From Vision to Admission: The Storyboards Blog

To Assess the Impact of Real World Learning, We Need to Think About Real World Impacts

Tue, 17 Feb 2026 20:12:13 GMT

We’re in the Customer Service Business

In my previous article about leveraging Real World Learning in college applications, I talk about measuring impact . This is crucial for understanding not only RWL data collection and assessment, but also how to think about structuring and allocating RWL resources.

To approach this, we should think differently about data and assessment. At Storyboards, we bring both deep knowledge of education and private sector experience to shape our approach. Our decades of experience in both the public and private sector has led us to a novel conclusion about evaluating the impact of Real World Learning:

We are in the Customer Service Industry.

So, we should collect, analyze, and evaluate data as if we’re in the Customer Service Industry, not only to assess the impact, but also to tell the story of our public schools.

Let me explain:

For education leaders raised in the No Child Left Behind era, we were drilled to think that impact must be measured through data and assessment and evaluation that leads to accountability. NCLB’s mandatory testing created a mindset that student learning only matters when it’s quantified . The extremely punitive nature of No Child Left Behind completely rewired at least two generations of education leaders to believe that if your metrics didn’t show Adequate Yearly Progress, then you would be objectively labelled as “failing.”

Or, as my Methods professor used to say, “If you can’t measure it with an assessment, is it really learning?”

The very premise of Real World Learning defies the great Spreadsheetification of Education: Students develop the employable skills of empathy, communication, collaboration, proactivity, and executive functioning through internships and client-connected projects.

So, how do we measure the impact of Real World Learning?

The NCLB regime taught us to Design Backward. We need to Design Forward.

Relying solely on quant-based metrics means beginning with the test as the end-product assessment, then designing backward to create the lessons that teach to the test. This results in the “gamification” of education assessment.

Within the Real World Learning framework, this is simply counting the percentage of students who earn a Market Value Asset. If achieving MVAs is the assessment metric, we will inevitably design our whole RWL program and allocate resources towards earning MVAs.

But, as I talked about in my article on creating impact , Market Value Assets in and of themselves don’t earn students employment opportunities and college admissions with merit-based financial aid. Students have to translate their RWL and other experiences into a cohesive narrative following the specific format of the college application.

In this way, Market Value Assets aren’t tokens that students collect in a wallet. When they graduate, they can’t simply “cash in” their MVAs in exchange for jobs, admissions or competitive financial aid.

Rather, their RWL and other experiences are conveyed in a portfolio that tells the story of why their skills, character, experiences, and personal story make them the perfect fit for their target schools and employers.

This is where we have to Design Forward our assessment of RWL.

If you Design Backward, the wallet and tokens idea makes sense. The data is easy to track, and “success” is “objectively” measurable.

But if you Design Forward, you need to think about how these kids leverage their MVAs and RWL experiences in the actual format and process required by their post-graduation next opportunity.

For your college-bound students, that’s the college application. For your career-bound students, that’s an application and interview process that shows what they can do. In this way, the storytelling behind the MVA is more important than the MVA itself .

In an education landscape dominated by quant-data and tests, how do we measure the effectiveness of our students’ portfolios? How do we know if our RWL programming helped them find their right fit?

This is where the Customer Service Industry metaphor is extremely helpful.

Market researchers will tell you that, in almost any customer service business (restaurants, department stores, etc.), that the most powerful data is:

Customer-reported experience.

How customers feel about their experience is the single most important indicator that they will come back or recommend you to others.

This is why they give you free tacos to fill out the survey. This is why they offer a 50% off coupon to respond to a few questions. The data is so powerful that companies are willing to pay for it.

Data around “feelings” might not, well, feel objective. But that doesn’t mean the impact isn’t real.

Largely, customer experience is driven by you delivering actual value in the product or service. More than that, it means that you helped them fix some sort of problem, that you were listened to and treated with respect, and at the end of the experience, you helped them solve something that needed solving.

This is something we can assess: Are students and families satisfied with the post-graduation opportunity you helped them earn?

You don’t need to construct complex regression analyses based on the salary potential of similarly situated non-RWL students compared against your RWL students. You don’t need longitudinal, disaggregated AYP data to show that you’re laser focused on targeted areas of deficiency in math and reading.

We can develop surveys to understand how students feel about where they’re going after they walk across your graduation stage. Whatever you want to know about their experience, you can ask with well-constructed Likert scale questions, space for narrative feedback–-all of this is totally legitimate data that can be collected, analyzed, and assessed to evaluate success.

This ties us back to my original article about creating and measuring impact. To fully realize the power of Real World Learning, schools need to develop systemic college and career application support that actually plugs them into their post-graduation opportunity .

Now, we can design our Real World Learning program to create data and assessment we need to not just measure impact, but to tell our school’s story .

We know that our schools, despite the odds, are doing incredible work. We know that our teachers and administrators are innovative, creative thinkers who are pushing the boundaries of what’s possible in education. But the public and other stakeholders don’t always know that. By getting our students into workplaces, connecting with clients–the entire community gets to see how incredible our students are because they are literally working with them .

