How "Parents' Weekend" Has Evolved and Why You Should Take Notice

How well do the schools on your prospective college student’s list include parents and family members once your student has enrolled?
Do they offer a text messaging alert system for parents? Do they have a Parent’s Association to get involved in? How about involvement with the Parent Fund? Can you get online access to the school newspaper? There are many ways to stay involved in the college that your student chooses. However, one of the most fun ways is by attending what has long been called “Parents’ Weekend” or “Family Weekend” on your student’s college campus.
Some colleges – such as the University of Denver – recognize that today’s family unit may not be conducive to a traditional “Parents Weekend.” Instead, they offer “Dad’s and Granddad’s Weekend” or “Mom’s and Grandmom’s Weekend.” Perhaps this may fit your family dynamic better. Or, some colleges offer separate “First Year Parent’s Weekend” and “Sophomore Parent’s Weekend” to set class years apart. Maybe you have two students attending the same college, this would allow you to focus on each student separately.
In addition, while students used to spend their time on Parent’s Weekend carting their parents around to the obligatory football game, dinner in town, and tour of classrooms, colleges have wised up and have started offering options for family members that sound way more appealing.  A quick survey of various colleges’ family weekend agendas show activities such as: chocolate making, a ski bus to a local ski resort, wood, jewelery and ceramics workshops, Shabbat services, ice cream socials, art exhibits, theater, a cappella performances, academic panel discussions, and much more.
Sounds pretty fun right? I still recommend trying to squeeze in some time to actually see your student when you visit but definitely take advantage of these events the colleges have worked so hard to put together for you!
 
 
Image Credit: fsuwesley.com

University Students Push for Tuition Increases

That’s right, folks.

On some campuses, students actually want their universities to bill them more this year than last.  It’s a matter of quality, they say.  Some things you just can’t skimp on, apparently.

An article entitled “The True Cost of Tuition Freezes at Public Colleges” in yesterday’s Chronicle of Higher Education (registration required) focuses on public universities in states where legislators and governors have made it a priority to freeze tuition.  These pols find it politically popular to do their utmost to keep higher education affordable.

But students are fighting the freezes, because the are seeing the results of the budget cuts that necessarily accompany tuition freezes.  If tuition does not rise, faculty positions, academic programs, and student services have to be cut.

I wont leave until you raise my tuition fees!

Some states have tried to fill that gap by budgeting more money to the universities so that these cuts need not be made.  But with the economic downturn, these states are going to be hard-pressed to keep shoveling money at the universities, when there are potholes to fill, bridges to repair, farmers to subsidize, and health care to dispense.

So students in states like Maryland, Florida, and Montana have been militating to eliminate these freezes, raise tuition rates, and continue to provide quality education.  Students know that an education is a good investment. If class sizes increase, if academic programs are cut, or if the lines are longer in the cafeteria and outside the advising office, the quality of that education will decline.  At some point, affordability is trumped by quality.

The problem here is that students recognize that there is no free lunch.  Most parents have saved less than $5,000 for their child’s education.  The same parents don’t want tax increases to fund higher education.  Legislators are disinclined to bankroll lazy, pinheaded professors who enjoy employment for life (even though in actual fact fewer than 30% of all instructional faculty at public and private universities are tenured or on the tenure track).

So who’s going to pay?  The students!  They are the only ones left who see value in obtaining a Bachelor’s degree, and they are willing to go into debt to get one.  Of course, it’s important for students to be prudent about how much debt they shoulder.  But the fact is, someone has to pay for this education, and in the United States, the default decision is that higher education is not a public good, but a private one.

Students have this figured out.  If we want a different system, we could certainly have one.  But a new funding structure would require political risk, a reorienting of priorities, and huge changes in how students are admitted to various programs.  I think such a national debate about restructuring public higher education would be very healthy, and in the long run, we’d probably end up saving money as a society, and perhaps we’d even boost quality.

But I’m not going to hold my breath.

