The Top Ten Myths

Hi Everyone,
First of all, I apologize for not having posted anything here since late last October. When I started this blog, I really don’t think I comprehended just how remarkably busy I was about to become in terms of shepherding seniors through the college application process, while carrying out other counselor-like duties. But now that we’re through application season, I vow to build better habits in terms of keeping up with my posting tasks and intentions. Ideally, I’d like for this blog to become a very useful resource to you as you anticipate and move through the college application process.
     As you know, our 2010 senior class is wrapping up its quest for Fall 2010 college admissions. I’m so very proud of this current senior class, as it had some big shoes to fill as it fell into the unenviable position of following a great deal of understandable excitement and fanfare over CHAMPS’ first-ever graduating class (Class of ’09). Nevertheless, I am happy to report that the current senior class’ college acceptance results have been nothing short of stupendous this year. In a few weeks, I’ll publish a list of all colleges where CHAMPS 2010 seniors have been accepted… but not now, as the news is still coming to me on a daily basis.
     Accordingly, being that CHAMPS’ college counseling program was launched this year, I've fielded a great many questions and formed some impressions during this first-year experience, thus have realized there are some common myths students and parents tend to believe are truths. Let’s take a look at the ones I consider to be the ten most common myths that continually came my way during the past year, and I’ll comment on each one:

1.Our family is having trouble making financial ends meet, therefore my only college option is community college, or maybe the Cal States.
     No question about it – every student should apply for financial aid, no matter how rich or poor. It is true the private colleges’ sticker price tags are downright frightening. However, private colleges tend to dole out financial aid awards somewhat differently than do the public universities. Publics work via what’s called the “federal methodology,” which is strict in terms of guiding who does and who doesn’t receive aid monies by virtue of any given applicant’s family’s financial need. However, private colleges and universities have more leeway in awarding both merit and need-based aid because they work by way of what’s referred to as the “institutional methodology,” basically meaning that funds raised from within its own extended family of private donors are distributed at will to applicants it wants to bring into its new freshman class. As a result, it’s entirely possible that a private college might very well end up being a more economical and rewarding choice than a public university.
     Also, in terms of the University of California (UC) campuses, money shouldn't stand in your way, so says their current financial aid literature. UC's Blue and Gold Opportunity Plan will cover your system-wide fees if you are a California resident whose family earns less than $60,000 a year ($70,000 beginning in 2010-11) and you qualify for financial aid. And this is just the starting point. Blue and Gold students with sufficient financial need can qualify for even more grant aid to help reduce the cost of attending.

