Scott Anderson, the Senior Director for Access and Education at The Common Application, wrote this advice in November 2015. Each year, these words become more important as the pressure of the college admission process grows for families.
“This week, as you gather with family and friends to celebrate Thanksgiving, be mindful of the high school seniors seated at the table. Odds are they don't want to talk about their college applications any more than you want to talk about work.
Questions about college aren't inherently bad. In fact, most of them come from a place of caring. What people really want to know is how the kids are doing, what's going on in their lives, how they are managing stress, what they are thinking about their future.
Teens are thinking about college but don't necessarily want to talk about it over mashed potatoes and pumpkin pie. It's infinitely more supportive to ask them about the things they love to do and the challenges and ideas that intrigue them than it is to inquire about what they plan to major in, how they intend to make a career of it, and what that career will be. It also invites them to ask you the same kinds of questions, which creates a space for real conversation, not one-directional interrogation--or the perception of it.
So please do the high school seniors in your life a favor. Help make the Thanksgiving table a college-free zone. Redirect the conversation. Ask questions that show you are interested in them, not their applications. Share stories about your own path. They are going to be fine.”
Happy Thanksgiving to all!
Pamela
Every year, I hear a story about a student “who got in nowhere.” Sometimes, it’s just untrue. When it actually does happen, there was a bad college list, usually one based on rankings.
The truth? No ranking is a reliable indicator of the experience a student will have in college or after graduation.
College rankings are simply designed for marketing and profit of the third parties that publish them, not students or colleges. Using a mostly twisted “objective” methodology, the information runs from true, skewed, or blatantly false.
What’s true? The dry data provided by IPEDS ( https://nces.ed.gov/ipeds/). IPEDS is usually a year behind and colleges must provide the numbers to the government in order to receive federal aid. What’s mostly reliable? The Common Data Set, but it too is a collaboration among Common App, Peterson's, and USNW. This last source is particularly skewed.
Who participates in the USNW rankings? It’s students who love their colleges and want to boost their rankings. College presidents, deans, provosts, and a small sampling of high school counselors give the “peer reputation” on US News and Forbes charts, which is based on the arbitrary question: “Tell us which are the best US colleges.”
The faculty source data is tilted towards wealthy schools with small class sizes. Professor quality has real value, but often “having the highest degree in a field” is misleading. Some may have a Ph.D., but aren’t teaching a course in that field.
“Financial resources per student” is generally based on the one or two institutional priorities where money was recently spent, such as a science building or a gym. While that may be a boon for a biology major who works out, it has little value for a business or history major who doesn’t set foot in those facilities.
With regard to financial factors, Forbes considers pay scale (self-reported by alumni). Statistics on Fulbright winners and those earning Ph.D’s are impressive, but impressive students can accomplish this at many colleges. The private colleges and elite public colleges that top the rankings have the highest tuition (especially for out of state students) and are the least generous with non-need based aid, too.
While rankings are enticing, basing a college list on them implies that the institution is the source of success, not the student. That sends our students the worst possible message.
There's so much excitement about applying on time that you might forget to focus on the next very important part of the application process: opening your colleges’ email confirmations of your applications!
Why does this matter? You need to open your portal for each college to make sure the college has received everything and your application is complete. Colleges that require the SRAR will need you to link it to your application, and this may not be possible without opening your portal first. But every portal needs to be set up.
I have sent my students and families many reminders about this, but I want everyone to know what to do post-submitting. Make sure to find an email from every college you’ve applied to. It can take 3-5 days–if you don’t receive anything by the fifth day, contact the admissions office. Check your spam folder first before calling!
If any item is indicated as missing, please address it as soon as possible.
Below is a video that spells every step out. Get comfortable with visiting your portals…many colleges will give you decisions through them.