##M:[more]##Just how important are standardized test scores for getting into college?
Should college-bound students take a test preparation course like the Princeton Review or hire a private tutor for SAT prep?
How does class rank affect a student’s chances of being admitted?
What role can a private college admissions counselor play and does having one give you a competitive advantage in getting into the school of your choice?
What strategies are there to be recruited for athletics?
What is the role of affirmative action in the college admissions process today?
How do college admissions officers make their decisions?
If you are the parent of a college-bound high school student, chances are these are just some of the questions at the top of your mind these days. If it is any comfort, you are not alone. The college selection and admissions process has evolved into something quite different than it was just one generation ago, when most parents of today’s college-bound students were applying to school. Today, the process has become highly pressurized, hyper-competitive, and increasingly characterized by anxiety, as high-achieving students across the country compete for coveted spots in the schools of their choice.
“I know parents and students in our district are very anxious and that’s why we work closely with them right from the start to give them the support they need,” explains Nancy Icenhower, director of guidance services for all 10 schools in the West Windsor-Plainsboro school district, including the two high schools, North and South. “Our district is big on professional development and staying on top of the latest trends, so we know what’s going on with admissions on both the secondary school level and the college level.”
Icenhower had the opportunity to discuss the hot-button issues in college admissions at the Harvard Summer Institute on College Admissions in Massachusetts. Each year the forum brings together guidance and admissions professionals from all over the country for an intensive, six-day program designed to expose them to the most recent developments in the dynamic and quickly evolving field of college admissions.
“Our focus is making sure that the kids in our district are well-prepared for college and also making sure that we, as guidance counselors, are as well-informed as we can possibly be on the college admissions landscape,” says Icenhower. “As the process becomes more competitive, networking becomes even more important for guidance counselors who can develop relationships with admissions people. When you talk to parents it’s very useful and effective to say, for example, I got that information from the dean of admissions at Princeton whom I met at the program. It highlights my credibility.”
There are 15 guidance counselors between the two West Windsor Plainsboro High Schools. As of June, there were 1,”436 students registered at High School North, and 1,”616 students registered at High School South. Each counselor has a caseload of approximately 225 students, ranging from freshmen to seniors, so that at any given time, only one-fourth are seniors, who demand the most time and attention as they are shepherded through the college admissions process.
The seminars offered at the Harvard Institute covered the gamut of admissions trends and dilemmas, including the pros and cons of taking a gap year, what colleges look for in a high school profile, trends in international admissions, diversity in higher education, helping students transition to college from high school, and admissions officers’ views on Advanced Placement courses and testing.
Icenhower says there were several areas of particular interest to her as they related to the West Windsor-Plainsboro school district: class rankings, standardized testing and tutoring, ethical issues, and the trend of hiring a college counselor.
Class Rankings?…Not Helpful
This is the practice of ranking students as they stand in relation to the rest of their peers based on their grade point average (GPA). Forty percent (40 percent) of high schools do not rank their students and included in this group are both the WW-P high schools.
“Many colleges will ask if the kids are in the top 20 percent of their class,” says Icenhower. “And if they’re not, it may put them out completely even if these kids have strengths in other areas that should be looked at. The rankings take away the flexibility to look at students holistically.”
“At the Harvard Institute we discussed the pros and cons of the ranking process and I came away feeling confident that we are doing the right thing by not ranking our students. Highly competitive schools should not rank because it puts students at a disadvantage and hurts the students who are in the middle.”
Standardized Tests and Tutoring
Says Icenhower: “We used to tell parents that tutoring would not significantly increase scores for standardized tests like the SAT and ACT, but we have found that you can teach to the test and improve scores, which is why the test prep industry has become such a booming business,” says Icenhower.
Standardized testing has come under intense media scrutiny recently. The billion dollar test prep industry is exploding at a time when colleges are paying more attention to test scores in students, mainly to enhance their own rankings in such publications as U.S. News and World Report, which puts out a high-publicized, much-anticipated annual list. This has coincided with the use of outside agencies and private consulting services by colleges as they package themselves as a brand and deluge potential students with direct marketing materials.
Meanwhile, the growth of the tutoring business is perceived as another way that children who have parents of means get an unfair advantage over those who do not. Ironically, standardized testing originally was established to democratize the admissions process for students in areas of the country that traditionally did not send many students to college.
Icenhower says that colleges use standardized test scores to compare students to other students within their own school or schools that are similar in socioeconomic and academic profile. That would mean that a student in one district whose parents could afford to pay for a private class or tutor could have an advantage over a student whose family does not. The West Windsor Plainsboro school district has taken steps to address this inequity.
“In order to ensure a level playing field for all of the students in our district, we have purchased a test preparation service that is available to every student in our district online, free of charge,” explains Icenhower. “In addition, students can go to our guidance website and find detailed information about college planning, including courses they should be taking and scholarship and financial aid information.” (Go to www.ww-p.k12.nj.us/guidance and follow the links for all services) “Families can also sign up to receive an E-Guidance newsletter electronically. This will make sure that they receive the latest, up-to-date information about what is going on about high school guidance and college admissions. Parents can click onto the link for the year of their child’s graduation so they can receive targeted messages.”
