Don't Force It: How to Get into College without Losing Yourself in the Process

Danny Tejada: College Access and the ROI of Higher Education

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In today’s episode, I dive deep with Danny Tejada, who shares his journey from growing up in a tough NYC neighborhood to becoming a key figure in college access and admissions. Danny emphasizes the importance of understanding education’s return on investment and how he helps students navigate college finance and career planning. Tune in to hear his impactful insights and experiences.

Bio

Danny Tejada grew up in public housing in East New York, Brooklyn. He is a first-generation high school and college graduate. He attended Skidmore College. He also holds a certificate in College Advising from Teachers College, Columbia University. He co-authored a book with his mentee called Different Families, Still Brothers.  Danny has been in college counseling for over ten years, working in public, private, charter schools, non-profits, and his own consulting company, We Go To College, LLC. In his consulting, he works with non-profits and high schools on their college counseling programming, colleges on their recruitment of historically disadvantaged students, and individual families on the college application process. In addition to his consulting work, he works at an independent school in Manhattan and reads applications for the University of California, San Diego.  Danny sits on the boards of Stony Brook University’s Counselor Advisory, Uprooted Academy, and Puerto Rican Family Institute, Inc. Previously, he was on Common App’s Counselor Advisory Committee and College Access Consortium of New York’s board. Throughout his college counseling career, he has presented at state and national conferences and been featured on NewsNation, in The New York Times, NPR, Forbes, The Chronicle of Higher Education, Education Week, and Money.com, discussing college access issues for historically disadvantaged students.  Danny’s mission is to expand college access for low-income, Black, and Brown students so they can achieve upward mobility and break their generational curse. Follow Danny on LinkedIn.

Access free resources and learn more about Sheila and her team at Signet Education at signeteducation.com or on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/sheilaakbar/.

Danny Tejada:

Cost factor is something that really gets thought about a lot. What I stand to make when I come out and I think now I'm sitting here talking about it, I think a lot of that has to do with, nothing wrong I love my time to Skidmore. But one thing I always tell my students is because I have, like, five pillars of what makes a good college. So there's not necessarily in the name.

Sheila Akbar:

Hey folks, welcome back to the podcast. Thanks for joining us this week. I'm so excited to introduce you to my friend Danny Tejada, who does a whole bunch of things around college admissions and college access. I first learned about what Danny's up to through his very active LinkedIn profile, where he takes care to really call out how various aspects of the process affect students on a day to day basis. He had a whole series of wrestling memes around the countdown to the FAFSA last year, and he wears the most amazing T shirts, and is a really great guy, and brings an amazing perspective to this work. So I'm excited to introduce him to you all, and I hope that you'll come away with some great insights here. Let's take a listen. Danny, thank you so much for joining me today. I'm really excited to talk to you more about your background and what you do now and the things that you're paying attention to in the world of admissions. So let's start with that origin story. Can you tell us a little bit about how you grew up and what your schooling was like?

Danny Tejada:

