Matching Students With the Right Colleges

Re “A Bit of Teenage Savvy,” editorial, Aug. 20: What an intelligent editorial. I am the director of college guidance services in the Capistrano Unified School District and spend all of my time speaking with parents and students about thinking ahead to college.

My continual reminder to all of them is that the choice in where to attend college must be viewed as “a match to be made and not a prize to be won.” High schools graduate, colleges admit, companies employ and communities honor people.

The true value of a person can be assessed only when he or she is looked at comprehensively, from top to bottom and from the inside out. If a college or university chooses to view students by academic numbers alone (grade-point average, rank in class, standardized test scores), my advice to sensible people is to look elsewhere.

The intelligent world of college choice is not simply the selection of students by particular colleges but the thoughtful selection of colleges by students themselves.

Debbie Morgan

Capistrano Beach