looking forward to college. Doing so with their COVID experience in mind, and explaining its effect to colleges early, can only strengthen the student’s success in finding strong college matches.

Community Colleges and “Completion”

by Patrick O'Connor, Ph.D.

Many of the students I worked with as a counselor at a community college had a story like this one:

He took a job right out of high school with a small business run by a neighbor. That was ten years ago, and the time had come for the owner to retire, creating a shift in administration that left a need for a manager. The student had a track record of solid work and commitment, and the owner said the job was his to have, provided he could earn sixteen credits in business courses before the owner retired in fourteen months.

Since the sixteen credits could be from any business classes, this schedule wasn’t too hard to put together. We reviewed the catalog, found some classes specifically designed for small businesses, and threw in the general survey courses in business and accounting. Thirty weeks later—and five months ahead of time—the student got his promotion, and a hefty raise to boot.

If you’re thinking, how great, the student accomplished his goal, you’d be right—unless you are the federal government. For the better part of ten years, the government has been urging, nudging, and flat out questioning community colleges and their completion rates, or number of students who leave their community college experience without a degree, certificate, or other credential. The rationale for this concern seems legitimate enough at first, since there is ample data showing the average salaries of US workers as it relates to educational attainment.

But relying on averages is where this discussion also begins to fall apart. Our student realized everything without a degree or certificate that most students want who are pursuing some kind of credential. It’s just that, in this case, the student didn’t need to spend extra time and money taking classes he didn’t need. Still, according to most observers, this student is a failure because he is a non-completer, and that just doesn’t sit well with many government officials.

The completion argument also falls apart when one considers the origins of the community college system. Community colleges were created to meet the higher education needs of the local community, hence the name. While those needs could include credential completion—many nurses and first responders are trained by community colleges—it can also include students who need to start locally to improve their academic reputations to transfer to a four-year college. Since transfer requirements vary widely from one four-year college to another, most of the students I worked with who wanted to transfer were better off not completing a community college credential, taking individual courses that were sure to transfer.

Much more important, the mission of community colleges is to provide opportunities to learn, not to provide credentials. The nontraditional student returning to take a class or two in History, since they now have the time and genuine interest to study it. The mid-career student who needs to pick up some essential courses before admission to a graduate program. The computer programmer who needs to upgrade their skills after five years away from the field. Their goals can be met by taking courses; their time would be wasted by completing degrees.

I’m a big fan of accountability, but I’m a bigger fan of everyone playing to their strengths. Not everyone needs to go to college; not everyone needs to go to a four-year college, and not everyone needs to get a credential from a community college. Threatening community colleges with outcomes they were never meant to achieve only hurts the people they are meant to serve. It’s time to reconsider this credentialing movement.

Deposits, Deferrals, Waitlists, and Your Second First Choice

by Patrick O'Connor, Ph.D.

A first occurred last week, when I had two columns in a row that solicited reader comments with recommendations for future columns. I’m happy to oblige. 

An Early Yes With Required Deposit One reader provided feedback on the column about colleges wanting students to commit to coming before they’ve heard from all their schools. The response, in a nutshell, was that the column was short sighted and written from a privileged point of view, because I was assuming the student could afford to pay an enrollment deposit when saying yes early. 

Dear reader—no. The question addressed by that column was “If a college wants an early yes, what do you do?” The different question you wanted addressed was “If a college wants an early yes and a deposit, what do you do?” In that case, try this:

• Is it refundable? If the college really has the temerity to ask for an early deposit, ask if the deposit is refundable, and if so, is there a deadline where it becomes nonrefundable. They may not provide this information willingly. Persist. 

• Request a waiver If you need a fee waiver for any college deposit, ask. Since your financial aid forms will back you up, it’s going to be really hard for them to say no. 

If you have the funds to make the deposit, but simply don’t want to, your best bet is to tell the truth. “I’m really not in a position right now where I can pay an enrollment deposit. If there’s any way you can give me an extension on the deposit of 90 days, I’d really appreciate it.” This is nicer than saying “forget it”, so there’s a chance they’ll say yes. 

• Is it time to be brave? If they say no to the waiver, it’s time to choose. This could be a sign they’re going to be inflexible with other issues in the future. Are you willing to deal with that for four years? 

Either way, another viable option is to simply say Yes to the offer and not send in the deposit. It’s likely this will lead to a series of letters from them that remind you about the deposit, a series of letters that gives you more time to hear from other schools.  Warning—this could also lead to your being kicked off the admit list without them telling you, so if you choose this option, you’re rolling the dice. Talk to your counselor before you make this move.