I grew up in one of the most dangerous neighborhoods in New York City, East New York, Brooklyn, and grew up in public housing. Was the oldest of three. So for me, when I first entered in high school, I went to a public high school in downtown Brooklyn. Yeah, also because I mentioned to parents being on public assistance as well. So when I first got into high school, didn't know what college existed. I legitimately thought High School was the end all be all because college wasn't talked about and our home so freshman year and I will never forget the day when two of the directors of the Pace University of brown program came in to my ninth grade English class and gave the gave a presentation on their program. They talked about going on the Pleasantville campus at pace. They talked about what their classes were like, whether it was things like patting up on classes are you currently taking or taking a high school class ahead of time before you take it again in the fall for real at your actual high school. So I remember just loving that idea seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. So I got in that summer, and then from there, pace, university was like a safe haven for me. You know, I would often go there after school to do my work, to be around people who were like minded, because the program consisted of kids from all over Brooklyn. For the most part, they had certain target high schools, though, in Brooklyn, but to be around kids just like me, who were as ambitious, as opposed to my high school, and to be around people who I felt like were really looking out for me was amazing. Was an amazing feeling, and I will never forget the moment where my college advisor, Sean Calloway, said in front of her whole class, so this was senior year in the fall, if I was applying her decision to Skidmore, and I used to stutter a lot. Used to be very difficult for me to talk. So he told me to go down to computer lab and don't come back up until you figure it out. So went down to the computer lab, called one of my friends who was asking more at the time, who also went to the same high school as me, asked her about what her experience was like all I really knew having seen the school, but I just knew that I really liked the admissions officer at the time, and also have to surf in the website a little bit more. I made the decision to apply early decision. So ended up getting in before seeing the school. Eventually seen the school that that spring. And I'm really glad that made that decision to apply every decision. And I remember just walking around campus at one point where they let us free room. I went down to some academic buildings, got to speak to professors and what have you. And I was like, wow, like this really has such a family. Feel community. Really great sense of community here, asking more. So I got into the HEOP program, Higher Education Opportunity Program, which is a program for low income students who wouldn't normally get into the college. So there's a economic component to it, and then also, you know, academic, it's a. Program has about 50 private colleges in the state Sunnis have something similar, called Education Opportunity Program EOP. Here in the city, you have seek and college discovery, seek for four year cunys, college discovery for two year cunys. So for me, getting into that program was such a great feeling, you know, because I knew how limited I was in terms of the spots that Skidmore allocated at the time, and me knowing a lot about financial aid, I knew I hit the jackpot, because when a student gets into et o, p at the private school level, that private school has to provide full financial need, and it does come with loans, but it's not going to be the max loan at 27,000 after four years is usually on average, eight to 12. My original deal would have only been 8000 after four years, but I knew I wanted to graduate with no debt at all, so I applied to a lot of outside scholarships. Got one, a handful of them end up covering most of the loans I would have had, and then became a resident assistant in my last year to knock out the rest of the loans that I would have had. So I graduated Skidmore at that time. I know the price is crazy now, but $50,000 at the time with with no debt at all, and that's pretty amazing. Yeah. So then, you know, a lot of the classes I took where it was, like, autobiographies of black radicals, for example, or the African American experience, or even a class that I helped create hip hop culture as well. And then I was also on the way to being a hip hop journalist, I was getting a lot of like clips and major magazines, interviewing somewhat well known artists, reviewing albums while I was still in college, and I felt like I really wanted to be able to do something a lot bigger, a lot more meaningful than what I was doing. So I did a lot of soul searching in my senior year of college, and I started to reflect upon my journey to Skidmore, and I said, You know what I want to be, just like those folks who helped me get to college. So it took me four years after I graduated college to finally break into college access. It was a tough, long road with things such as, you speak Spanish, I don't, so that held me back, or another place told me, Oh, it was part time. Do you still want it? I was already living on my own by that point, so it was definitely a trying time, you know, especially in the year that I graduated. But one thing that I'm grateful for is I got to start my career with the same people who helped me get to college, so I worked for a sister program, so I have firsthand experience of what it was like for the rebound staff to work with a kid like me and grew more of appreciation for the things that they have done. For me, great to be able to collaborate with them on a lot of different things, such as vocabulary class, college admissions, you know, teaching kids things like how to think like a business officer, things like yield and whatnot. And I'm a big believer everything happens for a reason. So it was great to be able to start with them and to learn so much from my college advisor, because he was my, you know, trainer and mentor in that first row 11 years ago. And to fast forward now, you know, doing so many different things, working so many different places, public schools, charter schools, a private school. At one point, I'm glad I got the experience to be able to live outside of New York City for once, did that? Lived in St Louis for three years and seen a lot of different things now back in New York, working full time at a charter school here in the South Bronx, and also started this consultancy that started before I left for St Louis, originally, when I was in New York City, but really started to grow a lot more during the pandemic, and I started really think about what was a niche. Always knew I wanted to be able to affect things on a larger scale, rather than just working with one on one. I saw the pandemic at the time where a lot of programs needed programming and or upper bound programs were heading towards the end of their day cycle at that time. So I wanted to be able to come in there, be able to lend my expertise and help them also use up their budgets. So then from there, when everything started to go back in person, I really made the effort to try to build those connections with those open ground programs, and expand the idea of what I was doing with the consulting see a lot more in terms of helping programs and helping organizations in high schools with their structuring of their college counseling. And towards the end of my time in St Louis, I got to work. Work with an organization here in New York City, Big Brothers and businesses at NYC to help them build up their college access program. So when I'm not working full time in the school, chances are after school on the weekends, I might be working with a high school, or it just might be working with the little handful of students that I am working with privately as well.

