Degrees of Success: Redefining College Ambition - Scholastic Art & Writing Awards National Medalist

1969. It was the year that Neil Armstrong took “one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.” A car crashed in Chappaquiddick and the great Muhammad Ali was convicted of evading the draft as the Vietnam War was at its peak. As with every year, many high school students prepared and applied to college as well. Some apply to community colleges, others to state schools. A smaller, but still relevant group applied to the schools considered to be the crème de la crème - prestigious, old, and sophisticated institutions. One of the most well-known institutions among these Ivy League schools was and still is Harvard College, established in 1636 in Cambridge, Massachusetts. 6,700 high school seniors applied to Harvard in 1969 (Thompson 2015). 20% of them, or approximately 1,340 individuals, received letters of acceptance. Fifty years later, in 2019, a staggering 43,330 eager teenagers applied to the Ivy League institution (Caldera and Mohammadzadeh 2019). However, only a mere 4.5% of them - around 1,949 students - were given a spot in the Class of 2023, a record low for one of the most selective schools on the planet (Caldera and Mohammadzadeh 2019). Over the years, the decline in acceptance rates by top-ranking universities has been on the rise, putting an end to many Ivy dreams.

The question arises of why such a radical change has taken place. Why does Harvard seem more attainable fifty years ago than now? Why is there more stress surrounding college admissions now, although it has become much simpler to apply to college? Why do families go to extremes, such as the ones exposed in the recent Operation Varsity Blues, to ensure spots in these selective schools?

One of the pivotal changes that has occurred in recent years is the surge in college applicants across the board. Each year, out of the 3 million-plus high school seniors who intend to attend college, over 2 million proceed to do so, which is around 70% of high school graduates (Selingo 2017; Bureau of Labor Statistics 2017). This means that the pool of applicants, at selective schools and otherwise, has drastically expanded and colleges cannot admit as many students as in the past. A recent article by CNN puts this phenomenon into perspective quite effectively: “Over the past five years, all the Ivies have been accepting smaller and smaller slivers of their total applicant pools. At the same time, more and more students are submitting applications, which is driving down acceptance rates. It's sort of a vicious circle,” (Griggs and Lou 2019). Another key influencer in the application surge - the impact of higher-education application processing tools like the Common Application. Such platforms make it easy to apply to multiple schools in a few clicks. Students who applied to over three schools rose from 61% in 1995, three years before the launch of the Common Application, to a staggering 82% in 2016 (Clinedinst and Patel 2018).

The test prep industry has also recorded rapid growth. In 2014 alone, the SAT prep industry had a valuation between $1 billion and $4 billion (Howard 2014). Resources like Khan Academy that offers test prep in partnership with the College Board and the rise in the use of private tutors, especially with wealthier applicants, have raised test scores. College admissions counseling has also been a booming industry due to the rise in competition. High school admissions counselors, especially in public high schools, have too many cases to handle, often limiting meaningful interaction. According to the Chicago Tribune, a study found that these admissions counselors are so tied down with a vast array of work that they get a mere 38 minutes per annum to counsel a student (Elejalde-Ruiz 2019). 38 minutes certainly cannot do justice to help a student navigate and maneuver the complex maze called the college admissions process. Families hire college admissions counselors to help with admissions essays, alumni interviews, test prep, amongst other tasks. They can charge between $850 to $10,000 for this assistance (Elejalde-Ruiz 2019). However, this business has been in the spotlight in recent months for all the wrong reasons. In the 2019 college admissions scandal, many wealthy parents of college-bound children have been shown to pay extraordinary amounts of money to fake test scores, create false athletic portraits, and bribe officials to guarantee admissions. Out of over fifty-one individuals charged in the scandal, nearly thirty-three are accused of giving more than $25 million to the orchestrator of the scheme over the past seven years in the name of admissions counseling (Garrison 2019). This shows just to what extent families are willing to go to secure a spot at top universities.

