Letters to the Editor: High school counselors shouldn’t sell community colleges short

To the editor: Lynda McGee, college counselor at Downtown Magnets High School in Los Angeles, has an absolutely empowering idea for her students who received rejection letters from competitive universities — throwing them a rejection party. I applaud McGee for instilling courage into these seniors and celebrating “the fact that you took a risk.”

However, I was dismayed to read that McGee urged a student whose grades had slipped during the pandemic and who considered attending a community college, to apply to a Cal State University school instead.

There is nothing wrong with the CSUs, but why not attend a community college and then transfer to one’s dream school? Why not save money and get an equally good education? Why are community colleges not considered a viable option for so many students?

As a community college instructor and director of my campus’ honors program, I am daily reminded how incredible our underserved and hard-working students are. Our students have transferred to Amherst, Yale, Stanford, MIT and the University of California schools, just to name a few.

I would love to see committed high school counselors such as McGee promote community colleges as a pathway to competitive four-year institutions.

Danielle Muller, Los Angeles

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To the editor: It was a joy to read of the college rejection party held at Downtown Magnets High School. Reading the accounts of some of these students’ struggles just to stay in school was heartbreaking, but one thing they are all supremely fortunate to have is their college counselor, Lynda McGee.

McGee seems to be a combination of guidance and grit and someone who really sees her students.

The oath they declare at the end of the party — “I solemnly pledge to realize that my potential and promise is never determined by the college I attend” — ought to be recited by all college applicants, from homeless kids to the entitled.

Jean Kilmurray, Ojai