I apologize that I have not posted as much lately. I would like to wrap up Barry Schwartz' opinion article that I have been going through for a month or so. Let us jump in!
5. Because there is so little measurable difference between students at the top of the statistical heap (a group that grows larger seemingly every year), colleges could lump all of the "acceptable" students together and then randomly pick the names of those who will be admitted.
Randomized selection of admits could potentially make the admissions process more fair. Today, a student whose parent(s) graduated from the college the student has applied to is given a slight preference over those whose parents did not attend the college. So-called legacy students get bonus points because they happened to be lucky enough to be born to a former graduate. I don't think this is particularly fair. If two students have the exact same GPAs, SATs, and extra-curricular activities, why would the legacy student be a better fit for the college? Wouldn't a flip of the coin be a more fair alternative?
6. Instead of students working to be the "best" applicant to Name Brand University, they could work to be good enough. Once you have reached the point of "good enough," you have as good of a chance of being admitted as all the other "good enoughs." According to Schwartz, this would allow students to pursue activities because they want to, not because they want to pad their application.
I like the train of thought here. We should be encouraging students to pursue their interests and passions rather than the things they think will look good on a college application. Colleges have a fairly good idea of the pool of applicants that they would be perfectly happy admitting. When you look at that pool, there may be some variation in background, but overall, an entering freshman class composed of a randomized group of these individuals would be acceptable. Admissions officers like to talk about shaping their incoming class, but mostly this is a crapshoot anyway. Colleges offer spots of admissions to many more students than they will enroll. The shaping is minimal at best.
In his origninal opinion piece, Schwartz makes note of dealing with special populations of students, like the above mentioned legacies, athletes, and students who come from backgrounds that are traditionally underrepresented at colleges and universities. I have already talked about my view of the fairness in specially valuing legacies. Athletes are a different class. Many, though not all, colleges treat athletes differently. Hint: Athletes aren't always held to the same academic expectations as their non-athletic classmates. The last group, however, is of special concern. If we hold the belief that college is about equalling or levelling the playing field, then we need to take care in not diminishing the opportunities for students who, because of their background, have historically been underrepresented and under-supported.
7. Such a system would have the effect of teaching students about the randomness of life. We all like to think of the American system as a meritocracy (those who work hard and are smart are rewarded), but in actuality, success and failure have a lot to do with luck and chance. Schwartz argues that this would imbue students with a newfound level of sympathy and empathy for the less fortunate around them.
Randomness does play an important role in life. Think about your parents. Then think about the parents of your other friends. How would your or your friends' lives been affected if you had the others' parents? You have no control over who you are born to, what happens to you when you are a baby, where you grow up, and a myriad of other factors. Now think about the homeless family that is struggling just to live. How easily that could have been any one of us. Most of us are closer to homelessness than we care to imagine. How would a lost job, mental illness, little or no familial support, or the a death of a parent affect your family. If you have not had to deal with these things, then consider yourself lucky. But, what if? We could all stand to gain a sense of compassion for the other. College is as good of a place to start as any.
Happy weekend!
Showing posts with label keeping it real. Show all posts
Showing posts with label keeping it real. Show all posts
Friday, May 04, 2007
Thursday, April 12, 2007
Coasting and the Impossibility of Determining Fit
Today, we will return to Barry Schwartz' article about college admissions. In the same vein as the previous post on the subject, I will present Schwartz' point and then dig in with some analysis.
2. So much is built into just "getting in" to Name Brand University, that once they get there, students can coast. They no longer have as much motivation to continue the life-long process of learning.
Imagine that it has been your dream to attend University X, Y, or Z since you started high school. Throughout your high school years you have constantly striven to excel in every endeavor. You went all out to get A's in your classes and participated in a carefully balanced portfolio of activities in which you maximized your efforts, becoming a leader in all of them. Many, if not most, of your youthful efforts were spent with the goal of attaining admission to your Universities of choice.
