217.Unstack the Odds--Where to Begin?

Unstack the Odds: Help All Kids Access College—and Graduate!
by
Joe Rottenborn

Executive Director, Mahoning Valley College Access Program (MVCAP)

9. Where to Begin?

Certainly, any plan of action would begin with the individual student. Much of the foregoing discussions have dealt with groups and averages; what we know, however, is that each student is unique in his or her family background, academic preparation, information about college admissions and financial aid, social capital, etcetera. Therefore, we must start where that students is and go from there.

In a research paper written for the National Association for College Admission Counseling, Barbara Schneider, John A. Hannah Distinguished Professor in the College of Education at Michigan State University, “. . . suggested that students proceed through adolescent development at varying paces, and that a one-size-fits-all approach to early marketing and communication may not yield optimal results for students or colleges. Schneider emphasized individualized college counseling in high schools, as well as a commitment to counseling in the admission office, as important tools for ensuring that admission practices do not ignore differing student interests in or perspectives on the transition to postsecondary education.” (Barbara Schneider, College Choice and Adolescent Development: Psychological and Social Implications of Early Admission, National Association for College Admission Counseling, 2009, NACAC Research Web page, in Staff Report to the NACAC Assembly: Early Notification Study, National Association for College Admission Counseling, September 2010, p. 7.) http://www.nacacnet.org/PublicationsResources/Research/Reports/Documents/EarlyNotificationStudy2010.pdf

Labeled a “key finding” of Schneider’s paper, available on the NACAC Research Web page to members, was the following: “The prospect of paying for college, the complexity of financial aid applications, and varied requirements for admission applications continue to constrain the college decision process. Between the technical nature of information requested and the procedures students are required to follow, the college decision process has become profoundly complicated, with most adolescents depending on parents and counselors to help make post-high school plans for them.” (National Association for College Admission Counseling, 2009, NACAC Research Web page.)

Another reference cited on the NACAC research web page was the Special Adolescent Development Issue of The Journal of College Admission, Number 198, Winter 2008. According to the NACAC site, all five of the featured articles “. . . stress the importance of individualized counseling in the college admission process. The key to understanding the effects of college admission practice on adolescent development, according to many of the authors, is for college admission counseling professionals to understand and appreciate the physical, social, and psychological contexts in which students exist.” (Staff Report to the NACAC Assembly: Early Notification Study, National Association for College Admission Counseling, September 2010, p. 7.) http://www.nacacnet.org/PublicationsResources/Research/Reports/Documents/EarlyNotificationStudy2010.pdf