An important study regarding the type of students colleges actively try to recruit.
"Colleges don’t treat recruitment lightly. It’s big business for colleges and the firms they hire. Most colleges identify prospects by purchasing lists of students and their backgrounds from the testing agencies College Board and ACT. They can also hire enrollment management consulting firms, which integrate data from the university with data on schools and communities. This helps them decide which schools should be visited and which should be targeted with emails and brochures. One consulting firm we spoke with even knows information about individual students such as their family income and net worth, and the value of their home.
If colleges have all this data, why aren’t they better at targeting talented poor students and students of color?
The most common explanation is that there aren’t enough of them applying (the so-called achievement gap). Another explanation we hear is that talented students don’t apply because they don’t have the right guidance (called “under-matching”). These explanations assume that doubling the number of high-achieving students who apply would automatically double enrollment. But this treats universities as though they are passively receiving applications, when they are actually actively seeking and encouraging certain applicants over others. Our data suggests universities are determined to court wealthier students over others, and they expend substantial resources identifying and reaching them.
There are many students from poor communities who get excellent grades but end up going to a community college because no one bothers looking for them. If colleges are serious about increasing socioeconomic and racial diversity, they should look for merit everywhere, not just in wealthy, white communities."
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/04/13/opinion/college-recruitment-rich-white.html?action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=opinion-c-col-left-region®ion=opinion-c-col-left-region&WT.nav=opinion-c-col-left-region
It cost the same money to go to some poor HS to see maybe 2 prospects as it does to go to a wealthier one with 50. Colleges can do the math and only have x recruiters on the road. Every large city as a free college fair where everyone is welcome. BS article
Those richer, whiter kids are needed because they can and do pay full price. The fulfill a cash flow requirement. How do you think the poor kids get funded?
Every year (and for many, many years) we have multipe college fairs for students in our area (both private and public). They are open to everyone and the list of college/trade/career attendees is vast. ALL students are invited to attend, though many don’t, and it’s a shame because kids can talk with reps and get all the information they need.
I know not every area has these, but many do.
http://henricoschools.us/college-and-career-night-one-stop-shopping-for-your-future/
"Every large city as a free college fair where everyone is welcome. "
Its not BS that many poorer kids dont even KNOW about college fairs. Or go to HS’s with worthless college counseling and dont find out about them until after the fact.
what if they are held clear across town and kids dont have a way to get there?
Do you think the achievement gap is BS too?
what a truly heartless reaction.
@menloparkmom pressure needs to be put on the school districts to inform these kids and find a way to get them there (using their school buses). The US spends millions on education, and instead of fixing the inequalities, we continue to just throw more money at the problem. It’s been going on for 40+ years. Politicians, school administrations, and parents need to get more involved to get this fixed and encourage these kids. It’s heartbreaking.
It’s definitely BS that “everyone is welcome” at many of these fairs. Several of the expensive private schools in our area host these events and other students are not welcome. The underprivileged students who do actually find out about some elite colleges and do their research often do not have access to the reps. Last year my daughter had an interview with a wonderful addmissions officer from a selective LAC who finished his day at a fancy private school and then drove through the city in rush hour traffic to meet with her on a Friday evening. I’m guessing that doesn’t happen very often.
When we inquired about her sitting in on a different college presentation that was literally being done at a private school across the street from D’s very diverse public school, we were told that it would not be possible to allow that exception.
Many selective colleges also recruit through established programs like Posse and Questbridge which have reach across the country.
@elena13 - I am afraid I think your experience is all too common. That is really disgraceful; makes me angry!
I’ve seen the same as @elena13 living in an urban area. Special events held by elite schools that only allow certain private school students and families.
In our area there is a large college fair every fall. Every high school in our area releases all junior and senior students to go. I’ve seen busses from many of the schools who are in fact Bussing students there. Our high school requires students to sign in once they get there to assure they attend. I’m not sure this is a requirement from the other schools. It definitely is not targeted to any specific demographic.
This isn’t an either or proposition. Most schools recruit differently for different types of students and admit a good representation of all of them. Emory, UC Berkeley, UVA, and JHU did consortium events together in some cities last year. At the same time, each would visit separately private schools and top public schools. It’s silly to believe these schools aren’t after the top students, no matter where they go to school. In many ways, it’s tougher for kids in private schools because they are competing against each other.
Background: My two older children attended our local HS (primarily for IB and IT magnet programs within the school). Their school is anywhere from 80-90% URM depending on your definition of minority, over half on reduced/free lunch. AP tests are passed by only a handful of students. And I mean handful (two dozen or so), and mostly the IB kids (my oldest) and pre-engineering types, like my son. The average SAT is upper 800 combined, ACT upper teens. There college readiness index is 18/100. At our school this year, a brand spanking new GC this year didn’t know to send mid-term reports for the handful that are even applying to schools that require them (and students that requested them to be sent). One of the principals, when contacted, didn’t know anything about that process. That’s GC 101. I mean, if you can’t get a GC to do even that, how the heck do you expect them to know more to help disadvantaged students?
There are college fairs, but IMO, it’s like giving 1000 or more kids a 50 meter pool and telling them all to jump in when they don’t know how to swim. No lifeguard on duty. The college fair is held at a convention center for 4 entire districts NO guidance on how to navigate. Just drop 'em off and expect the kids to fight through the scrum for meaningful info. The districts get a bunch of sign in sheets and the kids get some swag.
It is hard to wrap your mind around how little encouragement and guidance some kids get, but believe me when I say that is eye opening and also heart breaking. My husband and I finally just threw in the towel after getting #2 through. We sent #3 to private catholic school. The difference in climate is like night and day.
In our city, there is one college fair that is advertised and that most high schools will bus their kids too. Unfortunately, it’s a college fair of lesser known out-of-state public’s and private schools that are very expensive and don’t have the resources to give a lot of financial aid. More accessible acceptance wise but not so much financially. Many of the booths are populated with local alumni and so they aren’t always well versed in the WUE program or in ways that regular kids could afford some of these pricier options. This is what pretty much all the poorer and more diverse schools are getting.
In addition to Questbridge and Posse, a number of programs bring bright, high achieving, low SES kids on tours of multiple colleges. Not something their richer peers hsve access to.
Interesting that the tables are all public colleges while the quotes use Conn College.
Our fairs are open to all. And attended by a cross section. Recently, they’ve been held in a college space, to accommodate so many.
SES = social economic status
Totally different experience than described above. The most selective colleges & universities in the country are heavily into recruiting from poor schools. Hold multiple fairs which are heavily advertised in public media & in all public & private schools.
Conversely, my child went to a super elite private prep school & the college counseling was worthless. We fired his assigned counselor & did not use the head of counseling who took over (who just offered admission to a very top LAC). Really did not need any college counseling as already had full ride in hand when the senior year began.
But at the top elites, the parents push the kids & the counselors try to get students to apply to colleges that few have heard of. Over 30% matriculate at Ivies, however.
SES is socio economic standing.
What else I’m wondering about is how they compared SES of hs visited vs not. Which they visited is an absolute. What did they do for the comparison, look at every other hs in the area? Like, they visited ten. Now let’s survey the other 50?
Many of the most selective and high endowment colleges do seek out low income and first generation students. But isn’t it true that the vast majority of colleges have relatively small endowments and realistically need to find full pay or high EFC students to survive?
Well they are haunting the schools in Appalachia either. They are going to where people can pay because they need money.