Similarly, imagine that the big day has come when you finally receive notification from the institutions. Being the smart and capable student you are, you were honored with admission to all of them. All your hard work paid off. You can relax. Your dream has been fulfilled.
Now what?
How do you top achieving the biggest dream of your life, the central tenet of your existence? Doesn't it seem plausible that everything after this will be somewhat of a letdown? Schwartz argues that indeed this may be the case. It is possible that many young people in this situation are, in fact, eager go-getters and will continue to dream big. I hope so.
3. It is impossible to predict the fit of an institution to a student, and vice-versa. Differences between the "top" students and "top" institutions are so minute, that one cannot reliably evaluate those differences.
If true, the above will cause much hand-wringing among sincere admissions officials and students. The whole point of this college admission exercise is to find the right fit, isn't it? Haven't I proffered varying exercises and resources to help students with doing just that?
College admission officials are constantly trying to find the right balance of test scores, grades, coursework, extra curricular activities, and background that will give them insight into which students are best for their college. Likewise, students pour over rankings data, visit colleges, and talk to counselors, friends, and advisors in the hope of narrowing down their top choices.
If we are honest, however, it becomes apparent that Schwartz is on to something. If you can pare down the number of schools you are really interested in to five or so, then you are doing well. There may be small differences between the institutions, mainly dealing with location and size. However, if you are careful, you probably chose five institutions that will provide you with an excellent education. Therefore, whichever ones you get admitted to will most likely (more on this later) be peachy. The difference between the first and fifth schools on your list are not large enough to be worthwhile.
Schwartz believes the same is true of the students the colleges are choosing to admit. How much of a difference is there, in terms of the student's ability to succeed in college, between Student A (3.80 GPA, 1900 SATI, tons of leadership and extra curriculars) and Student B (3.90 GPA, 1850 SATI, ditto with leadership and extra curriculars)? It is so small, that no college application, short of one that requires extensive psychotherapy is going to tell the admission officials the difference.
What is his point? As I interpret it we are spending way too much time worrying about this stuff. We would be better served by doing something more interesting, like having a cup of coffee with a friend, reading a good book (for pleasure), or watching a sunset. So go ahead and do so. I would but I am at work!
2. So much is built into just "getting in" to Name Brand University, that once they get there, students can coast. They no longer have as much motivation to continue the life-long process of learning.
Imagine that it has been your dream to attend University X, Y, or Z since you started high school. Throughout your high school years you have constantly striven to excel in every endeavor. You went all out to get A's in your classes and participated in a carefully balanced portfolio of activities in which you maximized your efforts, becoming a leader in all of them. Many, if not most, of your youthful efforts were spent with the goal of attaining admission to your Universities of choice.
Similarly, imagine that the big day has come when you finally receive notification from the institutions. Being the smart and capable student you are, you were honored with admission to all of them. All your hard work paid off. You can relax. Your dream has been fulfilled.
Now what?
How do you top achieving the biggest dream of your life, the central tenet of your existence? Doesn't it seem plausible that everything after this will be somewhat of a letdown? Schwartz argues that indeed this may be the case. It is possible that many young people in this situation are, in fact, eager go-getters and will continue to dream big. I hope so.
3. It is impossible to predict the fit of an institution to a student, and vice-versa. Differences between the "top" students and "top" institutions are so minute, that one cannot reliably evaluate those differences.
If true, the above will cause much hand-wringing among sincere admissions officials and students. The whole point of this college admission exercise is to find the right fit, isn't it? Haven't I proffered varying exercises and resources to help students with doing just that?
College admission officials are constantly trying to find the right balance of test scores, grades, coursework, extra curricular activities, and background that will give them insight into which students are best for their college. Likewise, students pour over rankings data, visit colleges, and talk to counselors, friends, and advisors in the hope of narrowing down their top choices.
