The Revolutionary Road to College Admissions

In recent years, there has been growing unease concerning the admissions process at some of our nation’s most elite colleges. In response to this concern, these particular colleges are making significant transformations in their approach to their selections process. The biggest move towards this shift is reflected in research conducted by the Harvard Graduate School of Education in a report titled, “Turning the Tide,” released late January 2016. The report incorporates the contributions of numerous leaders in the field of higher education, including the presidents, deans of admission, and other chief administrators from prominent universities, including M.I.T., Yale, and the University of Michigan, amongst others.

Garnering widespread support from leading educators, the publication of “Turning the Tide” presents information on the current problems prevalent among the college admissions process. It calls for much needed overhaul and provides specific and tangible suggestions as to how we can begin to rethink this process. The research emphasizes the negative impact that a system, one directed by the maintenance of the status quo, has on our children and our students. Currently, the admissions process is one that is based on specific measurements and markers that distort and devalue students as they are pulled into a highly competitive whirlwind. Essentially, the admissions process can endanger the mental and emotional health of students. Similarly important, the process excludes and falls short in its identification of the potential in students from less advantaged backgrounds.

The report is also re-evaluating other factors that play a role in the admissions process.

It brings to light the overwhelming sentiment shared by students: “high individual achievement” is the motivation that matters the most to them. Regrettably, the college admissions process directly reinforces and perpetuates this psychology of thinking. By making revolutionary changes, it could also create more equality among students applying to schools from more privileged as well as less privileged backgrounds.

In this groundbreaking report, it recommends placing less importance on standardized test scores, which is a factor that is mainly associated with the financial status and income of families. More and more colleges have made standardized tests, such as the SAT or ACT, optional. At the end of last year, 80+ colleges, including a number of Ivy League schools, have formed the Coalition for Access, Affordability and Success, whose purpose is to encourage more diversity among college applicants and student acceptance rates.

In addition to changes taking place at highly selective universities, the report recommends that colleges only accept information from a very limited number of extracurricular involvements, while utilizing essays and references to determine which community service involvements are merely for résumé boosting versus sincerity in the project itself. The report also suggests that college admissions recognize part-time jobs and family responsibilities that some less privileged students must undertake.

Likewise, the report asks for colleges to decrease the amount of emphasis placed on Advanced Placement courses. AP courses are not automatically a true measure of student ability or intellectual drive. More importantly, high schools with less financial resources are less likely to offer A.P. courses when compared to their wealthier counterparts.

Colleges are also becoming more cognizant of their culpability in neglecting the role that social mobility plays in the admissions game. They are beginning to acknowledge that many of the factors that come into play during the admissions process tend to favor students from more prosperous families.

Only after colleges reconsider the impact they have on students and families, from all socioeconomic echelons, as well as their impact on students’ emotional and mental wellbeing, will we begin to see revolutionary change take place in the system of college admissions. We can still remain hopeful because these important discussions have finally started behind closed doors at the Dean’s office.