by Mr. B.

Created on: August 11, 2008   Last Updated: October 15, 2010

College admissions season is very stressful for students, high school faculty members, parents, and the schools themselves. There are more people trying to go to college these days, and there is no doubt that college admissions officers are finding more potential candidates every year. As someone who has gone through the process of applying for college only two years ago, has mentored students and helped them apply to college, and worked with a college orientation program, I have picked up on some things that I feel need to be looked at more when deciding admissions.

1. GRADES - This may seem obvious to some, but it seems that many schools are not focusing too much on that. Four year universities should give preference to students who managed to maintain a 2.5 or higher GPA in high school. Many high schools have a curriculum that provide borderline basic skills. Maybe a general understanding of algebra is learned or a little unit on MLA format. However, despite this training, students go to college and have to endure a completely different load. Sometimes, the students with A-B averages in high school manage to get by with a bit of stress their first semester, while the ones who had D-F averages never stood a chance and end up taking remedial classes. No student should be going to a four-year university and paying (or having the government pay) for a class that their high school taught but they ended up failing for whatever reason. No four-year university should be paying a faculty to cover these remedial classes either. They should go to a cheaper county college to repair the gaps in their education, and ease into a full program.

2. PERSONALITY - This could be debated because there is no real way to determine a person's personality even when they enter the school unless they are being watched. Schools should however consider some personal things when admitting someone. For instance, there are many students that do not have a sincere desire to go to college, and when they get to school, they choose to live up to college social standards but not academics. Peer recommendations or questionnaires may assist in weeding this out. Only students that want to go to college for the right reasons should get in.

3. ACTIVITIES - Throughout high school, extracurricular activities have always been advertised as the key to college admissions. This should remain true. It is one thing for someone to simply go to school, but college is a full time commitment, and someone who

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