It’s A Fit!

A Made-To-Fit Approach to College Admissions Counseling

Photo by Anton Darius | @theSollers on Unsplash

Don’t you just love taking quizzes and then being told where you should live, whom you should marry, where you should go to college, which careers you should pursue, and which Disney Princess you are?

Or how about filling out a profile and getting a box of clothes that fit your body and your unique style? Or answering a few questions and finding out the best way to decorate your living room for your lifestyle and taste?

I. Love. This. Stuff.

I don’t think I’m the only one. Stitch Fix, the popular fashion-in-a-box company that provides custom styling based on your profile, has 2.4 million users and is projected to be a billion dollar company by the end of this year. This whole idea of a customized wardrobes crafted just for you by “experts” is an idea that our modern world is in love with — and one that is extremely profitable too!

So why do we see so little of this in education?

I’m most interested in the made-to-fit-you model as it relates to college and career planning for high school students. Too often, the conversation focuses on what Jimmy can and should do — the hoops he should jump through, the classes he should take, the uncomfortable and miserable activities he should trudge through, all in order to get into X College. This is the equivalent of telling someone there is one pair of jeans you can wear, in one size and one color and if you don’t like them — or heaven forbid they don’t fit — then you’ll just have to change your tastes and your body. While I shudder to think there are those who do this, I think we would all agree it’s not the most practical or healthy approach.

At a 30,000-foot view, there doesn’t seem to be a lot of customized, tailor-made, just-for-you approaches happening in education, but if we take a fine-tooth comb through the whole system of education, we see brilliant things happening “on the ground.” There are parents, counselors, and teachers who all take the time to really get to know their students and offer sound advice that isn’t doled out to the masses.

I am in love with the program, YouScience, a research-based aptitude and interest assessment that gives students a better idea of their organic strengths and preferences (along with some careers to explore). I use this with my students and I find it to be so inspiring and pride-inducing for them. Rather than focusing on their deficiencies, this assessment assures students there’s not better or worse, just different, when it comes to strengths and interests.

So you’re not super spatially-oriented? No biggy, you’re probably an abstract thinker, which also has its merits (ie. lawyers and counselors). Not so good at staying focused on one thing for a long time? You’re probably a generalist, someone who excels at collaborating with people on lots of different projects. Yes, we need these people too!

You don’t even need to use something as scientific as YouScience (though I do think it’s the best). It’s fun and easy to create a gameboard that exposes students to different options after high school, including college and gap year options. Even if the game you create isn’t research-based, it will get students thinking more broadly about their options, which is a success in my book. Here’s how I created the College Match-Maker Game (PLEASE STEAL!):

1. Take a large roll of paper and roll out about 6 feet.
2. Mount sheet to a table or wall.
3. Make up 4–6 character types, based on what you see among your students, friends, kids (ie. The Adventurer, The Clown, The Book Work, etc). Write up a fun description for each (students can help with this). Each type will be assigned a letter (A, B, C, D…).
4. Next, come up with a list of questions (8–10 of them) with as many multiple-choice answers as you have Types (ie. A., B., C., or D. for 4 types). Here are some sample questions and multiple-choice answers: 1)
   If you had a weekend to yourself and no plans, you would: a. Go camping in unchartered wilderness; b. Grab the paints, the easel, and find the perfect spot to do your thing; c. Take apart your computer and rebuild it, because, why not?; d. Crack open Picture of Dorian Gray… for the 12th time. 2) Your idea of the perfect date is: a. rock climbing — the riskier the better; b. going to your favorite art museum to see how your new crush reacts to your favorite pieces; c. strolling hand-in-hand through your local Maker Faire, only to drop the whole hand-holding thing because you’ve got to get your hands on that drone!; d. attending a lecture at the local library about Swedenborgianism.
5. Write out your questions, multiple-choice answers, and some cool graphics, designs, whatever makes it more interesting, on your rolled-out sheet of paper.
6. Now, this is the fun/long/research-intensive part. You don’t need to be a college expert to do this, but you’ll need to do a bit of digging: Grab a Fiske Guide or the book, Student’s Guide to Colleges (books with good narratives and that capture the ethos of various colleges). Choose 4–6 colleges for each Type. Create little index cards (you’ll have to figure out how many you’ll need, depending on the number of players) with the Type written in bold at the top, a brief (silly) description, and the list of colleges with a brief description. You can go above and beyond by also including one Gap Year recommendation on each list (go to www.americangap.org for more info).
7. I think you can probably figure out how this game works, based on all of the BuzzFeed quizzes you take :). Give students little sticky notes to keep track of their answers. At the end, have them count their As, Bs, Cs, Ds, etc. If there’s a tie, go ahead and give them two cards. The goal is exposure! I always have students who just want to see all of the cards so they can see all of the colleges!

It’s so much fun to help students craft their lives, starting with their schooling, around what they care about, what they gravitate towards, what they excel in, and their ideal date. Whether you take a more sophisticated approach, using an assessment like YouScience, or a more fun, game-like approach like the College Match-Maker Game, your students (or friends, or kids) will gain a boarder understanding of what education, life, and success can look like after high school. The hope is they’ll gain more optimism and enthusiasm about their futures.

There’s no such thing as one-size-fits-all, especially in the world of a teenager. A fish in a tree, according to Einstein, will live its whole life thinking it’s stupid; but a fish in the water? That baby will thrive!

Alex Ellison is an independent education consultant in Chicago, IL and the co-creator of the publication, Good Education. She helps students discover their unique brilliance in order to design the educational path that is best for them. In addition to speaking at high schools and professional conferences, Alex has spoken at TEDx, Ignite, SXSWedu, and the 2017 Kuala Lumpur Youth Leadership Discourse in Malaysia. She earned her BA from Northwestern University, MPA from University of Nevada Reno, and college counseling certificate from UCLA Extension. She is going into her 6th year of independent counseling and has her first book coming out in the fall of 2018.