Sheila Akbar:

So funny. I mean, thank you for that very detailed recap. I mean, that's great, and I feel like I we all have a very good understanding of, like, kind of what you came up through. But I am going to ask you some clarifying questions about that, because I think, in theory, a lot of people know what first generation college student may be up against, but I think hearing some of the day to day, I think, would be really eye opening for people, if you're open to sharing that. But Signet was actually the official educational partner of Big Brothers, Big Sisters in New York City, until I want to say 2014 2015 something like that. We started the company in Boston. I when I got married, I moved to New York. I was living in Bed Stuy, actually, I was volunteering with a lot of students in East New York. And yeah, we did s, a T and a C, T prep for Big Brothers, Big Sisters. We did college essay writing workshops. We did, like, study skills, kind of things. We did a lot of stuff. I mean, just like the most amazing kids, right, who are, like, so earnest in their desire to take things forward, and sounds like, maybe the experience you had there when you got involved with the pace Upward Bound program, it like open a whole new world to you. And seemed like, you know, they put a challenge in front of you, and you just crushed it. And had you not had those two people wander into your classroom, who knows, when those doors would have been open to you, right? And like, it's just so amazing what those sort of access programs really do. And I want to be really clear that it's not like a shortcut into an opportunity you wouldn't have been able to achieve. It's more like exposure and a chance at something right for you to really demonstrate your ambition and your, you know, skills and discipline and just gave somebody gave you a chance. And I think that's so amazing.

Danny Tejada:

And then, and that piece too, yes, I've definitely been so so lucky, right? But I just had this great belief that being at the right moment, you know, I could have been absent that day when the program came to talk about what they had to offer. So for me, the reason why, like, I focused the consultancy more on rather than working with individuals, more on high schools and CEOs is because I just want to be able to help increase the chances for, you know, opportunities for other students who are out there, or at least the knowledge and have a sense of motivation. And it's not necessarily about going to selective No, but still being successful at CUNY as well.

Sheila Akbar:

Yeah, and there's so many opportunities within those state the public institutions, let's say, you know, I live in California, and I just can't say enough about the city college system here, and the Cal States. And, of course, everybody knows the UCs, but like, there's so much of a pipeline leading up to that, that, you know, they've really invested in educating the students in their in their state, and New York has a similarly robust program, you know, you've got the cunys and the Sunnis and a whole bunch of other things in between that are really amazing opportunities for students. So let's go back to that, the idea of a first generation college student, right? Like, not only were you not raised in a household where people were talking about college, you were also not in a community where people were really talking about college, right? How much was it a topic at school for you?

Danny Tejada:

It wasn't really something that was talked about. I feel like these days, I'm not sure about regular public schools. But I feel like these days, schools are starting to adapt this model. I've been noticing even in different private schools here in New York City, who are having like these college prep courses where they're doing the applications or learning about the process and and things like that. And I think the only experience that I had in terms of college stuff with the high school itself, is taking AP Chemistry at City College across the street, CUNY college. So of course, I did a lot of stuff with peace, you know, going on trips, things like that. But I think it's a lot for one person, full time college advisor, you're the only one, and you have hundreds of seniors to be able to work with, so it's kind of hard to have any sense of quality college counseling and things like that, unless the student is really like, self advocating for themselves and or not in a program like, like I was,

Sheila Akbar:

Yeah, and I mean, certainly things have improved over time. I still think we have a long way to go, but we've seen that the earlier and not to put the pressure on students, but just let them know this is a possibility for you, and hear like the different pathways to let them know at an earlier stage in their education. I remember I was working with the YMCA in New York City for a little while, and they've got a program that starts in sixth grade. And again, it's not to put the pressure on and say, you got to do this exactly right, so that you get into XYZ college. It's more like, this is a possibility for you. This is a reality for you, and you can really, you can do this. And it's not just for you know, this other population that the one that we hear about in the news all the time, right? Like these are the people who go to college these rich kids from fancy schools in the suburbs. It's it's everybody, right? So I'm really encouraged by that. I'm curious how you use your knowledge, you know, your own experience, and the different institutions you've worked with and for how that impacts how you coach students, whether they're at your charter school or, you know, they're your private clients. How does that affect your philosophy about this?

Danny Tejada:

