Fit > Prestige
Jeff Selingos’ recent NYT article highlights an often overlooked truth about college admissions: colleges are businesses.
“Elite colleges have convinced us that scarcity equals quality, that a lower acceptance rate means a better education. But their own behavior shows that many of their decisions are more about manipulating the market than academic or any other kind of excellence.”
Everyone needs to start valuing fit over prestige, because only then can we break free of the hold elite colleges have on many of us.
Jeff Selingo’s new book is out, and there’s also a recent interview with the CB Mentor that covers most of the big-ticket items, but it’s also worth a read! Interview here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?
Some takeaways:
-Rank and selectivity are seen as a proxy for quality among parents, and they are not
-You can get a very good deal at less selective schools (merit = tuition discount), where quality and career outcomes are high
-Give yourself permission to widen your lens on the college search!
