Featured Article: The (Sometimes) Wonderful World of College Admission via the Lens of an IEC

As part of my work as a UCLA College Counseling Certificate Instructor, I read and respond to a boat-load of posts from my students. My students come from all over the world, which is an amazing thing for me. I learn as much from them as I hope they learn from me!

Every now and then, one of their posts reaches me, motivates me, or gets me to send something back to that student that is meant to show them another perspective on this industry, quite a different look than the one they have shared with me. One such student, who shall remain nameless, was commenting on the book 'The Gatekeepers', by Jacques Steinberg, which is one of our required texts. The student noted that "Wesleyan's (Wesleyan University) approach (to admission) is no different than any other college." Something inside me stirred... like a stomach that has eaten too many chili dogs in one sitting. I expressed my sentiment that the student's 'take' was a big overstatement. Most schools don't do it like Wesleyan. Most schools don't read holistically. Most schools can look at the transcript(s) and the test score(s) and make a decision. Most schools actually admit the majority of the students who apply (1,188 U.S., four-year, not-for-profit schools admit 50% or more of their applicant class as of 2019, out of 1,966 total schools in that population - data pulled from the Collegeboard on May 16, 2020).

We (IEC's and the general public) get caught up, even hyper-focused, on the most 'elite' colleges and universities, both domestically and internationally, and they are what families who hire Independent Educational Consultants (IEC's) are generally looking to gain access to by retaining IEC services (after all, who hires an IEC to get into a school that admits 75% of the students who apply?).

I went on to explain in my response that the reason this process is so hard on most families is because those families make it hard on themselves. If you find a great school for your child that is not highly competitive (from an admissions standpoint), where she/he can study what she/he wants, in an environment that suits her/him emotionally, physically and spiritually, and is in your family's financial wheelhouse, the rest of the problem is what you make it. It's when you confuse future happiness and success with the idea that where you go to college is directly connected to that outcome that the biggest mistake is made (and the most pressure is unnecessarily applied to that student).

I don't want to paint a picture that says hiring an IEC isn't helpful, valuable, worth the expense, etc. For the right family, I absolutely think it is, but maybe not for the reason(s) you might think. It's not about helping Susie get into Yale or Jerry into Stanford - though many families believe that is precisely why IEC's exist. I disagree. It's about helping families properly frame the reality of college and college admission within their own perceptions and goals for college and beyond. Once that frame of reference is centered, it's our job to help those families better understand the concept of what they want to accomplish in order to better understand themselves. Students and parents who get this concept frequently succeed in the modern college admissions process. These are the students who change majors less frequently and generally graduate on time. Those students and parents who simply see college as a trophy to be won rarely do. But those students whom I have come across who really get this concept are the ones who appear to be impressive in the eyes of admission offices and are the same students, who seem to overachieve, based on their admission statistics alone (grades and test scores). They also tend to be the students I am most impressed with as people.

I am frequently saddened, yet grateful, for all of the misinformation that is floating across the Internet and other college sources that families access on a daily basis as they prepare for their shot at 'the college of their dreams'. If the truth was so evident, I might not have a job as an IEC.