Sharing Goals : Preparing College Applications Requires Degree of Confidence

“I’m off to a job in Philadelphia next week,” said the jubilant 1992 college graduate. “I’m excited, a little nervous, but the company seems to be very good. They’ve even offered their assistance in helping me through graduate school in a couple years. Thanks again for your help.”

The “help” to which the June graduate referred occurred five years earlier, during the fall college application season.

A local businessman had contacted me then, asking me to assist two minority high school students with their college applications. The businessman had met the students at his son’s school and offered to supplement the help they were receiving from their school counselor and teachers in organizing their applications.

I had not been involved with the college application process since my own senior year in high school. It is a daunting process for someone who’s been through it before; often overwhelming for someone who hasn’t.

The forms are complex and time consuming--each college seeks the same information in myriad ways.

The businessman had already sent two of his own children to college, so he had some constructive methods for organizing the process.

He provided both seniors with a portable expandable file divided by colleges. Each student had made duplicate copies of each application and had copies of transcripts, SAT scores, Social Security numbers, and details of extracurricular activities and job experiences. Most importantly, the businessman had assisted both students in creating a comprehensive calendar of upcoming testing dates and due dates for each college application.

When the first of the students--the one now working in Philadelphia--arrived at our house, he had completed a working copy of all five of his applications. He also had blank duplicate copies of application materials, which are essential so that a clean final version--free of scratch-outs, errors and revisions--can be submitted.

The colleges each required personal essays as part of the application, and some asked additional questions, such as, “If you had six months to do anything you wanted, what would you do?” or “What is your favorite movie?”

The young man I was working with had several unfinished essays pertaining to various facets of his life. Together we decided it would be best to concentrate on a single essay that would work for most of the applications--and he put his efforts into one that focused on his work experience the previous summer.

The essay described his taking the trolley near his house at 5 a.m. each day, transferring to two different bus lines, and ultimately walking the last 45 minutes to a job site in Del Mar.

His first day on the job began with “breaking up a pile of rock,” as instructed by the foreman. “I felt that the boss looked at me like another 16-year-old kid from Southeast San Diego. I knew I had to gain his respect,” the young man wrote.

He told how he worked diligently to show the supervisor his worth. As the summer progressed, he graduated from the “rock pile” to tasks requiring other skills and more responsibility. The essay concluded with the statement, “I learned a lot about life and responsibility this past summer.”

The self-portrait presented in this composition far outweighed the essay’s shortcomings as a literary masterpiece. I suspect the college admission officers who read it were impressed with the character of its author.

Next we set about the task of typing the applications themselves. Having blank copies of the applications made the assignment easier.

Some of the routine questions were awkward, but we talked our way through them. Because he had no home telephone number to list, we substituted the home phone number of the businessman, with a brief notation.

The segment asking “name of father” and also “family members who have attended college and where” were emotional ones. “I haven’t seen my father in over 12 years and have no idea where he is,” the young man told me. “Do we have to put his name down?” We decided to leave that area blank.

“I’m the first person in my family to go to college,” he confided. Well, I told him, someday, his children would benefit from being able to state on their college applications their father’s college and date of graduation.

We were advised in several application instructions to make a completed copy for the student’s files in the event that something might be misplaced at home, in the mailing or at the college. While he made copies, I went to the post office and got certified postage forms and return post cards.

The businessman and the students I worked with kept me informed during the course of the year on the status of the applications--and, wonderfully, each student’s ultimate college choice.

Throughout their four years at school, we stayed in touch, discussing academic and athletic triumphs and, sometimes, failures.

And there have since been other students who needed assistance winding their way through the application process.

To the question, “Why do you want to go to college,” one student replied, “I love learning and I don’t want to be another 17-year-old girl with a baby in the barrio.”

I still have this student’s first postcard from college exalting details of classes and dormitory life. This year, she qualified to spend her junior year in Spain through a university sponsored program. Our family received a letter last week describing her new home--a Spanish town filled with beauty and tradition.

Like many parents, I have worked on numerous projects with students. Yet, I believe, that of all of these, my most enriching experience has been my involvement with students through the college application process.

I have learned a great deal from these students--about the importance of determination, confidence and patience. And also about organizational skills, which were most beneficial when my own children were seniors in high school and applying to colleges.

I am impressed with institutions that have pooled their ideas and created “the common application.” It would please me further to see a member of Congress introduce a bill requiring all institutions receiving federal funding to adopt standard application forms for admission and financial aid.

The institutions could additionally decide on one essay topic, which could change yearly, and on a standard form for teacher and counselor recommendations.

Their time--as well as that of students trying to keep up with academics and other school activities--could be better spent than in being required to say the same thing a dozen different ways.