Beefing up the college resume without draining the bank account
A student’s educational Experience gets a shot of adrenaline in the last couple years of high school.
Not only is college right around the corner, but the workload increases as do the expectations of a student’s efforts. Throw in the need to appear marketable to future college suitors and a teenager can nearly suffocate.
We obsess over “getting in,” our brain cells fully focused, since higher education is usually a ticket to the world outside Old Forge. Clubs, sports, plays, concerts, volunteer hours, Advanced Placement classes, SATs, ACTs, work, and countless other activities compete for time as we strive to make ourselves among the most well-rounded young people the college-of-our-choice is likely to ever see.Organizations, corporations, and colleges try to cash in on this “two-year panic.”
Post office boxes are assaulted with a steady rush of postcards, invitations, and recruitment packets.
Often, these solicitations that appear so innocent are actually from companies attempting to appeal to a target market.
I’ll admit that it is exciting to sort through the mail and see which institutes of higher learning are reaching out to you. This type of solicitation doesn’t hurt anyone and the information these schools provide often helps a young person decide where to attend.
It is the occasional “camp” or “conference” that poses the most danger to a family.
I have received several of these invitations, as have others in my class.
They usually start with “Congratulations!” or “You have been selected for…”They end with “Please enclose your first payment…”
And some of them, let me tell you, have left my parents and me bug-eyed at the price.
A recent packet invited me to a camp in Washington, D.C. for a fee of just $2,500. “College admissions officers indicate they are impressed with students who attend (the program),” the packet assured me.
Is that because of the education provided at the conference, or is it because of the funds that the student has on hand to spend on extra education?
Not all of these offers are totally rotten, however.
I am deciding whether to attend a week-long Economics course next summer (for a cost less than $2,500), and I am planning on attending an internship in Herkimer for a couple days in March and April, that is actually 100% free.
These will probably both be outstanding experiences, along with many others just waiting to be written into a college application or resume.
So the price range for valuable pre-college experiences really does start at free.
And those puffed-up “opportunities” with their big promises and bigger price tags can simply be ignored.
You can follow Colin Criss on Twitter @ADKCurrent
