Summer College Courses

This summer, 17-year old Romy will study
art at one of the nation’s top art schools.

“I’m really excited about it,” she says. “I
think I’m gonna get to meet really interesting kids
and just get to do something I really love to do.”

If Romy ultimately decides to apply to college there, she
hopes the summer program will help her get accepted.

“If you have similar credentials to someone else
and it’s between someone who didn’t do some sort
of program and someone who did, I think someone who did probably
does have the edge,” she says.

Getting into the nation’s best colleges and universities
has never been more competitive. But will a summer college
program actually help?

“I would say it would give them an advantage over
someone who did nothing with their time, but to say it would
give them an advantage over someone who took a summer job,
or [volunteered] in the summer, I don’t think so,” says
Adam Lips, an assistant dean of admission at Emory University.

Lips says colleges are looking for well-rounded students.
Beyond jobs, volunteer work and summer classes, he says what
still counts most are grades.

“It’s important to do well in school and then
sort of supplement that with things you’re interested
in and passionate about and to talk about those things in
a way that present you as a good fit,” says Lips.

Still, summer college programs do have one clear advantage:
they can help students test-drive a college or career.

“I think it’ll even help me decide whether
I want to go to art school,” says Romy. “’Cause
I think it’s a pretty intense program. I think it’s
really similar to how it would be going to the school.”

By Larry Eldridge, Jr.
CWK Network, Inc.

According to the Department of Education and the Education
Commission of the States, American students are currently less interested
in attending college than in past years. A recent study shows that the United
States currently ranks 11th in the number of Bachelor’s degrees attained – an
area in which it used to rank first. Sandra Ruppert, who directed the study,
believes the decline is not due to apathy alone. For example, other countries
are beginning to put a greater emphasis on college education, creating competition
for the U.S. In addition, many students feel they can’t afford college,
due to the increasing costs of tuition.

By Larry Eldridge, Jr.
CWK Network, Inc.

SATs. Grades. Financial Aid. Application essays. It’s
a lot of work to apply to college! Add to that the fact that
your student is competing with thousands of others for a spot
at college, and the process can seem overwhelming. Knowing
what to include on an application and how to help your child
stand out is crucial to getting accepted into a college. According
to experts at The Princeton Review, the application
process can be divided into three areas of importance:

Most Important:

• Grades : Colleges view your child’s high
  school grades as a major indication of how well he/she will
  do in their classrooms. Here’s evidence of how seriously
  Admissions staffs view report cards: a recent study showed
  that 83 percent of colleges said that high school grades
  carry “moderate” to “considerable” importance;
  grades in high school college prep classes received the same
  comment from 89 percent of schools.
• Test scores : Is it really worth all the time,
  effort and money spent preparing and taking college admission
  tests? Yes. According to 83 percent of colleges, a great
  deal of emphasis is placed on ACT/SAT scores, and scores
  do make a difference in assessing college applicants. Only
  14 percent of schools said test scores have “limited” or “no” importance.
• Class rank : Unfortunately, this is somewhat out
  of your child’s hands. Class rank depends on how many
  students are in the graduating class, the mean grade point
  average, and your child’s grade point average.
  Also, grade points are skewed higher for honors classes,
  so “regular” class grades end up lower in the
  ranking. The only thing your children have control over is
  their own grades, so encourage them to do their best. Thirty-five
  percent of colleges said class rank has “considerable” importance;
  another 35 percent said it had “moderate importance.” That
  means 70 percent of colleges consider class rank when assessing
  applicants.

Important

• Essays : If your child has a way with words, he/she
  should work the magic – but only if he/she is applying
  to a very competitive school. Otherwise, tell him/her to
  put in a strong effort, but not to sweat it. A great essay
  cannot override a poor performance on the SAT/ACT, or make
  up for a low GPA, but highly-selective colleges place more
  emphasis on essays and give them more attention than public
  schools with higher acceptance rates. Still, overall, less
  than 20 percent of schools attached “considerable importance” to
  the essay portion or writing samples.
• Work/extracurricular activities : Fifty-four percent
  of colleges surveyed ranked after-school activities as having “limited” or “no” importance.
  The bigger the school, the less importance it placed on what
  your child did with his/her free time. However, extracurricular
  activities can help students succeed in college. It’s
  where students learn to prioritize, juggle many activities,
  and manage their time – all skills that students need
  in college. An after-school job provides work experience,
  potential references, responsibility, and perhaps even money
  to help pay for college.
• Recommendations : Only about 15 percent of schools
  put “considerable weight” on counselor or teacher
  recommendations. Another 15 to 19 percent said it was of “no” importance.
  The remaining colleges fell somewhere in between. A stellar
  letter can’t hurt, but it doesn’t speak the volumes that
  test scores and GPAs do.

Least Important

• Interviews : Unlike graduate schools, where an
  interview with the department head can make or break the
  admissions process, undergraduate schools often don’t meet
  your child before deciding on acceptance. The bigger the
  school, the less importance is placed on interviews, partly
  because bigger schools have more applicants and less time
  to interview them. However, if your child is applying to
  a school with less than 5,000 students, he/she will need
  to practice his/her interview skills, including potential
  questions about current events, academic achievements, and
  personal goals.

Ability to pay: Whether your child can actually afford
a particular school or not often has little to do with whether
or not he/she will be accepted. In fact, 77 percent of schools
surveyed said ability to pay had “no importance.” Between
financial aid, scholarships, grants, loans and work study, colleges
figure your child will come up with the means if he/she is set
on the school.

The Princeton Review
Kaplan, Inc.
College Board Parent’s Guide
U.S. Department of Education