College & Workforce Readiness

Hope for Imperfect Students in College-Admissions Process

By Caralee J. Adams — January 23, 2012 1 min read
  • Save to favorites
  • Print

The competitive college-admission process has many high school students in a frenzy over grades, activities, and testing. Jay Mathews’ recent column in The Washington Post, 5 Wrong Ideas About College Admission, adds some needed perspective.

The myths he spells out give hope to the less-than-perfect student. Mathew’s wrong ideas:

1. Colleges are impressed by a lot of extracurricular activities.

2. The more Advanced Placement or International Baccalaureate classes and tests, the better.

3. Every high school grade counts.

4. A student has little chance to get into a top school without an SAT prep course.

5. The harder a college is to get into, the more it will ensure a bright future.

For more detail on why these pieces of conventional wisdom are flawed, see Mathew’s full piece here.

A version of this news article first appeared in the College Bound blog.