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College Applications, Parental Exasperations
For starters, when did finding a college turn into a modern version of the 18th-century Grand Tour?
By ROBERT SCHERRER/ Wall Street Journal
Oct. 7, 2015 6:41 p.m. ET
‘If you’re in school, stay there.” I took to heart this 1960s public-service announcement: I went away to college at 18, became a professor and never left. So when my first child applied to college, I figured I would be an expert.
Wrong. Now that child No. 3 is embroiled in college applications, I’ve been driven over the edge. How has the admissions process exasperated me? Let me count the ways:
1. College visits.When did looking for a college turn into a modern version of the 18th-century Grand Tour? The first time I saw my college was when my parents dropped me off to start my freshman year. Now a college search involves traipsing the width and breadth of the United States. All this, when getting information is easier than ever. My children can go online and learn the course requirements for any program at any university in a matter of minutes. They can look up the content of every class offered, and check out which ones are scheduled late enough to let them sleep until noon. So why the cross-country junkets?
The answer: the elusive idea of “fit.” A prospective student is supposed to step onto the college quad, be struck on the forehead by a ray of light, feel a sense of divine inspiration, and say: “Yes, I have found It. This is the place I belong.” Do you want to know my definition of “fit”? A good fit is a college that your parents can afford with a strong program in the field you want to study. Plus a place to buy Cheetos at midnight.
2. The college essay. In my experience, most teenagers, especially teenage boys, have all the self-awareness of a turtle. And not one of those big Galapagos tortoises. More like a box turtle you find in the middle of the road with its head pulled inside its shell. And they’re supposed to write about their inner selves? Or to answer the profound questions that have troubled humanity for the past three millennia? Sure, why not—with a little help from the college counselor, parents, the Internet. It takes a village to write a college essay, so I think the college should admit the entire village.
3. Standardized tests. People tend to forget that standardized tests were introduced to give children with fewer advantages the opportunity to compete with the products of prep schools. But the students were supposed to go into the tests “cold” and answer the questions with the information already embedded in their heads, not after they’ve attended a dozen coaching sessions.
So what do standardized tests actually predict? I know of only one correlation: Your belief in the validity of standardized tests is strongly correlated with how well you did on them. I did very well on the SATs, so I think they’re a great predictor of college performance. Although I’m still annoyed about my math score.
4. Financial aid forms. I’m grateful for the financial aid we’ve received. But I’d rather do five income-tax returns than one financial-aid form, and I’ve worked in university administration for more than a decade. Beyond the government’s Fafsa, private colleges use a special form, and then some colleges have their own forms, and of course they all need documents faxed—or do they want hard copies? And do we send those documents to the central processing office, or maybe to the individual colleges?
H&R Block is wasting its time with income-tax returns and should get into the financial-aid game. Better yet, colleges should cut out the middleman and send someone to our homes to root through our financial records in person.
5. The U.S. News & World Report race. College applicants (and their parents) obsess over the minutest gradations in rankings; it makes the characters of “Downton Abbey” look egalitarian. To be honest, I don’t think it actually makes that much difference where you go to college. Or at least not as much difference as some people would like to think.
For good students, I would estimate that about 90% of future success depends on their native talents and willingness to work hard, about 5% on the college they attend and about 5% on luck. And I think I am underestimating the luck.
Mr. Scherrer is a professor of physics and astronomy at Vanderbilt University.
For starters, when did finding a college turn into a modern version of the 18th-century Grand Tour?
By ROBERT SCHERRER/ Wall Street Journal
Oct. 7, 2015 6:41 p.m. ET
‘If you’re in school, stay there.” I took to heart this 1960s public-service announcement: I went away to college at 18, became a professor and never left. So when my first child applied to college, I figured I would be an expert.
Wrong. Now that child No. 3 is embroiled in college applications, I’ve been driven over the edge. How has the admissions process exasperated me? Let me count the ways:
1. College visits.When did looking for a college turn into a modern version of the 18th-century Grand Tour? The first time I saw my college was when my parents dropped me off to start my freshman year. Now a college search involves traipsing the width and breadth of the United States. All this, when getting information is easier than ever. My children can go online and learn the course requirements for any program at any university in a matter of minutes. They can look up the content of every class offered, and check out which ones are scheduled late enough to let them sleep until noon. So why the cross-country junkets?
The answer: the elusive idea of “fit.” A prospective student is supposed to step onto the college quad, be struck on the forehead by a ray of light, feel a sense of divine inspiration, and say: “Yes, I have found It. This is the place I belong.” Do you want to know my definition of “fit”? A good fit is a college that your parents can afford with a strong program in the field you want to study. Plus a place to buy Cheetos at midnight.
2. The college essay. In my experience, most teenagers, especially teenage boys, have all the self-awareness of a turtle. And not one of those big Galapagos tortoises. More like a box turtle you find in the middle of the road with its head pulled inside its shell. And they’re supposed to write about their inner selves? Or to answer the profound questions that have troubled humanity for the past three millennia? Sure, why not—with a little help from the college counselor, parents, the Internet. It takes a village to write a college essay, so I think the college should admit the entire village.
3. Standardized tests. People tend to forget that standardized tests were introduced to give children with fewer advantages the opportunity to compete with the products of prep schools. But the students were supposed to go into the tests “cold” and answer the questions with the information already embedded in their heads, not after they’ve attended a dozen coaching sessions.
So what do standardized tests actually predict? I know of only one correlation: Your belief in the validity of standardized tests is strongly correlated with how well you did on them. I did very well on the SATs, so I think they’re a great predictor of college performance. Although I’m still annoyed about my math score.
4. Financial aid forms. I’m grateful for the financial aid we’ve received. But I’d rather do five income-tax returns than one financial-aid form, and I’ve worked in university administration for more than a decade. Beyond the government’s Fafsa, private colleges use a special form, and then some colleges have their own forms, and of course they all need documents faxed—or do they want hard copies? And do we send those documents to the central processing office, or maybe to the individual colleges?
H&R Block is wasting its time with income-tax returns and should get into the financial-aid game. Better yet, colleges should cut out the middleman and send someone to our homes to root through our financial records in person.
5. The U.S. News & World Report race. College applicants (and their parents) obsess over the minutest gradations in rankings; it makes the characters of “Downton Abbey” look egalitarian. To be honest, I don’t think it actually makes that much difference where you go to college. Or at least not as much difference as some people would like to think.
For good students, I would estimate that about 90% of future success depends on their native talents and willingness to work hard, about 5% on the college they attend and about 5% on luck. And I think I am underestimating the luck.
Mr. Scherrer is a professor of physics and astronomy at Vanderbilt University.
