Now that the most selective colleges have released their admissions results (and the press is "breaking" the annual story that it’s even harder to get into Harvard), the Collegewise crew had a spirited email discussion yesterday about college admissions data. During that exchange, Arun (who worked in admissions at both Caltech and the University of Chicago) said something that stuck with me:
"Collegewise is at its best when we’re reminding people that great educations, experiences and outcomes happen at lots of schools. While there’s no formula, we set a perfect tone for how to best handle this process whether you’re aiming high or low. And handling the process really well will always yield the best results.”
That last part really is a perfect turn of phrase. If you want the best results, handle the process well.
If you work really hard in an SAT prep class, take the test once or twice, then accept your score and move on with your classes, activities and your life, you’re handling the process well. If you obsess over scores, continuing to prepare and retake the test 5-6 times, you’re not handling the process well.
Working hard in your classes because you want to learn and prepare yourself for college is handling the process well. Being a grade grubber who only cares about your GPA, who sends your parents in to wage war to get your B raised to an A, is not handling the process well.
Parents who handle the process well get excited about this time in their student’s life. Parents who turn the whole thing into a statues competition? Not so much.
Students who find activities they like, who commit and make an impact, they’re handling the process well. Students who make all their choices based on what they think will look impressive to Stanford? Bad handling.
You don’t need a perfect GPA to handle the process well. You don’t need great test scores. You don’t need to be at a fancy high school, or have connections, or even have the money to pay for expensive colleges. Everyone has an equal chance to determine how they handle the process. Yes, different families will encounter different challenges. But focus on the bigger picture. No one piece is more important than the process itself.
Bottom line: if you want good college admissions results, whether you’re aiming for Harvard or just looking for the right school who will love your average grades and test scores, start by handling the process well. That’s the only formula that works for everyone.