This is how we use Real World Learning to grow public school advocacy: Kids show what they can do, parents report positive experiences about outcomes, educators show return on investment–and the business and community leaders who are literally working with our students through their Real World Learning experiences can say, yes, these kids are great and the schools are doing a great job.

That’s the story we as educators know. Through careful program design that migrates students from school to college and career, along with thoughtful collection and assessment of data, it’s a story that we can tell.

The One Key Gap in the Real World Learning Framework, And How To Close It

Tue, 17 Feb 2026 20:05:48 GMT

To Maximize Your Investment in RWL, You Should Invest in College and Career Application Support

My name is Dr. Stephen Himes, and most of my work revolves around helping students and schools leverage Real World Learning experiences in college and career applications.

I’ve had an unusually varied education career: My LinkedIn profile is quite an adventure. Having been almost everywhere and done almost everything, I will say that the Next Big Thing in education can be Real World Learning and the Success Ready Student Network. It’s the most fully baked, transformative framework for reimagining high school graduates for today’s economy.

Over the past fifteen years, I’ve had hundreds of conversations with teachers, counselors, district administrators, education support organizations, private-sector education advocates, school board members, state legislators, and most of the original architects of Real World Learning.

From all these conversations, I’ve identified one key gap within the Real World Learning framework. If we close this key gap, RWL advocates will be able to show measurable post-graduation impact that supports a movement for transforming American education for today’s economy. And, if you are beginning your RWL journey, it’s the one low-hanging fruit that will amplify the impact of your investment.

Let me explain. This goes for both our career-path and college-bound students, but I’ll talk mostly about our college-bound kids.

In all the various RWL frameworks out there, one word is always emphasized:

Prepare . How do we prepare students for post-graduation success?

Too often, RWL frameworks end with prepare, that our job is simply to prepare them for the post-graduation world, and then the kids…take it from there?

But in our hyper-competitive college and career landscape, simply preparing students isn’t enough. To fully realize the investment in Real World Learning, we have to help connect them to their right post-graduation opportunities.

Even then, connecting isn’t quite enough: For our college-bound students, connecting can’t just mean pointing them to scholarship databases, helping them with college search tools, facilitating FAFSA help, and giving kids checklists and deadlines. 1:1 guidance can’t scale support to help kids create difference-making applications.

Here’s why:

In today’s college admissions landscape, tests are optional and high school GPAs are inflated. Kids know they need lots of extracurriculars and service activities. So, many college applications are virtually indistinguishable.

Beyond that, with the post-COVID generation, these traditional metrics aren’t what colleges are looking for. Employers are telling them they need graduates with skills, yes, but moreso, they are looking for character, empathy, communication, collaboration, proactivity, and executive functioning.

College application readers screen for these characteristics by looking for distinguishing experiences–which are exactly what Real World Learning experiences provide. College applications readers will tell you that applications score better with the “get your hands dirty” experiences of RWL.

This is why simply preparing kids isn’t enough. Real World Learning experiences don’t write applications themselves. Students have to convey these characteristics and experiences in the precise format of the college application .

That is the whole ballgame. It’s not just preparing or even connecting . We have to teach kids how to plug themselves into their next opportunity.

Think of your school’s Real World Learning as a platform with programs that help kids develop the skills, character, and experiences that will win them admissions and competitive financial aid at colleges that are the right programmatic and cultural fit.

Post-graduation, kids migrate from your platform to their platform. To do that, they need the right adapter that plugs their high school experiences into the college admissions process.

The adapter that connects high school to college is…the college application. Without it, your kids can’t get from one to the other.

Now you see the issue: If we aren’t teaching the college application in a systematic, scalable way, we might be preparing kids for their future career, we might even be connecting them to opportunities, but without college application support, we aren’t helping them migrate from platform to platform.

This is a real problem with measurable, material impact not just on post-graduation outcomes, but on the extraordinary anxiety of senior year.

In the latest National Association for College Admissions Counselors research , “over half of students rank college applications as their most stressful academic experience.” The Common App really is complex: Think of the college application as Grant Writing for High School Seniors.

It’s a storytelling exercise where you explain why you’re the right fit for your target schools. This involves understanding how they evaluate test scores (if they do at all), how they interpret transcripts, how to write about experiences in the honors and activities lists, how personal essays are read, how they use letters or recommendations—all to show that you’re the right fit for their mission and worthy of merit-based financial aid.

Real World Learning experiences can anchor difference-making, award-winning college applications. They provide what colleges are screening for–but only if students know how to leverage RWL in the storytelling of a holistic application.

This is why checklists and even 1:1 advising still isn’t enough. When you dig into the NACAC data, something emerges that should resonate with high school educators:

A vast majority of students report being “overwhelmed” by the college application because they don’t know how to do it , which compounds the stress of this being “a major life moment.”

So, giving them checklists telling them what to do, or investing in data aggregation software that tracks who hasn’t turned in what , doesn’t really solve the real problem. They know it’s due, they just don’t know how to do it .

Even using data to allocate time and resources doesn’t help if you don’t have a curriculum to teach them how to do the college application . As for your 1:1 advisors, if you don’t teach kids how to create great materials upfront , that precious facetime gets eaten up with checklists and high-level explanations–literally, this meeting could have been an email, or better yet, taught to them beforehand. And, kids often report that they don’t understand why their advisor is advising them because they don’t understand how a college application works.

