Preacher, Politician, or Prosecutor?

Do you consider yourself to be an expert on any given topic? If you’ve ever spoken with authority about it, you may have assumed one of these flawed postures. (I have, but I’m working on doing better.) In Think Again, organizational psychologist and Wharton professor Adam Grant stresses that thinking flexibly is the only way to grow our knowledge and effectiveness. While preachers often speak from faith alone and politicians and prosecutors attack the opposing side, scientists operate from constant experimentation and the belief that causation is not correlation. They expect to be wrong, not the other way around. (As an aside, their necessary flexibility angers those who search for one definite answer.)

I try to think like a scientist as I help my students and their families (with occasional lapses). Too much changes every year in college admissions for any of us to speak with certainty. I would be ignoring the data if I advised every Cornell-hopeful to be confident of admission when the math proves the opposite. Applying to the “highly-rejective” colleges only makes sense if you, like a scientist, expect denial and rejoice in the unlikely event of admission. But, happily, thinking flexibly is often about all choices, not just limits.

Although I encourage students to be open-minded about majors and careers, many choose large public institutions where they feel compelled to pick a school within a college and/or a major. For pre-professionally-minded students, that’s fine. The problem is that others feel pressured to craft a path and career before they are ready to do so.

Liberal arts colleges and even large research institutions like Tulane have long-offered interdisciplinary freshman seminars to small groups of students. These are creatively-blended academic, fun courses that stimulate critical thinking.

This week, a friend told me that the University of Wisconsin Madison offers FIGs (First Year Interest Groups), and that one of my incoming freshmen has chosen this smart way to make a large school smaller and understand the connections between academic fields. For example, the First Year Seminar Rainforests and Coral Reefs requires enrollment in chemistry and Spanish. It’s obvious that this course might stimulate a student’s interest in Environmental Science or Engineering as well.

I just learned about FIGs this week, which proves that there will always be something to discover even if it’s not brand-new. Learn to think flexibly to avoid Armchair Quarterback Syndrome, another one of Grant’s classifications. Particularly prevalent among privileged groups, those who have it confuse confidence with competence. Stay open-minded as you consider college options!

https://figs.wisc.edu/what/

https://ls.wisc.edu/news/figs-bear-fruit

‘Fiske Guide’ to Drop SAT and ACT Scores

This marks a dramatic change in applying to college.

Edward B. Fiske characterizes use of average scores this year as promoting “inaccurate and misleading data” in his comprehensive and reputable college guide. Therefore, The Fiske Guide to Colleges 2022 will feature no test scores. We can predict that other guides will follow.

Why?

“...only 44 percent of those who applied to college through the Common Application through Feb. 15 2021 submitted SAT or ACT scores. That represents a substantial decline from last year (comparing only colleges that used the Common App both years), when the total through Feb. 15, 2020, was 77 percent.”

Most of my students still choose to take standardized tests, and I still encourage them to do so unless preparing for testing is, or becomes, too stressful and sabotages their grades or if they are poor test takers.

I have seen the shift in attitudes towards testing shift for the past ten + years. Test optional colleges were the outliers, albeit a large group of schools that grew each year. The lack of opportunity for students in many areas to test during the pandemic pushed us to the current status of testing. Nearly all colleges are test-optional,

test-blind, or test-flexible. Exceptions are the Florida and Georgia public university systems. Many colleges have committed to remaining test optional permanently, while some are making their decisions one year at a time.

Despite the current position on test scores, one answer does not fit all. Contact me to discuss test scores in the context of the 2021 admissions data I have from my own students and those of consultants nation-wide.

“It is Our Collective Myths That Define Us”

In Sapiens, anthropologist Yuval Noah Harari examines the uniqueness of human development among other creatures. Many types of animals can communicate with one another, but only humans can communicate with specific language about what cannot be seen with the senses. Here’s an example:

“As far as we know, only Sapiens can talk about entire kinds of entities that they have never seen, touched, or smelled. Legends, myths, gods, and religions appeared for the first time with the Cognitive Revolution. Many animals and human species could previously say ‘Careful! A lion! Thanks to the Cognitive Revolution, Homo sapiens acquired the ability to say. ‘The lion is the guardian spirit of our tribe.’ This ability to speak about fictions is the most unique feature of Sapiens language…You could never convince a monkey to give you a banana by promising him limitless bananas after death in monkey heaven.”

One of my favorite books is Joseph Campbell’s The Power of Myth. I’m fascinated that myths from every part of the globe tell similar stories, like the hero’s journey and how humans do battle with higher powers. This book was a mainstay in my syllabus when I was teaching. I certainly didn’t expect “the power of myth” to come up in my work as an independent education consultant as often as it does.

While myths add much to our lives, they can lead us astray. It’s a myth to say “(fill in the blank) is a great school for everyone,” “(fill in the blank) is the best university,” or “(fill in the blank) is a terrible college.”

Most families understand the importance of fit in the college process, and it’s sad when the prestige myth pushes that knowledge aside. The myth of that “great school for everyone” may fall flat when it leads to anxiety for the shy introvert who prefers to hike and socialize in small groups. That myth is based on its brand, not on a college’s suitability for all. A few weeks ago, I pulled the curtain on the myths the USNWR weaves to market its prestige-focused rankings.

A currently-popular myth is that big state colleges with large percentages of Greek life and huge athletic cultures are perfect fits for all students, and every learning disabled student, those with emotional challenges, and those who thrive in smaller environments will figure it out and be happy when they get there. I work to dispel these myths with real information gleaned from my personal experiences, current students and alumni, or those of trusted colleagues.

Our myths sustain us by allowing us to believe that the unlikely (like admission to colleges with sub-10% admission rates) is possible. Let’s keep our good myths, but keep the misleading ones in perspective.