Elite Colleges: Are they still worth it?

   According to the National Institute of Mental Health, adolescence is a very important time in the life of brain development. In fact, the prefrontal cortex–-the center of the brain responsible for planning, reasoning, prioritizing, judgment, impulse control, and making good decisions–-is the last part of the brain to develop, reaching its final maturation stages during the mid- to late-20s. From mid-adolescence to early adulthood, the brain undergoes a “rewiring” process that is not complete until about 25 years of age. What happens to a person during this time in life is critical as it sets the stage for how an adult will think about and process the world, themselves, and others for the rest of life. 

   This is why I believe the work that I do as an independent education consultant is so important. The college application process falls squarely in the range of this very important time of brain development. It is also why I consider my work to be mission-critical in helping bright young minds navigate this process and end up at the colleges and universities that are the right, best fit for them. My focus and area of expertise is in the admissions process to selective colleges and universities, and it is from this perspective-–along with understanding the science underlying this process as a foundational jumping off point–-that I wish to utilize this month’s blogpost to address a question that has been swirling around in mainstream media as of late: are elite colleges still worth it?
   
   Before I begin my investigation into the question of whether elite colleges are still worth it, I need to establish some important parameters for this read. First, I need to be fully transparent in that I am a graduate of what most would consider an elite institution. I graduated from Yale University in the spring of 1996, and was the first person from my home county in North Carolina to ever be accepted to the institution (read more about my college application success story here). I know firsthand how attending an elite institution changed the trajectory of my life for the better, but everyone’s story is unique. So while yes, there may be an implicit bias in my exploration of the question of whether elite colleges are still worth it, what I hope to do in this post is address some of the current media narratives around the value of attending an elite institution (and whether or not it is still worth it), and offer a perspective that comes from both my genuine lived experience as well as my expert opinion as an independent education consultant focused exclusively on helping students successfully apply to selective colleges and universities. 
   
   The current protests against the conflict in the Middle East occurring on college campuses across the nation has brought this question into sharp focus as of late. These protests are just the latest episode of the scrutiny selective-–or elite–-colleges have been under in recent years. The practice of legacy admissions at elite universities, the SCOTUS decision last summer repealing the consideration of race in the application process, the reversal of test-optional policies adopted after COVID, the skyrocketing costs of tuition, the debacle with this year’s FAFSA application, the rise of generative AI, not to mention the general confusion that comes along with trying to understand an already-opaque process (just what does it take to be admitted to these schools, anyway?) have led students and families to question if all the hassle is worth it. The fears and concerns are understandable and real. This is one of the primary reasons my industry exists. Students that meet the basic criteria of being quality applicants to selective schools (strong grade point average, good extracurriculars, etc.) need help to navigate these larger questions as well as guidance on how to best navigate their high school careers to make sure they are competitive candidates in selective college applicant pools. 
   
   Unfortunately, there have been a lot of media narratives and think pieces as of late that serve to feed on these fears. Personally, I do not find these stories to be very helpful. For example, Forbes Magazine recently published an article christening some colleges and universities as “the new Ivies”. Bloomberg also recently published an article stating that, after the Ivies, public institutions are the better investment for families. Both of the articles, and others like them, base their hypotheses on what I will fairly assume to be rigorous data analysis. But I fear articles like this do less to assuage families’ fears and more to amplify them, and I do not find that helpful. But most importantly, from my perspective, it is disingenuous for the authors of these articles to reduce the college experience down to data points that do not account for the quality of a student’s experience on campus.

   Should the value of a college be judged on the prevailing (and mercurial) political landscape? Should return of investment only be measured by what a student’s potential earnings will be after graduating from an elite institution? Or, can return on investment also be measured by the quality of self-fulfillment and actualization a student experiences on a college campus, the life-long relationships formed, and the opportunity to thrive in an environment that is the right best fit for them. If the authors of the articles listed above (and others like them) had bothered to conduct qualitative as well as quantitative analysis to support their hypotheses, then perhaps I would not be giving the results the side-eye. But they don’t. Therefore, I question not only their approach, but the intentions behind them as well.
   
   All of this leads to my answer to the question if elite colleges are still worth it. And my answer is this: yes, if the elite college is the right, best fit for the student.
   
   Before I discuss why I think elite colleges are still worth it from my perspective as an expert in the admissions process to selective schools, I need to start with my own lived experience and the lived experience of others I know. I chose to attend Yale University because Yale was the right, best fit for me at the time. Back in the early 90s, I did very well in the college application process. I applied to seven schools, and was accepted to all seven: Yale, Harvard, Duke, Stanford, UNC-Chapel Hill, Wake Forest, and Davidson College. I had the good fortune to have an abundance of quality choices, so I was able to carefully weigh and measure which school would be the right best fit for me. I was a young, gay Black man that grew up in a conversative, rural, predominantly white community. I wanted, needed, to go to college in an environment where not only would I thrive and be challenged academically, but where I could be my full self without navigating the same fears I had to contend with in my hometown. At the time (and still now), Yale had a very open and supportive queer community, in addition to having the top programs in my intended majors, English literature and theater studies. Also, the performing arts community at Yale-–particularly the theater community-–was unparalleled. It was a no-brainer. As a strong student, I would like to imagine that I would have done well academically, no matter where I ended up attending college. But I cannot divorce the academic success I achieved at Yale from the fact that I was able to explore my academic interests and passions in an environment where I felt safe and supported. I was a high achiever in high school in spite of my environment; I was a high achiever in college because of it.
   
