As a former Senior Assistant Director of Undergraduate Admissions at UNC-Chapel Hill, a former college counselor at independent schools in the NYC area, and as a current Private Counselor, the recent admissions scandal came as no surprise to me.
But there is another cheating scandal. This also involves hundreds of colleges, though fewer of the “elite” schools whose admission letters are so coveted. That is: who is TEACHING at those colleges?
Admissions recruiters do not always know, nor do counselors. Will a course be taught by a tprofessor who is well-regarded in the field and treated professionally by the college? Or will it be taught by an adjunct who is paid $1500 to $3000 PER COURSE and will not have time to meet individually with students because he or she has to rush to another campus to do similar work there? Colleges today hire anywhere from 10% (admirable) to 65% of their faculty as “contingent.” That is, their employment is “contingent” on enough enrollment. Or maybe they are called “adjunct” or “visiting” professors. Many hope that their part-time status will become permanent, or that a visiting position will become permanent. It rearely does.
The information is there if you dig for it. Counselors should know if a college is a reputable employer or not. A college that pays its president hundreds of thousands of dollars, but cheats its teachers, is not to be sought after. A school that shortchanges its faculty is also likely to shortchange students.
1
There is only one good piece of advice:
You will do well regardless of where you go if you work hard, take advantageous the offerings available and don’t get buried under unnecessary debt as there are lots of great options at various price points (including starting at a two year school.
4
Here are 2 more resources
1) numerous books have been written about college admissions. A good one will discuss the overall process including financial aid, how to find colleges that fit, advice for what to do and ask on college visits, advice on writing essays. While not the same as a skilled counselor, a book can answer many questions and provide guidance
2) the website collegeconfidential.com has numerous forums. I'd ignore threads from HS kids asking other HS kids their chances, but there are many threads that give advice on aspects the student/parent new to college admissions may not have thought about. Of particular value are the forums for athletic recruits and arts (music, etc) where many parents of existing students in those areas post and can give advice from their experiences
3
@Mike T. , the "Music Major" forum on College Confidential has been a Godsend for me for several years, through the process of getting my son into his dream conservatory. The people who post there are kind, supportive, and at least as knowledgeable as any college counselor.
Thank you, New York Times for finally writing about school counselors rather than guidance. Our profession has changed and so has our title. The paper can help give school counselors the credibility they need to do the job! We’re great at what we do but our caseloads of students are outrageous and that’s why families dont get the support they need.
1
Over the years as a educational researcher I’ve met numerous “ college counselors” Those that offer the most helpful services give short-term advice that is available for an affordable price. ( see article )
Those that require thousands of dollars tend to give more than advice. They typically help give multi-year comprehensive aid to foreign students who want a leg up on college admissions and those whose parents have determined that their children likely will not, for whatever reason, be responsible for participating fully in the admissions process.
Services to the latter group are very profitable. These counselors travel extensively both internationally and domestically to identify families who can afford their services for their children. There are a lot of word-of- mouth recommendations within this group, and often many families within an area or school will use a single consultant.
The amount of money one pays is not the determining factor in identifying a competent counselor. Often the better the student one has, the less money one should have to pay for advice. For the student is the one who is ultimately responsible for their admissions package. And believe it or not, the admissions counselors at colleges and universities can tell who received an abundance of help and who didn’t.
I shared with French friends (whose children, prior to graduation from high school, confront the dreaded Bac - which makes our SATs look like child's play) details of American college and university admissions and application requirements, most particularly the college essay, and they quite literally laughed out loud.
Their incredulity led them to ask the following questions: what on earth does an unmonitored personal essay describing subjective experiences of growth and (all too often) encounters with the less fortunate/diseased and the life lessons learned have to do with higher education? Considering that there is NO oversight of the writing of said essay, and considering the high stakes, what prevents a student (or their parents) from cheating? Finally, are we totally nuts?!
6
@jrsherrard It's abundantly clear when a 17-year-old has written an essay vs when someone else has written that essay for them. I suppose if you wanted to cheat by having another teen write your essay for you, that might be one way to do it successfully. Most of the time, even well-meaning parents and teachers can leave their fingerprints all over a college essay and render it useless to evaluating the prospective student. As for your French friends, American higher education serves a different purpose than French higher education, so it's not surprising that the application process is different.
Ideally, parents should know they own child, but today few appear to really do so. I've heard educated parents say, "She's SO smart! She gets all B's!" They also have no idea that sometimes it's the really expensive schools that have the best financial aid - no loans, all grants, sometimes all free.
Unfortunately, I don't think many of these parents even know there is such a thing as a college consultant, and wouldn't pay for it if they did. They just send their child to an in-state university. Often, the child drops out, and nearly always ends up with huge debt. They won't even go to events put on by the high school counselor.