If this is such a major problem, then why haven’t public schools tackled it?

First, college applications are not taught in public high schools because there’s often no class where this naturally sits. Second, our counselors are licensed with expertise in social-emotional needs, often with application advising and letter writing crammed under other priorities. Contrast this with private schools, whose counselors are almost always former college admissions professionals. Third, public school accountability focuses on test score data and “preparedness” measures, so resources aren’t devoted to post-graduation outcomes.

The impact is real: In one of the few studies on the subject , the Michigan Department of Education found “strong post-secondary outcomes” in college enrollment and college graduation from schools where “college planning” (including specific application instruction) is taught:

This is even more true for low-income students, especially first-generation college students.

This is why, for your Real World Learning program to pay off in material ways for your students, you have to program to help kids achieve post-graduation outcomes. This means helping them migrate from your RWL platform to the college platform, which requires strategic, systemic teaching of the college application in a way that leverages RWL experiences in the precise format of the application.

As you’ll see at the Real World Learning conference, educators at RWL Early Adopter districts have developed all the experience and tools to make this programming work to prepare students and connect them to opportunities. And, we know that college and career application support is necessary to migrate them to their next opportunities. This is how RWL creates impact.

The next question, always top of mind for educators, is figuring out how to measure that impact. That’s the subject of my next article, and yes, it involves college and career application support.

More Than Just Numbers: The True Meaning Behind Test Scores and GPAs

Tue, 17 Dec 2024 18:41:43 GMT

We all know that colleges place a lot of emphasis on standardized test scores and GPAs when evaluating applicants. But have you ever stopped to wonder - what do these numbers really tell us?

The research is clear - test scores and grades are largely a proxy for one key factor: how likely a student is to graduate. That's it. These metrics don't necessarily reflect someone's true "merit" or "deserving" of a spot in the incoming class.

Let me give you an example to illustrate this point. Imagine two students, both strong applicants. Student A scored a 28 on the ACT, thanks to extensive test prep and family resources to support their studies. Student B, on the other hand, scored a 26 using only free ACT prep materials.

Does the 28 ACT score mean Student A "deserves" admission more? Not necessarily. Colleges recognize that the 28 score may simply indicate Student A had more access to tools and support that boosted their test performance - not that they are inherently "smarter."

Meanwhile, Student B's 26 may actually be a stronger indicator of their true academic abilities and readiness for the rigors of college. If they've demonstrated other qualities like resilience, creativity, and a genuine passion for learning, they could be an even better fit for the school's culture and mission.

You see, college admissions isn't just about raw numbers. It's an art and a science, blending quantitative metrics with a holistic assessment of each applicant as a unique individual. Colleges aren't just looking to "rack and stack" candidates by test scores and GPAs. They want to build diverse classes of students who will thrive on their campuses and contribute to the community in meaningful ways.

So the next time you're feeling discouraged by your test scores, remember - they don't tell the whole story. Colleges are increasingly looking beyond the numbers to find students who will be successful and make a positive impact. Focus on showcasing your full authentic self, and the rest will fall into place.

I'd love to hear your thoughts on this topic. How have you navigated the college admissions process, and what role have test scores and grades played?

How Colleges Use Test Scores and GPA Data: "Readiness" More Than "Merit"

Wed, 11 Dec 2024 18:31:02 GMT

You're probably aware that most colleges have "gone test-optional" in recent years. In the next post, we'll discuss what that actually means. For now, let's talk about how the pandemic changed the way colleges use test scores and GPAs.

The truth is, every school has its own unique practices in this area. There's no real "industry standard" - these policies were largely developed on the fly at the start of the pandemic.

When schools closed in March 2020, it disrupted standardized testing seasons for the ACT, SAT, AP Exams, and more. Companies had to quickly adapt to deploy these tests remotely. Schools also had to figure out how to handle grades during the shift to virtual learning.

Essentially, the data points colleges had traditionally used to rank and evaluate applicants became unreliable. This accelerated a trend towards "holistic admissions" - where qualitative factors like experiences, character, and personal stories carry more weight alongside test scores and GPA.

So how are colleges using those quantitative metrics now? The approaches vary, but there's a clear shift towards evaluating "readiness" over pure "merit." Outstanding test scores and GPAs still provide a huge advantage. But for students closer to a school's admissions thresholds, the data is often used to gauge whether they're likely to succeed and graduate.

In other words, colleges are less focused on "ranking" candidates and more on determining if they're truly prepared for the academic rigors of that institution. This explains why the latest NACAC survey found test scores are now only of "Considerable Importance" for 4.9% of colleges, with many placing "Moderate" or "Limited" emphasis on those metrics.

The bottom line is that the pandemic disrupted the traditional admissions playbook. Colleges are now striving to build diverse classes of students who are the right "fit" - not just the highest scorers. For applicants, understanding this shift in priorities is key to crafting a compelling case for admission.

Let me know your thoughts below! How have you seen the college application process evolve in recent years?

Triangulating Student Readiness with Test Scores and GPA

Thu, 05 Dec 2024 18:44:41 GMT

Colleges use test scores and GPA data to assess an applicant's "readiness" for their academic environment, not just raw "merit." This involves a process of "triangulation" using multiple data points.

