If you had unlimited ability to change the college selection, application, and acceptance process, what would you do? The goal would be to have students get into the best matching colleges, where there is the best possible fit in terms of academics, campus characteristics, and overall cost including financial aid.
I am asking this in the spirit of brainstorming, so I hope people will offer ideas without criticism and negativity. No idea is too outrageous or dumb.
That is a LOT of moving parts. I’m not sure there is a way to improve all of them at the same time.
If I could fix anything, it would be that there was an unlimited amount of need based financial aid available at all colleges so that all accepted students who didn’t have family resources would be given enough aid to attend.
A lot of moving parts indeed.
I think one way to improve fit would be to limit the number of applications similar (but proportional to population size, so less restrictive in absolute terms) to what UCAS does in the UK. That would force a lot of applicants to take a lot more care about fit than just the pepper spray approach that a number of them seem to do, especially when gunning for the top schools (the UK makes you choose between Oxford and Cambridge). It would also mean that applicants would have somewhat higher chances of getting into the schools they apply to by reducing the volume of applications.
Unlimited need-based aid would be nice but practically it would need to come from somewhere…
Practically speaking, there is no idea that is truly practical. What benefits a student doesn’t necessarily benefit a school, and vice versa. If the point is to just brainstorm, all ideas should be welcomed.
I would raise the academic bar to ensure that a college graduate of anywhere USA implies a “floor” of competence, in the same way that it works in other parts of the world.
Folks in many other countries don’t debate “Is X or Y more prestigious”. Being a college graduate already connotes a level of intellectual achievement and so parsing the minute differences is close to irrelevant.
I’m seeing such a dumbing down right now- how long can we blame Covid? There’s so much happening in the news, around the world, and I meet so many young people who lack any sort of context with which to evaluate it.
Real conversation with a 23 year old (college grad, majored in business) last week.
Me- “hey, I love your shirt, is it vintage?”
Kid- “no, I bought it at Uniqlo, it only LOOKS vintage!”
Me- “I used to love shopping there, but since the tariffs, everything is so expensive, I’m waiting for the spring/summer sales”.
Kid- “Why would a tariff make clothes more expensive?”
I get that everyone can’t be a macroeconomic groupie. But c’mon. I’ll bet the kid is confused as to why gas prices went up last week….
Oxbridge takes about 7,000 new students per year, in a country with about a fifth of the US population. So the equivalent of Oxbridge in the US scaled by population would be the number of highly selective universities that take in about 35,000 new students per year.
I.e. would you suggest limiting applications to 25 total, with one in the above set of highly selective universities that together take about 35,000 new students per year?
Of course, economics is not a universal requirement in high school or college graduation requirements.
But then there are probably examples where content of actually required high school or college courses gets forgotten or misunderstood.
Yes, except the kid graduated as a Business Major…
I guess that is the difference between being “schooled” and being “educated”.
I like the idea of a ranked match for everyone (like quest bridge or residency), but in tiers. There is a minimum GPA/test score/rigor to apply to each tier and there is a guarantee that you will be accepted to one school in the tier that you are qualified. And a max number of applications allowed.
I roll back the clock and stop convincing every HS kid and their parents that they have to go to college. Keep all the career training classes open in HS and don’t look down on Trade Schools.
I’d limit the number of applications that students could send. If a school requires the SAT/ACT, every score must be reported - and no super scoring. Increase need based aid so kids who can’t afford it, can still attend school.
Yes. So much gaming through this. Of course the college board and all the prep companies would be up in arms about it because of the $$ implications.
For those of us unfamiliar, can you explain how the ranked match works for med schools?
I’m not sure about a guarantee in every tier (I don’t know that would practically work numbers-wise for schools with small incoming classes, for example) but certainly in some of the tiers - in other words, a guaranteed safety admit.
I do not know a single “business major” who isn’t required to take at least one econ class.
But we live in a world where college educated people don’t read newspapers, where “business majors” don’t read the WSJ or Economist, can’t connect the dots between something they learned in college a few years ago and something happening right now which meaningfully impacts their wallet.
I say “raise the standards”.
@momofboiler1…there is NOT a ranked match for medical school admissions. The ranked match is for residency placements. This is comparing apples with elephants.
@WayOutWestMom can link info for the residency match but really this is not comparable to applying to undergrad school.
I know that there are others that will disagree with me, but I really think it’s become ridiculous in the amount of schools students apply to.
I would like to see a limit on the common app of five schools. These students are applying to 25 - 30 schools and they have no idea what they are getting themselves into.
With the number of essays, time away from high school studies, sports, jobs, family dynamics and the stress of it all.
You’d have to really research and think about the five schools where you hope to attend and would be financially viable.
For those of us unfamiliar, can you explain how the ranked match works for med schools?
It’s for residency and it’s a double sided match. Each med school and each candidate creates a match list. Each side lists their choices in ranked order and submits to a centralized agency which then uses a computer program to give everyone their highest match on both sides.
Here’s video explaining the process.
How bout well trained college counselors at ALL schools…and a LOT more of them so that students can actually receive some valuable and helpful guidance. Right now, many high school counselors are serving hundreds of students. No way to really do a quality job.
Please clarify…this is for the RESIDENCY match…not medical school admissions!