Another culprit in creating the prevalent college admissions hysteria - the U.S. News & World Report. This publication’s ‘Best Colleges’ ranking has been released yearly since 1987 (Morse 2008). The data used to rank the colleges is based upon results from surveys sent to the schools each year and opinion surveys filled out by university officials who are not a part of the school being rated (Morse 2008). In 2014, the listing brought 18.9 million page views to the website, making it quite popular (Smith 2013). However, it also quickly raised controversy over its process, relevance, and accuracy, causing some institutions to withdraw participation in the rankings as a whole. Part of the problem lies in the weighting given to certain factors that influence the rankings. A recent article in Forbes highlights some of the fundamental concerns with the process, pointing out that “nearly 50% of the weighted indicators are problematic” in some way (Nietzel 2019). A major issue lies in the fact that 5% of the ranking is based upon the percentage of alumni who gave to the school, which is supposedly a representation of student satisfaction (Nietzel 2019). However, in reality, there have been discrepancies in the reporting of these numbers and the relevance of their value in determining academic excellence is uncertain. Other questionable weighted measures include smaller class sizes (8%), SAT and ACT scores (7.75%), faculty salary (7%), and academic reputation (20%) (Nietzel 2019). All of these factors, particularly academic reputation, are the ones that cannot easily be verified to be influential in the merit of the true college experience. Nevertheless, time and again, parents and children find comfort in these rankings to justify their college decisions without truly understanding the whole picture.

The schools at the top of these rankings are often the most selective. As more applicants mistake lower acceptance rates to be a definition of academic excellence and success, more applications are sent out to these schools, driving down acceptance rates further. But, does going to a selective institution provide one guaranteed success in life compared to those who don’t? The short answer - no.

One sees patterns of success in individuals like Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, and Mark Zuckerberg, all of whom are famous for not only the great technologies they developed but also for their unique college backgrounds. They are embodiments of the theory that a typical college education is not a determinant of success. However, it can be argued that some of them had gotten into a selective institution and dropped out to start revolutionizing companies. Although people with degrees from the most selective American institutions are often overrepresented in upper society, there are many examples of people who defy that stereotype. According to an article in The Washington Post, “Among American billionaires, Fortune 500 CEOs and federal judges, about 2 in 5 have a bachelor’s, MBA or a law degree from an elite school...Only a fifth of House members went to elite schools,” (Guo 2019). Many recent Fortune 500 CEOs, especially in top positions, attended schools like the University of Arkansas, University of Kansas, the University of Nebraska, the University of Texas (Easton 2015). President Obama attended Occidental College before he went to Columbia and Reagan received his degree from Eureka College - just two examples of Presidents who didn’t start off with elite college backgrounds (Easton 2015). The generalization that many successful people have elite school degrees cannot be applied to all successful people in their respective industries.

After considering the complex college admissions process and the hysteria surrounding selective school admission, it is important to think about steps one can take now to mitigate the problem. Some ways of addressing this phenomenon today are finding one’s “why” for college and adopting a holistic education. The first step toward making a well-formed decision is to identify one’s motive. Oftentimes, one starts preparing for college at the beginning of freshman year in high school so much to the point that by senior year, there is not a thought of questioning the notion that college naturally comes next. Many don’t think of why that is the next step for them. However, without understanding the depth of the need, one cannot make the best choice. One way to study needs that influence a decision, especially financial, is by understanding the “jobs-to-be-done.” The jobs-to-be-done model, introduced by leading business academic Clayton Christensen in The Innovator’s Solution, is the one used to understand consumer behavior. It is based upon the idea that “people don’t simply buy products or services, they ‘hire’ them to make progress in specific circumstances” (“Jobs To Be Done n.d.). A recently released book, Choosing College, helps answer this question of why by sharing five jobs-to-be-done in choosing college. They are listed as “help me get into my best school,” “help me do what’s expected of me,” “help me get away,” “help me step it up,” and “help me extend myself,” (Horn and Moesta 2019).

The first Job of getting into one’s best school usually to those students who want the stereotypical college experience with a stellar environment and highly ranked school (Horn and Moesta 28). One of the integral parts of this job to be done is the fact that the most importance is given to the act of getting into the school. Individuals who identify with this are common in the college admissions hysteria and often do not spend much time thinking about what they will do once they get in. The second Job is to do what is expected of them and individuals who identify with this are going to college because they think someone else in their life wants them to or to “check a box” (29). The third group of people are those who want to “get away” by going to college. They want to break free from their current day-to-day atmosphere, whether it is their parents, friends, town, job, relationships, or something else (29). The fourth Job is that of individuals who want to “step it up.” These students want to go to college due to similar reasons as those who want to get away - they find that something is preventing them from being their best selves in their current environment (29). They believe that going to school can help them develop skill-sets before it’s too late (29). Finally, the fifth group of individuals want to extend themselves in some way - acquire a skill or certification (29). They are more or less in a good place and have the time to engage in this self-development, which could help them in the future too. Most individuals in the college admissions process identify with at least one of these Jobs. By knowing why one wants to go to college, it is easier for him or her to pick a school that fits that need. If more students today started their search by answering that simple question, the college application process would become much more approachable and less stressful.