Most parents who hire consultants believe that they know the "right tricks" to get their child into an elite college. They have an "in" with the admission's office. While most parents would not go to the length that those charged did, they want every advantage they can get, and will happily pay for it (legally).
I think the biggest job most consultants have is convincing parents that their child with a "B" average and 1050 on their SAT/22 on ACT, are not going to get into a select school, but they can help them find a school that will be a good "fit" and will likely admit them.
Many affluent parents prefer to "outsource" pretty much everything to do with their children these days.
3
My child attended a very good - but large - public high school and the guidance counselors admittedly were overworked and tried hard, but did not seem to know very much about *selective* college admissions.
We hired a college admissions counselor who was a former university admissions officer. The service was reasonably expensive - on the order of $6000 over two years - but we did not spend $120K on private school, so we thought it was a good investment.
As a former admissions officer, the consultant knew exactly what colleges were looking for with regard to essays and extracurricular activities, how admissions officers viewed standardized test scores, as well as which teachers should be writing letters of recommendation. It turns out there are many insider tricks that can really help an application stand out and our child was admitted to several top 20 ranking universities. I am certain that the guidance and advice of the former admissions officer was the difference.
I also think it's important for the consultant to be a member of one (or more) of the national organizations listed in this article, but fellow parents: If you are looking for a consultant/counselor, look for someone with actual admissions experience!
9
In my work as a private educational consultant, I find most high school guidance counselors are dedicated but overworked and unable to begin meeting with a student early enough. Whenever possible, I work in conjunction with the school counselor. My focus in on helping the student navigate the often perplexing college application process from start to finish. I frequently see errors when I review applications. Most 17-year-olds do not know how to write an effective college essay. Students often use vague language to describe their activities. One student didn't realize he could include non-school activities on his list, which included creating his iPhone apps. My consulting includes SAT/ACT prep, as well. In early March, just before the admissions scandal broke, I reminded my students to be careful not to do anything during the exam that would appear as if they were cheating.
As a member of an admissions committee for many years, I feel sorry for the misguided use of 'consultants' to help applicants write essays.
The pat formula makes all essays sound alike. Our eyes glaze over reading that flashy opening sentence and all the now standard verbiage. Can everybody be 'passionate' about something ??
This advice industry homogenizes students and obscures the very thing that should serve them best: an authentic voice.
8
I actually have good, non-depressing news: Colleges seek students with MERIT for more than they used to. And the "best" colleges seek merit over money.
I've been an SAT Coach with Ivy Bound for nearly 20 years and I'm convinced that admissions have become MORE merit-based over that time, not less.
3
@Mark Greenstein. I agree, but apparently the exception is now athletes and to a lesser extent, legacy admissions are still quite important. I read one article about a top college (might have been Harvard but I'm not sure) and then overall admit rate was under 10%, the legacy admit rate was roughly 30% and the recruited althlete admit rate was roughly 80%.
Due to the numbers involved, the legacy and athlete admits comprised about 25% of the class!!! The other 75% of the class is, I feel very confident, as much or more about merit as it has ever been, and that's a good thing. But having 1 in 4 slots given to students that do not have to measure up to the overall admissions standards is a very significant number of students and puts that much more pressure on the competition for the other slots. That's too many! Even 20% of the slots seems like a lot to me. I have no idea what the numbers are at other colleges, but something more like 5-10% seems more reasonable. I suppose that smaller colleges that want to have a variety of sports teams will naturally have more, but maybe they shouldn't have quite so many teams? Northeastern doesn't have a football team. Their big sport is ice hockey. In the South, football is huge and a net money maker for the school, so I understand the desire to take advantage of that, but it's college! The students should be learning first and playing a sport second.
Ideas?
4
@intellectuallyhonest That 80% admit rate for athletes is misleading. This is the admit rate AFTER an earlier review of their application. Students hoping to be recruited for athletics, send in all their data for an "early read". This quickly weeds out athletes who are unqualified for that school. The 80% rate is for those accepted after actually applying.
Whys 80% and not 100%? A "recruited" athlete is guaranteed admission; a "supported" athlete is not, but does get that "early read". In the end, he may still not get into the school.
Athletics in US universities have a very long history. My father went to the Univ of MO right after WWI and was on a polo team there! Polo! Athletics are a great way for a new student to become "engaged" in his school, and it has been shown that an engaged student is a more successful student. They make friends, develop a peer group, must manage their time - lots of good things out of this. And the vast majority are NOT basketball or football players hoping to go pro!
The coaches of all the minor sports get 3 admission slots each year. That's way fewer than the number of athletes hoping to play at that school. A few more are supported candidates. Having seen this process twice, once with my son and later with a grandson, believe me, this is far from a sure fire way to get into a desired college.
