AISAP52

I must have used the word “fit” a dozen times a day for the first twenty years of my career in enrollment management. But lately, I am rethinking its use in the realm of admissions (and hiring, but that is a topic for another day.)

To me, “fit” conjures the image of trying to stuff something inside a box or filling up container as much as possible while not stressing its perimeter. It is not a far leap from there to recall outdated adages about education being the filling of a vessel.

Most educational institutions have strategic plans to ensure that they are constantly learning, growing, and aligning themselves with evolving best practices. Our schools are not the same static containers trying to fill ourselves with students year in and year out. We ask our students to learn and grow, and our missions ensure that we do the same.

So are we really seeking students who fit into the school exactly when we make admission decisions? Or are we actually seeking mission-aligned students who will grow with us and challenge us to become the best version of ourselves?

Further, isn’t the notion of enrolling only “students who fit” at odds with our profession’s efforts in the realm of equity, diversity, inclusion, justice and belonging? There is actually evidence that our schools decided a while ago that prioritizing fit is inconsistent with this important focus. For example, if my school had been admitting only students who fit for the last 50 years, we would still be a mostly white, all-male institution and would have missed opportunities to flourish in essential and meaningful ways.

So maybe I had been using the term “fit” many years after we decided it was outdated, after all.

In the case of Fay School, we seek students who will not just fit the demographics of our current student body, but rather students who will broaden the talents, diversity, and representation within the student body. Fay searches out students who will not simply sit in chairs and serve as receptacles for teachers’ wisdom, but rather students who will think critically, ask challenging questions, take ownership of their learning, and grow along with us. In other words, we don’t seek students who will fit so much as students who will add to our school and thrive.

If you have ever tried to entice a student to apply to your school by saying “If we don’t offer the club you want, you can start one!” then you are also likely seeking students who will add.

As a result of this approach, the majority of Fay’s students don’t fit a mold but instead break molds by taking a different path to the same solution during a science lab, by creating art that makes the rest of us see something new, by delivering a speech that opens our minds just a bit more, by introducing a new idea about a book we’ve read several times, by sparking a fiery debate in history class, or by coming up with a novel solution to a problem posed by our Creativity and Design Department.

I am grateful for our students who don’t just fit, but whose contributions advance our never-ending journey to better ourselves as an institution.