I think for me, my biggest thing, at least these days, and definitely since the beginning of my career. But as more tools start to come out, I start to refine this a lot more. But you know the idea of return on investment, like, of course, you go to college to learn, discover yourself, but at the end of the day, you know, you got to make sure that you have a job, or at least starting career when you come out. You know what kind of opportunities is the college going to bring you? So one of the biggest things that I learned over time is to get families to really think about how before they apply, whether it's during net price calculator or of a particular school, or using my favorite website call a scorecard to look at starting salaries, to be able to look at loan repayment rates, or data on Parent Plus loans. Because you know, having having this kind of knowledge can help prevent a lot of heartbreak when those time actually packages come in April or in March, if it's a normal year, but it's something that I think is very important to be able to have that conversation with with families of all economic backgrounds, because I had the opportunity to work with students And families from all works of life, income, different identities and whatnot. And one thing I learned, you know, throughout all of that, is the importance of costs. So whether I'm talking to one family about marriage scholarships, I'm talking to another family about who needs schools, that conversation still ends up being about finances still ends up being about return on investment and what have you now, I'm having more nuanced conversations with students about cost of living, whether it's in New York City or the college that you're going to this is what it's currently like. It's only going to get higher by the time you become an adult. So this is, this is some things you have to think about, and just have a outlook of what the job growth might look like for that particular industry that you're looking at what kind of things that you need to be able to put yourself in a great position within that career as well. So it's I've definitely gone through a lot of different motions throughout my career, but I'm glad I'm to be back in the space where I'm working with mostly students, either directly or indirectly, whether it's in my full time role, or working with high schools or CBOs, who are working with mostly low income, black and brown students that cost factors like it really gets thought about a lot. What I stand to make when I come out and I think now I'm sitting here talking about it, I think a lot of that has to do with, nothing wrong I love my time to Skidmore, but one thing I always tell my students is, because I have, like, five pillars of what makes a good college. So there's not necessarily in a name, like I talk to students about, what are the career services office like, what services in that office do they provide, you know, whether there's job shadowing, resume help, cover letter. I don't even know how to write a cover letter into some years after I graduated college, right, right, yeah. Or like, how to forge connections in the alumni network. What's the alumni network like? You know, in terms of helping students with the internships or or jobs or things like that, and in college, not having, you know, not although I did try to do an internship at one of the hip hop magazines I was writing for. Unfortunately, I didn't do it because I had to pay for the credits. So the magazine requires that I take the internship for a credit. So for me, I lean on bad experience and lean on like, that first full year that I didn't have a full time job after I graduated college. And then, of course, you know, the four, four years that it took me to get started in my career after and I'm trying to, like, get students to think more critically about those, those kind of things, more particularly like. The career stuff at a particular college, another thing I talk to students about, ask them about what kind of companies recruit? Do they have Career Fairs and things like that?

Sheila Akbar:

I think that that's really smart. I mean number one, just to front the financial discussion, because too many people go through the whole process of applying, maybe paying hefty application fees, only to find out we can't afford to go to any of these great schools that you got into. That's really just tragic, right? It's very heartbreaking, and they've spent so much time and energy on this. But the other piece of it of looking at earning potential, job prospects, the network, all of that when you're researching schools, I think is really smart. I actually got into it a little bit with the dad of one of my students, who basically wanted to throw out all the work we did on the college list and say, Well, I'm looking at the rankings. And I had to tell him, I'm like, You know what? I don't put any stock in those like, if you want to rank these colleges by potential for your daughter landing a job in a field that she's actually interested in, not this other one that you keep talking about, that you think she should go into, because I know she's not interested in that. Like, if you want to rank them by that, like, Fine, we'll come up with our own ranking system. But like, you can't just buy someone else's rankings for and apply it to your, you know, nuanced financial situation, and never mind the students interest right now, when she's 17, like, that's gonna change as she actually learned some stuff about herself in the world, and, you know, all of these things. So I think it's really smart to get a sense of, you know, what's the infrastructure there to help students get internships, to be able to afford to take an internship, to be able to actually apply for jobs, yeah? Really, really smart advice there. Well, I feel like we're just scratching the surface. We're coming to the end of our time here. I want to highlight that you do, you know? I want to state it really clearly. You do three really awesome things, right? You work in a school as a college counselor, you consult with institutions on their access programs and dei issues, and you work with students individually, helping them navigate this process.

Danny Tejada:

Yes, and you mentioned in the second thing I forgot to mention this too. I do consult with colleges as well on their recruitment of underrepresented students?

Sheila Akbar:

Yeah, I just think that's just so amazing that you're like connecting all of these, you know, different institutions and networks of people that all have the same goal, but they're not often talking directly to each other. So I feel like you're a really great hub in that way. And I'll also say, you know, you came on my radar because you started showing up in my LinkedIn feed. You're very active on LinkedIn. I feel like everything you post is like, yep, you and I are on the same page about a lot of things. And I especially loved the series that you did as we were waiting for the FAFSA to come online. You had all these little rolling memes. Yeah, I loved it. I was like, Oh, this is good. So if you don't already, you should follow Danny on LinkedIn. I'm gonna link your consulting page and your LinkedIn in the show notes so people can find you easily. But thank you so much for your time and sharing some of your story with us.

Danny Tejada:

Yeah, thank you for having me.

Sheila Akbar:

All right, folks, I hope that you will follow Danny on LinkedIn, and, you know, learn more about the work that he does with students, with high schools, with colleges and other types of organizations. He's definitely someone to listen to. I'm going to keep these remarks short just because it's the middle of October and we've got looming early deadlines, and everybody's got so much work to do still, but I wish you all good luck, and I hope that you're getting the help you need. If you need more, please don't hesitate to reach out. Thanks. We'll see you next time.