Do you believe in zombies? I do not—fear of the undead simply does not occupy any of my headspace. What does concern me are “zombie ideas,” assumptions, or untruths that refuse to die. In his 2020 bestselling book, “Arguing with Zombies: Economics, Politics, and the Fight for a Better Future”, Nobel Prize-winning economist and New York Times columnist, Paul Krugman explores these “zombie ideas.” It is a term he borrowed from a paper about misconceptions that Americans have regarding Canadian health care, and as he describes it, they are “ideas that should have been killed by contrary evidence, but instead keep shambling along, eating people’s brains.”
While I will leave health care, economics, and politics to the experts in those fields, there are similar brain-eating fallacies and delusions in college admission that need to die. I asked my colleagues, the experts in admission, to share some of these refuted—yet perpetuated—assumptions. Hopefully, by exposing these misconceptions to daylight we can send these ideas to their final resting place.
The Well-Rounded Applicant
Being a well-rounded individual is certainly admirable. What’s not to like about someone who is widely curious and has balance in their interests? When it comes to selective college admission, however, increasingly the “being” well-rounded has been replaced by “doing” well-rounded. Applicants approach the experience feeling like they have to do it all. Gil Villanueva, associate vice president and dean of admission at the University of Richmond says, “the incessant belief that colleges want well-rounded students needs to just end. We want to build orchestras and we can't have them if everyone plays the cello.” He tells students, “the reality is we want well-rounded classes. So it's perfectly fine, if not great, that you don't do everything at your schools. Ultimately, we simply want to see a positive impact in whatever co-curricular activity(s) you do because we can predict that you will contribute to our campuses outside of academics.”
Brian Troyer, dean of admission at Marquette University agrees, saying, “far too often, students and families believe that breadth is more important than depth when it comes to the college application. This can create anxiety and promote resume building when what institutions are actually looking for is meaningful depth.” Troyer and his colleagues ask, “has a student challenged themselves academically in areas of interest to them, and can they describe how what they spend time doing outside of class (extracurriculars, work, serving as a caretaker, etc.) is meaningful to them?” He says, “that is what matters to admission committees, not how many activities a student can fit onto their resume.” This was reinforced by admission leaders throughout the country in the Turning the Tide report from Making Caring Common, a project of the Harvard Graduate School of Education, yet many students sadly refuse to let this well-rounded fallacy die.
Testing
Perhaps the ugliest of admission zombies is our nation’s obsession with high-stakes standardized testing. This is problematic for a host of reasons, chief of which are issues of equity. Emmanuel Moses, associate director of college guidance and transition for The Opportunity Network explains that “standardizing testing is biased across racial and socioeconomic lines, unnecessary, and doesn’t have a significant correlation (in isolation) to a student’s future success.” He says, “the research has proven this, time and time again. Some schools have already phased out standardized testing as an admission requirement whether because of their institutional priorities or in response to the pandemic.” Moses adds, “I await the time, and place, where we as a country, and higher education as a whole, can agree that the importance given to these tests doesn't stem from how we assess whether a student is capable, but rather how these numbers/stats contribute to rankings and the prestige of certain institutions.”
Akil Bello is the senior director of advocacy and advancement for FairTest: The National Center for Fair & Open Testing. He elaborates on the untruths about standardized tests, explaining that the notion that they measure inherent ability is one such zombie idea. He says, “this was rejected by Brigham (the guy who created the SAT) and Binet (the guy who invented IQ testing) but it still persists.” Bello adds, “if we could only get Americans to realize that testing is a narrow measure of performance, and maybe knowledge in reading and math, which says little to nothing about ability to learn or potential to succeed, we'd have a much healthier relationship with tests.” In practice, Eric Nichols, vice president for enrollment management at Loyola University Maryland (which has been test-optional for over a decade) says “there is little statistical difference in freshman GPA, retention rates and graduation rates between submitters and non submitters of test scores.” He adds, “while SAT's do correlate well to family income and parent educational attainment, the SAT on its own adds little predictive value to measuring success in college.” The reality is, in a year when a large number of colleges and universities adopted test-optional policies, it widened opportunities for traditionally underrepresented students, as outlined by admission professionals in this recent episode of This American Life.
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
Standardized tests are certainly not the only issue of equity in college admission—untruths abound about the role of race, socio-economics, and inclusion in admission. Affirmative action is an area that is misunderstood and often politicized. Dr. Ashley L. Bennett, the director of college counseling at KIPP Sunnyside High School, explains that “affirmative action does not disadvantage white students in the college admission process.” She underscores that “'underqualified' Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC) students are not taking up space that should be occupied by white students,” adding, “affirmative action exists to level the playing field for students who have been historically blocked from attending predominantly white institutions.”
