Hobbies are not just for College Applications

When it comes time to fill out college applications many students panic at the thought of having to list their extra-curricular activities. They question whether they have enough activities, the “right” ones, and if their list will persuade the admission staff of their commitment to these pursuits. “If I don’t have a passion, will colleges even consider me?” is the unproductive thought that plays repeatedly in many students’ heads. Sometimes I wonder if the pressure to pursue “extra-curricular activities” actually discourages less confident or rebellious students from getting involved. The shame of it is that engaging in activities often becomes more about impressing college admissions than finding pleasure and meaning in one’s non-academic pursuits. The focus on figuring out what colleges want to see is misguided; the more important question is: are you developing and exploring interests and hobbies that provide personal satisfaction and which will continue to enrich your life, even beyond college?

We engage in hobbies for a variety of reasons, but largely for personal fulfillment and to give purpose to our lives. It’s about choice, not obligation. Whether social or solitary, active or sedentary, philanthropic or artistic, the things we do that are individually meaningful can trigger the release of pleasure-inducing dopamine or lead us to form new social groups with people who share our interests. But one of the best things about hobbies is that it is never too late to discover new ones. Take it from me; last year I more or less traded in my running sneakers for cycling shoes. I signed up for a college counselor bike tour in southern California because it seemed like a great way to visit colleges, share the experience with colleagues and get some heart-pumping outdoor exercise. What I had not anticipated is that I would become hooked on cycling.

This summer once again I am participating in the college counselor bike tour. Our destination is to the south: North Carolina colleges and universities. Last year at this time I was marking off the days to the trip, filled with a mix of excitement and trepidation. New to cycling, I had concerns about keeping the pace, conquering hills, carrying my own gear and releasing my toe clips with sufficient time before a stop to avoid falling. I had premonitions of an embarrassing Arte Johnson moment, toppling over on my bike in a klutzy move reminiscent of the Laugh-In tricycle routine…a self-fulfilling prophesy.

With just 12 days until this year’s trip (and counting), I have no anxiety and feel only the excitement. I have already experienced the adrenaline rush that for me comes with the joy of cycling and sharing the ride with other adventurous counselors. Hobbies can also motivate us to challenge ourselves and improve our skills. I am a stronger rider today and therefore, more confident. I am happy to report that I no longer get stuck in my toe clips.

Many of my friends from last summer have also decided to participate again this year, anticipating another action packed week of great cycling, plenty of laughs and lots of support. The cycling trip takes us to Duke, NC State, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Elon, Guilford, High Point, Wake Forest, Catawba, Davidson and Queens College. We carry our own clothes and gear, and stay in dorms; it will be as close as possible to a true college experience. I actually visited many of these colleges as recently as two years ago, traveling by bus with a group of independent educational consultants. Even so, it never occurred to me to pass up this bike trip. The cycling, the camaraderie, the exercise, and yes, the professional benefits inspire me. I always gain something new from subsequent campus visits, whether it’s a different perspective or the reinforcement of something I had previously learned. This time around my vantage point will be different; after all, I will arrive on each campus by the power of my well-trained legs, my bike and my determination.

There is no one path to uncovering our passions and interests. I first happened upon the counselor bike tour and took up cycling after reading a posting on a college related listserv. One’s interests are sparked through exposure, receptiveness to new things, a suggestion from a friend, but most importantly, through self knowledge and an understanding for what makes us happy. When the interest is genuine, the commitment and endorphins will follow. That’s what will get a college’s attention.

What China Can Teach Us about the Value of Liberal Learning

Are American parents appalled or threatened by what author Amy Chua portrays as the excessively demanding Chinese approach to education and childrearing in her best-selling book, Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mom? Many of us defend our less-disciplined, more permissive style of parenting by citing the creativity and superior critical thinking skills that our approach fosters. Our children’s generation may lose ground to the Chinese on math rankings, but they will have the lock on thinking out of the box. Is this a fact or our convenient rationalization?

