The New York Times devoted a recent article to the phenomenon of “helicopter parents,” parents who hover over their children as they head off to college and, increasingly, even on to graduate school. But when it comes to the admissions process at the graduate level, as well intentioned as these parents may be, over involvement can work against an applicant’s candidacy.
A significant degree of parental involvement in the application process at the undergraduate level is par for the course. And especially given that applicants are quite young and almost always still live at home, it’s considered by admissions officers to be quite reasonable. But in recent years, parents have continued to be tethered to their children even as they move well beyond the college years and begin to consider – and even attend – business, law and other graduate schools.
The Times piece contributed this growing phenomenon in part to a generational shift. “As the millennial generation, born roughly between 1978 and 2000, grows up, they carry habits, well honed in the undergraduate admission process, into graduate school,” read the Times article. Additionally, parents who are funding graduate school often want more involvement in the process they are paying for. Whatever its cause, the trend does seem to be on the rise.
Indeed, according to a recent survey by test preparation firm Veritas Prep, two-thirds of admissions officers at top business schools reported seeing more parental involvement in the admissions process than they did five years ago. Thomas P. Rock, president of the National Association of Graduate Admissions Professionals and director of admissions at Columbia University’s Teachers College, agreed, telling the Times that the topic of what to do about hovering parents is a common one among his colleagues.
Here at Clear Admit, we’ve also seen an uptick in parental involvement in the MBA admissions process. “When we first started the business eight years ago, we never heard from parents,” says Clear Admit Co-Founder Graham Richmond. Candidates would call to investigate the services themselves, and Clear Admit would deal directly with them throughout the process. But more recently there’s been a shift, Richmond continues. “Two years ago we started hearing from parents investigating services for applicants, and it has just ramped up from there.”
Richmond, who worked in admissions at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School before founding Clear Admit, warns that too much parental involvement can work against a candidate. “The schools have historically been very against this kind of involvement,” he says. “If you showed up for a tour or an interview with parents in tow, it would go against you because it would suggest that you hadn’t left the nest, and the schools are looking for signs of maturity and independence among candidates,” he continued.
In fact, he’s even heard the term “Black-Hawk parents” used for those whose involvement really tips the scales. In many cases, these parents can truly jeopardize a candidate’s chances of being admitted, he adds. “If a parent called on behalf of his or her kid to set up an interview with the director of admissions, it was pretty much a guaranteed black mark on the application,” he says.
The Times piece strongly encouraged applicants to graduate school to limit the role parents play in the process. Citing admissions directors at several top graduate programs, the Times advised applicants to set boundaries, take control of their application, do their own talking and generally separate from mom and dad.
Clear Admit’s Richmond echoes these recommendations. “You don’t want parents calling the office, going for campus visits or shopping around for admission consultants,” he says. “You probably want to leave it at funding it.”
There is one way in which parents can be beneficial to the MBA admissions process, Richmond says. Namely, parents sometimes see the value of admissions consultants when applicants themselves are inclined to try to do everything on their own.
“Parents are used to hiring an accountant when they do their taxes or a personal trainer when they want to get in shape, so they understand the inherent value of an admissions consultant,” he says. “Parents sometimes understand that in life when you are going through a process that you are unfamiliar with it’s perfectly acceptable to seek advice from an expert,” he adds.
But in general, the best role for parents in the graduate admissions process is a peripheral one. Derrick Bolton, dean of admissions at Stanford’s Graduate School of Business perhaps makes it most clear. “People go to business school to learn to lead other people,” he told the Times. “If they can’t apply without Mommy, how will they hold a quarterly earnings conference call with hostile investors, or argue a case in front of a judge?”
To read the Times story, click here.
