Weekly Update: March 5

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.

Weekly Update: January 16

BIGGEST COLLEGE-RELATED NEWS OF THE WEEK

FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY SYSTEM EASES REQUIREMENTS FOR JEWISH STUDENTS SEEKING TRANSFER DUE TO ANTISEMITIC FEARS

Florida State University System Chancellor Ray Rodrigues issued an emergency order this week for the state system to “remove barriers for undergraduate students who are seeking to transfer to a Florida university because of a well-founded fear of antisemitic or other religious discrimination, harassment, intimidation, or violence.” Rodrigues' action came after Florida Governor (and Republican presidential candidate) Ron DeSantis said in his annual State of the State that Jewish students would find Florida welcoming them “with open arms.”

NEW BILL INTRODUCED TO U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TO MAKE CHANGES TO FEDERAL GRANTS AND LOANS FOR STUDENTS

Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives have introduced a bill intended to make major changes to how students pay for college. The “College Cost Reduction Act” includes a variety of changes to student loans, capping how much a student can borrow, making colleges potentially responsible for unpaid loans, and reforming the Pell Grant program (doubling it for many juniors and seniors), among other things. Some of the changes have bipartisan support, including Pell Grant reform, but it’s not clear yet how much support the full bill will attract.

EMORY UNIVERSITY’S FACULTY SENATE SEEKS ANSWERS AFTER INVESTIGATION INTO USE OF ATLANTA POLICE IN PEACEFUL STUDENT PROTEST

Wading into the recent conversation on many campuses about freedom of speech and assembly, this week The Chronicle of Higher Education examines a campus incident and subsequent university actions from last year. Students at Emory University staged a demonstration in April to bring attention to their concerns about the Atlanta Police Department and a new training facility it plans to build. The students organized the peaceful protest on the University Quad, but when some students decided to camp out overnight, the Open Expression Observer (a trained faculty or staff member acting on behalf of the dean of campus life) alerted the students that they needed to disperse or possibly face conduct violations and be forcibly removed by campus police. Sometime after midnight, the observer contacted the campus police, who in turn called the Atlanta Police, and dozens of officers from both departments dispersed the protest. Now, the school’s faculty and students want the university to explain itself.

UNITED NEGRO COLLEGE FUND RECEIVES $100 MILLION GIFT TO SUPPORT POOLED ENDOWMENT FOR HBCUS

Thirty-seven Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) got good news as the new year began. The United Negro College Fund is engaged in a $1 billion capital campaign that is to include at least $370 million for HBCU endowments. The Lilly Endowment Inc., a “private philanthropic foundation supporting the causes of religion, education and community development,” put a big dent in that goal with a $100 million gift toward that $370 million goal. According to Inside Higher Ed, the average HBCU endowment is only about $16 million, so an additional $10 million from the UNCF for each school would be truly meaningful. (For comparison, William and Mary’s endowment is almost $1.4 billion.)

SUNY CHANCELLOR AND BOARD OF TRUSTEES APPLAUD NY GOVERNOR’S PROPOSED GUARANTEED ADMISSION INITIATIVE

In New York Governor Kathy Hochul’s State of the State address on January 9, 2024, she announced her plan to offer direct admission to students in the top 10 percent of their graduating classes to State University of New York and City University of New York schools. In a statement released by the Chancellor and Board, “As we have seen in other states, this plan will advance equity while helping to retain our most talented students.” In addition, the governor is proposing legislation which will require every public school district to ensure all high school graduates complete the FAFSA or the NY State DREAM Act Application or sign a waiver attesting that they were made aware of the financial aid opportunities, but chose not to apply.

BEST ARTICLES OF THE WEEK

In response to the U.S. Supreme Court decision last June, James Murray Jr., a Ph.D. student at the University of Kentucky, argues that the end of race-based considerations in college admissions opens a door for reparations for the descendants of enslaved people in the form of educational consideration and tuition remission. Citing a variety of legal scholars—as well as questions from conservative Supreme Court Justices Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh during oral arguments—Murray suggests that a person’s specific genealogical lineage should be examined, not that person’s racial makeup per se, to determine preferences and financial assistance up to full tuition. 

