| As much as kids want and need independence at the age of 17 or so, I don't think they're really prepared to handle a situation as complex and error-prone as applying to colleges without the guidance of a knowledgeable adult.
In fact, their previous experiences may have misled them. When they made the transitions from elementary school to middle school and from middle school to high school, school personnel led them through all the necessary steps, and the possibility that they might end up with no school to go to did not exist. And when they took standardized tests in school, their teachers made sure they were prepared (because the school's neck is on the line, too). Now, all of a sudden, they're in a very different position where, for example, a school's chemistry curriculum might be a very poor match for the SAT II test in chemistry (to use a situation mentioned by the OP), and nobody at school seems to know or care, let alone advising students on how they might overcome this disadvantage. |