When the Flames Go Up
When the Flames Go Up
Episode 4: "Investment banks with a small school attached"
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Episode 4: "Investment banks with a small school attached"

Higher Ed consultant Akil Bello advises college applicants to treat schools as the businesses they are, and not to obsess over brand-name, highly rejective "dream schools" that impose excessive debt.
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Akil Bello us the Senior Director of Advocacy at The National Center for Fair & Open Testing (Fairtest), which advances quality education and equal opportunity by promoting fair, open, valid and educationally beneficial evaluations of students, teachers and schools. It’s the perfect job for a man who has been calling out myths, socioeconomic bias, and overall shenanigans in college prep for 30 years.

One pervasive myth is the inflated value of a “dream school,” whose popularity results largely from the vicious circle of skillful branding and a culture that buys into it. He urges families to treat the process as unpredictable and driven by colleges’ business interests. And to recognize that choosing a school is a lot like shopping for a new car: don’t believe the MSRP.

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You can learn more about Akil’s work and writing on his website, his contributions to Fortune magazine, and his Twitter feed.

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