Greenberg

KEY POINTS

• In the wake of the college admissions scandal, which underscored how much pressure parents and students feel to get into elite universities, admissions directors are quietly turning their attention to something besides test scores.
• Nonacademic measures are becoming increasingly important, especially at the nation’s most selective institutions.

Jessica Dickler|@JDICKLER
Friday October 11 2019| 9:18 AM EDT www.cnbc.com

Most people consider getting into college a numbers game.

However, in the wake of last year’s college admissions scandal, which underscored how much pressure parents and students feel to be accepted into elite universities, admissions directors are quietly turning their attention to something besides test scores.

Today, “almost every institution is looking more carefully at character,” said Eric Greenberg, president of Greenberg Educational Group, a New York-based consulting firm with clients throughout the U.S.

“Authenticity and honesty are at a premium,” he said.

Seeing applicants who are “excited and deeply engaged has made the difference,” said Jon Daly, the admissions director at Thomas Aquinas College in Santa Paula, California, which requires several essays and letters of recommendation as part of its application process.

Of course, nonacademic factors have been used in an ad hoc way for years, according to Robert Massa, a former admissions dean at Drew University, Johns Hopkins and Dickinson College.

“It’s going to become even more important in the years ahead,” he said, especially at the most selective institutions as more and more students apply.

Last spring, Princeton University offered admission to just 5.8% of its 32,804 applicants, Yale hit an admissions rate low of 5.9% and, at Harvard, the admissions rate hit a record low 4.5% of applicants securing spots in the Class of 2023.

Along with shrinking acceptance rates comes an even greater flood of applicants every year, Massa said, all with exceptional test scores and grades.

That makes it harder for schools to rely on traditional metrics. “Because they have so many students with high scores, [colleges] can’t really differentiate easily,” Greenberg said. As a result, “a lot of private colleges put more emphasis on the subjective piece.”

Although research is ongoing on how best to measure “character,” admissions officers across the country are already taking a closer look at applicants who demonstrate certain attributes, such as risk-taking, leadership, initiative or resilience, according to Greenberg.

For example, “if someone is a camp counselor for a few years or they have been babysitting for the same family for a long time, that shows they are patient and loyal.”

“If you take those pieces and combine them with recommendations and essays, you can glean a lot,” Greenberg said.

“Your grades and scores get you into the good pile, but it’s your character that helps you stand out,” added Hafeez Lakhani, an academic counselor and president of Lakhani Coaching in New York. Lakhani advises students to consider a sincere way they can contribute to their community that reflects their personal interests.

To be clear, the intention is not to use a subjective measure such as character as a way of excluding some groups, Massa said — especially after Harvard’s affirmative action admissions policies came into question when records showed that many Asian-Americans who outperformed most applicants on standardized tests and in grade point averages ended up being rejected because they scored poorly on the school’s more arbitrary personal ratings system.

Rather, a shift in priorities can help families with college-bound children break free from some of the intense academic pressure that’s exacerbated in high school, Massa said.

“It’s really critical for all of us to signal the importance of character, in our society, in ourselves and in our students,” Massa said.

Massa now serves as the chair of the Character Collaborative, a volunteer organization of about 65 schools and colleges dedicated to promoting the use of character attributes in the admissions process.

KEY POINTS

• The share of teens participating in the labor force sank from roughly one-half to one-third of the population — a decrease of 17 percentage points — since 2000.
• Yet kids today are not slacking off; they are working harder in school and have less free time than teenagers had in the past.

Jessica Dickler|@JDICKLER
Sunday, 6 October 2019| 9:15am EDT www.cnbc.com

Most people remember their first summer or after-school job, which provided cash to help pay for college or a car.

Today, vehicles and higher education — among other expenses — cost significantly more. Yet fewer teenagers are working.

The share of teens participating in the labor force peaked 40 years ago and has declined ever since. In 1979, nearly 60% of American teenagers were employed, an all-time high. Today, just over one-third, or 35%, of teens between the ages of 16 and 19 are part of the workforce.

Teens are less likely to work part-time while in school and also less likely to work over the summer, according to a study by the Hamilton Project and Brookings Institution.

“High school has become more intense,” said Lauren Bauer, a co-author of the study.

“We have increasing demands on what it is that high schoolers need to be doing and how much time that takes,” she said, including “not only homework and course requirements but other graduation requirements like public service.”

“There is less time in the day to hold down a job.”

Meanwhile, the advent of summer programs has increased exponentially over the past decade, according to Eric Greenberg, president of Greenberg Educational Group, a New York-based consulting firm with clients throughout the U.S. “The perception out there is that the more things they do, the better.”

In fact, the popular conception that kids are spending more time on leisure or screen time is just not the case, Bauer said. “Teenagers are working really hard.”

In addition to the time constraints on kids, a reduced demand for low-wage work and increased competition from older workers, among other factors, have also contributed to the sharp drop in labor force participation, the Brookings study found.

Now, more teenagers are enrolled in school and more schools are in session year-round. “The flip side is that graduation rates are way up,” Bauer said.

According to the study, teens juggling both work and school spend less time on school than those who are enrolled only, demonstrating the trade-off.

The research also shows that prioritizing education over early work experience can increase the prospects for good job outcomes later in life.

However, kids who don’t work also forgo an opportunity to learn valuable lessons about finance when they are young, cautioned Shelly-Ann Eweka, a certified financial planner and wealth management director at financial services firm TIAA.

That’s where parents can step in, Eweka said. “Give the child some responsibility in terms of making financial decisions,” she said, including the compromises that those decisions often entail.

For example, “give them a budget for back-to-school shopping so they can decide between a fancy pair of sneakers or new clothes,” Eweka said.

Further, talk openly about the cost of things, especially college, and open a savings account or Roth individual retirement account to demonstrate the magic of compound interest.

Studies shows that kids who learn to manage money when they’re young will be able to better handle their finances as adults.

In fact, young adults who discussed money with their parents are even more likely to have a budget, more likely to have an emergency fund, more likely to put 10% or more of their income toward savings and more likely to have a retirement account, according to one parents, kids & money survey from T. Rowe Price.

FOX Television Houston, TX
May 28, 2012