Waitlists and deferrals Another reader liked the column on how to deal with colleges saying no, and asked about handling waitlists and deferrals.

This should help with deferrals, and even though it’s a little old, it’s still sound advice, as long as it’s a sincere deferral. The same advice holds for waitlists.

The problem is the changing nature of deferrals and waitlists. Both have become ways of issuing a polite no—at least some colleges see it that way. If you aren’t sure, call the college and ask two basic questions: 

“How many students did you defer (waitlist) last year?” 

“How many on that list were ultimately accepted?” 

Each year is different, and you may have a special quality that increases your chances of getting off the list, so keep that in mind. At the same time, if a college has a list of 3000 names and admits 5 off that list, it’s time to assume you’ll be learning somewhere else. Keep pushing at your first choice, but start thinking about your second first choice. It’s the wise thing to do.

College Admission and the Best in Class

by Patrick O'Connor, Ph.D.

Counselor chat rooms are already filling up with comments from colleagues who are in a state of disbelief.

“I can’t believe they didn’t take him. He’s the best kid this school has seen in five years!”

“She took 14 AP classes and three at the local community college.”

“What else did they want her to do. Walk on water?”

Before things get really intense in the weeks to come, it’s time to keep a few things in mind.

Only so many How many best-in-the state oboe players are there in the United States?

Right. Each state has one, and only one, and while there isn’t a competition in any state to earn the title of Best Of, you get the idea.

Given that, let’s try Question 2.

Of those 50, how many is Juilliard likely to admit? How about Curtis? How about Eastman?

I don’t have the inside information from any of these fine music programs, but no matter how good any and all those oboists are, these premier programs will say no to many of them—likely as many as 40 of the 50, if not more.

As it goes with oboists, so it goes with students in general. Well-known colleges run out of room well before they run out of highly capable students. They’re still smart, well accomplished, and going to knock the socks out of their college experience. But not all of them can be admitted, and so choices have to be made.

More applicants than ever Regular readers of this column know I cringe when papers print the two stories they always print this time of year:

“Fancy School U Reports Record Number of Applicants”

“Fancy School U Admit Rate Reaches All Time Low”

This is one story, not two. Fancy School U isn’t likely to take more students, and if they do, it likely won’t be enough to offset the impact several hundred applications will have on admit rates. But our friends in the media are counting on America’s extreme dyscalculia to provide not one, but two opportunities to throw our hands up and declare college admissions to be a biased system.

In some ways it is, but not with the admit rate. This isn’t inside politics. It’s math, and it means it is harder than ever for even your best student to get admitted.

“But they did everything” They took all the hardest classes, aced the tests, spent summers in interesting ways, contributed to meaningful service programs, wrote amazing essays by themselves, and even got the teacher who is generally unimpressed to write a passionate letter. What more, you ask, could they have done?

The answer here is nothing. Assuming the application conveyed that the student was actually engaged in life and learning, the student did exactly what they were supposed to do, as did most of the other applicants. There may have been too many Neuroscience applicants, or they needed more applicants from Massachusetts, or they decided to revive the field hockey team. You didn’t know that. The student didn’t know that. Sometimes, the college doesn’t even know that until after the application deadline. So there is no second guessing.

It isn’t easy to accept a No you were convinced was a sure Yes—and if you feel that way, imagine how the student feels. Keeping these points in mind helps you move the student to the next phase, where they find the best home among their great Yes schools—and in the process, moves you to that next phase as well.

How lucky your students are to have you lead by example.

“We’ll Take You—Right Now”

by Patrick O'Connor, Ph.D.

The student was unsure what to do. One of the colleges she applied to notified her she had been admitted. After offering their congratulations, the college then told the student that, since the program she had applied to had only so many slots, she had to tell them if she was accepting the offer by March 10th—about 15 days later.

The challenge here is that the student hadn’t heard from all the colleges she applied to, and while this program had a lot to offer, she wasn’t certain this was the best choice for her, and she wasn’t sure if this was the only choice for her. To her way of thinking, this put her in a tough spot. If she says she’s coming, and she gets more offers later on, she could later be perceived to be a liar—and who wants to live with that? If she says no, she risks losing a seat at a good program that may not be perfect, but has a lot to offer. If only she had more time.