Whether in kindergarten or high school, students are constantly being influenced by how they are being taught just as much as what they are taught. The college application process acts as a culminating event of those many years of absorbing that information. Considering the stress involved in the current college admissions process and the sheer confusion that many students face, it can be thought that if more students had access to a more diverse and deep curriculum, they might be better equipped to make better choices. A holistic education is one that uses current resources to give what goes on outside the classroom as much importance as what happens inside it. Exploring museums, independent study, activities to develop students’ emotional quotient, financial literacy training, learning cooking, volunteering, internships, job shadowing, and engaging in entrepreneurial endeavors are all examples of segments of a holistic education. Whether it is online education platforms like Khan Academy, Coursera, and edX or the local opportunities available through a quick Google search, the possibilities are endless. Taking a gap year is also a powerful decision that one can implement even if at the cusp of the high school journey, making a huge impact on building clarity. Using the time to participate in some of the activities discussed can not only be beneficial on the college application but can bring students to a much-needed realization about who they are, what they want, and where they can be. If more students are exposed to this kind of learning, they may be able to make better decisions when applying to college. They can understand through the many interactions they have with peers and mentors that what school they go to has little bearing on the things they can do as humans. They will feel less inclined to blindly believe rankings or go to irrational lengths - legal or illegal - to secure a spot at a brand-name school, which may not be right for them.

In the future, one hopes to see standard testing reform, more generalist methods in higher education, and continuous learning. An important change that is partially underway today is standardized testing reform. In many cases, it has been pointed out that scores on standardized tests reflect more of a student’s family income and validate prevalent income inequality than their future academic success or the quality of education being received (Wexler 2018). Many students focus on mastering the test itself and are often successful, but may not have wholesome knowledge of the curriculum. The importance given to scores often diverts high school curriculums from treating all subjects equally, focusing merely on what’s on the test. Due to the uncertainty in its relevance and how many students are able to game the system, many colleges are giving high-stakes testing less significance in college decisions. Some colleges, including the University of Chicago, George Washington University, Bowdoin College, Bates College, and Colby College, have all become test-optional. Continued reform on the content in standardized tests is essential for a smoother path to higher education. Each individual has unique strengths, which are not standard to everyone. Testing a person’s aptitude must reflect that truth.

Specialization is at the core of higher education. However, in a world that is rapidly changing with technology like artificial intelligence and machine learning, our strength as humans may lie in “the exact opposite of narrow specialization” (Epstein 29). In fact, it is our “ability to integrate broadly,” or generalize that can drive us forward and make change in the ever-advancing world (Epstein 29). Generalists are able to apply information they already have to novel settings and across disciplines (Epstein 45). From athletes like Roger Federer who dabbled with multiple sports as a child before becoming a tennis champion to Nobel laureates who are about twenty-two times more likely to be amateur artists, the evidence of the benefits of generalization is considerable (Epstein 3, 33). However, higher education has not yet reflected the need to focus on training students in gaining transferable skills and ideas that make up critical intelligence (Epstein 47, 49). Rather the focus of education, even at institutions like the University of Chicago, which prides itself in an interdisciplinary approach, lies in equipping students with tools for success in their narrow area of specialization. More generalist approaches are needed in higher education for a brighter future. Furthermore, students need to be aware of and adopt continuous learning to be fit in the ever-changing world. One degree will not be enough for a whole lifetime. Whether through formal or informal education, humans will need to always be learning and ready to adopt the next big idea or technology to keep contributions fresh and relevant.

In conclusion, the current college admissions environment is very complex and at times toxic. Although it has become much easier to research and apply to college, the competition is fierce for those vying for a place at the top schools. A larger number of applicants, higher-education application processing tools, accessible test prep, admissions counseling, and distorted rankings have all fueled this environment. Parents and children often spend too much time, energy, and money in legal and illegal ways of securing a seat at a prestigious institution. However, when looking at the world around, it is apparent that depending on the admission into an elite school does not determine one’s success in the future. To address this growing problem, it is imperative for students to consider why they want to go to college rather than where they want to go. Furthermore, individuals need to adopt a more holistic and continuous way of learning filled with educational nourishment inside and outside the classroom, which is more fruitful in the long run. In the future, standardized testing reform, generalist approaches in higher education, and continuous learning can all pave a better academic pathway for students. But, most of all, it is essential that the youth of today, who will be the leaders of tomorrow, understand that college is not the final part of their path in education or building a meaningful life. It’s just the beginning!

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