Thomas L. Friedman’s Op Ed article in yesterday’s (June 15, 2011) New York Times (Justice Goes Global), may throw that argument under the bus. The same Chinese culture that emphasizes rote learning over creative thought could be on the verge of a metamorphosis. Friedman points out that the person recently named most influential foreign figure in a China Newsweek special issue is not a powerful business executive or politician, but rather a popular Harvard political philosopher named Michael J. Sandel. How did a U.S. professor become a Chinese superstar? With the help of technology, Professor Sandel’s classroom is now virtual; his public television philosophy course series is available online and has gained popularity around the globe, even in China.

Sandel’s classes explore issues of morality and justice. Students are encouraged and expected to challenge, debate and reason with each other in the classroom. Access to Professor Sandel’s lectures has been greeted with much enthusiasm in China and elsewhere in Asia. Educators and students have begun to recognize the power of discussion-based learning and see the strong connection to creativity and innovation. In at least one Chinese university, the undergraduate education is experiencing a major reform that will incorporate deeper philosophical thinking, reasoning and debate into the curriculum.

Friedman suggests that questions of morality and justice are global issues which students everywhere can and are eager to discuss and debate on a deeper level. Even the Chinese have come to recognize the benefits of liberal learning, the responsibility to challenge and question, as a means to produce more innovative and creative thinkers. Kudos to China, though we shouldn’t treat too lightly the significance of this potentially radical change in the country's approach to education. We have already lost ground to Asia in the production of scientists, engineers and professionals in other STEM fields. What might it mean for U.S. productivity and leadership if China and other Asian nations adopt an academic model that will emphasize innovation too? I’m not suggesting that we obsess about U.S. world dominance. Yet we should not overlook the connection between critical and innovative thinking skills and economic security. These are the skills that will enable future generations to create and keep jobs and industry in the U.S.

Herein lays the value of a liberal arts education. A student’s major is almost irrelevant. The more pertinent factor is whether students are compelled to question, challenge, debate and think critically while exploring issues across a broad spectrum of disciplines. Though it is easy to comprehend why students in today’s economy feel a need to pursue a more concrete course of study directly identified as pre-professional training, in the long run the absence of the critical thinking piece will catch up with us.

So as we compare our parenting style to those of our Chinese counterparts, we should not assume too hastily that we have the inside track on creativity and innovative thought. Strict discipline will probably continue to be the childrearing norm in Chinese households. However, let’s not be lulled into a false sense of security about our creative edge. They just might not be too far behind in that department too.

You Think the Admission Process is Tough? – Just Ask the Dean!

As parents of high school students who will soon embark upon or have just completed the application cycle, we tend to have a myopic view of the admission process. It is all about us (and hopefully our children are included in that plural first person pronoun). We succumb to the anxiety that the admission process can create, and pray that the outcome will be relief and joy rather than disappointment. Would it surprise you to learn that college admission folk are equally stressed this time of year? No, I am not naïve enough to believe I am preaching to a sympathetic audience. However, I think it is useful to see the colleges’ perspective in order to better comprehend how it drives their decision processes.

Eric Hoover, a staff writer for the Chronicle of Higher Education, addressed the topic of greater admission uncertainty in his May 8, 2011 article, “Admissions Deans Feel Crunched by the Numbers.” Through interviews with deans and staff at five colleges, Hoover explored some of the global issues confronting universities and how these institutions are managing in such uncertain times. The bottom line: colleges, like all businesses, must hit their numbers in order to survive. Any shortfall in enrollment, especially without a comparable reduction in costs, can have consequences with material implications for future financial health.

The question facing all universities today is how to instill predictability in a system that has become anything but certain. Larger waitlists and other strategies have been designed to counter the effects of the almost inevitable “summer melt.” Villanova, just one of many such examples, offered a waitlist spot to nearly 5,000 candidates, more than three times the size of its expected freshmen class. Colleges know that they have not finalized the class by the May 1 National Tuition Deposit Day. There will always be students who change their minds mid to late summer because they get off a first-choice waitlist, finally make a late decision after double depositing (which, by the way, runs counter to the National Association for College Admission Counseling’s Statement of Principles of Good Practice), or simply choose to withdraw due to late stage reservations or financial concerns.

