“Someone needs to ask questions, probably
you.” That was part of the first message
I saw upon checking e-mail as soon as my transcontinental flight landed on the
tarmac in San Diego on the Tuesday prior to the NACAC Conference. The correspondent was a loyal ECA reader with
a suggestion for the next post, forwarding me a NACAC Exchange discussion on
the announcement the previous day that the Coalition for Access, Affordability,
and Success will offer a new application platform beginning next year.
I’m not sure I’m the right person to be
asking questions or that I will ask the right questions. I am concerned rather than exercised by the
existence of the Coalition, and readers of the blog know that I am far more
comfortable in the clouds than in the weeds.
It is not an understatement to say that
the Coalition was the major topic of conversation during NACAC. A Saturday morning session devoted to
explaining the new initiative was packed despite having moved to a larger room. That session was not as contentious as
expected, but ended with a line at each microphone hoping to comment. I had the distinct feeling throughout the
conference that folks affiliated with the Common Application were overjoyed to
find themselves not the center of attention.
Within the college application platform “family,” the Common App
suddenly finds itself the “good child.”
Does college admissions need another
application platform? I can argue both
sides of that question. In a perfect
world I’d like to see the application process simplified, with students able to
use a single application for all schools. But I also worry about the Common Application
becoming too common, too big. In its
quest to increase membership and market share, I fear the Common App has lost
its moorings, core values such as the belief in holistic admission. The same danger exists for organizations like
NACAC. Is there a point at which
membership growth compromises mission?
The Coalition, on the other hand, is
smaller and more homogeneous, but runs the risk of being elitist and exclusive. There are 125 colleges and universities that
meet the Coalition’s dual criteria for membership, a six-year graduation rate
of 70% and a commitment to meet full need (or, in the case of public members,
affordable tuition for in-state students).
As of the conference, 83 had signed on.
I appreciate the Coalition’s expressed
goal of increasing access, but I am not alone in feeling that the access piece
feels like an add-on. The Coalition
began as a reaction to the technology problems encountered by students and
colleges two years ago after the Common App introduced a new technology
infrastructure. That debacle opened a
lot of eyes to how easily the college admissions process could ground to a halt
as a result of the power concentrated in a few players (Common App, College
Board, Hobsons).
I applaud the Coalition’s desire to
refocus the college process away from being transactional and toward
“reflection and self-discovery.” I like
the idea of replacing the personal essay with writing that is more reflective. But given that some Coalition member schools
will accept the Common App as well as the new application, I have visions of
answering whether students are better off writing the essay for the Common App
or submitting materials through the Coalition’s Virtual Locker portfolio
feature. On that note, is it my
imagination or were 75% of the vendors at NACAC highlighting their portfolio
“products”?
What I find most worrisome about the
Virtual Locker is the underlying assumption, that admissions frenzy is caused
by the short window of time in which the process takes place. I’m not sure that’s correct. Will having the ability to begin collecting
admission materials as early as ninth grade abate the frenzy or accelerate
it? Will it give an additional edge to
the already privileged, and will it lead to a new admissions-related industry,
the Virtual Locker Monitor/Consultant (“We Unlock Your Future”)? The Coalition has announced that it will delay
the start of the Virtual Locker until next summer, and that seems like a smart
move.
The broader question is whether starting
the college search process earlier is desirable, or even possible. The acceleration of the application process
into the early fall rather than the winter has already compromised much of the
educational and developmental value of the senior year in high school. How early do we want kids obsessing about
college? Should college admission be the
primary goal of a high school education or the product, the natural next step?
I am probably ultra sensitive about this
issue because I work with boys. My
students are bright and motivated, but the X factor in their intellectual
growth and development is maturity. Each
spring when I meet with juniors, I ask, “Has it hit you yet that next year at
this time you will be getting ready to go someplace else?” Over the course of the spring I can see the
consciousness of the junior class change.
The students I meet with in February or March, who are the first to make
appointments and presumably the most ready to think about college, almost
universally answer “No.” By April, the
answer is “It’s starting to,” and in May the answer is “Yes.” Several years ago I was in a Board committee
meeting where a Lower School parent asked whether waiting until the junior year
to talk about college was too late.
Before I could respond, a university professor who was the father of two
boys already in college spoke up. “Yes
it is, “ he said. “But any earlier is
too early.”
I hope the Coalition will help us have a
conversation about whether we have a college admissions process that serves the
public interest. Do the college search
and application processes measure readiness for college? Should the college admissions process be a
bridge from adolescence to adulthood?
Are we measuring/valuing the right things and are we asking the right
questions?
Perhaps most important, are we sending
the right messages? The Coalition includes
many of the nation’s leading public and private colleges and universities, and
as a result has the opportunity to shape discussion within the profession and
to educate the public. I would love to
see the Coalition make a strong statement asserting that applying to college is
about self-discovery rather than just getting in somewhere, that authenticity
is more important than resume-building and gamesmanship, and that the value of
college lies in the experience one has in college rather than where one is
admitted.