   Years ago, I founded a nonprofit organization centered on helping students from underrepresented communities with financial aid and applying to selective colleges. The central program of the nonprofit delivered workshops across the country to students from these communities whose academics were strong enough to make them competitive candidates in selective college applicant pools. As a part of the program, the facilitators would share their personal experiences of attending college at a selective institution (as all those affiliated with the nonprofit were graduates of such institutions). One of the facilitators–-who also served as an officer of the nonprofit–-would routinely tell program participants of his experience at Harvard…which was not a right, fit for him. It was so much not a right fit for him that it had a negative impact on his mental health. He had to take a year off from Harvard in order to heal and then return to complete his senior year. It is part of why he chose to be a part of the program and serve as an officer of the nonprofit: he wanted program participants to know that right fit matters, and their decisions about where to attend college should not be based on quantitative data alone, that all aspects of a student’s human experience should be considered in making such an important decision. To this day, he remains one of the most intelligent and kindest people I have ever had the pleasure to work with. And yet, his blazing intellect could not save him from having a negative experience at a college that was not a right fit for him.
   
   This is why I opened this blog by introducing the underlying science behind why where a student attends college matters. My positive experience in college and my colleague’s negative experience happened during a critical time during our brains’ development. Those experiences shaped how we entered adulthood, and probably, the fundamental ways we both think to this day. This is also why I think boiling down the choice of where to attend college–-be it an elite school or no–-solely on quantitative data points or the current political climate is so dangerous. And, quite frankly, irresponsible. 
   
   There are a few reasons why attending an elite institution might be the right, best fit for a student. The first–-and what I believe is the primary reason–-is that not all academic programs are the same. For older generations, college was the place for students to “find” themselves, to take the time and figure out what they wanted to pursue professionally. This is not the case with Gen Z; they are digital natives and have access to information (generally in their pockets on their smartphones) in ways that previous generations did not. Enterprising students use their high school careers to plan and prepare for what they intend to study in college. Because of the ease and access to information they have through various social media channels such as TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube, they already know if they wish to study electrical engineering with a focus on fusion energy, epidemiology to improve health outcomes for impoverished communities, nanotechnology to cure neurological diseases, international public policy through a quantitative lens, and the like. Not all colleges have such specialized academic programs, and you will find most such programs at selective–or elite–institutions. 
   
   These students deserve the opportunity to study at institutions that will provide them with the best academic foundation to pursue their professional interests. If that happens to be at what is known at an elite institution, then so be it. If it is the best fit for them academically, and they have the ability to be competitive candidates to attend schools aligned with their professional interests, then any such institutions should not be discarded during the application process. Remember, their brains are still growing during this time of intense learning, so their prefrontal cortexes are being “hardwired” to pursue solving the problems they are passionate about, thereby increasing their probability of success in their chosen fields for the rest of their working lives. I truly believe this should happen in academic environments that have the best resources available to support such growth.
   
   Another reason that attending an elite institution might be a right, best fit for some students is the education these institutions provide outside of the classroom. Even after the SCOTUS ruling, selective institutions have remained committed to admitting the most talented and diverse student body possible. During these critical  years of brain development, students that attend such schools have the opportunity to learn from other students that have life experiences wildly different from their own. They have the opportunity to learn how to relate to others that have different belief systems and hold core values different from theirs, have their own assumptions about their internal and external worlds challenged, and become forever curious about people, ideas, and things they have never had to consider before. They get to change the way they think that will better prepare them to be competitive in the global marketplace. 
   
   Another benefit of studying alongside students from different backgrounds is the opportunity to develop empathy for others. There is something about the collegiate experience that bonds people together in a way that does not happen in high school. Living, working, playing, and loving in close quarters creates a unique life experience. If students are able to do this in an environment where they are forced to interact with other people different from them, in order to have it be a positive experience, they must learn to step out of their comfort zone and into the shoes of another. This is how positive personality traits such as empathy, kindness, and compassion develop. And again, because it is happening during this crucial period of brain development, these personality traits get “hard-wired” into the way these students think and approach the problems and challenges in their lives. There is a stronger likelihood that they will carry and develop these positive personality traits into their adulthood, and the life-long friendship bonds students form with those different from them will continue to support the activation of these traits when challenges and problems–-big or small, personally or professionally–-arise.
   
   So, in closing, do I think that elite colleges and universities are still worth it? Yes, if an elite college is indeed the right, best fit for a particular student. In addition to the professional benefits an education from elite institutions offer, there are personal benefits that create the capacity for students to evolve into leaders of the future that hold such values as empathy, kindness, and compassion at their core. In fact, admission offers at elite institutions now say these character traits–-empathy, kindness, and compassion–-are what they seek in their applicants. Whereas in the past, admissions officers used to only use achievements to assess the strength of a student’s application, they now consider character plus achievement in deciding which students they admit to their institutions. So, I would encourage students and families to take prevailing media narratives about the declining value of an education from elite institutions with a grain of salt, focus on finding out what schools will be the right, best fit, and steer the high school career in the direction of being the most competitive applicant possible.