2. I'll just attend community for two years, and zip over to UCLA via transfer. It's the easy road into UCLA, don't you know....
     Well, theoretically, yes – it’s true…that’s certainly been played out in history, and it’s absolutely the party line any community college public information officer will give you. And sometimes, if you’re really lucky and if you’re truly diligent, it works. However, in present-day reality, it’s really not quite that simple for several reasons. First of all, because of our ever-burgeoning population in California as well as our infamous statewide budget cuts…and also because hard economic times have caused parents who used to entertain the notion of sending their kids to college out of state, are now keeping them close to home…the L.A.-area community colleges are bursting at the seams. Now it’s harder than ever to register for the classes one needs in order to transfer to a four-year college, as classes often close on the same day they open – and class sizes are larger than ever, with less teaching staff to handle the load. So what happens is that a typical community college freshman, who ten years ago would’ve handily made the switch from two-year college to a four-year one with minimal trouble, is now finding that the typical time period for one to remain in community college classes is more often than not, about a three-to-five-year span.
     Also, there’s a whole discussion we could have here – one that’s beyond the intended scope of this particular blog entry – that centers around loss of motivation to push forward because of a diminished college culture one typically finds on a community college campus (a huge topic that involves some very slippery slopes), as well as a far-overburdened counseling system – all lending support to much of the current research showing that across the country, approximately 60% of those students who enter the community college systems do not come out on the other side, so to speak. In other words, the intended transfers often don’t happen for all of the above stated reasons, plus the fact that once any student’s time in community college becomes extended for any reason(s), it becomes that much harder to finish college because parents of that student either can’t or won’t continue to support their adult child who doesn’t appear to be moving toward financial independence anytime in the foreseeable future, largely because college is judged to be an impedance.
     A third point is probably the most painful one to discuss, and is certainly the 600-lb. elephant in the room…and it is the fact that in typical cases, a C- student in June of her high school senior year doesn’t automatically become a B+ student four months later in September of her college freshman year, no matter how alluring the idea of a fresh start may be. Old habits die hard, and even though GPA standards may relax quite a bit more for transfer students than they do for incoming high school seniors, they don’t relax THAT much. Over the years, I’ve known many mothers of middling-to-poor-achieving high school students who’ve smugly said to me something along the lines of “Danny’s not going to (you can name any four-year college here), but is going to community college in the fall, because he will transfer into UCLA.” And then three, four or even five years later, old Danny’s still rolling onto that same community college campus everyday, now also holding down a job, still trying to knock out that two-year-long community college segment of the original master plan – all because of some combination of poor study skills, apathy, arrested development, diminished lack of funds, inability to register for and/or complete the required classes. In many of these cases, the transfer to UCLA certainly never happened, and if any sort of transfer did occur at all, it was usually to one of the more populated CSU campuses where the student would face yet another elongated process because of overcrowded conditions.
     Don’t get me wrong…I think our California community colleges are a godsend, and so right for certain students, particularly those who were academic late bloomers in high school who most likely cannot be admitted to four-year colleges, also for those students who are there to pursue some truly wonderful vocational programs, and also for the older “untraditional) students one readily sees are so common to find on community college campuses (myself included – throughout the years I’ve taken many great classes at my local ones). But folks – especially you parents who sailed through community college 20 years ago and rolled on over to whatever four-year college to finish things off with no problems – the current community colleges are by-and-large not the ones of your college-going days. I’m not saying you shouldn’t consider them as a viable option, but…don’t forget – let the buyer beware. It’s probably going to be most expedient and satisfying to go to a four-year college straight out of high school. But I’ll support whatever you decide is best for you. Just know and understand all of the pitfalls.

3. Once I've submitted my applications, I'm done. Now I can just sit back and wait for the news.
     You have no idea how common it was this year for colleges to contact students via email or through their own password-protected portals, asking for further documentation. Huge case in point -- this past admissions season, the Cal State campuses were particularly nightmarish in this respect, as some of them asked students via their portals to supply information (usually updated transcripts from school, or test scores from the College Board) that the student assumed were already supplied, and they’d also state deadlines by which they’d drop students if they hadn’t complied by that specified date…and since so many high school kids have fair-to-poor emailing habits, they typically didn’t check the CSU portals and were often dropped from consideration, even though they were otherwise completely admissible. Why did this terrible thing happen to students who applied to the CSUs? Because of the bad economy, the CSUs were so inundated with applications this year, they had to use whatever means they could devise to thin out the applicant pool.
     Also, so many seniors often believe they can fall into a state of “senioritis” by slacking off in terms of continuing to deliver respectable academic results, because admissions season is over…which is so not true. Colleges more often than not request mid-year reports prior to making admission decisions, and they all require final transcripts to be submitted upon graduation, and commonly rescind acceptances whenever any given student doesn’t exercise enough maturity to deliver best-possible academic results.