So in addition to larger waitlists, colleges are pursuing strategies to discourage double depositing and to increase predictability, evidenced by Beloit College’s decision to increase its deposit fee from $200 to $500 last year. The result: the college’s summer melt shrank by 60%. In its quest for more certainty, Beloit also decided to capitalize on its reputation for having a quirky, offbeat culture. Rather than marketing to everyone, the college is taking the opposite tack; it makes no apologies for consciously not waiving application fees and actually discourages students who probably would not find Beloit the right fit. Theoretically this should be a win for the college while also benefiting students. Applicants are more likely to self select; they apply because they see themselves fitting in, not because it is an easy additional application to submit. With fewer, though more serious applicants, colleges like Beloit that are clear about who they are may have a higher admit rate. Yet they are hopeful that this will translate into a more robust yield too.

Others schools such as the University of Mary Washington in Virginia have adopted a strategy to seek out a group of less traditional applicants: transfer students. As community college enrollment increases due to students' personal financial limitations, colleges such as Mary Washington have begun to establish credit-transfer agreements with certain two-year institutions. The community college route is gaining respectability as a more cost efficient means to a four-year college degree and Mary Washington is capitalizing on that trend.

Land grant universities, which were established to educate in-state residents, are exploring new ways to counter severe budget cuts, including the enrollment of more out-of-state students who pay higher tuition. One university, Colorado State, has begun to offer three levels of scholarships specifically for non-residents who meet certain academic benchmarks. This tuition discounting strategy is designed to attract more out-of-state candidates who will still pay more than their in-state classmates, yet will have the opportunity to attend a desirable state university at a more reasonable cost.

Mr. Hoover’s research reveals ways that colleges are taking a more strategic approach to enrollment in order to effectively navigate an environment of uncertainty and re-focus their recruitment. How does this impact our students and us, as parents? As we help our children through the college admission process and also strive for greater certainty and less stress, making the effort to understand a college’s message, objectives and whether it is the right fit can also lead to better and more predictable outcomes for our kids.

Ten Trends in Higher Education

The economy is limping along and college applications are up. What’s the connection? There may be none or perhaps the increase is driven by students’ concern about not having financial options. More likely the application trend is related to technology, the burgeoning use of social media in admissions and colleges’ obsession with creative marketing as a means to attract students. Whether or not the economy and college admission trends are correlated, both offer insights on what we can expect in the higher education realm in the future. In the absence of a crystal ball, I offer up what I see as 10 notable trends in admission and the strategic paths that colleges have begun to pursue.

- Ivy League and other highly competitive colleges are becoming even more selective, as the number of applications continues to rise at double digit rates. Preliminary reports released several weeks ago were startling, indicating that six of the eight Ivies will admit fewer than 10% of their applicants this year, achieving new all time lows. There are no signs on the horizon that this trend will reverse in the near term.

- Applications across the board are up substantially, despite the fact that the number of students applying has leveled off. Why are students applying to so many schools? The answer is largely that it is easy to submit multiple applications given today's technology, with the rise also fueled by the erroneous belief that more applications improve one's odds of admission. The list of colleges that use the Common Application expands each year and many schools are now making use of “fast” applications. Students are invited to apply by a certain deadline and colleges will waive the application fee AND the essay! What better incentive is there to apply?!

- More students are choosing to know and even commit as soon as possible, taking advantage of early decision and early action applications. Harvard, Princeton and the University of Virginia each recently announced plans to reinstate single-choice early action which they had abandoned just a few years before. Cynics see this move as a reaction to losing high achieving students, especially minorities, to other Ivy League schools that were able to hook desirable candidates earlier in the process. Expect to see the pressure to apply early continue, despite the fact that it may not be the right way to go for every student.

