SO MANY SCHOOLS AND SO LITTLE TIME!
Yesterday I overheard a conversation between two mothers of graduating seniors. Each was politely trying to find out where the other's child had been accepted for college. There were some awkward silences in the conversation. Finally one mother spoke up and said, "Well he applied to Tufts but didn't get in. But then again, I heard that no one from the senior class was accepted at Tufts, even though a lot of kids from the class applied!"
Imagine that, I thought. So what was the big drawing card with Tufts? Why had so many students applied to that particular institution? Did Tufts have something special about their curriculum? Then I remembered reading earlier in the year that one college ranking publication had said Tufts was one of those schools that should be considered just one step down from the Ivy League. Was that the attraction?
At our local high school the students have started a Wall of Shame -- a wall where they tack up their college rejection letters. They also have similar sites on Facebook. Rather than join the misery loves company club, my son was one of the few at his high school who recently was accepted at a very selective college through the Early Decision process. Was he accepted ED because he was smarter than all those other students who applied to their first choice schools and were rejected? I don't think so. He succeeded because we played it smart and as a parent I refused to let him be sucked into what I call the "College Name Game".
When my daughter applied to college seven years earlier, there was a much different ending. She knew the schools she was interested in and told us she would handle the entire process herself. She did, and was promptly rejected by six of the seven schools she applied to. In the end, the seventh school was a miserable match, and we were scrambling to find an appropriate college where admissions were still open. She looks back on the entire college application process as a negative experience. Yet my son's experience was quite the opposite. As a higher education administrator and a parent, I decided it was time to take control of the situation, and based on our success, I've decided to share my experience with others involved in college search. My first column will be on how to use the US News & World college rankings to your advantage. Stay tuned!