Ultimately, however, Icenhower believes that the depth and richness of the school district’s curriculum ensures that WW-P students perform well on these standardized tests. “Learning math skills and accruing vocabulary through good reading and writing is essential and we teach that here. Our students have historically done well on these tests and we expect that kind of performance to continue.”
A Web-Based Tool To Help Navigate College Admissions
Last year the district also made a web-based tool called Naviance available to all students and parents. Naviance maintains a database of more than 6,”000 colleges and universities in the United States and around the world and is being used increasingly by high schools and guidance departments. Families can log in to discover qualifying information for the colleges they want, including statistics about size, location and cost. They can also find out about admissions requirements, majors, student activities and statistics about the student body.
“It’s an extremely valuable tool,” says Icenhower. “It allows parents and students to be more realistic in developing a balanced list of schools that would be appropriate for them to look at. We look for ‘target schools, reach and probables.’ Naviance will plot a student’s test scores and GPA on a scattergram against other WW-P graduates who have applied to those same schools over the last three years so they can see where they stand in relation to a candidate who got in or who did not.”
While some critics say one downside of a program like Naviance is that it may discourage candidates from applying to certain schools, many students and parents feel it is a useful yardstick to measure expectations. Icenhower agrees: “Parents can use Naviance to get a more realistic picture of their children and where they are applying.” she says. “It’s so much easier to ask them to go on to Naviance so they can see for themselves and get a sense of what their chances are.”
Ethical Dilemmas in College Admissions
Icenhower says that the disclosure laws concerning students are changing at the same time that more and more students are using the common application which asks tough questions. “For example, we are not supposed to disclose any disciplinary action taken against a student,” says Icenhower.
“But what if I have a student who was involved in something that could be dangerous to other students — driving drunk, selling drugs to other kids, threatening other kids — what is our liability in light of certain issues, especially with some of the national stories that have happened recently? There are not always clear-cut answers, but our discussions made me reflect on our policies and how they fit into the landscape of college admissions.”
Private Counselors: To Hire or Not?
There has been an increasing national trend of hiring private college counselors to guide students and their parents through an admissions process that has become ultra-competitive, and to some, a process that is frightening. It’s a trend Icenhower finds disturbing.
“Parents know there are more students going to schools than ever before,” she says. “It’s the combination of the population bubble and colleges being more accessible for everyone. So now they feel like they have to hire a private college counselor and pay lots of money to give their child the best chance to get into the college of their choice. And I assure them they don’t need to do that.
“College admissions people tell us they know when kids are packaged. If there’s a disconnect between the candidate and his application, in the long run, it’s going to hurt the kid’s chances of getting in.”
Icenhower says that when she applied to college herself as a high school junior, she applied to just one, Trenton State College, now called the College of New Jersey. She grew up in Bergen County to a stay-at-home mother and a machinist father, who immigrated to the United States from Germany at the age of 16. She graduated from Ridgefield Park High School in 1972 and in 1976 earned a B.S. in health and physical education. She later returned to Trenton State to earn a masters in health education.
Along the way, she worked at Delaware Valley Regional High School in Hunterdon County, teaching, coaching, and working with kids with substance abuse issues. She also did a brief stint as a consultant at Johnson & Johnson in New Brunswick, developing curriculum to teach employees about drug prevention and AIDS.
Icenhower came to work in the WW-P district 18 years ago, when she helped open the Upper Elementary School, now known as Millstone River, as head of the physical education department. Her pursuit of education continued as she earned another masters degree in counseling, as well as certification in administration. She received certification as a guidance counselor and was certified nationally. Today, in addition to her guidance responsibilities for the district, she also serves as an adjunct professor in the graduate program at the College of New Jersey, working with people who want to become guidance counselors.
Icenhower has been married for 29 years to David, who is the head wrestling coach and senior men’s athletic administrator at the College of New Jersey. The Icenhowers, residents of Robbinsville, have three children — a son who is a graduate of the College of New Jersey, a daughter at East Carolina University, where she has an athletic scholarship for diving, and a son who is a high school freshman.
Icenhower says her focus as the district’s director of guidance is to support the counselors in whatever they need to help students and their parents. “Going to a program like the Harvard Institute allows me to keep current, and to bring back new information and share it with all of my counselors.”
She says good high school guidance actually begins in the eighth grade with course selection and continues through all four years of high school.
“There are important deadlines and we are in constant communication with parents and students over the four years. We can deliver information to the students in group study hall and if there is important information for their parents, I ask them to come to our evening programs. Parents in the West Windsor-Plainsboro School district pay good tax money and I firmly believe they are getting their money’s worth.”
