College Admissions Staff - Massive turnover

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Serious question: how can you expect the “best and brightest” to be reading your kids’ applications when none of you would apparently encourage (or allow?) your own best and brightest kids to pursue a job like this?

At my child's prestigious private college the starting salary for an admissions counselor is 38K. Who exactly do they think is going to take a job like that? People wearing clothes from the sales bin at Target interviewing high school students carrying 400 dollar purses. Great look.

No one gets rich in higher ed. I work in this field because I believe that education can be transformational, and that high quality, affordable education is fundamental to a functioning democracy. There is no correlation between salary, education and experience in higher education: I have a masters and am on my way to a doctorate and earn south of 65k.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The distain for people who choose to work in education across the DCUM forums is so sad.

The reality is that, at current pay rates, education (higher education & k-12) aren’t attracting the best & the brightest in most settings.

Therefore they deserve your disdain?

[Anonymous]

Good to see y'all have a new scapegoat to help cope

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Serious question: how can you expect the “best and brightest” to be reading your kids’ applications when none of you would apparently encourage (or allow?) your own best and brightest kids to pursue a job like this?

At my child's prestigious private college the starting salary for an admissions counselor is 38K. Who exactly do they think is going to take a job like that? People wearing clothes from the sales bin at Target interviewing high school students carrying 400 dollar purses. Great look.

No one gets rich in higher ed. I work in this field because I believe that education can be transformational, and that high quality, affordable education is fundamental to a functioning democracy. There is no correlation between salary, education and experience in higher education: I have a masters and am on my way to a doctorate and earn south of 65k.

+1 I’ve been working in higher ed for six years, in a school where many DCUMers would be thrilled to send their kids, and I’m south of 65k, too. I was among the “best and brightest” a few decades ago, now I just want decent benefits and good work/life balance.

[Anonymous]

The average 1BR apt rent in my child’s college town is $2000/month, and the average home price is in the $500,000s. That may not affect undergrads because they live in group houses with roommates, but as a 30+ year old adult that’s not ideal. The town doesn’t have a train stop, either. So I could see why it’s hard to retain staff making $40k/year at that school.

[Anonymous]

Yale has 6500+ administrators

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Univ Prof here. I agree with the main observation of this thread. Admissions offices are being staffed, on average, by poorly trained and poorly educated folks (who are, in general, MUCH less able than folks they are screening). Fact of life and it will not change.

Seriously?

I've yet to meet an admissions person who is "MUCH less able than folks they are screening." I've met a variety of folks with a variety skills - none in the "MUCH less" category.

Also, did you not get the memo that many PT AO staff are work study students and many entry-level FT employees are recent college grads. That reflects more on their professors than anything else.

But if this is the case on your campus, then what steps are you taking to increase pay in order to attract better trained and educated talent (as well as what improvements are you making in your classroom to improve the quality of your college's grads?)?

Raising pay means either raising tuition or cutting somewhere else. Neither will happen just so that AOs can make more money

So just let the university prof pipe off? I get what you are saying, but it is reprehensible to be dissing colleagues and recent grads, some which may have been their students.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The distain for people who choose to work in education across the DCUM forums is so sad.

The reality is that, at current pay rates, education (higher education & k-12) aren’t attracting the best & the brightest in most settings.

Are you willing to pay more in taxes or tuition?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The distain for people who choose to work in education across the DCUM forums is so sad.

The reality is that, at current pay rates, education (higher education & k-12) aren’t attracting the best & the brightest in most settings.

Are you willing to pay more in taxes or tuition?

No. I think schools should have harder applications so fewer kids apply. And I think standardized test scores should play a bigger role to cull a batch of apps.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Serious question: how can you expect the “best and brightest” to be reading your kids’ applications when none of you would apparently encourage (or allow?) your own best and brightest kids to pursue a job like this?

I’m not convinced the offices want to hire the best and brightest.

But if they did, you’d be cool with your kid doing it for $12-$15/hr? Yeah, no.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yale has 6500+ administrators

Most colleges have far too many staff. Consider this: in most urban areas, colleges are the number one employer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Univ Prof here. I agree with the main observation of this thread. Admissions offices are being staffed, on average, by poorly trained and poorly educated folks (who are, in general, MUCH less able than folks they are screening). Fact of life and it will not change.

Seriously?

I've yet to meet an admissions person who is "MUCH less able than folks they are screening." I've met a variety of folks with a variety skills - none in the "MUCH less" category.

Also, did you not get the memo that many PT AO staff are work study students and many entry-level FT employees are recent college grads. That reflects more on their professors than anything else.

But if this is the case on your campus, then what steps are you taking to increase pay in order to attract better trained and educated talent (as well as what improvements are you making in your classroom to improve the quality of your college's grads?)?

Agreed. And, I am also a college professor. I have never thought of admissions staff as being "MUCH less." The ones I have known have been bright and driven albeit young and inexperienced in some cases. That PP just sounds arrogant.

[Anonymous]

Gosh, I wonder what worthy, indispensable industries all of you are employed by?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The distain for people who choose to work in education across the DCUM forums is so sad.

The reality is that, at current pay rates, education (higher education & k-12) aren’t attracting the best & the brightest in most settings.

Are you willing to pay more in taxes or tuition?

No. I think schools should have harder applications so fewer kids apply. And I think standardized test scores should play a bigger role to cull a batch of apps.

+1 the current system is opaque, and the stats to get into these schools are pretty wide. There's no magic formula, and with TO, more and more kids are applying. Great for colleges, though, I guess.

[Anonymous]

Talk to AOs and many are there because they were confused by the college process themselves and are committed to helping kids through it. Some are living with lots of roommates and scrimping because they believe in the work. Others are from well-off families and have help paying the bills. Plenty are using the education benefit to get graduate degrees while working.

Assuming they lack talent says you don’t know what you’re talking about.