Whether I’m at a book club meeting, on a scout campout, or attending a friend’s birthday party, parents in my corner of Rockville inevitably turn to talking about the college admissions scene. With kids in gifted and talented programs, Richard Montgomery’s IB, and Wooten’s signature programs, they lay out their strategies, discuss the odds and express their anxiety over the impending application process whether it’s one year away or ten.

Having been a senior administrator at a selective liberal arts college and now consulting for several colleges and universities (from Ivies like Yale to rising stars like Oglethorpe), I used to butt into these conversations. I’d try to reassure my fellow parents, give them the latest scoop on admission rates and demographic trends. I’d tell them that the flipside of applicant competition is college competition, which has driven once-complacent institutions to become better and better. The truth is there are scores of fabulous colleges and universities out there — both well known and gems worth discovering — that accept over half of their applicants.

I say, “used to” because despite my reassurances parents often seem reluctant to let go of their worries. A story in this week’s Chronicle of Higher Education called “Admissions Angst Doesn’t Afflict as Many as It May Seem” (subscription required) says that may be because “people love the drama” and the hype about college admissions tells parents “their anxieties are important.”

While it may make intriguing cocktail party conversation to fret over college admissions, according to the story, “National statistics say students are wise to remain calm. In 2007, for instance, 80 percent of current first-year students were admitted to their top-choice college, according to an annual survey of more than 270,000 freshmen conducted by the Higher Education Research Institute at the University of California at Los Angeles. . . .Nationally, the average acceptance rate for applicants is close to 70 percent, a number that has changed little since the mid-1980s, according to the National Association for College Admission Counseling, known as Nacac.“

Me, I’d rather not worry. More importantly, I’d rather my kids not worry. With thin envelope/fat envelope season around the corner and summer campus tours not far behind, maybe we can all butt into a few more conversations to help fellow MoCo parents get off what one friend recently called the “Montgomery County-Ivy League obsessive track.”

One Comment

1. Frank Anastasi

   Great Advice, Andrea. You were a great friend through our first kid’s college application trauma. After being rejected by most of the schools, he was way cooler than his parents, with an “oh well, I guess I’ll just go wherever and see what develops” attitude. >

   He ended up at a fantastic school that he hadn’t even applied to, in a place he never dreamed of living in, and has loved every minute of it. He’s off to an Ultimate Frisbee tournament on some tropical Island for Spring Break – yep, it is a club sport and his team does relatively well I hear. He’ll be in Italy next fall for that Semester Abroad thing they all get as a birthright now. What’s not to love about college these days? The vast majority of kids love it wherever they go.

   I learned a lot from his experience, and from you then. So I tell anyone who will listen, just like you said, there are plenty of great schools that accept a high percentage of applicants. SO one way or an other, make sure your kid applies to a few of them. And remember, you are the parent, you will be paying for it, so you do have some say in the matter of where they apply even if they think otherwise!

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