4. I don't have a high GPA, so there is nowhere I can go other than to community college or maybe the Cal States.
     This one’s probably the biggest myth of all. There are over 3,400 colleges in the United States, and a high portion of them happily accept less-than-stellar students. In fact, it’s only the relatively small percentage at the top that need to see a GPA north of a 3.5. As long as one is open to seriously researching and considering a wider selection of public and private colleges than, say, the same six or so about I always hear about on a daily basis from CHAMPS juniors and seniors (which are UCLA, USC, NYU, Stanford, UC-Berkeley, UC-Santa Barbara), then we can most likely find any number of wonderful-yet-realistic colleges to pursue.
     What is more important than a high GPA is satisfactory completion (minimal C grade, but hopefully better) in specific core subjects. Within the UC and CSU systems, these core subjects are known as the at-times infamous “A-G requirements.” But the truth is that most colleges and universities have their equivalents (stated or otherwise), and minimally they include Cs or better in math (up through at least Algebra II), four years of English, two years of social studies (including U.S. History), two years of lab science (including biology), two years of the same foreign language, and one year of a single arts elective. Minimum requirements vary from college to college. Obviously, more years of study in terms of core subjects are so much better (for example, an extra year of foreign language, or all four years of science, etc.), as they make one a much more competitive candidate.
     Also, in regard to the 23 Cal States specifically – be aware that all of them aren’t created equal, so to speak. For example, San Diego State University and Cal Poly San Luis Obispo are every bit as challenging to enter as the mid-to-high-range UCs. I found that many CHAMPS seniors erroneously attempted to use these two particular campuses as safety schools despite my warnings, which didn’t work at all for them.

5. A big-campus university education is the way to go in order to have the most fun in college, make the most friends, and/or be accepted to top grad schools/med schools/law schools.
     False, false and false. The more populated the institution (as in large universities), the more impersonal the experience becomes. Smaller campuses foster a more close-knit social environment. Look at the social differences some CHAMPS students have experienced at our school vs. ones they had at, say, one of the very large local public high schools. The college social experience is the very same. Graduates of small colleges will tell you that they form lifelong friendships during their undergrad years, whereas most people (like me) who graduated from large universities ultimately found the majority of close friendships from their college years to be fleeting ones as the years passed.
     Students who attend small colleges (which almost always have small classes) tend to receive better-quality instruction, because they form closer relationships with their professors and classmates. There’s just more help, understanding, communication, and one-on-one attention to go around.
     You will also find that students from small colleges generally tend to be more sought after by graduate programs as well as med and law schools. Check the grad school acceptance rates at any good small college vs. ones at the large public universities. One little-known fact is that many graduate schools do not like to admit “homegrown” students – meaning ones who earned their bachelor’s degrees in their own institutions! They’re usually much more interested in bringing on board students from outside college cultures for various political and marketing reasons, as well as for achieving a greater diversity in life and educational experiences.

6. It's best to go to college in or very near New York City (or Boston, Philadelphia, Chicago, San Francisco, etc.) because of all of the amazing cultural opportunities at hand.
     Well, I guess that’s pretty true if you happen to have a benefactor with very deep pockets (and even then I’d argue that it isn’t completely true). But the hard truth is that most of us have to scrimp and struggle throughout college in order to make ends meet. So yes, isn’t it fabulous that if you go to NYU, Broadway’s just a short subway ride away?…and think of the restaurants, the clubs, the rock concerts, the never-ending parade of cultural events one has at one’s fingertips in any one of those aforementioned cities. Did you ever go to a large-scale theatre production here in L.A. at the Hollywood Pantages or downtown at the Ahmanson Theatre, and notice that nearly everyone in the audience is somewhat aged? Well, that’s because those aged folks have worked hard all of their lives, thus they are the only ones who can actually afford to be there on a regular basis! You just might find that more often than not, you’ll have your nose pressed against the windows of those higher-end cultural events (or clubs or restaurants), only to find yourself rolling on back to your college campus’ social events as well as to your dorm room’s TV set (if you’re lucky).
     So here’s the rub. The cost of living in one of these dynamite cities is astronomically high, and will probably soak up whatever extra resources you might imagine you have for such activities. Again I ask you – who (and/or what) will pay for you to partake in the dizzying array of popular culture you’ll see dancing in front of you on more than just one or two occasions during the course of a school year? And remember, you’re not there to be on vacation. You’re there to get down to the business of living and studying. In the small college towns, the colleges usually organize frequent weekend trips to whatever nearby cultural centers happen to be there so that you’ll receive an ample amount of city-related amusement. But more often, students in such college towns quickly learn to be resourceful in order to make their own fun, and in the process form closer relationships, and build more meaningful memories out of simpler endeavors. Their overall focus is simply easier and better.

