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Tuesday, January 11, 2005
‘…Not a Referendum on Parenting’
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
I asked Christoph Guttentag, head of admissions at Duke University, every question I could think of in hopes of demystifying the college admissions process.
Why Duke? It’s an extremely popular college among metro Atlanta students, and it’s very competitive. Just one in five applicants gets accepted. And, Christoph returned my phone call.
PG: What are the factors Duke considers?
CG: Curriculum, grades, test scores, letters of recommendation, activities and the essay. We have a numeric evaluation system.
PG: What is most heavily weighted?
CG: Curriculum, grades and test scores count for 50 percent.
PG: Why is the admissions process such an enigma?
CG: It’s perceived to be a very high-stakes process, unless you are on the inside. Nobody on the outside can see the process. They look at the input and the output, who applied and who got in, and try to understand what happened in the black box.
PG: What do you think about families hiring consultants to help with admission?
CG: This is predominantly a phenomenon of the major metropolitan areas. I worry that families feel if they don’t do it they are missing an opportunity for their child.
PG: Do you know when a consultant has been involved with a student’s application?
CG: Usually, no.
PG: Are there some red flags you look for when reviewing applications?
CG: Sometimes we see overpolished essays that are inconsistent with the rest of the application. If that’s the case, we’ll want to know, why the inconsistency?
PG: Are students from, say, The Westminster Schools, competing with other students from The Westminster Schools? In other words, will you only accept a limited number from one school?
CG: No, every application is judged on its own merit.
PG: Does it help a student’s chances when the high school guidance counselor calls your office?
CG: Not really. Occasionally we will get phone calls from counselors. The gist of the conversation is always helping us understand the student. The counselors know advocacy per se does not work. They say, “These are the things you should know.”
PG: Are kids who do not get as much attention from a college counselor at a disadvantage?
CG: We ask for the counseling load. Those with 50 or 75 [students per counselor] have one set of expectations. With 500 or 600 students [per counselor], we have a different set of expectations. We may call the counselor or give greater weight to letters from teachers.
PG: You got 17,000 applications last year. Does someone in your admissions department read every application? Or are some eliminated up front because their grades are not high enough?
CG: We look at every application from beginning to end. We’re very much trying to understand who these students are.
PG: So you reject students who meet your academic standards?
CG: Yes, definitely. Most students who apply to Duke are very accomplished. We’re making choices among students, any of whom would be great Duke students.
PG: What are the intangible qualities you are looking for? What exactly makes the difference when so many students have similar qualifications?
CG: It’s an individual institution making decisions about creating a student body. The college admissions process is not a referendum on parenting.
PG: High school students often face a dilemma with course selection. They wonder how many honors courses they should take. What’s your advice?
CG: Our philosophy has been that a student should take as challenging a curriculum as he or she can reasonably handle. If a student is so concerned about the strength of the curriculum that it keeps him or her from being a good school community member…There’s a larger problem … There’s a lot of pressure on students to do everything absolutely perfectly.
PG: Do some kids and parents put too much emphasis on getting into a big-name school?
CG: Sure. We’ve all been held captive to the U.S. News & World Report rankings.
PG: Did you graduate from a big-name school?
CG: I’m a graduate of the University of California, Santa Barbara.
Victory for Charter School Parents
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Parents at Neighborhood Charter School in Atlanta’s Grant Park have scored a huge victory in gaining approval for a charter middle school. Southeast Atlanta Charter Middle School will open in the fall with 60 sixth-graders, with plans to add a grade a year and eventually serve 200 kids.
This is Champagne-worthy news for the families involved, many of whom have toiled for the past six years to make Neighborhood Charter School a reality. Before some of their kids were out of diapers, parents started formulating a plan for what they wanted in a school. Before they could open, they had to get support from Atlanta Public Schools at a time when the administration was wary of charter schools. When Georgia’s current charter school law was passed in 1998, many educators didn’t even know what they were.
Charter schools are public schools that operate outside the control of the local board, yet they are held accountable to the school district and the state through terms spelled out in a charter. Many wannabe charter school organizers haven’t been able to convince the school board they’re up to the task of running a school.
Statewide, several charter schools haven’t survived and others are on life support. Many charter advocates blame funding, saying the local boards deny them their share. Neighborhood Charter School is a bright spot. It’s a diverse school controlled by a board made up of parents, and it posts high test scores. This in spite of a fire that destroyed the school building in 2003.
Yet the very parents who worked so hard to get Neighborhood Charter off the ground faced a crisis when their kids graduated from fifth grade. Where would they go? Nearby King Middle School has abysmal test scores. Inman Middle School in Virginia-Highland has a good reputation, but slots for students from outside the attendance zone are limited. And private schools, well, tuition hovers at around $10,000 a year, admission is competitive and many parents want their children to have a public-school experience.
Now, students will move on to Southeast Atlanta Charter Middle. For now, the school will hold classes in the old Slaton Elementary building, which is under renovation.
The charter middle school, like Neighborhood Charter, will feature a hands-on, project-oriented curriculum focused on ecology and conservation, with a partnership with nearby Zoo Atlanta. The middle school also will require each student to participate in at least 10 hours of community service each year.
(Note: Education Reporter Paul Donsky, who has covered Neighborhood Charter School since 2001, helped me put together this entry…)
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