Get Going Workshops

by Joanne Levy-Prewitt

Student Can Still Enjoy School While Preparing For College

Q: My wife and I recently became guardians of our grandson. He is a sophomore in high school. He plays football and, despite several moves and family turmoil in the past few years, manages to get good grades.

An acquaintance, the mother of my grandson's friend, told us that in order to get into college, our grandson must do more than just play one sport and get good grades. She said he must do community volunteer work, be active in our church, or play multiple sports. She suggested he get a job after school, too.

Is this true? We are retired and are dedicated to giving him everything he needs, and we realize that times have changed since we raised our own children (who went to college). But we are not really sure where to begin to help him get ready for college. Does he really need to do all that? What should we be doing?

A: Your acquaintance probably wants you to know that, in many ways, college admission bears no resemblance to the past. She is correct about that, but it sounds like she might also be a bit of an alarmist. While I will try to bring you up to date, I also hope that you'll use some of your grandparental wisdom to keep a level head and not worry too much. I imagine that when your children went to college, they just filled out applications and went to the college closest to your home, with little regard to finding what some now refer to as the "best match."

The reason for the concern is that college admission has become more competitive in the past few years. Selective public institutions like the University of Virginia or the University of North Carolina accept only about a third of their applicants. The most selective of the University of California campuses -- Los Angeles and Berkeley -- accept less than one-fourth of their applicants. The elite private colleges like Harvard, Yale or Stanford accept about 10 percent of the applicants. While those numbers might make admission seem impossible, most colleges accept nearly two-thirds of their applicants, and most students apply to colleges where they are more likely to be admitted than denied.

Nevertheless, the dismally low acceptance rates at a few colleges have created a fear among educated parents that higher education might be inaccessible to their children. Consequently, parents think that by encouraging their children to do more than just take college prep coursework, they will gain an edge on the competition.

College-bound students now begin preparing for college as early as middle school by taking advanced math courses or studying a foreign language. This prepares them to take the most challenging math, science or language classes in high school, which will demonstrate academic or intellectual vitality to colleges.

For many, though, college preparation is much more than just taking the right courses. It is finding activities, hobbies or talents that will set them apart from others. High school students often engage in extracurricular activities like work, sports, religious youth groups, music, drama or community service. Unfortunately, some students do this only to build a college resume, but many participate in these activities because they genuinely enjoy them.

You would be wise to have your grandson build a relationship with his high school counselor, and you might read a few books about college admissions or search some Web sites. With a little research, you will quickly learn that not all colleges require that applicants jump through hoops to get admitted, and you can make a conscious choice to have your grandson avoid the admissions frenzy.

Though your acquaintance would have you believe otherwise, most families are not caught up in the competitive admissions game. Your grandson can go to a number of excellent colleges without spending every free moment of his high school years preparing for college.

COPYRIGHT 2007 JOANNE LEVY-PREWITT