First, they look at your GPA - the strongest predictor of college success. They'll consider both your core academic GPA and your overall GPA to get a sense of your preparation.

Next, they review your high school's profile to understand the rigor of your curriculum and how your GPA compares to peers. This contextual information helps them evaluate your readiness.

Finally, your test score serves as a check on the GPA analysis. It can indicate whether you challenged yourself appropriately or if your grades don't fully reflect your abilities.

By considering these factors together, rather than in isolation, colleges can make an educated guess about your likelihood of thriving on their campus. This "triangulation" is more art than science, but it's how they assess "readiness" over pure "merit."

The key takeaway is that test scores and GPA aren't just about ranking applicants. Colleges want to understand if you have the academic preparation to succeed, not just who "deserves" admission the most. As long as your scores contextualize your full application, they can be a helpful part of this evaluation.

The ACT Test is Evolving: What it Means for College Admissions

Tue, 19 Nov 2024 18:46:36 GMT

The pandemic has radically transformed the standardized testing industry, breaking the long-standing dominance of high-stakes exams like the ACT. While testing isn't going away entirely, educators now have more flexibility to question the assumptions behind these assessments.

This shift is reflected in the recent changes to the ACT itself. The test is scaling back, making the Science section optional and shortening the overall exam "to make the testing experience more manageable for students."

The rationale reveals a key truth - ACT scores are largely a function of test preparation, not necessarily academic ability. Mastering the ACT is more about learning the test's idiosyncrasies than demonstrating higher-order skills.

This is why colleges are increasingly moving towards "test-optional" policies. The ACT content doesn't strongly correlate with the knowledge and critical thinking needed to succeed in college. Scores have limited utility for admissions decisions beyond triangulating GPAs and high school profiles.

For the ACT as a company, this presents a challenge. To stay relevant, they must prove the test provides colleges the data they need. The elimination of the Science section, for example, may be an attempt to make the exam more aligned with the curriculum.

Ultimately, the evolution of the ACT signals a broader rethinking of standardized testing's role in higher ed. As the non-profit organization transitions to private ownership, the pressure to monetize and modernize the exam will only intensify.

This could accelerate efforts by colleges to collectively develop "best practices" for using test scores. The goal will be ensuring these assessments genuinely reflect student readiness, not just test-taking prowess. It will be an interesting transition to watch unfold.

Putting Your High School Transcript in Context for Colleges

Tue, 22 Oct 2024 18:48:41 GMT

Gone are the days when you could simply plug your test scores and GPA into a matrix to predict college admissions odds. Post-pandemic, test data has become less reliable and colleges are questioning its value altogether.

Grades, on the other hand, remain the top factor in admissions decisions. But interpreting those grades requires understanding the full context of your high school experience.

There's a misconception that certain grading scales and weighting systems create inherent advantages. 4.0 vs. 4.0 weighted, letter grades vs. percentages, even "ungrading" systems - colleges know these are just different ways schools choose to evaluate student learning.

The key is that grades only have meaning within the context of your particular high school. Colleges collect data on how students from your school have historically performed in college. They read your school profile closely, especially if many applicants come from there.

So while grades are extremely important, colleges don't simply "rank" applicants by the numbers. They use that data, along with other application materials, to assess your overall "readiness" in a more holistic, contextual way.

If there are any dips or anomalies in your transcript, you can provide that context in the Additional Information section or through your school counselor. Colleges recognize that the learning process is more important than perfection.

The bottom line is that your high school record needs to be understood in light of your unique circumstances and environment. Focus on developing your skills and knowledge, not just optimizing your GPA. That's what will truly prepare you for success in college.

The Rise of Experiential Learning: Boosting Your College Application

Thu, 03 Oct 2024 18:49:59 GMT

With the loosening of high-stakes testing under ESSA, and the pandemic further disrupting standardized assessments, colleges are seeking new ways to evaluate applicants beyond just grades and test scores.

Enter the rise of "experiential learning" - hands-on, project-based approaches that go beyond traditional classroom instruction. Things like internships, community-based research, and interdisciplinary "ungrading" programs are gaining traction.

Colleges recognize these experiences develop crucial real-world skills like collaboration, independent work, and problem-solving. They signal an applicant's readiness to thrive on campus and contribute meaningfully.

So if you've participated in these types of learning opportunities, be sure to highlight them in your application. Mention them in your Activities List or Additional Information section. Show how they've shaped your interests, skills, and personal growth.

Admissions teams will use this to complement your transcript and gauge your overall preparedness. And if your school district has profiled these offerings well, colleges will understand the unique value you can bring to their community.

The bottom line is that experiential learning is becoming a key differentiator in a crowded applicant pool. Showcase these experiences to help admissions officers envision you as a successful, engaged student on their campus.

Don't Just List Extracurriculars - Show Their Impact

Thu, 19 Sep 2024 18:51:59 GMT

Colleges today aren't just looking for a long list of club memberships and positions. They want to see the real-world skills and experiences you've developed through your extracurriculars.

Gone are the days of "gunning" for activities just to pad your resume. Admissions teams can spot that a mile away. Instead, they're looking for depth - how you've made a tangible impact through the things you're passionate about.

