Novel Thinking About Admission (Entry 3) – College Search Experience Develops Pedigree

2/18/2022

Chris Boehm

Inspiration taken from Pedigree – how Elite Students get Elite Jobs, by Lauren Rivera.

I read to find nuggets of inspiration to make me better at my job and help our students with their college process. It’s amazing how, with an open mind, you can find resources that apply to the college process in almost anything you read. I trust that my peers, parents, and students navigating the college search and application process will find it thought-provoking and perhaps, just maybe, useful.

In researching Pedigree, Rivera imbeds herself in the human resource hiring practices of Elite Professional Service (EPS) firms that generally offer some of the highest entry level salaries in the country. She chronicles that the hiring decisions made in elite banking, business consulting, and law firms in the northeast are extremely similar to those used in the application review process of highly selective universities, valuing many of the same criteria. There are numerous negatives pointed out in EPS hiring – rampant bias, criteria based upon factors strongly associated with socioeconomic status that creates a generational uneven playing field, and a process that punishes non-American cultural norms. However, for all of the hiring flaws (and there are too many to count), it shows the qualities, traits, growth, and practices that we promote within the college search and application experience create skills and familiarity that will benefit students when they apply for their first entry level positions.

Here are some of the parallels I see in the college search and application experience and the hiring practices of EPS firms:

Showing Interest – Chapter 3 in Pedigree is entitled, The Pitch, and outlines the on and near college campus recruiting methods of EPS firms. Social events with food and spirits allow interested job applicants to be curious, listen to recruitment presentations, make a first impression, learn more about the company in order to perhaps communicate “fit” (#3 on this list) in future writings or conversations, and complement their host by showing they are worthy of the attendee’s investment in time. A high school student has parallel opportunities (minus the spirits) to visit college campuses, attend local information sessions, and meet with admission representatives during high school visits.

Recommended actions for students – listen to messages and keep notes reminding you of programs and visits, send thank-you notes and explain why you enjoyed the school and experience, and be prepared to articulate why you are interested in a school and find their community different and unique. Know that some of your colleges will ask you to answer a ‘why us?’ essay that cannot be generic and must be under 250 words!

Using Time Constructively & Strategically – Rivera (pg 152) shared, “What did work (in a successful interview) were stories that portrayed the candidate as a protagonist, undertaking strategic, progressive decisions in the pursuit of intrinsic passion.” Pursuing opportunities to be curious about something, take on leadership, and understanding self enough to know when to go beyond the typical modus operandi (always wanted to use that term) to find growth is healthy and predicts future success in both of these processes. EPS firms and college admission offices want to see students that show initiative when not being told what to do and be able to explain WHY (this is a precursor to #4).

Fit – The word “fit” is referenced 68 times in the index of Pedigree, many times in the chapter, Beginning the Interview: Finding a Fit. Attend a typical admission information session or college counseling presentation and you’ll probably hear the term about a dozen times. Fit is defined as, “of a suitable quality, standard, or type to meet the required purpose.” It’s very subjective and is an open invitation for bias to enter a selection process. For a student or job applicant it is usually a feeling, sense, or educated decision that a college or place of employment feels right based upon their specific priorities. When a mutual and authentic fit can be articulated in an application process, it can be extremely powerful. It also shows that a student is making a healthy decision in exploring schools that will ensure their academic success and happiness outside the classroom.

Tell Me Your Story (page 148) – An applicant’s narrative, the message provided in a personal statement or interview that is required as part of the application to most EPS firms tells an applicant’s story in their own words. It serves as the equivalent of a college application essay (admission interviews are becoming less common and impactful but still can occur) an open-ended opportunity for an applicant to share and shape their story any way they wish. An excerpt directly from Pedigree:

“..sociologist Michael Schudson argues that not all narratives are powerful enough to motivate action. Stories, he explains, are more likely to affect behavior when they meet certain criteria: when they appeal to group symbols or values, when they are easily imaginable or memorable, when they are presented with strong rhetorical force as a flattering or convincing message in persuasive format, when they are institutionalized in social groups or structures, and when they are action oriented…A strong narrative (according to Rivera) had two distinct but interrelated components: the applicant’s past experiences and his or her future trajectory…A good story provided a concise yet compelling abstract of the candidate’s journey to the interview room – the social, educational, and occupational path the applicant had taken to reach this particular career juncture.”

Rivera goes on to share, and I believe this is similar in the college application review, that the best stories: explain the why behind something, are emotionally poignant, share feelings of excitement and admiration, and sometimes outline personal growth and self-actualization.

A True Meritocracy? (page 276) – The selection process at EPS firms and colleges are human and therefore subjectively flawed. They both reek of bias, outside influence, and criteria with predisposed results based upon uncontrollable variables. A college’s admission decisions are based upon institutional priorities set by their stakeholders. Applicants, no matter how much they (and their parents) may want to, cannot create their own definition of merit to best serve self. This is why a healthy college search includes numerous possible suitors for a student, with the mindset that the students, not a college, will be the ultimate decider of their success and happiness. To overcome the lack of merit in the system and inability to control selection criteria, high school students should: explore numerous and diverse college options, understand that the process is not always “fair” and all the points presented in this entry can and will be used as decision influencers; and treat the college admission process as a search for a supportive community made up of people that will promote academic growth and provide amazing experiences, rather than a life or death decision that will influence everything in their future.

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