- Social media continues to change the way that students learn about schools and connect with others. Colleges today all have Facebook pages and are taking advantage of social sites to reach out to potential and admitted students. The corollary to this is that students need to be even more careful about what they post on these sites, even on their personal pages!

- The gap year is not just about college readiness anymore. Taking a gap year was literally a foreign concept just a few years ago and was far more common in Europe, but today many students seek outdoor adventure, travel and language study programs, community service, or work experience before pursuing their college degree. The number of organized programs, both nationally and internationally, has proliferated, and opportunities are available at many different price points. Students use the time to do good, mature and pursue something personally fulfilling. Most claim that these sojourns have tremendously enriched their college experiences.

- January admission is an idea that is catching on, and is one way that colleges are choosing to manage enrollment and fill the beds of students taking a spring semester abroad. Many colleges now offer January admission to students who might otherwise be waitlisted or rejected, and the list of schools is rapidly growing. University of Southern California, Northeastern, University of Rochester and the University of Miami are just a handful leading this trend. Students accepted to their dream school as a January admit need to ask themselves: do I want to go to this school even if I must begin mid-year or is it better to enroll for the fall at another college along with the rest of the freshman class? Some schools actually offer the option to start later. At Middlebury College in Vermont a February start date is by choice. By having a separate February admission pool, Middlebury hopes to encourage more to take a gap semester and explore a different type of experience before entering college.

- Enrollment management is here to stay. Colleges can no longer ignore the fact that assembling a class has major bottom line implications. As a result, schools are continually experimenting with new tools to attract and enroll students. Merit aid, also known as tuition discounting, is still the favorite carrot to garner the interest of students they hope will round out the class.

- Demonstrating interest is important to many colleges at all levels of admission selectivity (though many of the most selective do not track this). If yield is important, it follows that being able to gauge student interest is a valuable tool to colleges. Technology today enables colleges to track contact and to record every interaction that students initiate…even if and when they open the e-mails they receive from the school!

- The classroom is now virtual; online programs are proliferating, and not just at for-profit institutions. Just today Fordham announced that it is starting an online masters degree in social work. While online learning programs are primarily at the graduate level, it is only a matter of time before distance learning college degrees become more commonplace and gain greater acceptance.

- Dwindling government support is prompting public universities to question the value of state ties. Several are seeking greater autonomy, especially in the areas of tuition setting, procurement, and public/private partnerships. Flagships in Wisconsin, Oregon and Louisiana have proposed such separation, while the State University of New York (SUNY) frequently revisits the issue, especially in years when state support is cut. While many educators believe that eliminating a bureaucratic layer will reduce costs and improve delivery, critics are concerned that these moves will be detrimental to state systems as a whole. It’s not clear how this will play out, but I think we can expect to see some greater autonomy over the next few years.

You may have noticed that my list of 10 does not include ever-increasing tuition costs and the ongoing endowment pressures at the nation’s colleges. These are driving some of the other trends I've noted. Expect the higher education landscape to continually evolve as colleges develop new ways to manage admissions, their budgets and how they deliver their product.

School Counselors and Independent Consultants Working Together

An article I wrote titled "School Counselors and Independent Consultants Working Together" was published last week in the New York State Association for College Admission Counseling newsletter. In the article I talk about the benefits of guidance counselors and independent consultants collaborating on behalf of students, yet I also seek to clarify the role each one plays and the value each brings to a student's college search process. Since I occasionally am asked the question, 'how is what you do different from what we can expect from the guidance counselor,' I have decided to share the article here in my blog.

When I began working as an independent educational consultant, I was admittedly naïve. It had not occurred to me that school guidance counselors might not welcome me with open arms. After all, weren’t we working towards the same goal, doing what we thought best for the student?

