More
than a simple distraction or a salacious news story featuring lots of celebs,
the Varsity Blues college admissions scandal is definitely having an impact on
the way students view college admissions. In high schools across the
country, they are voting ‘no confidence’ in colleges and the college admissions
process.
According
to a recent Kaplan survey of over 300 “aspiring” college
students polled over email, 57% say they are concerned they won’t be treated
fairly in the admissions process. Specifically, they believe their spots at top colleges might be given to less qualified applicants because of personal
connections to the institution.
In fact,
nearly a quarter of these students claims they know someone they think is less
qualified than they are, but who received “preferential treatment” in
admissions because of family wealth or connections.
For
those who have somehow been shielded from the daily tabloid-style updates on
who is going to which jail, the Varsity Blues scandal involved a handful of
very wealthy families with enough disposable income to cheat their way into
elite colleges by manipulating applications, fixing text scores and otherwise
using influence to ensure admission for their children.
And the
story clearly hit a nerve, as what students applying to highly-selective
schools thought they knew turned into
fact—some families of privilege exercise that privilege to obtain positive
admissions outcomes.
One
student who planned to apply to only “top” colleges explained in his survey
response, “I know numerous people that have connections to my top school,
whereas I do not. I am especially concerned because I have a greater SAT score
than them [sic], but they will have
an upper hand and be admitted.”
Another
student was more circumspect and remarked, “In light of the admission scandals,
colleges will be more attentive and aware of these types of schemes. Also,
considering a number of the parents who were caught and punished, I don’t
believe that this will be a large problem in the future.”
The
second student may be right.
In a
separate Kaplan survey of 322 top colleges and universities (as defined by USNWR), admissions reps suggest that
the corrupt practices exposed in the scandal are relatively rare. Less than a
quarter (24%) describes the activities as common.
And only
11% say they were ever pressured to accept an applicant who didn’t meet
admissions requirements because of who that applicant was or to whom they were
connected—a significant drop from the 25% who suggested they were pressured to
do so in a Kaplan survey just five years ago.
Nevertheless,
colleges are worried about perceptions—their image among students making the
decision whether or not to apply. Of the group surveyed, 49% think the scandal
may have done long-term harm to the public image of the college admission
process, while 37% don’t think it has and 14% aren’t sure.
When
asked how colleges can convince families that the admissions process is not
“rigged” against them, admissions officers were “largely unable to provide any
specific policy prescriptions, but the theme of transparency was mentioned
often.”
While
the call for transparency seems like a logical, albeit a little disingenuous,
response to the scandal, not everyone is so sure how it can be achieved.
And so
it wasn’t surprising that the issue of how to achieve greater transparency in
admissions lurked just below the surface of many discussions taking place during
the 2019 NACAC
Conference, in Louisville.
At a session dedicated to the
Varsity Blues scandal
moderated by Jeffrey Selingo, a DC-based journalist currently with The Atlantic, panelists wrestled with
the idea of transparency—whether transparency was possible or even a good
idea—when at the end of the day college admissions “is actually not a fair
system” (Sacha Thieme, Indiana University).
Tongue
in cheek, Jim Jump, of St. Christopher’s School in Virginia, added, “I’m not
sure we want people to know how the sausage is made.”
Although
several panelists suggested that the complexity of admissions works against
complete transparency, they agreed that colleges can and should do more to help
the public understand how applicants are selected, especially in context of
competing institutional goals and the very real financial pressures institutions
face.
And the
question was raised as to how to be transparent in a constantly evolving
process, when even enrollment managers can’t predict what their processes will
look like over time. Several panelists pointed out that applicant pools and
other factors change each year rendering these processes anything but static.
“Mystery
creates mistrust, and in the absence of a narrative, the public creates their
own,” said Angel B. Pérez, vice president for enrollment and student success at
Trinity
College, in
Connecticut.
And as a
result, the public has created a narrative of a system rigged against the
average college applicant.
Summing
up the recent survey findings, Sam Prichard, Kaplan’s director of college prep
programs, concludes, “Applicants deserve better.”
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