The Tuition (& Admissions) Blues

Getting Into College Is Harder And More Stressful Than Ever

(CBS)  Bob Primmer is a typical American dad. He makes dinner and helps his high school kids with their homework and worries about getting them into college, which is now a much more difficult process than when he went to school.

"When I went to college, I pretty much applied in July, and I was enrolled in August. As long as you got a certain grade and a certain G.P.A., that was pretty much a lock," he told Sunday Morning correspondent Cynthia Bowers.

Getting into a good college is an uphill battle that favors the rich and well connected and will cost parents more than ever before. At the same time, the cache of an Ivy League school is increasingly appealing.

Primmer, a marketer at the EMC Corporation in Hopkinton, Mass., didn't go to an Ivy League school, but, like a lot of parents, he thinks about it for his kids.

"I'm gonna fight to make sure that every possibility of them getting the best possible education is what happens," he said.

Chantal Lyon is a lawyer with three kids in high school. For her, college admissions are a big worry.

"I have stress coming from all directions and that's definitely one of them," she said.

Lyon attended Boston College but she thinks it'd be a stretch for her son Christopher now.

"I think it's a lot more competitive than ever before," she said.

And then, of course, there's paying for it, another thing about attending college that has become more difficult.

"I know that B.C.[Boston College] is $42,000 a year — that's very steep. Multiply that by three kids, I'm gonna be working a long time," Lyon said.

This year, with more than 500,000 more high school graduates applying to college than just 10 years ago stress levels are at an all-time high for both kids and parents.

The nation's universities have never been more selective. At top schools like Harvard, Princeton, Northwestern, and Stanford only one in 10 of the highly qualified applicants have a chance at being accepted.

Today, even some so-called safety schools are no longer a sure bet.

Reed College is a small liberal arts school in Portland, Ore. that markets itself as a smart alternative to the Ivy League. But like other colleges, admission is highly competitive. The larger number of qualified applicants, says Reed President Colin Diver, allows colleges to be more choosy and more aggressive in going after the best and the brightest.

"Over the last five years we've almost doubled the number of applications and we've obviously made it harder to get in here," Diver said. "They're trying every trick in the book. To try to attract the very best students so yes, it's a very competitive environment right now."

Parents, Diver says, are competitive, too.

[dmartarch]

My name is David Martin. I am an Architect who spent five years in college pursueing my degree.

The American public has forgotten one important factor. College is not for everyone and has never been intended for everyone. Unless the aplicant is intending to pursue a specialized career such as medicine, engineering, science or a similiar arena then college is not the place to be. Furthermore, if your child has no idea of what he wants to do "when he grows up" then he should not be going to college yet.

My final comment involves paying for college. I paid for my own college tuituion, every penny. College is for the childs future, not the parents. If the child pays for it the dedication and drive to finish and succeed goes along with it. Two many children spends years partying at their parents expense.

[tlwc3]

I hope the parents are looking at "best fit" for both child and school and not at the status it will give them. I would not presure my children to go to the school in which they would be a legacy if I knew they would not be successful. Also as said by one of the other comments posted, college is not for everyone, but for those who are striving to do better than what their families or their situation has dealt them should not be discouraged by these games that these schools are playing. That is unfortunate that this the game that we are faced with, especially the parents of first generation college material.

[jerrybert-2009]

One must not forget that higher education is not to prepare the way for the perfect job or career. Rather, it is to train young minds to become free independent thinkers and critically reflect upon issues of this world so that whatever career they are attracted to they will be able to think beyond their 6x8 cubicle.

[kidnykid]

I agree with some of both dmartarch's comments, as well as some of those posted by jerrybert. College - particularly the undergraduate period - is a time when we are exposed for perhaps the only time in our lives to certain topics, like great literature and certain forms of science and higher math. We are to use those skills for critical thinking, and the undergraduate years are to prepare us to become educated citizens fully participating in our culture.

However, some people are suited to other careers - vocations which do not require undergraduate degrees (such as gourmet chef or administrative assistant). Many people suited to these jobs can be trained for these jobs in high school, rather than being forced to go to a vocational school after they receive their high school diplomas. Those who get such jobs after they get a bachelor's degree have really wasted four years' worth of their (or their parents') money and a great deal of time on the part of their professors (not to mention their own time).

Yet high schools brag about the percentage of graduates they send off to college, rather than in trying to convince parents that maybe Johnny (with an IQ of 180) is better off training as a nurse's aide or administrative assistant.

[lifercbs]

College is a for profit business. The second thing a business needs after having a product is a market for it. The college business has been very successful in marketing their product to corporate America, hence you will not see a whitecollar job advertised without a degree requirement. Yet how much higher math or exposure to great literature is needed to teach a child to read or to program a computer? College functions as a quality control system that is free to employers but very costly to degree seekers. Name brand colleges like Harvard produce a product like a Maserati, extremely expensive and unsuitable for ordinary use. Do you know any Ivy League graduates you would like your kid to emulate? The few I have met were well educated in one thing - that they are superior to the rest of the human race.

[sharncedar]

"The second thing a business needs after having a product is a market for it."

Good comment, basic old capitalist theory from before globalization and what some are calling neo-capitalism In the modern era, the key to any business is special rules or powers that limit competition. Because in a global economy free markets and products become unprofitable commodities as profit margin drives to zero. Colleges prevent free competition by several means one of which is "accreditation" which limits the number of businesses allowed to operate as colleges. They manage the supply to be a little less than demand at all times, leading to a steep rising price curve. Classic, textbook (if such textbooks were written) neo-capitalism.