Today I have a better understanding for a guidance counselor’s position, though believe more fervently than ever that the relationship between school counselor and independent consultant should and can be collaborative. Within my own school district I have come to know and truly appreciate the challenges of the guidance staff. While I have the luxury to focus solely on the goal of finding the right fit for college and guiding students through that process, I recognize that college admission is only a small part of the school counselor’s responsibilities. Discipline, scheduling, transcripts and recommendations are not in my job description, and my case load is generally much smaller. Therefore, I can spend more time getting to know a student outside the school environment. This often leads to a more holistic picture of his or her personal as well as academic needs for a college experience.

Independent educational consultants are not substitutes for guidance counselors, but they can supplement what counselors provide. When guidance staff and IECs work together, the process runs more smoothly and effectively for everyone, most of all, for the student. So here are some thoughts that will hopefully foster a better understanding for the value that each offers, which can ultimately work to the benefit of the student.

- Guidance counselors often have the inside scoop on how students from their school fare in admission at specific colleges. IECs can benefit from this knowledge which only adds to the trove of useful data for compiling a college list.

- Independent consultants generally spend far more time on the road visiting colleges since their travel is typically not restricted by school calendars and district budgets. Many IECs visit at least 50 colleges a year. We can be a great resource for school counselors hoping to uncover lesser known gems that might perfectly suit a student.

- The better I do my job, the easier I make the life of the guidance counselor. I keep after students about deadlines, and parents often call me first with their questions and concerns. I hope and believe that this lightens the counselor’s load and alleviates some of the stress that builds as due dates near.

- Many IECs develop specializations, whether in learning disabilities, athletic recruiting, or performing and visual arts. Collaborating with someone who understands the nuances of particular programs will most likely result in greater success for the student.

A recent study done by Harvard University’s Graduate School of Education noted the rapid growth in the field of educational consulting. Up to 26% of seniors nationally now use an IEC to assist with their college planning process. However, the study also cautions parents and others to be wary of independent educational consultants who do not abide by certain standards and practices. IECs who are members of organizations such as NACAC, NYSACAC, IECA (Independent Educational Consultants Association) and HECA (Higher Education Consultants Association) commit to hold themselves to the high standards that their affiliations require. School counselors might want to advise families contemplating retention of an IEC to carefully check one’s credentials and affiliations before making a commitment.

Families retain the services of an independent educational consultant when they feel their child needs extra assistance, much in the way they hire a tutor for additional help beyond the classroom. We are all members of the same team. In this case, the objective is not about scoring a goal, but rather ensuring students have the best guidance and options for college.

Colleges Need to Change with the Times

The financial health of colleges is looking up. Alumni giving and endowment returns are on the upswing so the future is rosy, right? Well, not quite. Though returns in 2010 averaged 12%, endowments are still around 20% below their 2007 levels. And since schools typically draw down 5% of their endowments each year to cover operating expenses, this 20% decline means less money to spend on students, whether for academic programs, financial aid or capital improvements. The solution for many colleges is to raise tuition, which is why the cost of attendance continues to outpace the rate of inflation. The question begging for a satisfactory answer is, how long can this continue, especially since the bill for a four-year college education is already out of reach for most families?

How did we get into this situation? The race to attract students has motivated campus upgrades and enhancements to surpass the competition. Ask yourself honestly: if you have visited college campuses recently, were you most impressed by the schools with new dorms, student centers, state-of-the-art labs and sprawling athletic facilities? Unfortunately all of this now comes at the cost of academic programs and the increasing debt load that students are carrying.

With the exception of the colleges and universities that still have large endowments to support their student populations (and by that I mean the size of the endowment per student), most schools will not be able to continue along their current paths indefinitely. They will ultimately price themselves right out of business if they don’t change with the times and differentiate themselves through their programs and offerings. Many colleges have already come to the realization that they cannot be everything for everyone. SUNY Albany, for example, is in the process of phasing out its programs in Italian, Russian, French, the classics and theater.

