Hrm. This is Certainly a Pickle of a Diddle... (College Admissions)

Parents Forum
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<p>Two of my friends are having a bit of a problem as to their college admissions. One is a 3.1 GPA Hispanic female (don’t know SAT scores) who is Student Body President this year and the other is a 3.4 GPA Hispanic female (don’t know SAT score, yet again) who is Student Body Vice President.</p>

<p>Both have an interest in exploring psychology. Unfortunately, SBP #1 has a few Ds to her record, which I advised her to take remedial classes immediately. SBVP #2 has no Ds, but two Fails to her record because she forgot to withdraw from a community college sponsored Sociology class on campus (she had a family emergency).</p>

<p>Both have expressed an interest to go out of state. Since psychology is so general a major, is there any school in particular that excels in the field?</p>

<p>Also, a rising junior, Hispanic female with approximately 3.2 but incredible threatrical/performing arts talent is already preparing for college. Quite frankly, I think it’s a bit early in the process for her to think of admissions, however, I was wondering if there were any performing arts camps that she could go off to for the summer (next summer, not this one). It would have to provide need-based scholarships or be completely compensated all around, as her family is lower-tiered income.</p>

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<p>tlaktan - I don’t have any info at all on your questions. I just wanted to chime in at how impressed I am with your continued “pay it forward” efforts to guide your peers through the college thinking process. It is no surprise that you are doing this, of course. Your character is obvious. But I wanted to say it “out loud.” You are a gem.</p>

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<p>Since most people change majors at least twice in college, my suggestion is that they both attempt to go to a good liberal arts college.</p>

<p>I also suggest that they have a long talk with their parents about finances, and also pin down their parents to how much the parents are willing to pay each year for the students’ college.</p>

<p>Assuming they’re in your state, they have the good fortune to have some of the best, most affordable public institutions in the country. I imagine that staying in Calif. might offer them the most affordable experiences. </p>

<p>In addition, with Ds and Fs on their transcripts and relatively low averages, I don’t think that either will be in line for the kind of acceptances or merit aid that would make it a great deal to go out of state. Even being Hispanic, I don’t think would be that much of an advantage for them unless they happen to be Mexican or Puerto Rican and first generation college: Those are the Hispanics that are URMs.</p>

<p>When it comes to camps, my thoughts are that if your friend is low income, she might be better off spending her summer earning $ for college instead of going to a theater camp.</p>

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<p>I think these would be great questions to take to someone in the Admissions Office at Occidental College. They have been actively involved in recruiting minorities since the 70s and probably know a lot about access for students like those you describe. Oxy has become much more competetive in admissions in recent years, but I don’t think that has altered their interest in keeping their standing re diversity–or that the campus community would allow them to disown their long time commitment, especially to the Latino community in LA. (They have done some great summer theater programs in the past too.) Even if the students would not have an interest in Oxy or be qualified there, I think the college might be a resource for you in terms of learning about an array of programs/schools.</p>

<p>And I too am grateful and admiring of your committment to find resources for your friends…</p>

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<p>The admissions world is full of cases of good kids that slipped up a bit, got a bad grade, and got slammed in the admissions process. It is also full of stories of kids that overcame such problems and got into great schools, maybe beyond what others would have expected.</p>

<p>What is the difference? I suspect it is that those that prevailed made a personal connection with an admissions person. Adcoms are “suckers for a good story”. Heck, aren’t we all? </p>

<p>The best thing your friends could do is to start connecting with admissions folks. How? Letters. Email. Personal meetings. College fairs. Any way they can. They’ll get a lot of polite brush offs, but may make that connection. </p>

<p>BTW, IF their record is just that they were too distracted by student government and ECs to focus on school, then maybe a stint at a JC would offer a good chance to learn how to prioritize. California is unique in its use of JCs to good advantage in giving former slackers a second chance.</p>

<p>I don’t know your friends, of course, so please don’t think I’m implying something about them. I’m not. I’m just giving you some thoughts.</p>

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<p>tlaktan:</p>

<p>I, too, second the kudos for helping others search the maze of college admissions. I also second newmassdad’s suggestion about considering community college. With 40% of kids graduating high school with straight A’s, D’s and F’s are really hard to explain to adcoms. Santa Monica City College has a wonderful program with a very high acceptance (transfer) rate to UCLA, which has an excellent fine arts program, as well as psychology.</p>

<p>btw: did friend #2 appeal to the school to get the grade changed to a W based on family emergency?</p>

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<p>Beginning of junior year is a good time to be thinking about college admissions. You can start a few local visits during Thanksgiving, those weird off days that schools often have, SAT prep, examining websites and college books, etc. </p>

