Full disclosure: When my older son was applying to university, I went a little crazy. We were living in Hong Kong at the time, which was the mothership of Tiger Moms and their high-achieving cubs. In a high school chock full of academic superstars with near-perfect GPAs and parents who could afford private college counselors and draconian SAT boot camps, I was flooded with worry that I wasn’t doing enough.
My son wanted to go to New York University, so through my contacts as an education researcher, I secured a meeting with then-NYU president John Sexton. Mic drop, boom!
I was researching international student decision-making, so had booked the appointment under the pretense that I was conducting a related study. The world-renowned legal scholar was kind and generous, welcoming me into an NYU office as homey as a living room, decorated with photos of his wife and family. But I could tell the man accustomed to greeting dignitaries from universities around the world was a little puzzled as to why I, the anxious mom of a high school junior, was talking to him.
To be honest, I wasn’t even sure about what I was doing, either. Could the president of NYU – or of any university – want to help a random student in their efforts to get in? During the polite conversation with Dr. Sexton that ensued, I felt both the futility of my quest to get my son an edge as well as the urgency to seize even the slightest opportunity.
Finally, as I was leaving, I turned to the president and said, “hey, my son will be applying to NYU this fall!” Dr. Sexton smiled warmly and nodded, wishing us luck. In retrospect, that was all he could possibly do.
I’m unearthing this memory to convey my compassion for parents of high schoolers that are on the cusp of applying to college. I know the mere mention of the college application process makes you want to curl up beneath your dining room table. You feel helpless, maybe even overwhelmed. Getting your child into college can feel like you’re competing in a chess tournament against Garry Kasparov, but you only know how to play checkers.
But there is information out there to alleviate the stress, for both you and your child.
There’s no better time to be a student. That might sound counterintuitive, considering all that’s going on in the world today. But due to the tech-disrupted economy, employers increasingly value the knowledge and skills a university graduate brings to the table rather than the pedigree of the degree.
First off, the average acceptance rate across all U.S. universities and colleges is a stunning 70 percent, and 37 schools accept everyone who applies.
One of the hallmarks of the US higher education system is there are excellent faculty at colleges and universities across the country. If your child is serious, they can get a solid education anywhere. So, the application process is as competitive as you make it, and a great education is available for the taking.
In my book, Make College Your Superpower: It’s Not Where You Go, It’s What You Know, I challenge the notion that attending a prestigious university is the only sure path to success. I advocate for a more holistic approach to picking a school, one that considers a student’s individual strengths, interests, and goals.
So, as your child embarks on the college application journey, here are a few things to keep in mind:
The value of brand is diminishing.
Sure, there’s still rampant interest in the Ivy League and other highly-ranked schools. But there’s an ongoing shift away from brand. Economic and technological changes have transformed the workforce, placing greater emphasis on skills and competencies over institutional prestige. We live in an era of ideas and innovation. When you’re using Venmo, Instacart or Uber, do you care where the founder went to school? The people hiring at these companies don’t either. So, give your child a break and lessen your emphasis on famous universities.
There’s more data on which to base decisions.
Today, students can readily see the projected salaries for various majors and have a wider variety of ways to get an education. For example, the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce ranks 4,500 colleges based on ROI, or the return on investment, and even offers that rating through the lens of low-income students. They examine the economic value of business, journalism and communications programs, too. So, students have a better idea of whether it’s worth paying top dollar for a pricey private university if what they might do when they graduate won’t pay down their debt.
In the age of tech, the humanities matter.
Certainly, eight out of the ten top-earning majors are in engineering. And considering the influence wielded by Microsoft, Apple and other big tech companies, many students feel that studying STEM and related subjects is the way to secure their future. But what they might not know is that in the age of artificial intelligence, human-centric qualities will be valued more than ever. Thinking creatively, being innovative, working collaboratively on a team – these skills and abilities are transferable from industry to industry, even when a generation of tech becomes outdated. And there’s no better way to acquire those skills than by studying the humanities.
The future looks bright!
Ultimately, your goal should be to empower your high schooler to make informed decisions about their future. Help give them agency over the process, rather than let the process control them. Whether they choose to pursue a traditional four-year degree, vocational training, or an alternative pathway, encourage them to approach their education with confidence and purpose. While a university’s brand and global ranking are still a powerful draw, elite institutions are no longer the sole gatekeepers to a graduate’s success. There’s room for many at the top!
