What Football has Taught Me about College Admissions

When I want to expand my knowledge of football, I don’t typically turn to college admissions.  Yet Peter Johnson, Director of Undergraduate Admission at Columbia University, recently introduced me to the term YAC, though Super Bowl Sunday was not the topic of conversation.  Johnson was addressing a group of professional members of the Independent Educational Consultants Association (IECA) at an industry retreat. Responding to a question about the importance one’s high school plays in the college admission process, Mr. Johnson used yards after catch as a metaphor to form the perfect imagery.  His point: Columbia doesn’t admit schools; it admits students.  Where a student goes to school is the pass; where the student takes that opportunity is what counts. 

Think about that for a moment. Johnson just explained how competitive colleges not only seek to level the playing field, but also identify the MVPs.  Test scores and grades may put students in the conversation, but it’s their independent intellectual curiosity that propels them towards the end zone. 

Though fewer than 7% of applicants will likely be admitted to Columbia this year, Director Johnson’s message is useful advice for anyone seeking admission to a highly selective college or university.  It is no longer simply about having top grades, perfect test scores and a plethora of extra-curricular activities.  The student who catches the attention of an admission officer fills a niche and demonstrates a deep commitment to and measurable success in something that sets him or her apart.  It can be national or regional recognition for science research, development and mastery of a talent, or demonstration of a relentless curiosity through an academic pursuit. Elite colleges are interested in students who have been carving their niche over time and through their own persistence.  And as President Obama seeks to include college accessibility for more low income and first generation students as part of his legacy, colleges will search out the students who have excelled in the absence of certain privileges and advantages. Expect the trend towards measuring the yards after catch to become even more entrenched in the competitive college admission process.  

I am sharing Director Johnson’s candid message with you not to discourage, but to add a bit more transparency to the admission process at the most selective colleges.  His insights also dovetail well with the ideas expressed by journalist and author David Brooks in his February 4^th New York Times Op-Ed article: What Machines Can’t Do.  Though the subject of his piece is not what selective colleges look for, Brooks emphasizes that these same qualities are valued in life as well as in college admissions.  The era of technology no longer rewards skills that machines can replicate, i.e., mental functions that rely on facts, rules and the information we are given.  Instead, our new age society will continue to find more value in and reward those who are motivated by pure enthusiasm and who possess “a voracious explanatory drive, an almost obsessive need to follow their curiosity.” Elite colleges look to build a class of niche players who possess this same independent intellectual curiosity to run the distance with the ball.

While Peter Johnson’s talk was specific to Columbia admissions, I think it is safe to say that the top tier colleges in terms of selectivity (not to be confused with quality) all employ their own version of YAC in how they admit students.  Coming to terms with what these colleges want to see is not a cause for despair; it might just be a reason to broaden the focus.  There are many fine colleges and universities that realize students don’t necessarily develop their interests at the same pace.  Instead these colleges hope to provide the opportunities and stimulation to facilitate that discovery.   Sometimes that means we must reassess our own goals. Today’s world and the one our children will encounter in the future will value, as David Brooks noted, enthusiasm that drives their intellectual curiosity.  Now is the time to encourage our kids to not only catch the ball, but also find the college or university that will excite their desire to run with it.

Why Visit Colleges?

Before heading to New Mexico last week to visit Santa Fe University of Art and Design (SFUAD), I checked the weather report.  My image of a temperate southwestern climate was quickly dispelled when I read the forecast:  snow showers.  I put away the t-shirts and packed the parka.   Thanks to weather.com I was not at all surprised to see the snow covered peaks as the plane began its descent.  Yet other revelations were in store. I was already familiar with Santa Fe’s reputation as an artist haven, yet it never occurred to me that it was also a destination for filmmakers and winter enthusiasts.   In fact, the city, at 7,000 feet, is a short drive to several challenging ski areas and sits at a higher elevation than Denver.   So much for preconceived notions; many of my assumptions about attending college in Santa Fe were tossed before I even stepped foot on the campus.

Seeing is believing, and getting to know a college is no exception.  Visiting is the one sure way to get a feel for a university and to imagine oneself as part of its community.  Do your research before a visit so you have some idea of what to expect, but be open to a few surprises.  A trip to a college is the best way to get to know a university, its offerings, student body, campus feel and surrounding community.  If you are the type of person who needs to experience things firsthand, all the more reason to plan a visit. 

