In a society and culture where rites of passage are few, it seems that gaining admission to an elite school has become the ultimate hallmark of success, both as a student as a parent. Indeed, the most competitive post-secondary schools are becoming more and more selective each year, largely due to the ubiquitous nature of technology. The ease of searching and applying online has encouraged high school seniors to submit applications to more colleges than ever before, which means that these same schools now reject more students than ever before. As you might be aware, the college frenzy has escalated throughout the last decade, recently culminating with the shocking headline (March 12th, 2019) that the Justice Department charged 50 parents, including some celebrities, in a college-entrance bribery scheme. The magnitude and the scope of these charges are eye-opening and appalling to most people, and yet, as a school counselor, I'm not that surprised.
Every year, I consistently see many teenagers and adults succumb to the notion that going to an elite school guarantees success and happiness for life. However, despite the emphasis on selectivity and the prestige associated with admission to one of these top-tier schools, one cannot help but wonder whether there is really a difference in the long-term impact attending such a school will have. The researchers Alan Krueger and Stacy Berg Dale first investigated this question in 1999, and recently updated their findings in 2011; they note the most disadvantaged students benefit from attending a selective institution. This category includes minorities, such as black students, Latino students, low-income students, and students whose parents did not graduate from college. Dr. Krueger guesses that those marginalized students might become empowered from professional connections they would not otherwise have. Additionally, perhaps they acquire habits or skills that middle-class and affluent students have already acquired in high school or at home.
However, the middle- or upper- class students whom he studied did not benefit in the long-term; instead, his data shows that it is not the quality of the school that makes a difference in their success, but actually the quality of the student. “Success” is somewhat subjective, but they used a metric that compared the student’s income decades after graduation when the candidates were in their forties. More specifically, the researchers examined the fate of students who were accepted at an Ivy or similar institution but elected to instead go to less selective school. Their findings indicated that such students, on average, had the same income twenty years later as their counterparts in the Ivy League. Additionally, looking at the updated report (2011), seniors and families should find solace in the fact that simply applying to a prestigious school still says a lot about him/her despite the outcome. Dr. Krueger points out that the average SAT score at the most selective college to which a student applies is a better predictor of his/her projected salary than the average SAT score at the college to which s/he eventually matriculates. To review Krueger/Dale’s findings in depth, link to Revisiting the Value of Elite Colleges or The Ivy League Earnings Myth. Or, watch Malcolm Gladwell's lecture for ZeitgeistMind, which although takes a slightly different angle on attending a top-notch post-secondary school, nonetheless resonates with people, claiming that many students might be more successful if they went to a less selective institution.
With this thought in mind, help your son or daughter to navigate the college process by considering only his/her needs, rather than prestige. Who is s/he? What does s/he value? In what environment does s/he learn best? Revisit your counselor and his/her list of college characteristics, such as size, location, majors, cost, diversity on campus, or availability of special programs, and rank these in order of what is important to him/her. Remember, your child's college experience will be what s/he makes of it, and for this reason, it is essential to find a school that is compatible with his/her interests, rather than rankings of periodicals such as U.S. News and World Report. To illustrate this point, John Yaegel of Tenafly High School (NJ) often asks students to compare college rankings with rankings in other areas of life. "Consider the Academy Awards. Do you always agree on the best movie, actor, or actress? Are the top 40 songs always in the order that you would rate them? Do you always agree with sportswriters' lists of the top 25 college football teams?" Like these lists, college rankings are in the eyes of the beholder. Your top ten college list may be completely different from any magazine--or even from your best friend's--list.