7. Financial aid procedures and outcomes are pretty much all the same from college to college.
     False. Every single college and university has its own financial aid goals and priorities that change from year to year. Everyone should apply for financial aid at every single college on their final application lists. Generally speaking, public universities operate via the “federal” methodology, which causes certain outcomes, yet private colleges and universities disseminate funds through the “institutional” methodology, which often brings about very different results than those of the publics.
     Do not assume financial aid dissemination is a cookie-cutter process. It’s true that all colleges require you to file the FAFSA after January 1st. But some private institutions also require you to file the CSS/Profile, which is a College Board product (the same company that brings you the SATs and APs). Still others require you to fill out and submit their own homegrown financial forms.
     You have to thoroughly read the financial aid section of each one of your target colleges’ websites in order to be clear on procedures and possible outcomes. For example, some colleges will automatically consider you for certain merit scholarships as soon as you apply for admission. Other colleges have special procedures for you to follow that are over and above their admission application process in order to gain consideration for merit money. Some colleges will only offer need-based aid, yet others offer only merit-based aid. Most colleges will offer a combination of both merit-based and need-based aid.
     Generally speaking, all colleges will include student loan offers as part of their financial aid packages, so get used to this idea. In this day and age, it’s rare for anyone to graduate from college without incurring debt along the way.
     The bottom line – (1) Carefully read and assimilate the financial aid sections of every college to which you seek admission and follow the instructions to the letter; and (2) Absolutely apply for financial aid to every one of your target colleges, even if you suspect you won’t qualify for aid (you will most likely be pleasantly surprised at the outcome).

8. I worked pretty hard up to this point, and will have met nearly all of my high school graduation requirements by the end of my junior year, so now I can just enjoy my senior year by taking a minimal number of classes...including ones that are easy and fun.
     NO!…very bad idea. This plan might work out for you who are in sole pursuit of less selective CSUs and such, but it’s an awful plan for obtaining admission to more selective colleges, including the UCs. One of the most important aspects of good college planning is to show admissions offices that you’ve challenged yourself as much as possible – first and foremost on an academic level – and those challenges should build in their degrees of difficulty throughout your high school years.
     High school graduation requirements are meant to be just that and not more. You will find that most colleges will report similar requirements in terms of what completed high school courses will make you admissible – but not competitive. I know of some students who are graduating this year who’ve been denied admission to certain selective colleges because their senior-year coursework was deemed to be too light (“Where’s the beef?”) Ideally, you should be enrolled in five solids every year plus at least one elective. What is a “solid?” It means math, lab sciences, English, social studies, foreign language. What is an elective? It’s anything in the arts (media, visual or performing), as well as the “soft” sciences, such as psychology, anthropology, sociology, etc.
     One more thing – most college will recalculate your high school GPA to suit their specific needs and standards, thus your high school GPA is only an estimate of how colleges will judge your academic performance. Most colleges will not include, for example, most of your CHAMPS performing arts academy classes into your GPA calculation. As far as I know, all colleges will not include your P.E. grades into your calculation. Many colleges, such as the UC s and CSUs, will not include your freshman-year courses in your GPA calculation, but they will certainly examine them for content, completion and overall performance.
     Regardless of what your present or future interests and goals might be, you should remember that high school is primarily all about receiving a solid academic education, and electives are in second position. Some of you are enrolled in music, dance, or drama academy, thus will find that carrying five solids is too difficult, if not even impossible. In these cases, four solids are sufficient. Three solids aren’t enough, especially in your junior and senior years. If you are intending to apply to highly selective colleges and aren’t carrying five solids, I recommend that you try to include some summer classes in your four-year high school plan.
     Finally, please realize that CHAMPS is kind enough to give you high school credit for such classes as Leadership Council, O Ambassadors, Yearbook, etc. However, college admissions officers view such activities as extracurricular ones, thus will not include them in consideration of your academic coursework. They are certainly great activities, but do not substitute for core and even elective courses.