3
While I was disheartened by the news about the college admissions scandal, it didn’t surprise me. The scandal is the tip of an iceberg that has been developing for a long time. In order to make real change, we need to adjust our conversations and culture regarding college, and in particular, dampen the frenzy surrounding the college admissions process. As an independent educational consultant, my first goal is to educate parents and students about the college process to reduce their stress and anxiety. This anxiety is one of the main reasons some parents search for strategies— and others, schemes, to gain college admittance for their children. My advice is to disregard the rankings and ratings, dive deeply into the students’ unique interests, strengths and goals to come up with their own definition of what is a good college for them. If parents are thinking of working with an educational consultant, they should have the certification, and yes, it is helpful to be a member of professional organizations, but also the consultant and parents should be aligned in the goal of finding the colleges where the student will thrive, and thriving is not correlated with brand names. College is like an empty shopping cart, and as long as it has the right products (majors of interest, inspiring professors and mentors, inclusive community, access to internships), it’s up to the students to fill their carts for the best experience.
8
@Karen Hawkes, College Concierge Pro
Excellent advice, Karen. It's very gratifying when I can help a student find the right match rather than going by rankings. I won't work with students who are clearly applying to Ivies because Mom/Dad pushed them into it.
As stated in a recent Stanford research paper, finding the right fit college is more important than attending a higher ranked school. So families need to find resources that are educated in the college planning process, which needs to be opposite of the current trend. First, a college planner should help a student discover their strengths and interests. They need to know themselves better to know what they are looking for. Knowing themselves and what they are looking for allows them to run the process and find a school that provides opportunities to learn the skills needed for their future. Second, the college planner should help find the colleges that can provide those services for the student. Third, with the sticker price so high these days, find the best deals, for that family's financial situation. Anyone can find a great math degree, but will it break the bank and strand the student with debt, parents with either debt or significantly less assets for retirement. A good planner can guide a family through the complete process. Some ideas listed here are good but take many with a grain of salt. College admissions is the sales and marketing department of a college. They have a bias and goal. They want you to apply. The College Score Card, FAFSA4Caster and many school net price calculators are inaccurate. Ask about the 4 year graduation rate and how accurate the net price calculator is... Lastly, visiting schools and longevity doesn't imply expertise. Meet. talk and compare.
7
The thing is that part of what makes these top schools desirable is that you’ll be mixing and connecting with the children of the wealthy and influential.
6
@Ed In my experience 20+ years ago at a "little ivy" the children of the wealthy mixed with their prep school friends and not the financial aid/work study kids like me. Maybe the alumni network is a bit more welcoming but I am not sure that my degree would have been worth it if I had to pay sticker price.
10
My experience with a college consultant from IECA wasn't so wonderful. I purposely chose them because of the connection to the association, but their knowledge of all phases of the process wasn't very thorough. Based on my experience, I don’t agree that membership conveys quality (perhaps it's another status symbol that’s meaningless but prevalent in the college admissions industry). After my first experience and doing more research, the “better” college consultants I’ve had interaction with have either chosen to leave those organizations or not join to begin with. The recent scandal seems to beg the need for some form of official credentialing (not just being a member of an association) and/or regulation.
4
@E. Havanah. I’m sorry to hear you had a poor experience with a member of IECA. I would agree with you, it takes more than wearing a badge of membership to convey quality. And, I would also agree there is a fine line here on placing the spotlight more on the memberships and not enough on the experience and knowledge to deliver. I am one of those college consultants holding membership in IECA, HECA as well as the designation of Certified Educational Planner — it all means nothing if I’m not a scholar of colleges and knowledgeable on the ins and outs of the admissions process. But that’s where the value of these memberships play a key role. Each organization prequalifies every candidate for membership with background checks, experience and education in order to become a member. Further, the AICEP requires consultants to demonstrate even deeper proficiency with continued education to classify as a CEP — the highest level of distinction for a college consultant. However, this should not take the place of asking the right questions of the consultant before hiring. You’re right, membership isn’t everything here, this is why we go beyond memberships and work with students and families at Capstone Educational Consultants (www.capstoneed.com) with a solid, trustworthy approach, combining nearly 20 years of experience working with students in college admissions and independent college consulting to find the best college fit.
3
It's nice to read an accurate story about college admissions! Well-done, Julie Halpert. Congrats to Grown & Grown!
2
@Kim Lifton it’s Grown and Flown, and I highly recommend exploring the site for any parents of middle and high school aged children. It has a wealth of insights and is a good starting point for those who are considering subscribing to G & F. All I can say is that I am relieved that choosing and applying to colleges is the rear view mirror for my family.
2