On your application's Activities and Honors sections, focus on conveying your skills and accomplishments, not just titles. What did you actually do, and what did you deliver? Demonstrate your ability to organize, lead, and create change.

And remember, extracurriculars aren't just school-based clubs. Anything you do outside the classroom that reveals your character, identity, and real-world responsibilities is fair game. Caring for family, creative hobbies, even a part-time job - these all speak to the qualities colleges value.

The key is to show admissions officers how your experiences have shaped you as a person and prepared you for the academic and social demands of college. Don't just list your activities - let them see the impact you can have on their campus.

Craft an Impactful Professional Statement for Your Resume

Tue, 20 Aug 2024 18:53:46 GMT

When writing resumes, we teach students to include a 2-3 sentence "Professional Statement" at the top. This concisely answers:

Who you are
What you're seeking
Your key qualifications
Relevant experiences

Here are some examples:

"I'm an aspiring medical student looking to learn medicine by mentoring with hospital professionals. I have STEM achievements and developed organizational skills in high-pressure environments."

"As an aspiring humanities scholar, I seek to mentor with professional researchers in archives. My humanities honors, STEM research skills, and independent project experience prepare me well."

This framing transforms the resume from just a list to an argument for your fit. It guides what content to prioritize and how to present it strategically.

In college apps, the Professional Statement can also serve as a thesis for your entire application. It succinctly conveys who you are, your goals, and your readiness.

After completing your Activities and Honors, transform that information into a focused, compelling resume. This working document can then inform your college essays.

SFFA v. Harvard and UNC: Important Implications for High School Students & Counselors

Fri, 30 Jun 2023 15:25:29 GMT

Somehow, The Supreme Court Both Abolished Affirmative Action and Gave Us a Roadmap for How to Create a Great College Application

Chief Justice John Roberts’ opinion in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard and University of North Carolina et al will radically reshape college admissions. For high school guidance counselors, no matter how you may feel about Affirmative Action, Roberts did the public a great service by explaining, in explicit detail, how holistic college admissions works in practice.

Especially for competitive colleges in the post-pandemic world of test-optional admissions, “personal factors” like “maturity, integrity, leadership, kindness, and courage” matter much more. When these qualitative factors are weighed alongside quantitative factors like test scores and GPA, a student's personal story and identity takes on added importance. In the Chief Justice’s view, this is where the Constitutional issue arises.

Roberts steps us through the First Read Process, where admissions officers spend about twenty minutes per application, assigning numbers to “academic performance,” “extracurricular involvement,” “essay quality,” “student background,” and “personal factors.” The Reader makes a recommendation, defended by a comment on the overall application. Then the application goes to a “School Group Review” by a committee of experienced admissions officers, who review the First Readers’ recommendations–in addition to other factors like race and ethnicity, legacy status, recruited athlete status, financial aid eligibility, state residency, “special recruits,” and other factors decided by university policy.

In the Court’s view, this consideration of race–even as one of many factors–violates the Constitution. Chief Justice Roberts enshrines the principle of the “Color Blind Constitution” in college admissions, that “diversity” is impossible to define, not measurable by a coherent standard, an impermissibly permanent mandate, and a stereotyping of students. So, whatever the educational benefits of diversity might be, they are “commendable goals” but insufficient for Equal Protection.

However, there is one extremely important takeaway for high school counselors that should be integrated into their student guidance. The Court holds that “nothing prohibits” admissions from considering a student’s discussion of how their race affects their life, ”so long as that discussion is concretely tied to a quality of character or unique ability that the particular applicant can contribute to the university.”

In other words, the Supreme Court allows that holistic college applications are truly holistic–if students are able to make connections across their application . For a student to write about their racial identity, it “must be tied to that student’s courage and determination.” (emphasis by Chief Justice Roberts). Likewise, a student’s discussion of their “heritage or culture” “must be tied to that student’s unique ability to contribute to the university.” This isn't just good advice for Students of Color: It's great advice for all students.

So, students need to understand how to tie their experiences to discussions of identity–otherwise, a college would violate Equal Protection by not considering them as an individual, but only on the basis of their identity. This point, on the final page of the Chief Justice’s binding opinion, has profound implications for how guidance counselors need to advise students on completing all parts of the college application–even beyond the “College Essay.” It also raises issues about letters of recommendations, the student’s statements accompanying portfolios of their work, interviews and college visits, and more.

At Storyboards College Admissions Portfolios, our background in college admissions and civil rights in education law has prepared us to help you navigate this new world. We’ve been working for two years on this, presenting all over the country on what the Court would rule and how to prepare high schools for this moment. These principles are baked into our college admissions platform, and we’re ready to support schools in adapting to these new practices in college admissions.

If you’d like to know more about how Storyboards can help you help your students, please reach out to us!

We Should Abolish "Early Decision"

Thu, 11 May 2023 15:30:41 GMT

It's the Game We Have To Play (For Now), But It Restricts a Student's Ability to Compete in the Financial Aid Marketplace

Jessie Yu at Dartmouth has written one of the most powerful arguments against Early Decision , that it’s a “gamble only the wealthy can afford.” No matter where you land on this issue, Yu’s article offers some sage guidance about how Early Decision works in practice.