Fairtest’s Bello agrees, saying that a reprehensible zombie idea is that “a Black, Hispanic, or low-income student ‘took my spot.’” He argues that “this notion is really only sour grapes and veiled racism, but often when someone doesn't get in they select a traditionally marginalized group to blame for ‘taking their spot’, implying that 1. they had a spot to begin with, 2. they know the criteria that determined admission, and 3. they were more qualified than any of the other students who were admitted instead of them.”
Often the idea of “merit” is raised in opposition to affirmative action policies. Bello counters, “‘Meritocracy’ has always been a lie. There has never been a time in this country when the best and brightest succeeded regardless of their circumstances of birth, wealth, and access, especially in college access.” He says, “the first colleges recruited only from private schools where the wealthy sent their children. Those first colleges evolved slightly but the private schools (and later "best" publics) did all they could to create systems (and curriculum) that met the stated and unstated desires of those first old colleges.” Bello adds, “Of course those private high schools still feed those first old "best" colleges at higher rates, and admitting the children of wealth is how those colleges define success. Unfortunately, as more and more colleges were created over the years, we continued to measure all colleges’ quality by how much they look like those first colleges.”
Another misconception about the role of race in admission is that Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) are just for Black students. Anthony E. Jones associate provost/assistant vice-president of enrollment management at Howard University sets the record straight, saying, “as the enrollment leader at one of the nation's most high-profile Historically Black Colleges and Universities, I'm too often faced with the question of ‘can Whites apply and be accepted at an HBCU?’” He explains that “of course, the answer is a resounding yes. To do otherwise would not only cross laws instituted to police such crass and obligatory discrimination of the past but be antithetical to the purpose for the very founding of these American schools. HBCUs were established in reaction to the pent-up and dogged desire of enslaved and free Black people to educate themselves as a means to experience the full rights of American citizenship and the systematic denial of such a fundamental right since arriving on US shores.” He adds, “these schools represent the freedom of all persons to explore the liberal education of their minds and hearts, regardless of race, ethnicity or nationality. In fact, according to the National Center for Education Statistics, in 2018, non-Black students made up 24% of enrollment at HBCUs, compared with 15% in 1976.”
Rankings, Selectivity, and Success (...oh my)
If there is anything to fear in college admission, it is the grip that commercial rankings hold on students, parents, and schools. These subjective indices just will not die. Stefanie Niles, vice president for enrollment and communications at Ohio Wesleyan University says that one of the biggest zombie ideas in college admission is that “rankings matter.” She counters, “they don't. Fit matters. A student's ability to take full advantage of the opportunities available to them on a campus is what matters, and one does that best when they feel challenged yet supported and encouraged.” Niles adds, “Along these same lines, there is a misconception that one can only be successful attending a top 50 institution. Most institutions can cite graduates who are successful and prosperous, doing good work that is important.” She says, “what one does with the opportunities available to them—during and after college—will help chart an individual's path to success.” This truth is supported by research from Challenge Success, a nonprofit organization affiliated with the Stanford Graduate School of Education. Their white paper, “A ‘Fit’ Over Rankings: Why College Engagement Matters More Than Selectivity” reviewed the literature and research on rankings and outcomes and found that engagement in college is more important than where you attend.
Moses at The Opportunity Network agrees, saying, “good is subjective, and I am not sure why the way in which we use that same subjectivity when it comes to the food we eat, the movies we watch, or anything else, isn't applied to institutions of higher education.” He continues, “surely we can point to resources, funding, graduation rates, retention rates, as indicators of possible success, but there are so many other factors that aren't brought into consideration when it deals with the success (not just academic) of students, especially those from underrepresented populations. If you are going to solely rely on how well schools prepare students for jobs, let's not look at those publications that put out rankings every year, but rather the concrete data on which institutions are creating more social mobility for underrepresented students—you will consistently find public universities listed at the top.” Moses adds, “this doesn’t even scratch the surface of the other factors that need to be discussed when considering how different students might or might not be supported by an institution, beyond just getting that degree. In order for rankings to tell a full story, data must be disaggregated and transparent. For example, institutions of higher education do not currently report graduation rates for PELL grant recipients, which vary vastly among even highly ranked schools.”
How do you define success? Is there a set outcome, metric, or deliverable that will signify that you have “made it”? Is it about earnings, happiness, well-being, or status? The answers differ for everyone—and they should. Lisa Keegan, vice president for enrollment management at Bucknell University cites some of the same research as Challenge Success from the Gallup-Purdue University Index, revealing that selectivity is not a reliable predictor of student learning, job satisfaction, or well-being. She says, “A zombie idea is that where you go to college will directly lead to success and happiness after college. It's not where you go to college, but your experience there that matters the most.” She adds, “if applicants, and family members, can shift from the college application process being about collecting acceptances and focus it on finding the absolute best environment for deep learning and high-impact educational experiences, the better the search experience will be and likely the college experience itself.”
