How/whether to mention struggling city school district in resume

Parents Forum
1

<p>S attends the top honors program in a struggling city school district. Half the students at his school (and the school district) are poor. About forty percent don’t graduate. Test scores are excruciatingly low. Whites (like my S) make up a quarter of the students. </p>

<p>This experience has affected my S in many ways, positive and negative. Socially, S has learned to interact with everyone. Academically, some of his classes have been weak or side railed due campus distractions–bomb threats, guns on campus. Even S’s extra curricular activities have been shaped by this experience. Had he gone to a (public or private) suburban school where more kids know how to swim, S may not have made the varsity water polo team. On the other hand, S could have participated in school band and chorus (instead of enrolling in private music programs).</p>

<p>This issue came up as we started working with my S on his resume for upcoming interviews with highly selective LACs. Without knowing S’s school, parts of his resume are confusing. For example, S has very strong grades and SATs, but not so hot SAT2 scores. S’s passion is music, yet he appears to be a two-varsity sport athlete with no high school music experience. </p>

<p>Right now, we are leaning towards excluding the SAT2 scores from his resume and describing his school in one of the following ways . . .</p>

<p>(1) “Top honors program in 50,000-pupil city school district. Rigorous curriculum, including honors and AP classes, community service, and senior capstone project.” This hints at the school issues, without spelling them out.
(2) “Top honors program in a STRUGGLING city school district. Rigorous curriculum, including honors and AP classes, community service, and senior capstone project.” A little clearer, but makes his program seem week.
(3) Or just “Most competitive honors program in school district. . . . “ This sidesteps the whole issue.</p>

<p>Is it possible that the LAC interviewers will just understand all of this and not think they can read S’s app the same way, say, that they read the app of a prep school student?</p>

2

<p>Usually guidance counselors send with the transcript information about the high school: average SATs, percentage of students who go to college, number of AP courses, percentage of students qualifying for subsidized lunches, so what you’re considering sending isn’t needed.</p>

<p>When admissions officers don’t know about a high school and GCs don’t send such info, they call the GCs and use other means to find out about the high school. They do not expect students at a struggling high school to have SAT IIs and ECs that are similar to students at top prep schools.</p>

3

<p>We had similar issues when our son was applying last year to top schools. His school system has a 60% poverty rate and an 80% minority enrollment. Only 60% of the freshman class graduate. Yet it also has AP classes, great music programs, dual enrollment programs at local colleges and unusual extracurriculars activities. He got a great education by being creative and going far beyond the school’s requirements (with their blessing), but he was concerned that he did not have many of the science and math opportunities that private schools had. </p>

<p>He obtained a copy of the school description that was sent out to the colleges and it sounded like a real estate PR brochure. It glossed over all the problems and made his school sound idyllic. The only discordant note was the very low test scores in small print at the bottom.</p>

<p>He addressed the problem head on by including details about his school in his essays and personal statements. He never said anything negative about the school, but put a positive spin on the opportunities he had to be innovative. There wasn’t a math club, so he started one. They didn’t have science olympiads, so he arranged to take the physics test independently. He recruited and coached the math team. You get the idea-by only being positive and not whining, he got the message across that his school had few science and math extracurriculars (as in none).</p>

<p>The interviewers, all local, were familiar with the school and he talked about his experiences with them. The Harvard interviewer said, “I love public school students, they’re so creative and quirky.” Happily, he got into all his top choices and is now attending his dream school. </p>

<p>Good luck to you. I hope it turns out well.</p>

4

<p>The regional reps know the schools. If apps come in from schools they are not familiar with they will take the time to get to know them. The system is sophisticated.</p>

<p>Personally, I would not mention private lessons or anything that would make your DS seem privileged in his environment.</p>

5

<p>It isn’t up to the applicant to describe the school district. The guidance dept. will send a profile of the school along with the transcript to all colleges where your son applies.</p>

<p>Keep the resume focused on his academics, EC’s, community service, meaningful awards (do not include those random awards given out at the end of the year academic awards ceremony), leadership positions, employment experience, etc. Keep it limited to one page and make organized and easy to follow.</p>

6

<p>These are resumes that will be used for interviews at highly selective LACs before the actual applications will be turned in? Are we talking about alumni interviews, interviews on campus or both?</p>

<p>I agree with nysmile that the resume should be focused on the kid, especially if you are talking about alumni interviews. While you are talking to a live person, that’s the time to wow them with your personality and use the resume to direct the conversation. (“I see on your resume that you mentioned XXX. Tell me more about that.”)</p>