When I scheduled my trip to SFUAD, I did some online research in advance to ensure that I wouldn’t arrive on campus clueless about its programs.  A college’s website is the obvious place to start any search in order to gain an initial sense for whether a school has the right academic fit for a student.  Sites like Unigo and College Prowler can also be helpful in providing the student perspective.  However, nothing can replicate the college visit. It would have been easy for me to make assumptions about SFUAD, a southwestern college in transition, which had been the College of Santa Fe in a recent former life. Today a re-born SFUAD, supported by an outside investor and the city of Santa Fe, has emerged as a niche liberal arts program focused in the fine and performing arts. On paper (or more precisely, online), its offerings sound similar to many other art colleges.  Yet the collaboration, not only among students but also departments, makes for a truly interdisciplinary artistic experience.  How do I know?  I saw it firsthand:  theater majors auditioning for film student productions, musicians involved in multimedia projects, and visual art students exploring every medium the studio art program has to offer.

Answers to questions such as ‘what type of student thrives here?’ and ‘what makes this college unique?’ begin to get to the essence of who might do well on a particular campus.  Yet the ‘being there’ impression is as important as the answers offered, if not more so.  A college may sound perfect from the description in the glossy view book, but it’s the campus visit that will confirm or dispel one’s preconceived notions.

How does one get the most out of a college visit?  With an open and inquisitive mind.  The feel is not just about physical beauty.  It’s also about the intangibles which are sometimes more difficult to see at first glance.  A few years back I visited a small Midwestern college that did not make a compelling first impression; the campus looked tired and downright sleepy. My colleagues and I reassessed our plan:  say a quick hello in admissions and leave as quickly as possible.  Three hours later, we were still there...by choice!  The students we spoke to were smart, passionate and genuinely fired up about the many cross-disciplinary opportunities available to them and about the exceptional faculty mentoring.  We left applauding the college’s decision to choose the intellectual investment in the faculty and students over building a more sensory appealing state-of-the-art athletic facility.  Our focus had shifted from observing the physical setting to seeing the less tangible environment where possibilities abounded.  So take the time to get out of the car even if the grass is parched from an extended drought.  A college experience should be more than skin deep. Classroom environment, student engagement, career services, academic rigor, social scene, and opportunities in one’s chosen major…these are just some of the many areas that can and should be explored.

Reflecting on my trip to SFUAD, I am reminded that finding the right fit college is an art, not a science.  Getting to know my students and understanding the vibe of the colleges I visit are both essential to my assessment for which schools would be appropriate for each individual.  However, the decision in the end rests with the student and family.  It is an important decision which warrants as much firsthand knowledge as possible.  So whether your child sees each campus before he or she applies or just prior to making a final choice, don’t under estimate the value of a road trip.  

Does That Price for This College Make Sense?

The cost of college today has put affordability truly out of reach for most Americans, including many who are comfortably middle class.  I am not stating anything that anyone who is currently putting children through college hasn’t realized.  While higher education has always come at a cost, it has reached a price point that now exceeds the pain threshold for most Americans.  As President Obama, Congress and colleges wrangle over how to fix the problem of runaway tuition increases, I sadly am of the opinion that the situation has no satisfactory solution that doesn’t involve drastically changing the delivery of higher education in this country. But that is a subject for another day.  Right now I am consumed by the decisions families make with respect to cost and choosing a college.  

The question that has been weighing on my mind is how much is too much to pay for college, specifically for schools that heavily discount tuition.  Anyone who follows the news about rising college costs probably is familiar with the difference between the “sticker price” (what a college publishes as its total cost) and “net price” (what its students actually pay, on average).  In recent year, most colleges have made a practice of offering merit aid to students they wish to lure away from more selective schools.  Colleges do that by “discounting” the sticker price so that students feel like they are getting a real deal…but are they?  The discounting of tuition, in fact, is one of the main drivers of higher prices.  Colleges are able to offer select students sizable discounts by charging everybody else more.  So should you pay full price for a college that uses your tuition dollars to subsidize other students?  

The question has no simple answer.  What makes sense for one student and family may be impractical for another.  My goal here is to provide a framework for families wrestling with this question as they help their children make the all-important decision about where to attend college.  