Besides, in short run, students may continue to clammor for tuition increases.  Go figure.

Mark Montgomery
College Counselor


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How Competitive is College Admissions? Enough to Tempt Parents to Behave Badly

The Chicago Tribune ran a story on Monday about the lengths to which some parents will go to get their darlings into college.  The whole process of selecting and applying to college is certainly stresseful.  And there is no doubt that the competition is fierce.


It’s also true that in some school communities, the competition is even more fierce.  At toney private schools in the East, for example, there may be 30 members of the 100 students in the graduating class who are all applying to Harvard or Tufts or both.  Clearly, no college will want to admit every student from that school who applies, even if every last one of them has perfect grades and a perfect test scores.  Colleges are social engineers, and to accept so many from one place would throw the community out of balance.


So, as this article describes, some parents are not holding back in their attempts to sandbag others’ kids in order to promote their own. Here are some examples of sandbagging from the article:


  • Anonymous notes to the admissions office recommending that they look at a rival’s Facebook page.
  • Phone calls suggesting that a student is lying about particular accomplishments or extracurricular involvements.
  • Newspaper clippings attesting to a student’s involvement in a crime or other bad behavior.


While this article does shed some light on how desperate a small number of parents (and their students) are to get into the most competitive colleges, the article does suggest that to focus on this sort of aberrant behavior only fans the fires of the fall admissions frenzy.


The article suggests that most admissions officers ignore these instances of parental interference, unless the letter is signed or unless it presents some sort of hard evidence–like the newspaper clipping.  The fact is that the practice of sandbagging other students is both rare and ineffective.  And if you read this article carefully, amid the sensationalist hype are some strong indications that the article’s headline bends reality in order to attract readers.


Here are some passages from the article that cool the hype.


College admissions officials said they do not track how many of these letters, calls or e-mails they receive and said they are unsure whether they’re getting more of them.


So is sandbagging becoming more common?  No data.  Admissions officials are “unsure” if the practice is increasing as competition increases.  Fact is, this practice has been going on for a long time.


“We see everything. Nothing shocks us anymore.”


So says the dean of admissions of Northwestern University.  Thus the article’s implication that sandbagging is a new phenomenon is misleading. Desperate and silly parents have been around for a long time.


…anonymous allegations typically get thrown in the trash. If the letters include specific allegations or a newspaper article detailing criminal activity, officials might follow up with a call to the applicants or their high schools.


Thus, sandbagging does not work.  Admissions officers are not stupid.  And they are also prudent.  So if they receive random messages written in crayon in unmarked envelopes, admissions people have a good laugh at the sandbagger’s expense and move on with their job.  Or they are careful to investigate specific allegations (which often turn up in teacher recommendations, anyway…either as the discreet but clear note at the bottom saying, “Call Me!”, or as a very weak letter of support).


The article also drops a little hint toward the end of the article that helps identify one of the sources of the problem, in general.  High schools generally do not put disciplinary information onto a transcript, nor do they report disciplinary actions to colleges in other ways.  This information is somehow deemed “private,” while the academic information is readily shared with college admissions officers.


In my mind, this is a huge problem.  It is also one of the reasons so many private consultants deal with families who arrive on our doorsteps with stories like this: “My daughter is really a great kid.  Of course, there was that one time she was busted for cocaine possession in Daytona Beach, and that time she was suspended for a week for selling marijuana–it was only a tiny amount.  We know you can help us tell her story in a way that will help cover for those minor infractions so she can get into the school of her dreams.”


I tell clients right up front that I will not be an accessory to a lie.  I will help the student explain the mistake, and if appropriate, help the contrite and apologetic young person explain past transgressions in terms of lessons learned and prospects for a better future.


While sandbagging is sleazy, I find it more sleazy–and much more common–that parents are totally comfortable with lying on behalf of their own child than they are willing to tear down someone else.  This finding is no consolation, to be sure.  But at least I keep my own conscience clear and my reputation intact.


Mark Montgomery

College Counselor






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