9. Emailing is a boring, old-school thing to be doing and I almost never read mine, because they're too junked up with spam...besides -- my mom keeps track of everything I need to know.
     You are the one who is going to college, and not your mom, sister, uncle…whoever it is who is watching over your email. It’s great if you are lucky enough to have help from a parent, relative or guardian – I wish for each one of you to benefit in this way. However, you are the one who should be in the driver’s seat. Whenever you communicate with college admissions offices, the folks there want to hear from you, and not from your mom. They want to know that you’re thoughtful and mature enough to think and act for yourself, as that’s the sort of person they want to have on their campuses, and not someone who can’t or won’t take responsibility for himself, or someone about whom they might have to worry.
     Also – colleges will at times ask you for things…missing transcripts, missing letters, missing test scores. Even though you know such items have been sent (and believe me, my biggest annoyance in this job is that I have to resend such items from my office two and three times over), college admissions offices are often crazy-busy, short-handed sort of places, thus docs are often lost, misfiled, or held up in the backed-up production process. If you don’t respond to such requests in a timely manner, you will be judged as immature or disinterested…and you will be rejected.
     As you know, free email addresses are easy to obtain through Gmail, Yahoo, etc. I recommend that you retire the one you’ve been using since the second grade (the one your mom probably set up for you back in the day), and get one that you dedicate to nothing but college-related business. It’s the one you should give to me to use for sending you college-related information. It’s the same one you should give colleges to use in order to communicate messages and requests. If you plan to have a close relative help you with the process, give that person the username and password, but make sure you personally check it everyday so that you know what’s going on.
     Some colleges will assign you usernames and passwords in order to log onto their admissions portals, and they will assign you special email addresses. KEEP TRACK OF THESE USERNAMES AND PASSWORDS somewhere within your special college email account. In many cases, these portals are used to communicate to you whether you’ve been accepted or denied admission. Also, they will often use their own portals to request time-sensitive documentation from you.
     Once again, I can’t stress this point enough times -- you should check both your college email account AND each of your portal accounts at least once every single day. I can tell you story after story about seniors who ended up being denied admission from colleges, just because they were too lazy to check these various email accounts, and in the process, lost track of their usernames and passwords.

10. I'm going to live in a dorm during my freshman year, but I'm going to college in California because I want to come home on weekends.
     Most studies show that if you attend a college with a strong residential orientation, you will quickly become part of that culture, which means you will not have the time or interest in coming home as much as you imagined. In other words, you’ll simply be too busy, whether you’re living in Santa Barbara or New York City. While you will hopefully maintain ties with some of your closest high school friends, you’ll find that all of you will become very involved in your new lives, whether it means four-year colleges, two-year colleges, or holding down full-time jobs. This is a good thing, because it’s all part of growing up and learning to live in the world as fully realized adults.
     Cold as it sounds, part of becoming independent means gradually separating from mom, dad, siblings, other relatives. An important part of the college experience is to learn to assert yourself and be independent – simply learn how to take care of yourself -- and sometimes it’s a painful procedure, yet it’s all part of the continual process of human experience. In Coburn and Treeger’s excellent book for parents called Letting Go: A Parent’s Guide to Understanding the College Years, the authors write “For some, the transition to college is a smooth and gradual one; it may be the time for consolidation after a rocky adolescence. For others, the distance in miles that the freshman travels may represent the only separation that takes place as the student holds on tightly and brings his parents with him, in spirit if not in body. Their identity is his; he defines himself according to their guidelines. Still another freshman may plunge headfirst into the new environment, cutting loose from ties in an impulsive and sometimes desperate manner…In late adolescence, the time is ripe to focus on self-definition; our children are ready physically, cognitively, and socially. Colleges offer a breather after the dependency of childhood and before the commitments of adulthood. During this time, students may explore, take risks, test and ‘try on’ new ways of being, and make mistakes without drastic consequences. Many of us look back to our own youth and recall such times of uncertainty, excitement, and turmoil.”
     In short, if you’re going to go to away to college, why not look toward embracing the entire experience with all of its good and bad…the moments of loneliness as well as the big social times?

Happy College Shopping!

Anne C.