"Every B Closes the Door": The College Choice Process Among Silicon Valley High School Seniors

Abstract

This study examines the college choice process among high socioeconomic status families in Silicon Valley to explore how college admissions has become so filled with emotional distress among this population. The research question guiding this study is: How do upper-class families in Silicon Valley navigate the college choice process? The author conducted interviews with 19 high school seniors and their parents during the 2014-2015 academic year. All of the students aspired to attend competitive four-year postsecondary institutions. Families completed one interview at the beginning of the school year and a second interview after they had made a final college choice decision. The study’s findings are presented through four case studies that illustrate how the students took different journeys to arrive at prestigious destinations. Students faced a number of stressors including expectations for success originating from communities, schools, and families. An inductive approach to analysis revealed three orientations that characterized the way students navigated the college choice process: a) paralyzed privileged students struggled to live up to external expectations for academic achievement and success; b) pragmatic privileged students assessed the field of competitive college admissions and devised personal game plans that would enable them to achieve their goals; c) passive privileged students believed in social expectations that they should attend good colleges, but they were neither as stressed as the paralyzed privileged students, nor as intentional as the pragmatic privileged students. Using self-authorship (Baxter Magolda and King 2012) as a guiding framework, the author explores how variations in developmental level may account for differences in navigation orientations. Given their upper-class backgrounds, all of the students in this study were privileged and their competitive college destinations reflected their social class status. Implications for adolescent mental health, family expectations, organizational responses, and future research are discussed.