The good news, dear student, is that you do have more time, if you will do just one thing—tell the college you’re coming. While most colleges give you until May 1st to make a fully-informed decision (it used to be that all colleges were *required* to give students this long to decide), some believe they need to know sooner. This often happens with arts programs, so drama programs can make sure they don’t enroll too many playwrights and not enough thespians, or music programs can make sure they don’t get too many bassoonists.

If you have any feeling you’ll be lying to the college by saying yes, reconsider what they’re asking. They want your answer today—so, based on how you feel today, and based on the colleges you’ve been admitted to as of today, is this the place you’d pick? If the answer is yes, tell them that. If the answer is no, telling them early really isn’t an issue. If the answer is you don’t know, you’re thinking too much about what you’ll know in the future. Based on Right. Now. Would you go there? If yes, you’re being honest in telling them yes, and in saving your spot.

But, you say, what if you change your mind once you hear back from other programs?

I know a counselor—let’s call him Pat—who got a call from his wife, asking what he wanted for dinner. His wife was a great cook, so he suggested a dish she loved to make. Three hours later, Pat’s brother called to say he got a promotion he wasn’t expecting, and could he and his wife join him for dinner to celebrate. They did, and a good time was had by all.

In other words, time went on, new information was available, and they changed their mind. That’s not lying. That’s life.

Any college that wants you to make an informed choice before you have the chance to get all the information should either tell you that when you first apply (like Early Decision programs do) or expect to get a lot of students who say yes to an offer, and never come. Colleges that don’t do that, but still want a rushed decision, are forgetting their real mission—to serve the students. Search your heart, give them an honest answer based on what you know today, and look forward to reconsidering that answer if you get more information tomorrow. This is how the world works, and it’s more than OK.

Colleges—About Those Rejection Letters

by Patrick O'Connor, Ph.D.

I offered my condolences to the father of a student turned down by their dream school. The father seemed to be taking the news in a calm, but disappointed, manner.

 

But his goodwill had its limits, which was clear when he talked about the letter his child had received. “The second half of this letter is absolute nonsense” he said. “It says, ‘You have a great deal to offer as a student, and we know your future will be bright.’ What is that all about? If he has so much to offer, then why didn’t they take him?”

 

Rejection letters are tricky things, to be sure, and it’s wise for colleges to offer as much support as possible when communicating a no. At the same time, these letters need to consider the cognitive domain of the reader as well as the affective domain. If all you have to offer is a hug after just saying no, that’s not going to confuse everyone—it’s going to anger them, which is what the colleges wanted to avoid in the first place.

 

What would have helped this rejection letter? Well:

 

Data Once a student is told they weren’t admitted, it’s pretty reasonable they’d like to know why. This is where a few basic numbers can be a college’s best friend. “We saw an increase of 14% in our applicant pool over last year, which meant we had to turn down many students who would have otherwise been admitted.” “The average high school GPA of our admitted students this year was a 3.7, a significant increase over past years.” Anything along these lines gives the student some idea as to where they stood, and why they landed where they did.

 

Institutional priorities Every college has its own quirks in the admissions decisions each year, and they aren’t always the same. A lack of engineering applicants increases the chances that students who wanted engineering are more likely to be admitted, while an increase in History majors means a smaller percentage of them are going to get a Yes. Some of these priorities are established at the start of the year, while others are shaped by the applicant pool. Either way, it’s not unreasonable to share them with applicants whose hopes have been dashed, since it provides context.

 

Encouragement to apply again This year’s applicant pool may be record setting, but that may not be the case next year. Following up a little bit of data with the suggestion they consider applying again, either as an incoming freshman or a transfer student, drives home the idea that the college really did think the student had possibilities. And with a big drop in high school seniors coming up, it’s not a bad idea to build next year’s applicant pool now.

 

That said, there is one thing that should never go into a rejection letter. Suggesting that the student wasn’t admitted because the college sensed the student didn’t align with the college’s mission or values statement is nothing short of insulting. Sure, oboe majors shouldn’t apply to engineering school. On the other hand, saying a student isn’t admissible because of some philosophical divergence is pretty cheeky. Would this student really not have been accepted if the applicant pool had dropped by 20 percent?

 

It’s commendable that colleges want to support students when they hear bad news, but support suggests a framework that lifts them up, not one that leaves them with more questions, or hurt feelings. Keeping it real is the key to an effective No letter, and the best way to respect a student’s intelligence.