It’s Super Tuesday - hope our public school families are enjoying their day off!

BIGGEST COLLEGE-RELATED NEWS OF THE WEEK

COMMON APPLICATION ® ESSAY PROMPTS RELEASED!

YAY! The Common Application ® finally released their 2024-2025 essay prompts shortly after I hit publish on our last weekly update post - and despite the very long wait, they actually didn’t change at all from the previous year. For any readers who are less familiar with college essay requirements, this particular essay is what is more commonly known as “the college essay” - it’s the main essay, up to 650 words in length, that students will submit to nearly every college on their list. Most colleges also require additional supplemental essays, as well.

UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA FIRES ALL DEI STAFF

To maintain compliance with Gov. Ron DeSantis’ law to prohibit state spending on DEI programs, the University of Florida let go of 28 faculty and staff members this past week: every single employee whose job was related to diversity, equity, and inclusion in some way. This will result in a $5 million cost savings for the university, which will be re-allocated to support faculty recruitment. As Gov. DeSantis himself remarked, “Florida is where DEI goes to die.” 😳

LATINA WOMEN CONTINUE FACING SIGNIFICANT WAGE GAP DESPITE MAJOR GAINS IN EDUCATION

This is a bittersweet update - on one hand, kudos to the population of Latina women who have made enormous gains in pursuing higher education over the last two decades. The percentage of Latinas with bachelor’s degrees has quadrupled since the year 2000, from 5% to 20%, rising faster than any other demographic group. However, this doesn’t seem to be paying off as much as it should from a salary standpoint, as Latina women with college degrees still earn the lowest median income of any demographic. This is probably wishful thinking, but I wonder if some of the disparity could be attributed to the fact that the more recent increase in degrees earned means they are, on average, a younger cohort with less work experience? We will learn more in the years to come.

WAKE FOREST CONGRATULATES WAITLISTED APPLICANTS BY MISTAKE

Word on the street is that a number of Wake Forest applicants who were waitlisted through the early decision rounds received a email last week that was actually meant for accepted students. In addition to congratulating them on their admission, the message invited them to an event meant for accepted students. So, naturally, the students thought that they had been accepted from the waitlist…. until they received an apology email from Wake, who shared that they were not accepted after all! Instead, the email was sent to the wrong group of students by mistake. Can you even imagine?!

MAJOR GREEK LIFE ISSUES AT VIRGINIA AND MARYLAND

No matter which side of the Potomac you call home, it was not a good week for Greek life at your flagship state universities. At UVA, a Kappa Sigma (fraternity) pledge is said to be in a coma after drinking to excess and falling down a flight of stairs and hitting his head. The university has since suspended the chapter in addition to temporarily banning sponsored social events from all fraternity chapters. It’s less clear as to what specifically happened at the University of Maryland, but the administration has reason to believe that multiple fraternity and sorority chapters have been “conducting activities that have threatened the safety and well-being of members of the University community." After an initial warning that took place at an emergency meeting with Greek leaders, the university continued to receive complaints. The following day, a “cease and desist” order was announced. All social events for Interfraternity Council (IFC) and Panhellenic Council (PHA) groups were banned for the forseeable future. Additionally, members are not allowed to have any contact whatsoever with new members or potential new members.

BEST ARTICLES OF THE WEEK

Have you wondered whether college is really “worth it,” financially? This New York Times article asserts that college is, in fact, worth it, when it comes to future earnings. However, it’s important for students to realize that other factors impact earnings too. What students choose to study makes a huge difference, and sometimes the choice of school also really matters (approach for-profit colleges with caution!).

A Washington Post editorial from last week emphasized that the potential end of test-optional admissions is “the right move.” The piece called it a “social experiment by necessity,” as a result of Covid, but one that provided colleges and universities with hard data to support whether or not test scores are truly needed to differentiate between candidates - and whether or not test scores resulted in an admissions bias against students of color. I agree with the Washington Post’s assessment - while diverse students do perform worse on standardized tests than their white counterparts, that is something that can be taken into context by an admissions officer.

And at the end of the day, every student who takes one of these tests still has to earn the actual scores - they can only be impacted so much. On the other hand, there are many other parts of the admissions process that can be manipulated far more easily. From advising on extracurricular activities and choice of major, to providing in-depth essay help, to assisting with teacher recommendation strategy - yes, I realize I’m basically outlining the services our company provides, but there’s no denying that students really benefit from this.

If you’re looking for a comprehensive look at how all of the recent changes may impact the college admissions process for students this year, check out Town & Country’s piece Has College Admissions Returned to a Normal Level of Crazy?. It reports that “the SCOTUS decision has so far not led to a major shift in acceptance letters for white and Asian students,” and I agree. I believe this is a direct result of the fact that race is still allowed to be considered when it is mentioned in essays. So has anything really changed after all, except the fact that students now need to write even more essays? The verdict is still out. The article does mention “a loosening of the selectivity noose due to some prestigious schools taking a PR hit this year,” which relates to the treatment of Jewish students on highly selective college campuses. Finally, it covers the anecdotal observation that deferrals seem to be up this year, and that while students often consider this to be positive, that might be an overly optimistic viewpoint. I personally think that the increase in deferrals was very school-specific - we saw unique situations at certain institutions, but did not notice any particular blanket shift.

On a lighter note, any podcast junkies out there? You’ll want to check out NPR’s “10 Best College Podcasts in America.” I’m particularly excited to listen to Brandon Kondritz’ The Day I Ditched my Devices. This Northwestern student embarked on a one-day “digital detox” and chronicled the experience. Not sure I could do it!

OFFICE HAPPENINGS

I am thrilled to report that our juniors got right to work after the Common Application ® essay prompt release and started booking their coaching meetings right away. A couple of students have even had their first essay coaching meetings already, and they should be on target to finish this major milestone in April!

On another note, if you’re an FCPS student looking for a great leadership role next year - we highly recommend checking out the role of 2024 Student Representative to the School Board. This coveted opportunity is open to FCPS students in grades 9, 10, and 11 who live in Fairfax County or Fairfax City. Check out the experiences of the current Student Representative, Rida Karim.