If we are honest, however, it becomes apparent that Schwartz is on to something. If you can pare down the number of schools you are really interested in to five or so, then you are doing well. There may be small differences between the institutions, mainly dealing with location and size. However, if you are careful, you probably chose five institutions that will provide you with an excellent education. Therefore, whichever ones you get admitted to will most likely (more on this later) be peachy. The difference between the first and fifth schools on your list are not large enough to be worthwhile.
Schwartz believes the same is true of the students the colleges are choosing to admit. How much of a difference is there, in terms of the student's ability to succeed in college, between Student A (3.80 GPA, 1900 SATI, tons of leadership and extra curriculars) and Student B (3.90 GPA, 1850 SATI, ditto with leadership and extra curriculars)? It is so small, that no college application, short of one that requires extensive psychotherapy is going to tell the admission officials the difference.
What is his point? As I interpret it we are spending way too much time worrying about this stuff. We would be better served by doing something more interesting, like having a cup of coffee with a friend, reading a good book (for pleasure), or watching a sunset. So go ahead and do so. I would but I am at work!
Thursday, March 08, 2007
The Wisdom of Insecurity
"It must be obvious...that there is a contradiction in wanting to be perfectly secure in a universe whose very nature is momentariness and fluidity." -Alan Watts
I would like to take credit for the title of this post, but I cannot do so in good conscience. The post title is taken from a book by Alan Watts, bearing the same name. In it, Watts proposes that there is wisdom in not being sure of what you want to do, or wisdom in being insecure in your belief system, as well as other seemingly strange (to our sensibilities) philosophical positions. Likewise, in this post, I want to propound on the wisdom of major insecurity.
Students hold the belief that they should have a good idea of what they want to do upon entering college. People don't do much to help them in believing that they should think otherwise. How often have you been asked, "What is your major?" That question will be something you continually get asked throughout your college career and even beyond. We hold a particularly strong preoccupation with the future. Once you graduate from college, you will be asked, "What are you going to do now?" Once you get a job, you will be asked, "When are you going to start a family?" The questions about the future never end.
I want to help stop this insanity and fixation on the future. It is perfectly normal to not have the foggiest idea of what your major will be or even what you want to do with your life. Because of our fixation on the future, however, we feel inadequate or somehow left out if we don't have a strong sense of what we want to study or do. Don't fall into this illusory trap. Use college as a time to explore. Explore your interests, friendships, and self. College can be a place where individual growth is pursued. Growth, in my estimation, is stunted when we limit ourselves to fixating on one end point. Allow time to explore. You never know what you'll discover in both the world around you and in yourself.
I would like to take credit for the title of this post, but I cannot do so in good conscience. The post title is taken from a book by Alan Watts, bearing the same name. In it, Watts proposes that there is wisdom in not being sure of what you want to do, or wisdom in being insecure in your belief system, as well as other seemingly strange (to our sensibilities) philosophical positions. Likewise, in this post, I want to propound on the wisdom of major insecurity.
Students hold the belief that they should have a good idea of what they want to do upon entering college. People don't do much to help them in believing that they should think otherwise. How often have you been asked, "What is your major?" That question will be something you continually get asked throughout your college career and even beyond. We hold a particularly strong preoccupation with the future. Once you graduate from college, you will be asked, "What are you going to do now?" Once you get a job, you will be asked, "When are you going to start a family?" The questions about the future never end.
I want to help stop this insanity and fixation on the future. It is perfectly normal to not have the foggiest idea of what your major will be or even what you want to do with your life. Because of our fixation on the future, however, we feel inadequate or somehow left out if we don't have a strong sense of what we want to study or do. Don't fall into this illusory trap. Use college as a time to explore. Explore your interests, friendships, and self. College can be a place where individual growth is pursued. Growth, in my estimation, is stunted when we limit ourselves to fixating on one end point. Allow time to explore. You never know what you'll discover in both the world around you and in yourself.
Thursday, February 01, 2007
The Importance of Feedback
Hello. I apologize about not posting for a while. I have been busy with putting on an event for applicants to the College where I work. Luckily, it is done and I have somewhat more sane days. The experience of running a program, however, serves as the inspiration for this post.