Why is this important to families? The college your child is applying to today may have a different profile and focus in the future. Perhaps never before on this scale has the business of higher education been so desperately in need of a restructuring. In a way, colleges are experiencing what many individuals have recently had to face. The world has changed; what we know and the skills we possess may no longer be relevant, and we are then confronted with the task of reinventing ourselves to survive. Just like individuals, colleges that possess self-awareness and succeed in capitalizing on their strengths are the ones most likely to adapt to the changing times by embracing a clear mission and vision.

So when you visit college campuses, try to look beyond the newly renovated and air-conditioned dorms that you can now find at New England schools where it is cold throughout most of the school year, or the fabulous athletic facilities with the climbing wall that your child will never use. Read in between the lines and listen closely to how a college conveys its mission, or whether it has one at all. What majors have been eliminated and what are they now emphasizing? Colleges are starting to realize that they are just like people. They have to be flexible and adapt to the times.

Awarding Institutional Funds - The Black Box of Financial Aid

How colleges use their own institutional funds to provide assistance to students is often the black box of the financial aid process. Just consider the 500 or so private colleges and programs that make use of the CSS/Profile form to determine the allocation of institutional aid. If your son or daughter is applying to one of these schools or is currently attending one, then you may already be familiar with this comprehensive form that asks for multiple years of earnings and a full list of your family assets, including your home. But what you may not realize is that colleges pick and choose which pieces of this collection of data they wish to consider in the calculation of their applicants’ financial need. Colleges take advantage of a practice known as Professional Judgment. While the Expected Family Contribution (EFC) for federal aid purposes is standard regardless of the college, professional judgment allows schools some flexibility to set their own terms for distributing their institutional funds. This is one of the reasons that financial aid packages for the same student can vary significantly from college to college (that, and the fact that many colleges “gap” students, meaning that they do not fully cover demonstrated need).

Don’t waste your time trying to decipher the formula or determine which of your assets a college will consider. The process is far from transparent and few colleges actually disclose on their websites the factors that come into play in their decision making process. While admittedly I have not done an exhaustive search, Princeton is one of the few exceptions I have found. And for anyone interested, Princeton does not consider home equity in its calculation. As an aside, you might want to inquire with the financial aid offices on your child’s college list as to how they treat home equity in today’s economy, given that banks have made tapping that resource increasingly difficult.

So why is any of this worthy of mention? Understanding how colleges use financial aid formulas and why aid may vary from school to school can partially demystify an often perplexing process. It also underscores the fact that if you are applying for financial aid, you won't know what college will really cost until you have the award letters in hand. The bottom line is that it may be as important to apply to financial safeties as it is to include colleges where the probability of admission is high.

If cost is a factor for you, then hedge your bets by having your child apply to both public and private colleges, recognizing that the private option may turn out to be the better deal. How do you identify the financial safeties? You should approach it the same way you find right fit colleges. First, know that this is an art, not a science; there are no magic formulas so you won’t know for sure until your child is accepted and receives an aid package. So start by understanding your student’s chance of being accepted. The more desirable he or she is as a candidate, the more likely the school will be generous with money. The most obvious way to get a preliminary idea for one’s chances is to compare grades and test scores to those of the average student admitted.

Recognize that schools which state they fully meet demonstrated need are less likely to gap. However, keep in mind that for colleges using either the CSS/Profile or a proprietary form, the specifics of their calculations will not likely be disclosed to you. You can, however, make use of resources such as College Navigator to get a sense (not an assurance) for how generous your child’s college choices are likely to be with need-based aid. You can search colleges by name and look at the net price for different income ranges. The major shortcoming, however, is that there are virtually no details for families making above $110,000 annually, but the website can still provide some insights into what students pay.

While the lack of transparency makes it tough to project your true out-of-pocket expenses when it comes to paying for college, there are ways to get a better handle on the probable cost. Approaching the financial aid process strategically will hopefully lead to more affordable choices and less disappointment in the final analysis.