The Start of Something New - And Good!
Welcome to the first entry in The Admission Game blog!� In reconstructing my website, it was important that I include a vehicle that would enable me to talk with students, parents and educators about the college planning process on a regular basis.� If you are in the midst of this process, you know just how confusing (and frustrating) it can be.� College may be on the horizon, but getting there can prove to be trickier than you might imagine!� I say that as one who has been engaged in college admission for more than 25 years professionally and, more recently, as a parent of three.
Along the way, I have gained valuable insight that has informed my thinking.� For one, the process has changed considerably as rankings, test prep, private counseling and institutional marketing have changed the dynamic that defines college access.� While this type of change is not all bad, it adds to the confusion.� If you graduated 25, 15, 10 or even 5 years ago and you are attempting to guide a young person based on your own experience, the odds are you are giving advice that is dated—badly in some cases.� As a result, much of the information that reaches young people adds to the confusion rather than providing clarity. Clearly, there is a room for a lot of discussion here as I want to put students in the best position possible to make well-informed decisions.
A second insight is that colleges have changed—and I’m not referring to new buildings and programs.� Whereas colleges were once happy to educate the young people who entered their hallways, they are now operated as businesses compelled to compete with each other for positioning on the mythical pecking order. Unfortunately, the messaging from colleges is not as clean as it used to be and this is something I will be talking about at greater length in future blogs.
Finally, and in my view this is a big problem, the focus in the college-going process has shifted from kids to colleges.� Too often the conversation begins with the question, “Where do you want to go?” rather than “What do you want to do?”� Families are scheming to get kids into schools whose only appeal is their ranking or prestige instead of looking for places that represent great fits for the needs/interests of the young person.
In my opinion, these are matters that need to be addressed head on if families are to regain control of the college planning process. I look forward to using this space to examine related issues in the coming months.� If you like what you read here, you should check out my book, “Winning the College Admission Game” for the full story on the college admission process.
In addition, I invite you to subscribe to The College Planning Newsletter, a free electronic newsletter circulated monthly.� And be sure to check out “Straight Talk About College Admission,” a monthly teleseminar that goes behind the scenes of the college admission process.� The first two segments of the series, September 19 (“College Rankings: What They Mean and How to Use Them”) and October 17(“The Biggest Mistakes Made in Applying to College”), are FREE.
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