In creating anything and putting it out there for people to look at, you make yourself vulnerable. Vulnerability isn't necessarily a bad thing. It is hard to judge one's work without letting others get a chance to peruse it. We often have an internal gauge of how we are doing and we should listen to that gauge very intently. However, we also need to hear about our work from others. Specifically, what did we do that worked well. What didn't work so well? What is another way we could have approached the situation?
I have solicited feedback on the event I put on for the College from the students attendees, the faculty and staff who worked the event, as well as students who represented the College. Not all of the feedback has been glowingly positive. I don't expect that it would. People have different ways of doing things. One of the great things about feedback is that you can get an idea of how other people view the situation or problem you have been wrestling with. In doing so, you can see how you might approach a problem or situation differently with this new perspective. One of the most important aspects of feedback is our willingness to listen to it and learn from it.
As you spend your college careers writing papers and working on projects, you will get a lot of feedback. When you do, keep in mind that it is usually in your best interests. You can tell the feedback that isn't constructive, but the majority of it is good. It is all with the intention of helping you become a better person, writer, scholar, and student. Don't fear feedback, embrace it. You will be a much better student (and person) for it.
In creating anything and putting it out there for people to look at, you make yourself vulnerable. Vulnerability isn't necessarily a bad thing. It is hard to judge one's work without letting others get a chance to peruse it. We often have an internal gauge of how we are doing and we should listen to that gauge very intently. However, we also need to hear about our work from others. Specifically, what did we do that worked well. What didn't work so well? What is another way we could have approached the situation?
I have solicited feedback on the event I put on for the College from the students attendees, the faculty and staff who worked the event, as well as students who represented the College. Not all of the feedback has been glowingly positive. I don't expect that it would. People have different ways of doing things. One of the great things about feedback is that you can get an idea of how other people view the situation or problem you have been wrestling with. In doing so, you can see how you might approach a problem or situation differently with this new perspective. One of the most important aspects of feedback is our willingness to listen to it and learn from it.
As you spend your college careers writing papers and working on projects, you will get a lot of feedback. When you do, keep in mind that it is usually in your best interests. You can tell the feedback that isn't constructive, but the majority of it is good. It is all with the intention of helping you become a better person, writer, scholar, and student. Don't fear feedback, embrace it. You will be a much better student (and person) for it.
Thursday, December 07, 2006
Why You Shouldn't Apply to Too Many Colleges
I hope that all is well with your applications and that you are now resting a bit. I wanted to share some interesting data I have been collecting. As part of my job, I have been running a survey in which I ask students, among other questions, how many colleges and universities they applied to. This was the topic of an earlier post and at the end of that post, I mentioned I would return to the topic. So here we are.
While the survey is not scientific and only has data from over 40 respondents, the results are interesting. The number of schools that people are applying to vary widely. The extremes were a total of 2 schools applied to on the low end and 16 applied to on the high end. The mean number of schools applied to is 5.875 or 6. The mode is 6, however 5 and 7 applications are the most frequent numbers cited. Again, this is not a scientific survey, it is merely a sampling of students.
What does this mean? Well, it is hard to say with any accuracy. But I have some comments. Firstly, applying to 16 schools is overkill. You can only attend one (1) of those schools. Applying to so many indicates an applicant who has not done their homework. They should be able to easily cut that number down to the average, or 6 in this sample. If you think about it, you should be able to narrow down a list of schools you are interested in to at most 10. From that 10, you should be able to pare it down to as low as four, as high as six. You know realistically what kind of a shot you have at many of these schools. You also know that a number of them are safety schools. You shouldn't need so many safety schools. One is enough. You really have no intention of going to a safety school unless there is some unforeseen catastrophe.
