Reply to Is it harder now a days to get into college w/ all the AP,IB, High GPA and over supply of applicants

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Is it just harder to get into a decent college now a days or have certain colleges improved? [b]Mostly the former, but as colleges become more selective and have more qualified applicants and enrollees the latter is also true.[/b]

Has the demand of college made everything more expensive and harder to get into? [b]Yes, I think so[/b]. [b]One caveat is that we're talking about maybe the top 50 colleges. Lesser-known colleges in some cases are still quite easy to attend.[/b]

It seems like everyone needs to put your kid through a bunch of programs like AP/IB high GPA etc... to just get into a decent college where in the past those gifted or special programs were only a small fraction of students. [b]Supply and demand.[/b]

In the end are we going to short change our children if we don't do those programs or go to a subpar high school system like DCPS?[/quote] [b]I worry about this. My HS senior was quite stressed by the college application race. I think it took up too much of his energy and time over the past year that could have been spent more productively on other things. It is concerning to me.

[/b][/quote]
 
                 You are right to be concerned, as should high schools and colleges.  The problem is not just the senior year, but huge emphasis on extra-curricular activities for 4 years.  While there are some kids who love and can do it all,  talk to many new admits at top schools and they will tell you quite of few of them did a number of things specifically because it would look good for college.  This leads to over scheduling.   The colleges emphasis on taking the most rigorous classes, results in some kids taking classes they are less interested in than others because they are AP or otherwise weighted to raise a GPA and not "look" like they are skirting by with easy classes.  A study from UNC (or NC State) a year or two ago showed that college performance was positively correlated with taking up to something like 4 AP classes in HS (might have been 3 or 5, not certain), but that beyond that number there was no evidence of improved college performance.  It isn't easy to fix the system -- it's complicated -- but sometimes I think going back to grades and test scores and ignoring everything else wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing and could let kids have more free time in high school.  [/quote]

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