Whether your kid is entering preschool or his senior year this September, weโve all heard about the massiveย college admissions scandal, where wealthy parents (including celebrities like Lori Loughlin and Felicity Huffman) paid to bribe coaches, forge standardized tests, and engaged in other unethical (not to mention illegal) actions in order to ensure their childrenโs admission to some of the nationโs top schools. In response to this news and the importance of this topic to our Moms, the Local Moms Network is publishing a two-part series on college admissions. First, we asked some of the countryโs leading college admissions specialists whether they were surprised by the scandal, and whether college admissions are really more competitive than ever. Next week, weโll reveal their top, tried-and-true tips for helping your kids get into the college of their choice, starting in middle school.
Spoiler Alert: The Scandal Surprised No One…
None of the experts we spoke to said they were shocked by the news. โThere is a long history of privileged people gaining access toย collegesย and universities through a system of legacy, gifting, and so forth, thereby creating a playing field that is hardly level. What did surprise me was the crudeness of these efforts,โ says Alan Gelb, essay coach and author of ย Conquering theย Collegeย Admissions Essay in 10 Steps.
…and It’s The Kids That They Feel For
โTo me, the saddest part of the scandal was that these kids probably took away that they were not good enough. Or that their parents were not proud of who they were,โ says Lisa Guss, Independentย Collegeย Counselor and author ofย The Essentialย Collegeย Admissions Handbook.โWe all need to be cognizant of our childrenโs strengths and weaknesses and help them become the best version of themselves. Not the best version of who we want them to be.”
It’s True: College Admissions Are Really More Competitive Than Ever
Not only are more kids interested in select colleges, but because they know itโs hard to get in, theyโre applying to more than they need to. โThis drives up the number of applications,โ says Courtney Pinto, author of Born Into theย Collegeย Pipeline. โAdditionally, there is more competition from international students and American kids from non-traditionalย collegeย backgrounds.โ Guss adds that the Common App and the Coalition Application make it easier than ever to apply to many schools at once.
Schools That Were Safeties Are Now Selective
โIย knowย thatย collegeย admission is more competitive than ever; I see it firsthand in my job as a privateย collegeย counselor. It’s gotten harder on multiple levels. There are different levels of competitiveness, of course. We have schools that have admit rates hovering around 5 percent and it goes up from there. But this issue of lower admit rates has trickled down, making schools that weren’t selective all that long ago quite selective these days. Parents are often shocked at how difficult it is to get into schools that were downright easy to get into when they applied toย college,โ says Dr. Bari Norman, Co-founder and Head Counselor at Expert Admissions, an admissions advising firm based in Manhattan.
But There Is Good News
A few bad apples doesnโt mean the whole system is unfair, says Pinto. โTheย collegesย are doing the best they can to develop honest review systems for all applicants. Admissions work is an imperfect science and kids (and their parents) are doing everything they can to try to curate perfect resumes to compete in this review, but unfortunately, sometimes that’s just not enough.โ The otherย good news for anxious parents and kids? While the competition if fierce, there are tried-and-true (not to mention legal…) ways to help your child get into a college where theyโll thrive. Check back next week for Part 2!