<p>The actual application (and the Secondary School Report filled out by the GC) can go into the nitty gritty of the school and the school district. Admissions officers are very savvy about schools and school districts. If they don’t know your school, they will research it. It’s their job and they take it very seriously.</p>

<p>Unfortunately, a badly taught class is not a good reason for a bad SAT Subject test score. The SAT subject tests are one place where looking at a review book and backfilling information that your school class may not have covered is expected. No reason to have SAT subject test scores on a resume. They’ll show up on the application, though. If the present scores are not to his liking, he may want to study during the summer and take (or re-take) the subject tests–as many as required by the individual schools.</p>

7

<p>Thanks everyone. You have given us much to think about. </p>

<p>Ellemenope asked "these are resumes that will be used for interviews at highly selective LACs before the actual applications will be turned in? " Yes, these are for on-campus interviews at highly sective LACs. She also noted “a badly taught class is not a good reason for a bad SAT Subject test score.” She is absolutely right again. . . and he plans to crack the review books (sometime) this summer to retake. His scores weren’t “bad” (670 in math and bio), they just aren’t comparable to his other SAT scores (or our general sense of his ability). My guess is that if he had gone to his sister’s school (a good suburban public) we would have learned enough during regular class time to have done well with the SAT2. Thanks again.</p>

8

<p>"nfortunately, a badly taught class is not a good reason for a bad SAT Subject test score. The SAT subject tests are one place where looking at a review book and backfilling information that your school class may not have covered is expected. "</p>

<p>It’s only expected at the proportionately few high schools where a lot of students apply to the relatively few colleges that require SAT IIs. Most students probably have no idea that one can buy SAT II review books. Of course, it’s wise to use such books if one’s aware they exist.</p>

9

<p>

</p>

<p>I agree with this, and it worked for us. Please keep the resume professional in <em>tone</em> as well, and I seriously hope that the OP is not planning on using all caps anywhere on that resume, or anywhere in the app., for that matter (unless filling in data boxes). The resume itself should be a <em>summary</em> of info, neutrally stated, formatted in a succinct and easy to read fashion. Very much like an employment resume in style.</p>

<p>If info about the district or the school is to be included, it can be woven into the app and/or essay, but i.m.o. it does not belong on the resume.</p>

10

<p>

I wouldn’t assume this is always true. Verify, and if it is not something that the GC sends or if the info is less than “complete”, you can document the district stats yourself and include them. My D’s district was as far from urban as you can get, but her “sheet” may have explained “a lot”. ;)</p>

<p>I agree that it is not appropriate or effective material in a brag sheet.</p>

11

<p>

</p>

<p>Our kids to a T. It’s easy to say kids should just teach themselves what their schools didn’t, but harder to make that happen, or in our case, particularly for older (pre-CC) child, to know we were even supposed to.</p>

<p>We crossed our fingers that the high SAT 1 scores outwayed the very uneven SAT 2. For my kids, they did. my D, though, had one rejection which we attributed to SAT 2. At transfer, with more understanding of how to present, that school and two other very highly ranked LACs accepted her.</p>

<p>The kids addressed the uneven high school (mostly lower middle class, very limited offerings, rising crime levels in area) obliquely through essays. For instance, descriptions of band events (luckily, we had a band, and a good one, even with raggedy uniforms and less bells and whistles than the ones we competed against), were a chance to show the realities of our school, without being negative.</p>

<p>I am very skeptical that admins are calling up every GC for kids from less well known schools. I’m very sure that doesn’t happen at our school. Luckily, S had a savvy counselor who knew what to tell them in her recs.</p>

<p>I think that you have to hope subtle clues help make it clear. For instance, low APs offered by school, low test scores compared to your own kid’s, and the essays. CAn you discuss his music without price tags being obvious? For instance, S played in a community band (was pres his senior year). That shows involvement without trumpeting privilege.</p>

<p>Good luck to you and your son.</p>

12

<p>Just because a kid has private music lessons doesn’t mean that kid is privileged. There are some scholarships available for private lessons for very talented low income music students. Parent or kid even may have traded services for lessons.</p>

13

<p>My daughter attends an inner-city school with gang problems, poverty, all the attendant problems. The school profile also glosses over all of these things. You would think it’s a prep school in Happy Valley if you had no context.</p>