<p>As for performing arts camps, there are usually scholarships for some students given. I wouldn’t nix the idea of a camp just because of no $$.</p>

<p>As for Ds and Fs in the transcript, these need to be addressed. Hope the Ds were in freshman year–get the GC on board, he or she can “explain” things in a letter. This is where the GCs earn their money.</p>

<p>Smaller out of state privates who don’t get much Hispanic applicants may fit the bill. Problem–try being one of the two Hispanics at your college.</p>

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<p>I wasn’t nixing the idea of camp because of no $. I was suggesting that for financial reasons, the student may be better off earning $ over the summer instead of going to camp.</p>

<p>Even with scholarships, college can still be a big burden for low income families. Having $ from summer earnings can help students get home more often than Christmas and at the end of the school year, which is what financial aid typically calculates. The extra $ also may help the student get some of the extras that really feel like must haves when one is in college. This includes, for instance being able to furnish one’s room nicely or go out to an occasional dinner with friends.</p>

<p>Most students switch majors anyway, and most aspiring actors, etc. end up in very different fields, so I doubt if in the long run not going to performing arts camp will hurt the student.</p>

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<p>I agree with all the above ideas, and add this one: make sure they focus on doing well on the SAT (take a class, study the books, etc.) - National Hispanic Scholar goes a long way in admissions.</p>

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<p>Off topic, could someone please tell me what defines “Hispanic” for these colleges? Or defines “Hispanic” for the “National Hispanic Scholar”? A Hispanic surname? A parent who is 100% Hispanic? A grandmother on one side?</p>

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<p>Look into Clark University in Massachusetts. Great school for psychology, very diverse, would probably be interested in applications from California.</p>

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<p>Wholeheartedly agree with you on this one, Northstarmom. Sometimes I worry that low income kids on financial aid at very expensive schools come away with the feeling that they are “in” the world, but not “of” the world.</p>

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<p>Your friend who is talented in the arts should know about the InnerSpark program, by audition and with need-based scholarships, in California. 500 students are accepted in various arts fields and spend a summer month at CalArts in Valencia. Accepted students are designated California Arts Scholars. The program has an excellent reputation. If she goes to <a href=“http://www.innerspark.us%5B/url%5D”>www.innerspark.us</a>, she’ll be able to find out more about it.</p>

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<p>RE: The D and Fail Issue</p>

<p>Well, for the SB President, distraction from extracurriculars and lack of prioritization may have been the root cause of it. I’m not sure about her, but for the SB Vice President, her grandmother was dying in Mexico and she had to take an emergency leave back home. The Fail was a Sociology class offered by Santa Monica College, and the girl was confused as to the drop procedures for a satellite class, since it was her first SMC class (ever). </p>

<p>I advised her to appeal the grade and have it either marked as Withdrawn or purged from the record completely, but I guess the school didn’t bite. (NSM, both are of Mexican descent, I just read quickly read over your post.)</p>

<p>A recap…</p>

<p>As for this week, I’m not going to worry myself over it. I finished a caseload of nearly 50 senior graduation credit checks with a Pupil Personnel Credential intern (I work for the school, in particular my GC, simply because idle minds = not a good thing). </p>

<p>So far, in the past two weeks, I have been doing class changes/transfers like gaga. I’m counting upwards of 500 transfers in a span of two weeks. In addition to the senior graduation checks, I’ve been doing unofficial college advisement for a lot of the juniors, and will be doing official advisement next week. Thus far, I’ve had no reprieve. Don’t want to strain myself, though, so I always take leave at around 1pm or so, have a bite to eat, go home and relax. Or, I head out with friends. One or the other. </p>

<p>I’m a bit lucky to have such leeway in my school, as my GC has allowed me to run a few prototype projects to help increase both graduation rates and college matriculation rates. In the short amount of time on my hands, I’ve set up a Freshmen Orientation for magnet students, showed them the “ropes,” as they say, organized a Student Ambassadorship program where former seniors from '05 come and talk about their experience, as well as help others connect to college, blah blah, so on and so forth. (The Student Ambassadorship program was a CC-generated idea!) This year’s graduating class has expressed a great interest in going out of state, so I’m being dragged to that field too. </p>

<p>In the words of my principal (or should I say, former principal): “You haven’t left YET?” He was joking, I hope. =)… </p>

<p>I have about a week left worth of providing my services to the school then it is Goodbye, Farewell, and Amen for me. Oh, shoot, I can’t. They’re trying to resurrect our defunct Mock Trial club and the club organizers are asking me to do a crash course in judicial procedures. <em>mutter</em> Once a week, then?</p>

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<p>Well, if the grade can’t be changed, then the GC should be asked to explain it in the letter of rec.</p>