Early Decision seeks to legally bind students to a college in exchange for expedited acceptance. The relief of finalizing the decision early is a huge incentive, especially when you have a clear top choice. But, as more schools go to Early Decision in a hyper-competitive environment, they can virtually fill out their entire class this way. Thus, if you want in at a high-ED school, they can bind you to them without allowing students room to have schools compete for you .

For families that make under $250,000 a year (meaning, who need virtually no financial aid), they can take that risk. But if you need a financial aid package, Early Decision severely restricts your ability to shop yourself on the semi-open market of college admissions, no matter how attractive a candidate you may be. Sure, schools might release you later for financial reasons, but if competitive schools have collectively moved towards ED, then your choices are much, much more restricted.

Worse, the National Association of College Admission Counseling changed its official policy to allow incentives, such as first choice housing, for Early Decision. This has only exacerbated the problem, and it also points up just how “binding” this whole system is: Some schools were already “violating” the policy before NACAC changed its stance because NACAC isn’t a legal body.

The legal body that has threatened action on Early Decision is the United States Department of Justice, on anti-trust grounds. Basically, what they found is that over 30 highly competitive schools shared information about students’ Early Decision actions: In other words, they ratted out students to their competitor schools, acting like a cartel (which, by the way, the Supreme Court already struck down in the context of college athletics and the NCAA).

So, if your question about Early Decision was, “What is a college going to do if a student reneges on an Early Decision acceptance, sue them?”, the answer is no, they are going to act like a cartel, violate anti-trust law, and put the word out amongst college admissions professionals that if students violate their Early Decision acceptances even for legitimate reasons, they will act punitively against them in the competitive college marketplace.

For that reason and many others, the entire system of “binding” Early Decision is simply unworkable, and if allowed to continue down its current path, will greatly exacerbate inequalities within the system.

Test Optional Does Not Mean Test Blind

Thu, 09 Mar 2023 18:36:46 GMT

Not Submitting a Score Will Be Seen Like Pleading the Fifth

As college applications rebound among minority students, fee-waiver students, and students from the bottom-quintile of income-making zip codes, we’re seeing an uptick in the numbers of students reporting test scores. The increased adoption of test-optional admissions dropped the number of students reporting scores from 77% to 44%. But, during the last reporting cycle, that number has ticked back up to 49%.

There’s several possible factors for this: increased access to testing and test prep, a “return to normal,” etc. But one factor is very likely something we’ve heard over and over again from college admissions professionals: Test-optional does not mean test-blind.

Admissions policies are all over the map when it comes to their stated position on how they’ll use test scores. But informally, we hear the same thing: not submitting a test score comes off as a red flag, no matter the policy. If you have the option to submit a score, and you don’t, that probably means one thing.

Now, in practice, we know there are lots of reasons students don’t want to take the ACT or SAT: the stress, the cost, the time devoted to test prep that takes away from classwork, a moral or political stance against the tests, and others. But inside the office, often a lack of test score reads like a question mark about your academic readiness.

This isn’t fair, and it often contradicts the stated policy, but criminal defense lawyers will also tell you that Pleading the Fifth is not an admission of guilt as a matter of Supreme Court law, but good luck getting juries to believe that.

So what is the prudent advice that college admissions counselors often give? Submit your score if it will help you . But as we get more and more of this data from Common App, we’ll need to see if this “optional” policy is really optional after all.

Holistic Admissions Asks High School Students To Already Be College Students

Tue, 21 Feb 2023 18:36:44 GMT

You Have to Have Experience to Get the Experience!

The absurd asymmetry of this confident young man in a suit with his coffee overlooking the avenue from his corner office...well, it's a decent representation of holistic admissions.

This post was inspired by Oregon State administrator (and great higher ed twitter follow) @jonboeckenstedt thinking back on his days in admissions:

When we explain Holistic Admissions to parents, they usually kinda-understand that the game is far more sophisticated than when we were kids, but rarely do they understand the extent. When we were in high school, you could be in several clubs, National Honor Society, play sports, do a fine art or two.....basically, all the good stuff that a typical high school offers. That, plus a top-notch ACT and GPA, and you could get into a lot of great schools with enough financial aid to make them viable.

Today, college admissions is much more competitive, even at some sought-after big research universities. All those things we oldsters were told to do? It's not enough. Why? Here are some thoughts:

1) The ubiquity of test prep has raised average ACTs, and there are far more students taking the tests.

2) The wide adoption of AP and IB courses, combined with the introduction of weighted grades, has driven GPAs up--along with general grade inflation.

3) The explosion of youth sports culture means that there are more athletes, more sports to choose from, and club systems has created more "competitive" athletes.

4) Schools, recognizing the importance of clubs, have built more activity time into schedules.

5) Same with Community Service: It's now a built-in component of NHS, clubs, etc.

6) The explosion of STEM education has created more opportunities for hands-on experiences that previous generations lacked, and they're much more widely available.

