<p>bhg–If it’s any consolation, I attended an LAC, majored in music and English, did not go directly to graduate school, got my first job (in journalism) straight out of college, and even after relocating to the Pacific Northwest a year later, found sufficient employment based on my work experience as an undergrad (music librarian after having had work/study experience in the music library; piano accompanist for several choruses; and librarian for a regional orchestra). If an LAC is the best fit for your S (#4), please give him the opportunity to explore them as much as possible, talk with the career counseling offices on the various campuses (that made my H feel better about the LAC that D will attend next fall since S is graduating from a pre-professional program at a large state university), and be supportive of having your S work on campus during his undergrad days. For many kids, it’s not necessarily the job (or the school) itself but the connections and networks they develop that make the difference in getting a job post-graduation.</p>
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<p>Yes, I interfered too much,and my daughter wanted me out of her hair especially last fall. But, for her, and I think for most hard working, involved kids, they would never do the research and digging that it takes to find some of these opportunities. She would have never gone further than the “brand names” and the schools that heavily visit her school. Would she have been OK? yeah, probably Will she be more happy now? I hope so.</p>
<p>S would never have “gotten around to it” and probably would have wound up at CC because of sheer avoidance/laziness! We are waiting to hear from a wide variety of schools, two of which I heard about on CC and are in his top 3!! And he already has his safety acceptance!</p>
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I am with you all the way. Early in the game, H and I - on the sofa with our various College Guides spread out before us, laptop on lap, highlighters in hand - remarked to S, as he passed by on the way to more engaging (to him) pursuits, that we certainly were having fun with “this college thing”, whether or not he was.</p>
<p>And we were. It was pure pleasure for us to triangulate S’s interests, geographical preferences, “stats,” GC suggestions… into a preliminary list. Had there been a vacuum where we were, S surely would have put together a laundry list of schools to consider. But would it have been as thoroughly considered as our list? I doubt it.</p>
<p>And should there be any guilt in fulfilling that part of the application process? Or the administrative part (scheduling trips, making info session appts…)? I think not.</p>
<p>Shame, imho, is only appropriate where a line is crossed in writing essays, checking parental - not student - preferences for major field of study, etc.</p>
<p>Digi: and our assistance to S came nowhere near uncovering the specialized opportunity you were able to id for your son. That is a gift you gave him, and shame is the polar opposite of the emotion you should feel for that (im not so humble o).</p>
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And, for any who have followed the saga of my gS who left hs without ever applying to college at all, some kids end up missing, not perfect matchups, but missing the boat entirely. Those of us who are “involved and informed” provide the sometimes unnoticed, but critical, support that some kids need just to feel the confidence to move forward * at all*. I know that doesn’t characterize most of the S/Ds on this board, or my own S, but that void did exist for our gS and we are more than glad to be able to fill it, albeit a year “late.” The challenges with him are very different, but in many ways, perhaps even more important.</p>
<p>“And should there be any guilt in fulfilling that part of the application process? Or the administrative part (scheduling trips, making info session appts…)? I think not.”</p>
<p>One of the best things I got from CC last year was knowing that I wasn’t the only parent filling out college applications online for my kid. She was spending 15 hours a week in the dance studio, 10 hours a week in the car going to & from, and carrying a full academic load. There was no reason for her to type her name, address, class schedule, etc., seven times! (The essay, of course, she wrote herself. However, I was also glad to find out she wasn’t the only kid that used the same essay for almost every application!) </p>
<p>I would have loved for her to make all the reservations, appointments, etc. But her theory in all of this was waiting until the college-application fairy showed up at the front door with an acceptance and full ride. Preferably without her having to do any silly applications or auditions.</p>
<p>Peg</p>
<p>peggy - I insisted that S go through the “fill in the blanks” stuff once. I don’t know if that was really important, but as someone else commented, I felt he needed to know that life does consist of such drudgery. After that, I’m with you - let me be the secretary re-copying that stuff on other forms.</p>
<p>And as for using the same essay more than once, one of my pet peeves in this whole process is schools which insist on having their “own” essay. My understanding is that the point of the essay is (1) seeing whether there is or isn’t writing skill present and (2) getting to know the student. Why do so many highly selective schools feel the need to create an extra hoop to jump through with their “brilliantly unique” prompts? It escapes me.</p>
<p>JrMom – I made my daughter fill out the first one, too. After that, I couldn’t see any advantage in making her do it.</p>
<p>As for the essay, she just kept revising the first one to fit the situation. Until she got to Univ of Mich. That one had SIX essays, none of which were related to her master essay. I tell people it took an act of God to get her to fill out the form. Literally. The final deadline was Feb. 1 (?) and about Jan. 28, we had a snow storm and were out of school for two days. I made her sit down and spend the ENTIRE day writing essays. It must have worked because she was academically accepted there, but it was not one of her more “fun” snow days! And you are right; I have no idea what it accomplished. Except it proved to the university that she could “b.s.” her way through their essays. :)</p>
<p>And I want to know who has time to sit down and really read all those essays. </p>
<p>Peg</p>
<p>I would say that the parents write about half the essays anyway based on what I’ve seen.</p>
<p>What have you seen that leads you to this conclusion, mensa?</p>
<p>Second mootmom’s question.</p>
<p>It’s just that some of the high-powered parents are very pushy. I know one who had essays reviewed by a professional journalist. I think this hurts you, because the collges figure it out.
But I should admit I don’t really have proof, so I’m probably overestimating from a few bad apples.</p>
<p>There are, of course, companies in the business of “helping” with essays. I personally have no idea how much business they do, or how close they come to actually writing the essays. I have seen some of their websites, examples etc. but don’t know how much of a “market share” they have.</p>
<p>Really, I think that the vast majority of parents that post here are NOT doing things like writing essays and getting them professionally critiqued. But I wish there was a way to do an anonymous poll to find out exactly what services were used:</p>
<ol>
<li>Prep for SATs, etc: many posters</li>
<li>Use of parents, friends, teachers, etc for essay proofreading: most posters</li>
<li>Use of the above for more critical editing suggestions: many posters</li>
<li>Professional review and editing of essays: ???</li>
<li>Third party essay writers (parents, professionals, etc): prob. almost none</li>
<li>Professional “packaging” of quals and credentials: ???</li>
</ol>
<p>I do not understand the whole direction of this thread. Employability from a liberal arts college versus a university? </p>
<p>The country’s better liberal arts colleges and better universities offer exactly the same degrees, departments, majors, and curriculum. No difference whatsover. The only difference is that the universities have graduate schools and liberal arts colleges do not.</p>
<p>For the vast majority of undergrads, the decision between a university and a liberal arts college is ultimately one of size, not curriculum or professors or majors or employability or post-grad options.</p>
<p>dig, I smell a new thread…</p>
<p>If a parent wrote an essay, the reps would know it was not a students voice ;it would not be a, from the heart of a senior ,essay. My D had her AP English teacher review hers and he helped her brainstorm, asked her questions to help her clarify what she wanted to say. Our biggest drawback was that before my kids were juniors we never really knew what an SAT was. Some kids start taking them in their schools in 8th grade. If I had a 3rd child ( I am so glad I don’t) but if I did I would start familiiarity with standardized tests a lot earlier. By junior year the kids are so involved in so many activities that there is not the time to devote. If I found CC a little earlier ,but even still I have learned so much from you folks and can share this information with so many others now.</p>
<p>I agree with InterestedDad. This is the first time I have heard of a linkage that contrasts the employability of graduates from liberal arts colleges vs. those from universities.</p>