COLLEGE ADMISSIONS: WHAT ARE STUDENTS LEARNING?
An exploration of how the selective college admissions experience is shaping student attitudes and behaviors by the Education Conservancy</p>
<p>Background
The college admissions environment has changed significantly during the past twenty years: more stakeholders, more marketing, more applications, more money, more emphasis, more testing, more activity, and more confusion. Amid this new landscape, there is growing concern that individual institutional actions, activities of parents, schools, students, and other actors in what we refer to as the admissions process, may not be serving the values and purposes traditionally associated with higher education. The college admissions process has been studied extensively from a marketing perspective-how students choose the colleges to which they apply and eventually enroll. Some attention has been given to the psychological aspects of the process-especially the accompanying stress and confusion experienced during the decision making process. However, we now need to better understand the impact of the admissions process, especially selective admissions, on student learning. </p>
<p>Project Description
The goal of this research project is to gain insight into student experiences with selective college admissions. We wanted to learn whether student attitudes and behaviors are being shaped in ways that: 1) warrant a larger study to more fully understand the identified issues; and 2) suggest remedial action on the part of colleges is needed. By questioning students in eight focus groups drawn from half private and half public high schools in Atlanta, Boston, San Francisco, and Chicago, we explored student experiences and learning during selective college admissions. The students were selected by their counselors to maximize gender and socio-economic diversity. Our research objectives were to answer the following questions about the admission process for high achieving students:
What are students hearing? Where is the information coming from?
What are students doing to enhance their probabilities of gaining admission?
Is the admissions process a positive or negative experience for students?
What are students learning about themselves, higher education, and society during the admissions process? What would be helpful to students? What would they like to change? </p>
<p>It is important to acknowledge the limitations of this project. As an exploratory, focus group-based, qualitative effort of limited scope, our findings are not conclusive. We used the tools of qualitative research, and we were guided by professional experiences, sensitivities, and instincts to ask questions, listen, sort and discuss student responses, and identify and weigh themes. We made every attempt to maximize the degree of objectivity by involving many thoughtful minds in the careful crafting of our research protocol and by diversifying the number of qualified eyes and ears the information passed through. With that caveat, we can say that our findings suggest certain conclusions; they illuminate problems and possibilities that need additional attention, and **suggest the conclusion that remedial action is both necessary and possible. **</p>
<p>Implications
Selective college admissions is a significantly formative event. That is, students learn many things about themselves and society during the college admission process; their attitudes and behaviors are shaped in significant ways. The process affords students the opportunity to confront fundamental social values and choices (the value of various types of endeavors: intellectual, athletic, artistic, service, immediate versus deferred gratification, self vs. societal interests, honesty, etc.) and to learn about essential social institutions (families, schools, peer groups, social networks) and society (social processes and norms such as fairness and justice). </p>
<p>One of the most problematic aspects of the college admissions process appears to be the marketing activities of colleges. College marketing is viewed by students not only as self-serving, but as deceptive, and often inconsistent with how students think colleges should act. Wide spread marketing messages that, “we are the best and the best for you” appear implausible to students. The marketing activity and rhetoric employed by colleges contributes to healthy skepticism, but also to cynicism, distrust, and unethical behavior.</p>
<p>The college admissions process is not viewed as fair by many students. They see the evidence of class and racial privilege, as well as the role of connections, special interests, and talent. They see a lack of connection between the value of hard work and dedication and the particular ways in which admissions decision are made (what characteristics are rewarded). A most striking area of concern is the unjustified importance of the SAT. The SAT appears to contribute to both cynicism about institutions and acceptance of some types of cheating, called by one student, “equal opportunity cheating.” Students believe the SAT plays a significant role in college admissions that is patently unfair. They do not understand how four hours of testing, which they believe can be improved by coaching that focuses on strategy and gamesmanship, can be anywhere near as appropriate to assessing potential for success in college and later in life as four years of education and the effort it requires to succeed in high school.</p>
<p>Conclusions
Students learn many things about themselves and society during the selective college admissions process. The behavior of colleges, individually and collectively, has a profound impact on what students learn. Some of these impacts do not serve the developmental needs of students, and some may produce adverse effects for society.</p>
<p>We need to learn more about the breadth, endurance, and long-term consequences of the kinds of negative attitudes and behaviors associated with this process in order to develop a larger and clearer picture of the entire system of college admissions. One analyst remarked that, “This web of institutional inconsistencies experienced by students in this study induces a cynicism about colleges that may create a broader disrespect for education, as well as a cynicism about other institutions.” The results of this pilot research could be used as a basis for a more comprehensive study.</p>
<p>Within the limitations of focus group methodology, we have gained significant insight into how the activities of colleges may influence undesirable student attitudes and create unethical behavior. These insights allow us to recommend certain remedial actions. Colleges can and should do all they can to understand the effects of their actions, and to implement institutional and collective practices that are educationally sound and socially responsible.</p>
<p>Imagine a world in which the college admission process itself would be admired, rather than ridiculed or gamed by students, parents, and the broader society-a process that exemplifies the highest ideals of education and inspires students to flourish more than it encourages students to become cynical. This vision should be a catalyst that elicits the necessary leadership among colleges to develop a better system. It is clear that students in our focus groups would respond favorably to what they view as integrity in college admissions. </p>
<p>Acknowledgements</p>
<p>**Principle **investigators
Larry Litten (Independent Researcher), Gina Shkodviani (John Lee and Associates), and Lloyd Thacker (Education Conservancy) </p>
<p>Funding
ACT, the College Board, Drew University, Harvard University, MIT, the Spencer Foundation, Southwestern University, the University of Southern California, Yale University