14

<p>I know reading the NYC high school directory can have your head spinning and wondering “What school is that? It is defintitely not the school my child attends” when you read some of the descriptions. However, any admissions rep who really wants to get the real statistics on your school, can easily look it up on the DOE website for the city state you live in.</p>

<p>For the NYC DOE there are annual report cards and statistics (all public information) that one can easily assess that will tell the number of students in attendance,number of students receiving free-reduced lunch, graduation rate, regents pass rate by subject, breakdown by ethnicity, 4/6 year graduation rate, # teachers that hold masters, certified in their license area, crime stats, etc…</p>

<p>I think that it is important for every parent to request a copy of the school profile before senior year to see how it matches up with the stats that the city/state has on your school.</p>

15

<p>I would make very sure that your guidance department actually does send a school profile. Ours did not, and after numerous requests to the guidance department and administration, would not. She said they were <em>worthless</em> and not meaningful to adcoms. Ahem.</p>

<p>Unless you are certain that the application readers will be familiar with your S’s school, I would deal with this head on, and make sure it is addressed in the application. You can include it as a supplemental part to the ap. Most all the parts of a school’s profile are public info and can be summarized in such a way that is meaningful and helpful for the reader.</p>

16

<p>It’s important to get a copy of the school profile and see what it actually reports. For instance, our school reports the average scores on AP tests, which are respectable, but does not report the % of students who take the tests, which is very low.</p>

<p>I would not count on the very busy college admittance officers being very familiar with schools from which they may get no applicants for many years. My son’s GC did not get any calls from the schools my son applied to. The colleges do not visit our school, it’s off their radar, although they visit other schools in the area.</p>

17

<p>zooser – “You would think it’s a prep school in Happy Valley if you had no context.” Yup, welcome to our world. S’s honors program is the shining star in a bleak district. The teachers try hard, the kids are wonderful, and the district thinks its nirvana. You can’t dis the effort–or what the school has accomplished with few resources. That said, comparatively speaking, the program is many notches below the private or suburban schools that are the usual recruiting ground for selective LACs. This will mean that S will bring a different bag of skills and life experiences to his future college </p>

<p>Private music instruction-- Many of you suggest that we gloss over the private instruction my son has gotten because it registers as “privileged.” S has been part of a fine regional chorus (touring and performing) and has had years of private piano lessons. We have paid out of pocket (over $1500 annually) for it. My husband and I are far from rich, but have advanced degrees and send our D to a highly selective LAC (all of which will show on S’s college app). We are not pretending to be disadvantaged. You still think we should airbrush this out of the resume?</p>

18

<p>Yes, I do. Years of private lessons are unlikely to be a plus unless he has major music accomplishments. And still, the fact that he had all those private lessons would be unnecessary to mention if he has such awards.</p>

19

<p>I think that you should keep the private lessons in. No reason at all to hide info about something that he has long been very involved in.</p>

<p>The admissions officers will know from your S’s app your educational levels anyway, so it’s not as if they’ll be evaluating him as if he’s first gen college. Due to your educational level, he is privileged for a the environment he is in, but he obviously still isn’t really privileged. It’s not as if he is so privileged as to have a horse and polo lessons. There also are plenty of lower income students who have music lessons. Having music lessons doesn’t mean a person is rich. </p>

<p>What’s important is that they realize what the school system is like, something that admissions officers at top colleges will look into if they’re not familiar with the school system, which seems very probable. That also will help them understand things like the GC recc and teachers’ reccs, which probably won’t be as polished as those of students from higher quality school districts that are used to having students apply to top colleges.</p>

<p>If I were you, what would be concerning me most at this point would be making sure the GC and teachers know how to write recommendations to support applications to top colleges. I’ve been in a position to read such reports from teachers and GCs from a variety of types of schools. The ones from weak school districts tend to be poorly written – just a sentence, for instance, added to the check-offs, and that sentence may say something unhelpful like “student is very diligent and nice.”</p>

20

<p>I would say: Played such and such instrument for X years. Participated in these ensembles. Won these events/awards.</p>

<p>It’s not a matter of hiding, to me. My kids only put the actual info asked on apps. Activities and awards that fit the spaces. So there’d be no reason to list the lessons, with that approach. Obviously, they know he learned somewhere. I just don’t see a reason to list them. </p>

<p>I agree that lessons don’t have to mean a student is “privileged”. It did seem like the OP worried about giving that impression. but I still don’t see them as germaine to an application.</p>