I don't have any data on this, but we've seen that fewer students have fine arts on the resumes (theater, dance, painting, etc.), which likely results from the systematic defunding and deprioritizing of the arts. Anecdotally, we've seen that students with Fine Arts tend to do better-than-expected in the college admissions game. Perhaps this is because an arts background demonstrates a creativity that our "data-driven" and "evidence-based" schooling and credentialing system lacks, but is actually coveted by colleges and employers. So, Fine Arts becomes one of those "differentiating experiences" that really does set kids apart.

These days, many high school students have resumes that, in previous generations, you wouldn't have been able to build until your early 20s. Some of them have built legitimate professional portfolios by the time they're 18.

So what's that mean?

If you are applying to pre-med or nursing programs, you need to find in-hospital experience. Graphic design students need to have a portfolio, probably with an internship with a local firm. Students can get hands-on carpentry experience and learn project management using the latest technology at excellent vocational centers.

And so on. This is the way it works now. For some of the most competitive colleges and sought-after programs, high school students need to be what college students were a generation ago. You have to have experience to get the college experience.

This means, purposefully planning summer activities to get experience in the fields you want to go into. Finding jobs learning from people in your profession. And that's in addition to all the other stuff they expect in school .

And then you have to assemble it into an application that tells a compelling story about why you're the perfect fit--and, if we're being honest, a better fit than your competition--for your target schools.

The Pandemic Made College Admissions Much More Competitive

Thu, 02 Feb 2023 18:36:48 GMT

Test-Optional Admissions Led to Fewer Students Applying to Many More Schools, Shooting Their Shot at the Most Competitive Universities

The Pandemic Led to 1,000,000 Fewer Undergraduate Students

Mostly, this decline happened at for-profit four year colleges, but also at public institutions and community colleges. These schools tend to enroll many more non-traditional students (over 24), the cohort with by far the sharpest decline in enrollment. Private, four-year colleges suffered the least attrition, at 2.2%. This is also at a time, however, when Common App is reporting a record number of applications.

So, when you disaggregate the data, what does this mean for 18 years looking at highly competitive private, four-year colleges? They are more competitive than ever. Fewer middle and working class adults are going back to school in the public sector, which drags down the overall “College Enrollment” numbers, and working and middle class high school graduates are enrolling at lower rates.

So, where are all of Common App’s applications coming from? Fewer students are applying to more schools , mostly the prestigious four-year institutions. The private four-year colleges (and the vast majority of competitive big state schools) are filling all their seats, selecting from far more applications–even though the overall number of applicants is down.

Meaning, the competition at competitive schools is increasing while enrollment at less competitive schools is decreasing. The Ivy Leagues have never been more competitive ! This is why competitive schools can lean into Early Decision and other incentives: They have more than enough applicants who can afford to go there, making Financial Aid and other factors for families who make less than $250,000 a year even more difficult.

ChatGPT Can't Write Your College Essay Because It Can't Tell Your Story

Tue, 17 Jan 2023 01:50:37 GMT

Great College Essay Writing Needs Rich Detail and Personalized Insight To Stand Out From the Kind of Generic Essays That ChatGPT "Writes"

In my teaching career, I used a lot of technology in my class---I was one of the first adopters of Turnitin.com in 1998, for example. I've read where ChatGPT is supposed to herald The End of the College Essay or whatever, and I don't really see how. This 5-paragraph essay about Wuthering Heights appeared in a CNN article about NYC Schools blocking ChatGPT on network computers, and it's representative of the hundreds of ChatGPT essays I've seen.

https://twitter.com/beijingdou/status/1599829814286094336...

To be completely honest, I've been underwhelmed by these supposedly good essays. But, at the same time, I totally understand why some people react this way: They're mostly competent and readable, which puts them in the top half of college essays.

But that's not going to be good enough at good schools, and reps have already learned to spot the particular style that ChatGPT tends to produce. And there's already high quality AI detectors being open-sourced, so we're in the Cheating Arms Race that always happens when new technology emerges.

So, before using ChatGPT to write your college essay, ask yourself: What is the point of my College Essay?

It's not a writing sample that demonstrates competence, like an AP essay. It's a story that reveals what kind of student you'll be on their campus. You need to seem like an interesting person . The College Essay humanizes you to the reader, mostly using rich detail and personalized insights. It tells a story that only you know.

ChatGPT is decent impersonator of competent writing, but it can only replicate what it's fed. It can't generate what a great College Essay does because it doesn't know your story.

Like with the Wuthering Heights essay linked above, which is based on an AP Literature style prompt. Perhaps that essay (barely) passes the AP Literature exam. But that says more about the AP Literature exam than it does anything else.

In my Honors class, this essay would be a C, and any student who had me could tell you why:

1) Non-dynamic introduction paragraph that doesn't select storytelling details to set up the thesis

2) Thesis is far too vague as well as standard-answer

3) No impactful direct quotations to illustrate the argument

4) The supporting evidence is very SparkNotes-y

5) The underdeveloped conclusion presents no novel interpretation of the work

It does well on Organization, stepping the reader systematically through the story chronologically, with proper transitions to signpost the reader through the argument. The Grammar and Mechanics (I call this "Craftsmanship") is good, and it is readable.

But really, it's not an insightful essay: It doesn't tell me anything about this hypothetical student's ability to think metaphorically to develop anything other than standard, semi-insights about the text.