Arena BioWorks is a Cambridge, Massachusetts, startup company with interests in pharmaceuticals and biotechnology. On the face of it, there’s nothing unusual about that, but when The New York Times refers to company researchers as “a splinter group of scientists,” you can bet this is no ordinary startup. With half a billion dollars on hand, Arena BioWorks isn’t just filling its coffers with money—it’s luring academic researchers away from tenured and high-visibility jobs at prestigious universities. Paydays for some of these rock-star scientists are reputedly in the range of $10 million, not to mention the freedom to explore their areas of interest with a lot less bureaucracy than in a university setting. A single, deep-pocketed research company (funded by Michael Dell of Dell Computers and Boston Celtics owner Stephen Pagliuca, among others) probably isn’t going to blow up university research by itself. But it’s a sign that times are changing in biotech and colleges and universities probably need to start thinking differently about how they approach the care and feeding of science students and faculty, as well as their output. 

At the input end of things, Forbes blogger Brennan Barnard says students should start thinking differently about how they approach the college admission process. Calling on high schools students to “revolt against the idea that admission is a zero-sum game” and “resist the impulse to approach your studies as simply a means to an end”—maybe harder to do now, knowing there’s a $10 million biotech payday out there—he urges students not to let the prospect of admission to a given school or a given major dictate what courses and academic risks they take. He goes on to call for a measured approach (like the one we urge students to take) to things like testing and rankings. In short: “Revolt against a single definition of success and the notion that being admitted to any one college will guarantee contentment or thriving.”

As if to prove the value of Barnard’s advice, in his newsletter writer Jeff Selingo shares some “where are they now” type reporting about three students he followed through the admission process in his book “Who Gets In, and Why.” All members of their different schools’ classes of 2019, Grace (accepted at UCLA), Nicole (Northeastern University), and Chris (Gettysburg College) have followed a variety of paths since graduation. Love this!

The students’ stories show in vivid color that the acceptance and rejection letters are only the first steps in the next part of the story and that the costs (financial, emotional, and personal) of “success” in the process accumulate long after a high school senior crosses a stage to become a graduate. The stories he told in the book and the stories he tells now are worth reading, because there’s something in them for just about anyone applying to college today.

OFFICE HAPPENINGS

As we approach the midpoint of the school year, our students are busy with midterm or final exams and papers, but juniors are making time for their first round of check-in meetings to make sure they are on track! Once the second semester begins, we recommend students and families begin to plan for college visits or revisits in February, March, and April.

Of course, college visit planning will look different depending on the students’ class years. Juniors should be researching colleges, attending virtual visits and information sessions, and beginning to make plans to take advantage of school breaks, long weekends, and in-service days for on-campus trips. As seniors receive admission decisions, they should make note of programming that schools are offering for accepted students and look ahead to March and April to get some visits on the calendar, especially if they have not yet been able to visit a school in person yet. Remember: it is not a good idea to commit to a school that you’ve never seen in real life!

And on a lighter note, who else has been watching RushTok this week? Panhellenic (sorority) recruitment has just finished up at so many schools, including Northwestern, Tulane, Villanova, Virginia Tech and fan favorite SMU, and some of us (cough) have been tuning in for all those #OOTDs. I just finished a meeting with a junior who knew more about each chapter’s reputation on the various campuses than some of the girls who attend the actual schools probably do—I was very impressed with her research :)

While you can learn a lot about a school’s culture through these videos, remember that you’re seeing content created for entertainment purposes - and some of these girls are professional content creators! So the stories they tell are not necessarily reflective of the typical student experience at each of the schools. Still, there’s no denying the amount of Cartier jewelry on the SMU campus— that’s for sure!

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