Applying to more schools than is reasonable is a problem for all the concerns we discussed previously. In addition, I would like to make this a bit more personal by saying that when one applies to more than 7 or 8 schools, they are being selfish and lazy. Lazy because, as mentioned above, you didn't do your homework. You are being selfish because you are taking up precious time that admissions reviewers could spend on serious applications. As well, you are taking potential spots of admission from people who really might love to attend a particular school. What if the person who would really love to attend the school you just whimsically sent off an application to is someone you know? What if it is a good friend and because of your meaningless application they were not offered a spot of admission? How would either of those situations make you feel?
I don't mean to be impudent in this post. Rather I hope to be applying a dose of reality to a situation that, by many estimates, has gone out of hand. Admission to college has become increasingly stressful and difficult. I believe one (of many) causes of this is due to the fact that students over-apply to colleges. Talk to your friends and people you know about this. Get their feedback. Maybe I'm making too much out of nothing. Feel free to post a comment. I encourage dialogue.
While the survey is not scientific and only has data from over 40 respondents, the results are interesting. The number of schools that people are applying to vary widely. The extremes were a total of 2 schools applied to on the low end and 16 applied to on the high end. The mean number of schools applied to is 5.875 or 6. The mode is 6, however 5 and 7 applications are the most frequent numbers cited. Again, this is not a scientific survey, it is merely a sampling of students.
What does this mean? Well, it is hard to say with any accuracy. But I have some comments. Firstly, applying to 16 schools is overkill. You can only attend one (1) of those schools. Applying to so many indicates an applicant who has not done their homework. They should be able to easily cut that number down to the average, or 6 in this sample. If you think about it, you should be able to narrow down a list of schools you are interested in to at most 10. From that 10, you should be able to pare it down to as low as four, as high as six. You know realistically what kind of a shot you have at many of these schools. You also know that a number of them are safety schools. You shouldn't need so many safety schools. One is enough. You really have no intention of going to a safety school unless there is some unforeseen catastrophe.
Applying to more schools than is reasonable is a problem for all the concerns we discussed previously. In addition, I would like to make this a bit more personal by saying that when one applies to more than 7 or 8 schools, they are being selfish and lazy. Lazy because, as mentioned above, you didn't do your homework. You are being selfish because you are taking up precious time that admissions reviewers could spend on serious applications. As well, you are taking potential spots of admission from people who really might love to attend a particular school. What if the person who would really love to attend the school you just whimsically sent off an application to is someone you know? What if it is a good friend and because of your meaningless application they were not offered a spot of admission? How would either of those situations make you feel?
I don't mean to be impudent in this post. Rather I hope to be applying a dose of reality to a situation that, by many estimates, has gone out of hand. Admission to college has become increasingly stressful and difficult. I believe one (of many) causes of this is due to the fact that students over-apply to colleges. Talk to your friends and people you know about this. Get their feedback. Maybe I'm making too much out of nothing. Feel free to post a comment. I encourage dialogue.
Friday, November 17, 2006
College is Not a Panacea
I apologize for not posting in the past couple of weeks. Things have been quite busy at both work and home. Thanks for sticking with me!
You might be wondering what I am referring to in the title of this blog post. What I mean is that going to college is not going to solve all of your problems. You will still have your family, your friends, and most importantly, yourself to deal with. College may provide you some physical and mental space to reflect on the various things that cause you to groan, but it will not make them magically go away.
I have spoken to many students who just can't wait to go to college so they can get away from the circumstances of their lives. However, just as one moves from place A to place B for college, one's problems also move from place A to place B with you. You can never escape from the things that ail you without confronting them head on. It often seems like it would be easier to confront our problems if we weren't so enmeshed in them. But this is precisely why they are problems. They are a part of you, and are related to how you see the world and your relationship to it. You will still see the world the same way when you go to college.
Does your mom become less overbearing when you don't live in the same house? Perhaps in the sense that she isn't physically looking over your shoulder all the time, but not really in the sense that she calls your cell every 3 hours. You see, the problem - your mother's overbearing nature and your inability to deal with it - remain. As I said, the only hope going to college provides is that it can give you time to reflect and consider new ways to constructively deal with your problems. Making new friends might aid you in this process, but the hard work - change - is all up to you.