In my career as a high school teacher and a college admissions professional, I've spent hundreds of hours reading student writing. To me, thirty years of standardized testing has completely distorted our collective ability to recognize insightful writing that demonstrates real independent critical thought--and differentiate that from writing which can pass a standardized test.

But you know who will be able to spot an original, insightful personal narrative immediately? Somebody reading a stack of dozens and dozens and dozens of mediocre essays back to back to back. Like a college admissions officer.

Ultimately, that's why ChatGPT can't write you a decent college essay. It will sound like every other essay, because that's what ChatGPT is trained to do. The essay needs to tell your story and sound like you.

Storyboards Deep-Dives Into SFFA v. UNC-Chapel Hill and Harvard

Wed, 16 Nov 2022 19:38:14 GMT

Storyboards Grapples with what the Supreme Court is Likely to Do to College Admissions Next June--And What It Means For Students

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College Admissions Can't Be A Meritocracy

Wed, 16 Nov 2022 19:11:50 GMT

Many more students "deserve" spots than there are spots to give.

When I dove into the actual data and methodology of Holistic Admissions at both UNC-Chapel Hill and Harvard, this was my starkest takeaway: There is no such thing as a pure meritocracy in college admissions. I don’t mean that UNC and Harvard fail to be meritocracies; I mean that meritocracies aren’t possible in the college admissions context.

If your first reaction is, no, that can’t be, there are “objective measures” like test scores and GPA that determine merit–well, the numbers simply don’t add up.

First, test scores and GPA are statistics, and like all statistics, they require context to interpret meaning. Not all ACTs are equal, depending on the student’s access to resources, time, and coaching. GPA is even more fraught, with all kinds of schools using all manner of scales subject to school context and different teachers from year to year.

Second, test scores and GPA don’t really differentiate students at the fine margins. According to the trial court’s opinion in SFFA v. Harvard , in 2019, Harvard received 35,000 applications for about 2,000 spots. Of those, 8,000 had perfect GPAs, 3,400 had perfect SAT Math scores, and 2,700 had perfect SAT Verbal scores.

So, talking about college admissions with the verb “deserve” is not only inadequate, it’s impossible. Tens of thousands of kids “deserve” to go to the Private and Public Ivies, but there are only so many spots.

Which means that schools must create values-driven criteria to make their selections. This is a deep, existential conversation that extends way beyond the admissions office. It goes to what the stakeholders see as the purpose of the institution itself.

As we see in the trial court opinion in SFFA v. UNC-Chapel Hill , for a public institution like the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, which is largely funded by the taxpayers of North Carolina, lots of different stakeholders have a say in what the university stands for: the legislature the, governor, the Board of Trustees, the Board of Governors, the Provost, the Faculty—and the students themselves. Ultimately, the admissions criteria are the result of a complex democratic negotiation across all these parties, then executed by the university through its admissions office.

For example, North Carolina state law requires the freshmen class to be at least 82% in-state residents. Fair enough–their guardians pay the taxes that fund the university. But also, that is a choice made by stakeholders about the purpose of the university: UNC-Chapel Hill has an international footprint, yes, but it should mostly serve North Carolina residents. By contrast, Harvard has no stated policy about Massachusetts residents, and their Massachusetts-resident composition is usually around 15%.

At Storyboards, we’ve worked with in-state North Carolina students and out-of-state students applying to UNC, so we’ve seen this play out in practice with our own kids. We advised our out-of-state students, look, you’ve got about an 8% chance of getting in, which is close to Ivy League numbers, so your application is going to need to be very compelling. Our in-state applicants had a 43% chance, and based on test score and GPA data, we could say with high confidence whether they would get in or not.

Was it fair that some of our absolute best applicants were wait-listed at UNC-Chapel Hill? Didn’t they deserve to get in? Sure, they deserved it, but, again, there are far more qualified and deserving applicants than there are seats, so the university sets a values-driven criteria that excludes some and includes others. We are transparent about that with students to set expectations, and we always make sure they understand: If you don’t get in, that’s not a judgment about your character, and you certainly didn’t fail. Honestly, getting wait-listed out-of-state is quite an accomplishment, be proud of yourself, and let’s find another school that’s the right fit.

The crux of these cases is that both UNC-Chapel Hill and Harvard–because their stakeholders see educational benefits to having a racially diverse class, as permitted by Supreme Court precedent–chose to include racial identity as one of many factors to consider in their admissions process.

If you understand that a pure meritocracy isn’t possible, this shouldn’t be troubling. Especially in a country where many high schools are homogenous in terms of race, religion, and cultural factors, college is where you learn to exist in a pluralistic democracy–and increasingly, cultural literacy is a practical workplace skill.

So, the criteria is ultimately going to have to include several qualitative factors requiring judgment calls made by highly trained groups of professionals. The numbers and the complexity of the criteria make it clear that nobody is being included or excluded solely on the basis of their race.

The Supreme Court isn’t going to see it that way, I think, but that’s not going to change the core thesis of Storyboards College Admissions Portfolios: Each student’s application should tell the story of why they’re the perfect fit for their target school. We can help you tell that story, according to the criteria laid out, in a compelling way to college admissions. But at the end of the day, college admissions is an uncertain world of probabilities. It can’t be any other way.