BRITTANY MASCHAL CONSULTING

The End of Average

By Brittany MaschalFeb 29, 2016

Todd Rose teaches educational neuroscience at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. He’s also the co-founder of The Center for Individual Opportunity, a new organization devoted to “the science of the individual and its implications for education, the workforce, and society.” And, a new book on my to-read list, The End Of Average: How We Succeed in a World That Values Sameness.

What’s unique about Todd is his past: he dropped out of high school with D- grades, and at 21, he was trying to support a wife and two sons on welfare and minimum wage jobs. Not your typical path to Harvard, right?

In the book, he argues that absolutely no one is precisely average—and that’s a big problem.

“We’ve come to embrace a way of thinking about ourselves as people that was intentionally designed to ignore all individuality and force everything in reference to an average person.”

Offices of admission, in particular, make life-changing decisions based on averages, which is a horrible way to try to understand an individual. Read more in his interview with NPR here, as well as the book review from the New York Times here.

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Books, Newsadmissions, be different, college, college admissions, college application, college counseling, counselors, creativity, EQ, high school, intelligence, underachievers

Brown alumni interview gone wrong…

By Brittany MaschalFeb 26, 2016

From the Brown Herald:

A YouTube video in which high school senior Matt Sarafa claims that his Brown alumni interviewer used racist and homophobic language during his interview has gone viral. Sarafa said that during his alumni interview in Southern California, the alum told him Brown was “not very accepting of your kind,” implying that Brown students would discriminate against him because he is gay. Sarafa said that Leora Johnson ’01, assistant director of alumni interviewing and admission, told him in a phone call that the alum had admitted to using homophobic and racist language but that there wasn’t enough evidence to remove him as an interviewer. Sarafa withdrew his application to the Class of 2020 following his experience.

Not a good move Brown!

Newsadmissions, alumni interview, be different, Brown University, college admissions, college application, college counseling, college interview, interview, Matt Sarafa

Student-Counselor Ratios Only Getting Worse

By Brittany MaschalFeb 22, 2016

The National Center for Education Statistics has released the latest student-to-school-counselor ratio data, showing the nationwide average student-to-school-counselor ratio increasing to 491-to-1, from 482-to-1 the previous year. Only three states, Wyoming, New Hampshire, and Vermont have an average student to counselor ratio falling within the recommended 250 to 1 by the American School Counselor Association. Three. Three states. Given the uproar over the findings, the National Association for College Admissions Counseling (NACAC) took an even deeper dive into the data, which I will provide below.

NACAC has compiled a by-state document containing student-to-counselor ratios for each state and school district in the United States. Within this document, states are in alphabetical order in the tabs at the bottom. Within each state, school districts are listed in alphabetical order.

Student-to-Counselor Ratios, by district

The information comes from the Common Core of Data at the National Center for Education Statistics within the U.S. Department of Education.

NOTE:
The following states did not report district-level data to the Department of Education:

Alabama

Kentucky

Maine

Michigan

New Jersey

New York

Texas

Washington, DC

Many states reported partial data, enabling us to calculate ratios for only some school districts within those states. NACAC is working to fill in those gaps. In the meantime, access NACAC’s Student-to-Counselor Ratios by state.

We need more funding for counselors. No art, no music, no gym, no counselors. It is just no good.

Newscollege admissions, college application, college counseling, Common Application, counselors, education reform, high school counseling, NACAC

Regarding the “New” SAT

By Brittany MaschalFeb 18, 2016

Thank you, Bob Schaeffer, for pointing out what may not be obvious to the masses: The “new” SAT, and let’s not forget the ACT, will remain a weak predictor of undergraduate success. High school grades will continue to provide more accurate forecasts of college graduation.

Read his letter in The Opinion Pages here.

NewsACT, admissions, college, college admissions, college application, college counseling, SAT, Test Optional, testing

Geographic Diversity as an Admissions Priority?

By Brittany MaschalJan 29, 2016

Penn’s admitted student pool has for some time now represented all 50 states and is ~10% international. What would be interesting and insightful to publish would be the socio-economic diversity within the pool per state. This recent article attempts to highlight that Penn is diversifying their class by admitting more students from previously underrepresented states, but does it really make a difference if they are from the same socio-economic backgrounds as those from the east coast, Texas and California? I also wonder what the admit pool per state would look like if legacy admits were taken out? The world may never know!

Newsadmissions, college admissions, college admit rates, college counseling, legacy, Penn

Don’t Believe The Hype

By Brittany MaschalJan 28, 2016

No, this post is not about the famed Public Enemy jam (but if you’ve forgotten it, sit back, relax and take a listen here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9vQaVIoEjOM). It is about the onslaught of “college admission revolution” talk/projects/reports of late. Remember a few months ago when 80 colleges and universities joined “The Coalition” for access, affordability and success, and everyone freaked out? Well, the hype train has left the station again with “Turning the Tide: Inspiring Concern for Others and the Common Good through College Admissions,” a report who authors hope to inspire a more caring and authentic generation of young people. But, these hyped coalitions and reports are just that. As Sarah Harberson’s HuffPost College article aptly points out:

“Turning the Tide” beckons our youth to focus on quality and authenticity. What’s missing is a call to action for colleges who have been complicit and damaging to the “common good” of youth and opportunity. If colleges want to encourage caring, authentic and ethically-sound students, they need to make sure they are living by the same mantra. It is time to rebuild the playing field of college admissions. It should not only be a level playing field, it should be hallowed ground. To do that, colleges need to come clean about who really gets admitted before students believe that being authentic is more valued than being privileged.”

I won’t be holding my breath for colleges to change, but it could happen. Maybe, hopefully, someday.

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Newscollege admissions, college admit rate, college application, college counseling, hype