Admissions Game is Becoming a Headache

Attention Students and Parents!!!

Has any of these scenarios ever happened to you?

• Deerfield High School's Ben Lantow, 18, "dragged'' through three years teaching little kids to swim just to impress schools. "You can't just do one or two things, you need more,'' he said. "I felt like I had to do it because everyone else was.''

• A parent of a student at Lake Forest Academy, clutching a college guidebook, asked a counselor, "Can he get in here? How about here? Can he get in anywhere but College of Lake County?''

• Arizona State University, among schools vigorously courting top kids, offered a full ride to Deerfield High School student Greg Katz -- even though he hadn't applied. A National Merit finalist, Katz has received daily recruitment letters, e-mails and calls. The constant marketing was "overwhelming.'' One caller claiming to be doing a college survey tried to steer his applications. "They were trying to trick me,'' he said.

• A Lincolnshire's Stevenson High student spent 3-1/2 years on the debate team and in another club solely to pad his resume. "Stevenson pressured me into it,'' the student claimed.

If your answer is "yes," then you are either currently suffering through the college admission season or have faced the hectic season in the past.

An article in the Chicago Sun-Times takes a serious look at one of the most painful challenges in a student's life-searching for the perfect college and doing whatever it takes to get in. With parents making back-door deals with recruiters, students absorbing as many extracurricular activities as possible, and an increase unethical admissions practices within several schools (according to a 2003 report made by the National Association of College Admissions Counselors), the admission game has become vicious.

Something is Wrong With Computer!!!

Computer is acting weird, so I can't give you a blog yet, but one is coming very soon.

IS YOUR STATE DOING WELL IN SCHOOL?

In my last posting, I meant to do a link for Achieve, Inc., but I forgot (My bad!). My mistake, however, is your gain. While crusing through the Achieve, Inc. web site, I discovered an evaluation section of several states and the nation as a whole. Go to www.achieve.org to check out your state's academic progress.

[Note: Not all 50 states are featured in the evaluation, but Achieve.org offers a way for your state to be on the list. ALSO, you must have adobe acrobat reader to view the nation's report.]

Fun Facts

Several alarming statistics has surfaced during the National Education Summit on High Schools in Washington, D.C. The two-day summit, co-sponsored by the National Governors Association and Achieve Inc. began yesterday and featured many leaders in government, education, and business who came to the summit to improve the condition of America's schools.

Billionare Bill Gates, who opened the summit, were among the many speakers who revealed that:

• The United States ranks 16th among 20 developed nations in the percentage of students who complete high school and 14th among the top 20 in college graduation rates.
• Just 18 of 100 students entering high school go on to compete their college degree within six years of starting college.
• The nation has slipped from first to fifth internationally in the percentage of young people who hold a college degree.

Read this Feb. 27 article in washingtonpost.com for more details.

Washington D.C. 's Class Pictures

Even schools in our nation's capitial need a makeover. Check out these washingtonpost.com photos-which were taken in Bruce-Monroe Elementary School.

[Note: The first couple of photos may seem tame, but some of the other pics will severe a strong reminder that America's schools need help]

"We must restore the value to a high school diploma."

Governor Mark Warner of Virginia, chairman of the National Governors Association, spoke these beautiful words, in a New York Times web article dated February 23. The group of governors calls for tougher exams and higher standards in high schools in order for students to be better prepared for the real world.

They want high school students to be tested on a regular basis and encourage states to develop standards high enough to satisfy colleges and employers.

Although their plan shares the similarities of our president's "No Child Left Behind" Law (higher expectations, serious consequences, etc.), the governors consider their method to be more "ambitious" and opposes Bush's "far too onerous" plan.

the governors, who were also mentioned in a CNN.com article, began their crusade after a frightening report by the Educational Testing Service (the report can be found on their web site) surfaced on Tuesday. According to the report, high school completion rates dropped nationally from 1990 to 2000, with about one-third of students failing to graduate.

Should "No Child Left Behind" Law be left behind?

If you think that President Bush's "No Child Left Behind" Law is unfair to many public schools and should be put to bed, you are definitely not alone. A web article from the Washingtion Post reveals that the National Conference on State Legislatures, an organization consisting of several representatives from all 50 states, has declared war on Bush's education plan, which is considered to be "unconstitutional."

In a 77-page report created by the group, they say that the law will lead to "lower academic standards, increased segregation, and the driving away of top teachers from needy schools."

The group believes that Bush and his crew should back off and let state legislatures deal with their own education issues.

Do you want to learn more about them? Do you want to learn more about their plans to improve the law? Do you want to help them? Visit their web site at www.ncsl.org.

Password Issues

Good evening!

Forgive me for not posting another message sooner. I completely forgot my password, but everything is cool now.

And now, without further delay....

Moonman has finally landed!!!

What is Moonman, you ask?

Believe it or not, there are several people in our wonderful (and slightly flawed) country who doesn’t know how much help the public schools of America need. Crowded classrooms, dangerous environments, and scarce and inferior school equipment are only a few of the problems that are posing a major threat to the education of America's children. Moonman is a blog designed to make sure the public knows what's REALLY going on with our nation's public school system.


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Hi There

I'm Nicholas Short and this is my very first blog.