Have the family discussion and a joint understanding about affordability before the applications go out and the acceptances come in.  It is okay to apply to the dream college, but be clear with your son or daughter about what kind of financial aid package, either need or merit-based, will make it feasible to attend.  Setting expectations early may mean avoiding future heartache.

Recognize that loans may make it possible to attend the college of choice today, but that excessive borrowing will feel like an albatross around the neck once graduation has passed and the loan payments come due. Borrowing a reasonable amount to pay for college makes sense, but knowing what is affordable requires planning and forward thinking.  How much will the student and/or parents probably have to borrow over four years?  What will be the approximate size of the future graduate's monthly payments and how long will it take to pay off the loans?  Given a student’s career plans, what will he or she likely earn, and will that be sufficient to comfortably meet debt payments while still covering other living expenses?  A good rule of thumb is to keep debt payments at or below 8% of gross income.  Calculators such as those available on the website http://www.mappingyourfuture.org/ enable one to project future debt payments, based on expected borrowing and interest rates. The calculators will also help you determine what a person should earn in order to comfortably pay back a given balance in student loans. If you are looking for a way to estimate average salaries in a specific field by region, you might want to check out the Bureau of Labor Statistics site: http://www.bls.gov/.

Think it through before you pay the sticker price at a college that heavily discounts tuition. It is important to find out what percentage of students receives some type of merit aid and the amount of the average award.  If a school discounts tuition for a significant number of students and you are not one of them, you are probably overpaying and subsidizing someone else’s child who has better grades and test scores.  When is it okay to do this?  1) If it’s the dream school and you can afford it without borrowing, 2) if the student wants to pursue a unique major or program for which the college is renowned, 3) when the college offers some merit aid, but most students pay full fare (e.g., the “subsidizing of other students is not significant) and 4) in cases where other less expensive options truly do not meet the academic needs of the student.

Have your child include schools on the college list that that will likely offer tuition discounts based on his or her test scores and GPA.  For the most part, you can figure out which colleges these are.  Are the test scores and GPA at the high end of the school’s range?  In all likelihood, the college will offer some discount as an incentive to entice your student to attend.

 

Weigh the emotional against the practical.  Does it make sense for the middle income family that receives no need-based aid to choose the Ivy League or highly selective university over the state school option?  Given the emotions wrapped up in these types of choices, I find it difficult to advise others on the right and logical decision.   Choosing the highly selective, name brand college may indeed change the student’s life, but at a high cost if excessive borrowing is involved.  This is especially true if a student has plans to go on to graduate school.  I know.  It’s hard to turn down Harvard or Yale, nor am I saying that you should.  However, graduating debt-free or with limited loans is anything but over-rated.  Do well as an undergraduate anywhere and you can spend the bigger bucks on graduate school.  

Deciding what a college education is worth is a complex analysis, yet unlike an integral calculus problem, there is no single right answer.  My hope is that having a framework to evaluate this decision and a list of questions to ponder will help each family come to the answer that is appropriate for them.

Study in Ireland - A Hundred Thousand Welcomes!

Céad míle fáilte romhat! A hundred thousand welcomes to you! Our group of 21 college counselors touring the seven Irish universities discovered the sincerity of this welcome and the true meaning of Irish hospitality. We were on a mission in early March to learn all that we could about higher education in Ireland. After a week visiting the seven campuses, I understand the appeal of studying in this country so rich in culture, history, scholarship and generosity.

The charm and splendor of the universities mirrors the radiance of the Irish people. Even in early March, each campus showed well, flowers in bloom and several sporting brilliant shamrock green quads…three weeks before the official advent of spring! However, my objective was to leave Ireland not only with the digital and mental pictures, but with a deeper appreciation for its approach to higher education, the essential differences between a U.S. and an Irish university experience, and an understanding of the mindset of the American student who decides to venture to the Emerald Isle to live and study.

