Ralph Johnson
Vice President, College Access and Success
Democracy Prep Public Schools (NY)

What drew you to the world of college admission counseling?
It all started in the summer of 1998: The opportunity that would start my career in college admissions, access, and success. Brown University (RI) offered me a role in the undergraduate admission office and I accepted.

Prior to landing this job I was a senior in college trying to figure out what I would be doing in a few months.

I went to college focused on a career in life sciences as a microbiologist; conducted research at Mount Sinai Medical Center and at Brown; and co-authored an article on mitogenic regulators. I was well on my way to pursuing a Ph.D.

While in college, I also volunteered at the John Hope Settlement House in Providence, Rhode Island, working with youth in a program that eventually became the New York City-based Brotherhood Sister Sol. The youth were referred to at the time as “at-risk,” but I knew them as young people full of promise. I helped some of those students get into college and the experience changed my life. I still liked the sciences, but I became much more compelled by access to education.

So I started my career as an admissions officer where I met, recruited, and admitted talented students from all over the country and abroad. My experience at the John Hope Settlement House motivated me to specifically recruit promising college-bound students from high schools like mine (Martin Luther King High School in New York City) that didn’t typically send students to Brown or other highly selective colleges. In short, I was interested in college access. The more students I met from these schools, the more I realized that the best way for me to support them and help create pathways to college was not necessarily to stay in an admission officer role at a place where so few were admitted. Instead, I was drawn to the counseling side to help forge and better understand these pathways.

What is your favorite part of the job?
My favorite part of the job is any part where I see students put the pieces together to see their own futures more clearly and radically refine the way they approach their own education. This happens when:

  • students I have worked with thrive in college and share their personal and academic successes with me.
  • students who are unsure of themselves and their ability to get into college receive their first admission letter.
  • students work with me on their personal statements, and I get to know them through their stories. Many of them are not used to writing about themselves; they are initially tentative and have misconceptions about the process, but often reach a point of excitement as they craft their narrative.
  • students graduate from college and come back to share their skills, insights, and brilliance. (Graduates from the school network where I work are now on our team as interns, college counselors, and chiefs of staff.)

How has NACAC played a role in your career?
I started my career as an admission officer, transitioned to a college counselor, and from there went into roles like my current one where I manage college counselors and oversee college access and success strategies. In all of these transitions, NACAC has been a consistent clearinghouse of people, information, networks, and resource-sharing. It has helped me stay connected to the people and institutions I have known throughout my own education and career, including my friend and fellow MLK High School alumnus now serving as NACAC’s CEO.

What do you think is the biggest challenge facing our profession today?
It’s a combination of financial and ideological crises about the value of higher education. Despite the strides we have made in access to college, new barriers continue to emerge as costs rise and students question the economic value of pursuing a college degree. This is alongside the national conversation — or perhaps national reckoning — with the very purpose of a college education. These elements complicate our work, forcing us to grow out of a framework that assumes college as a given, and adding more complexity to our engagement with students and their families.

When you aren’t working, what do you like to do?
Outside of work, I enjoy photography and traversing New York City by bike or on foot. There are so many great places in the area that are easily accessible and full of compelling views. I also enjoy talking with my three daughters about their perspectives on everything from whether they think my outfit is cool to their thoughts on current events.

What five words would you use to describe yourself?
Inquisitive. Strategic. Data-driven. Competitive. Optimistic.

 

Published Dec. 30, 2024