College is ironically the first place most people learn about business, but it is a fantasy world like Disneyland, where they teach dumb little kids to believe in a type of capitalism and free market economics that went out 30 years ago if it ever existed at all.

In the world ecomony, those forced to compete freely on equal terms are known as one thing - "losers". Welcome to your first education. That will be $200,000, thanks.

[sharncedar]

"One must not forget that higher education is not to prepare the way for the perfect job or career. Rather, it is to train young minds to become free independent thinkers and critically reflect upon issues of this world so that whatever career they are attracted to they will be able to think beyond their 6x8 cubicle."

My G*d, what is this nonsense. Who wants workers to think beyond their walls? Who wants slaves and drones to think at all? College serves the purpose of enslaving little fools into debt before they've even worked, and making them fearful and desperate to take any kind of abuse from corporate America.

That is the sum of what it does, no more, no less. Everything has a purpose, and the purpose is created by those who rule. We are ruled by corporations and banks. Acknowledge your rulers and bow to them, little slaves.

[ralphj53]

September 24, 2006

Hello;

I don't know why going to college should be any more of a STRESS for parents.

The end result in our lives is largely determined by Almighty God anyway.

You don't think so?

Want an example?.... How about BILL GATES?
He's a college dropout. Yet, he's the richest man in the world.

So, what's the big deal about going to a prestigious school? Like I said before, those colleges REALLY want to be your FINANCIAL partner when you are ready to earn money.

Nobody has to brainwash me on this. This GREEDY world will ALWAYS be about money.

Unfortunely.

Stop, look and listen!!

ralphJ53

[jerry_in_va]

It's amazing how may parents and students alike are being duped into believing all the hype regarding "name famous" colleges. Unless a student is going to pursue a handful of careers (e.g. law or medicine) where alma mater matters, it is ridiculous to waste all that money on college tuitions, admission tutoring, ...etc to attain a degree. In most states, an excellent education and degree can be attained by attending any number of the accredited state public universities and colleges at a fraction of the cost of attending those "name famous" schools. Besides, a degree from a famous school may help you land and influence the salary in your first job. (And I say MAY). After that, it's your performance and accomplishments that will speak volumes about you, not that fancy piece of paper.

[cathaleen]

What we will have are very neurotic overachievers
unless parents calm down and let their kids enjoy their childhood and teenage years.

Not all lawyers went to Harvard or Yale, not all doctors went to John Hopkins, not all business
men and woman went to Wharton and not all children
are genuises. There are many successful and happy people who graduated from state and local colleges.

[balto_babs]

The REAL stress of sending kids to college is figuring out how to pay for it. I work for the federal government (I'm 55) and my husband is disabled (he is 58). With an adjusted gross income of about $73,000 the FEDERAL financial aid formula specified that I must pay the first $14,000 before our daughter qualifies for ANY financial aid. That's just not possible with mortgage, 401K savings, car payment, insurance (auto, health, long-term care & life), gasoline, utility bills (electric & phone), non-covered medical bills, not to mention food & clothing for the 3 of us.
Right now she is going to community college at $3000 tuition yearly plus $1500-2000 for books, etc. Lord knows what will do when it comes time to transfer to a 4 year school.

[newsjeff-2009]

It is commical but said but only in America that a few high school dropouts can become entertainers or celebreties and make millions of dollars per year by singing loud noise called "rap music" "pop rock" etc., in there underwear or panties and swimsuits or with there pants hanging down a foot below their hips. Then a high school graduate like myself with a few years work experience is told by some employers I am an unskilled,or too inexperienced to get into a better paying job. Third an immigrant who came to America can go to an aviation school in Oklahoma who probably was not a legal or safe immigrant to be here in the first place, one guess: one of the terrorist who flew one of the airplanes on Sept.11,2001 went to flight training school in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Fourth we have so many illegal immigrants going to or trying to get admissions to colleges in this country that "legal American citizens have trouble getting into college". Of course illegal immigrants work for cheap wages so illegal immigrants who graduate from college here in America provides American employers with a lot of cheap,college-degree eduated labor. Yes I am accusing some Americans of supporting illegal immigration if it will supply employers with cheap skilled or unskilled labor, and I know at least a few American workers would agree with me.

[czlawrence]

As with much of the reporting from the media, this article misses a very important point: the higher education community does not end with Harvard,Yale, etc. There are more than 2600 four year colleges and universities in the U.S. Only 25 reject 80% or more of applicants. Another 110 or so reject more than 50% of applicants. That means there are literally THOUSANDS of schools that accept more applicants than they reject. Here's the other fact the media fails to report: you can get a GREAT education at most of those "other" schools.

Parents and the media are measuring educational quality by the wrong thing. Selectivity does not tell you a thing about the quality of education of an institution, nor does its relative prestige. Truly SMART students and their parents know this and are looking beyond the media hype, finding a wide variety of wonderful schools that are NOT impossible to get into.

Stop the insanity folks. Schools like Beloit, Lawrence U, Southwestern U, Rhodes, St. Olaf, Earlham, Hobart & William Smith and hundreds of others should be on every student's "must see" list.