Matt Malatesta, vice president for admissions, financial aid, and enrollment at Union College agrees. He says, “the biggest zombie idea I see related to this process is that people think causation and correlation are the same things. Selectivity is the powerful tail that wags the dog of college selection.” As an example, he takes issue with the assumptions related to increased economic success being tied to attending an Ivy League school. Malatesta explains, “yes, there is a correlation there, but most students are admitted to Ivy League institutions due to their past super strong performance and own innate drive. These students will do well wherever they go. They are the cause, not necessarily the institution they are attending. Fundamentally, it should be about attending a college that will help cause you to meet your own potential.”
Silver Bullets
There is a whole category of misconceptions—from academic factors to extracurricular involvement—about what makes a candidate attractive to admission committees. These include assumptions about the number of AP courses a student “must'' take or how many volunteer hours are “required” to be a competitive applicant. The reality is that admission officers review candidates within the context of what is available to them. In a given year, institutions have varying priorities for what they are looking for in terms of demographics, characteristics, and experiences of applicants, but there is no silver bullet that will assure admission.
Kate Queeney is a physical chemist, professor at Smith College, and a trustee emeritus at Williams College. She is also the parent of a high school senior. She observes that when it comes to college admission, a zombie idea is that “STEM is king.” She adds that myths abound like, “I have to join the robotics club so I’ll get into a good college.” Audrey Smith, the vice president for enrollment at Smith confirms that this is a fallacy, saying, “while many students think a particular major or extracurricular activity is the ticket to college acceptance, that is simply not true.” Instead, she explains that “Liberal Arts colleges are seeking students who are interested in a broad range of subjects, and who are as likely to become interested in a discipline that they weren't even aware of in high school as to ultimately major in the subject they mention in their application.” She adds, “at Smith, the top major on the application is undecided, and we think that is a good thing.”
Jeff Schiffman, director of admission at Tulane University says that a zombie idea is the “silver bullet extracurricular activity.” He explains that “colleges have no specific preference for how students are spending their time outside the classroom,” adding “we need quarterbacks for our football team and tuba players for the orchestra, but there is not a specific extracurricular activity that is unanimously preferred by colleges. Not even crew coxswains or oboe players!” Therefore, he reassures students that “colleges don't need your resume to look like an adult's. Interning at a hedge fund, shadowing a heart surgeon, starting a nonprofit...all great stuff! *But* not necessary. We're just as impressed with the classic high school stuff: scooping ice cream over the summer, mentoring freshmen at your school, caring for your younger siblings, running for student government.”
Impossible Admission
Perhaps the greatest zombie idea in college admission is one that is refuted by very clear data. That is the myth that being accepted to college is difficult and must be a stressful experience. The truth is that colleges need students—after all, without them, institutional mission and the educational business model are dead in the water. According to the National Center for Educational Statistics (NCES), the national average acceptance rate for four-year colleges and universities is over two-thirds. In the coming weeks, we will undoubtedly read headlines about record-breaking college selectivity with acceptance rates of 4 and 5 percent. Don’t let this eat away at your brain. For sure, there are a handful of uber selective schools in this country, but fixating on those acceptance rates is like refusing to go outside because of fear of being struck by lightning.
Thomas Bear, vice president for enrollment management at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology challenges the idea that “colleges are looking for reasons to deny students' admission.” Rather, he emphasizes that “colleges are looking for reasons to admit students based upon "right fit" to the institution.” Refuse to allow yourself to be tormented by zombie ideas in college admission. Let them die a quiet death. Instead, embrace the vast opportunities that exist for you on this journey. Don’t obsess about what you can’t control, be a champion for equity, and have an intentional experience of applying to college.
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The co-author of the new book, "The Truth about College Admission: A Family Guide to Getting In and Staying Together," I am the director of college counseling and outreach at The Derryfield School in New Hampshire, an independent college preparatory school grades 6-12. I am also the director of college counseling at US Performance Academy, an online high school for competitive athletes. For two decades I have worked as teacher, dorm parent, advisor, coach, admission officer and student affairs administrator in independent high schools and colleges. I serve on the advisory board for the New Hampshire College and University Council’s New Hampshire Scholars Program. I also serve on the executive committee for the Character Collaborative. I have written about college admission for the New York Times, Washington Post, HuffPost, Concord Monitor and Journal of College Admission. A practicing Quaker, I am the father of two and live in Hopkinton, New Hampshire where I am a volunteer firefighter