Welcome to adulthood!
You might be wondering what I am referring to in the title of this blog post. What I mean is that going to college is not going to solve all of your problems. You will still have your family, your friends, and most importantly, yourself to deal with. College may provide you some physical and mental space to reflect on the various things that cause you to groan, but it will not make them magically go away.
I have spoken to many students who just can't wait to go to college so they can get away from the circumstances of their lives. However, just as one moves from place A to place B for college, one's problems also move from place A to place B with you. You can never escape from the things that ail you without confronting them head on. It often seems like it would be easier to confront our problems if we weren't so enmeshed in them. But this is precisely why they are problems. They are a part of you, and are related to how you see the world and your relationship to it. You will still see the world the same way when you go to college.
Does your mom become less overbearing when you don't live in the same house? Perhaps in the sense that she isn't physically looking over your shoulder all the time, but not really in the sense that she calls your cell every 3 hours. You see, the problem - your mother's overbearing nature and your inability to deal with it - remain. As I said, the only hope going to college provides is that it can give you time to reflect and consider new ways to constructively deal with your problems. Making new friends might aid you in this process, but the hard work - change - is all up to you.
Welcome to adulthood!
Tuesday, November 07, 2006
Application Time is Upon Us
We are right in the middle of the application crunch. Many people are aware of the looming deadlines and have either already submitted all their applications or are working on them presently, or perhaps are waiting until Thanksgiving to get started. If I had one suggestion it would be not to wait. This process is stressful enough as it is. Waiting till the last minute may be your modus operandi, but consider what you are doing.
Applying to college is probably one of the more important milestones in your life up until now. You are making a determination about where you will spend the next four years of your life. This isn't math homework, or even a history project. This is your future. As an example, let's think about the personal statement. Writing a personal statement that is not a laundry list of everything you have done, but instead a coherent essay that addresses your motivation, challenges faced, and evidence of sustained engagement in academic and non-academic activities takes a lot of time and thought. Astute application readers, and most of them are fairly good at what they do, can tell the pretenders from the contenders.
Likewise, given the often limited space you have on a college application to list activities you have been involved in is not something to be taken lightly. If you only have one line left to list an activity and yet have four more activities you would like to list, what do you do? Do you put Powder Puff, Math Club, Lion's Club, or Student Newspaper? To answer that, you need to carefully consider what else you have listed and which activity conveys the true spirit of who you are.
Too often students try to create a false image of who they are to the admissions committees instead of accurately portraying themselves. They believe that in order to get admitted, one needs to be involved in particular types of activities or organizations. There is nothing wrong with listing Powder Puff, provided that it is something you are passionate about and have participated in for years. As someone who has read applications, I want to know who you are, not who you think I want you to be.
Applying to college is probably one of the more important milestones in your life up until now. You are making a determination about where you will spend the next four years of your life. This isn't math homework, or even a history project. This is your future. As an example, let's think about the personal statement. Writing a personal statement that is not a laundry list of everything you have done, but instead a coherent essay that addresses your motivation, challenges faced, and evidence of sustained engagement in academic and non-academic activities takes a lot of time and thought. Astute application readers, and most of them are fairly good at what they do, can tell the pretenders from the contenders.
Likewise, given the often limited space you have on a college application to list activities you have been involved in is not something to be taken lightly. If you only have one line left to list an activity and yet have four more activities you would like to list, what do you do? Do you put Powder Puff, Math Club, Lion's Club, or Student Newspaper? To answer that, you need to carefully consider what else you have listed and which activity conveys the true spirit of who you are.
Too often students try to create a false image of who they are to the admissions committees instead of accurately portraying themselves. They believe that in order to get admitted, one needs to be involved in particular types of activities or organizations. There is nothing wrong with listing Powder Puff, provided that it is something you are passionate about and have participated in for years. As someone who has read applications, I want to know who you are, not who you think I want you to be.
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