Thoughtful column on college
This from Michael Winerip an education columnist from Sunday's NY Times. Not something necessarily to discuss but food for thought. I'm reading a book by a woman who used to be an admission's officer at Duke University. It is pretty heartbreaking. There are many wonderful colleges and universities out there and the name-brand ones are unbelievably hard to get into even for BWRKs (her name for Bright Well-Rounded Kids).
Comments
Deidre
I will be thrilled if one of my children is motivated to do what it takes to go Ivy League and I'll support them all the way, but I will not expect them to do the kinds of things these Harvard applicants did. I will expect them to work hard in school to get good grades and have extra curricular activities and teach them about being a good citizen.
Thanks for posting.
How is this relevant to seattle public schools? It's relevant 'cause one segment of the school's population is aiming to use the schools to make themselves competitive in this competition. I think college apps are part of what's driving the fragmentation of the support for public schools. Parents and children whose needs are motivated by the competition to build a Harvard CV need fundamentally different things from our public schools.
He had the easy choice -- his kids opted out. But, what do you do when your kids want to opt in this high end competition? Do you let that choice arrange their life from birth to college? Do you fight to get them the education they need to compete (even if it means dragging resources from other parts of the school system?).
n-ssp (not a seattle school parent)
Sometimes you hear, especially at Garfield, about one segment of kids believing another segment of kids gets "more" because their parents demand AP and Honors classes. Should one have to cancel or harm the other? But you're right; after reading these articles and books, no one is getting into Harvard on their good looks (unless, of course, you are a heavy-contributing legacy or famous kid). If you are parent, with a child in public schools, and want your child in an Ivy-league school, you probably have your work cut out for you unless it is a well-known public high school. I think most college admissions officers whose area is the NW or West know Roosevelt and Garfield as the top-ranked high schools.
Your remarks also raise the question that we brought up about standards. When we say we want all kids to go to college, do we mean community college? In-state? Are we striving for all kids to reach one bar when there are multiple bars for admission to different colleges?
My kids are all at the young end of their grades. I'm starting to think about a possible strategy: apply to about five schools, tops, and if the worst happens and they don't get into any of them, they can take a gap year and re-apply, after having some sort of solid work or internship experience, and perhaps a community college class or two. I think the "gift of time" at that point in their education might end up more valuable to them than if I'd kept them in preschool another year. (I'm saying "they" for convenience, not assuming they'll all actually do the same thing!) It'll all depend on family dynamics at that point, of course, and we have a while to think about it.
Like many parents, I'm projecting onto my kids what I think would have been good for me -- I was old in grade and would very much prefer to have been skipped a year, but on the other hand would also have welcomed more practical experience with life before heading to college. I might be trying to solve a problem none of my kids is going to have, who knows. But I thought my general musings on the subject might spark some thoughts for others here.
Helen Schinske