Our journey began on the east coast in Dublin, where we spent two days touring Trinity College Dublin, University College Dublin and Dublin City University. We discovered, among other things, how much better Guinness tastes on the other side of the pond and the sheer beauty of traditional Irish music when performed by a cappella voices in perfect harmony. The next stop was National University of Ireland Maynooth, located in the eponymous medieval town just 30 minutes west of Dublin. Spending the night in a monastery was a personal first, only to be topped by a photo opportunity at dinner with members of the Irish national rugby team! After a three hour drive the next morning we reached the west coast and the picturesque city of Galway, home to the National University of Ireland Galway and a center for theatre and art. On our final two days we headed southeast to the University of Limerick and then on to the University College Cork before returning to Dublin. Both universities regaled us with traditional Irish music and dance performed by students in their acclaimed music programs. If you are ever in Cork, take a page from the Ireland itinerary of Queen Elizabeth II and be sure to savor the tastes, smells and bustle of the English Market!

Getting the flavor for life in and around the university locales was an integral part of our education. Yet most of our time was spent on the campuses, learning about the literally hundreds of subjects offered, the undergraduate entry programs in disciplines that are exclusively graduate level at home such as medicine, law, dentistry and veterinary medicine, Co-op programs similar to those in the U.S., the difference between a society (student club) and a club (a sport), the student union (an organization, not a place!), tutorials (the Irish equivalent of a U.S. university lecture review session), joint honours degrees (a double major), study abroad through the Erasmus programme (a student exchange program), and a whole host of other features, some of which needed to be translated or explained for American educators.

Much of what we heard from faculty, staff and students about the appeal of studying in Ireland came as no surprise. Americans students seek the international experience and global perspective that living in the gateway to Europe offers; yet they know they will still have the familiarity of hearing and speaking their native English. It’s a cultural immersion that feels a little less foreign. Yet there are some significant differences in the educational experience in Ireland that attracts a special type of international student.

Studying in an Irish university is more about depth than breadth. The emphasis on pursuing one or two subjects rather than exploring a true liberal arts curriculum means that students graduate with a genuine expertise in their fields. (University College Dublin offers a program that is an exception, having developed a Liberal Art & Sciences Program modeled after U.S. higher education which allows students to explore various disciplines before declaring a major.) The more common Irish approach is focused, but not narrow. In fact, many programs are inter-disciplinary. A course (major) in European Studies will delve into the history, philosophy, arts and sciences, religion, psychology and linguistics of the region, thereby providing an education that can, indeed, look very much like one pursued at a U.S. liberal arts college.

Those from the United States who do choose to study in Ireland might be surprised by the degree of responsibility placed on students to budget their time and self-pace their studies. One or two exams during the year is the norm rather than continual assessment throughout the semester, as is common in the U.S. Professors do not regularly provide progress feedback in the form of tests or papers. Yet students are not left to fend for themselves. Irish universities provide dedicated support for international students to ensure that they succeed academically and adjust to their new social and cultural environment.

Attending a university in Ireland means being part of a larger community. The notion of town-gown is not part of the mindset in Ireland; students easily mingle with residents and feel very welcome as part of the local community. The warmth, hospitality and welcome of the Irish people is unmatched. Go into an Irish pub or shop and don’t be surprised if you are drawn into a conversation.

“School spirit” as we know it in the U.S. is a bit of a foreign concept on campuses in Ireland. Instead, students connect and feel part of the university by joining societies and clubs or team sports, many of which are competitive. Involvement in these cultural, academic, social and athletic organizations is viewed as an important dimension to the university experience, and furthers a mission to educate the whole person. On Irish campuses, students rule. All societies and clubs are student organized and run. Every university has a union comprised of student-elected representatives who take a year off from their studies to oversee many aspects of university life.

Those who choose to attend an Irish university know they will have the best of both worlds: a university campus endowed with state-of-the-art academic, research and athletic facilities which is either located in or within a short distance from a major city, yet easily accessible to the magnificent countryside for which Ireland is well renowned.

I returned from my visit to Ireland convinced that self-directed and motivated American students willing to think broadly about higher education options would do very well to consider any of the seven Irish universities for a degree program that’s highly regarded worldwide and a great value. I would be remiss if I made no mention of the cost. Though tuition and fees vary by program of study, the cost of attendance on average is the U.S. dollar equivalent of about $30,000 per year, a bargain when compared to private colleges and even some public options in the U.S.

For the adventurous, directed student seeking an international and cultural experience that cannot be replicated in the U.S., consider Ireland. Céad míle fáilte romhat!