The Foreign Service Journal, June 2018

56 JUNE 2018 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL EDUCATION SUPPLEMENT Hannah Marie Morris (left), an FS family member preparing for her next tour in Khartoum, worked in the United States and abroad in university teaching, counseling and admissions prior to earning a doctorate of philosophy in higher education administration. She is the cofounder of Intercultural Transitions, a nonprofit offering education services to international schools, communities and families with globally mobile students. Lauren MacKinnon Steed, an FS family member in Kigali, is the founder of Nomad Educational Services, an ed- ucational consulting firm helping TCKs find their best college match. She also works at Bridge 2 Rwanda, a nonprofit helping students from East Africa prepare for and apply to university in the United States. Prior to the Foreign Service, she served on the academic faculty and on admissions committees at a midsized state university and has a doctorate of philosophy in ethics and social theory. T he landscape of college applications has changed drastically in the past 20 years. A Foreign Service parent recently described the college application process today as “a shot in the dark”—she felt her child had applied to as many schools as he could with the hope of getting into one. Not only were we sad to hear how disheartened this parent was; we were concerned that too many families feel there is no guidance on how to create a realistic “great-fit” college list. The changes in admissions statistics over the recent decades reflect changes in admissions procedures, as well as a new reality for college-going young people. This new reality suggests a revised approach to college applications. (We use “college” Changes in student demographics and school admissions procedures point to a new approach to college applications. BY HANNAH M . MORR I S AND LAUREN M . STEED throughout this article to refer to all two- and four-year postsecondary academic institutions.) When the parents of today’s high school students were preparing for college, the typical applicant applied to three or four schools. Today, many students apply to more than 10. That three- to four-fold increase in applications received by col- leges has diminished acceptance rates proportionately. Where, for example, Stanford’s acceptance rate was just under 20 percent in 1995, it hovers around 5 percent today. On the other hand, demographic trends in the United States mean that the number of U.S. high schoolers is shrinking, and less competitive schools are work- ing hard to entice freshmen into their classes. Schools are increasingly offering Foreign Service Student Guide to Creating a College List