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Summer School: Leg Up to College: Employment History, Work in Community Also Are Big Pluses

Posted on: Tuesday, 13 June 2006, 12:01 CDT

By Lorena Anderson, The Modesto Bee, Calif.

Jun. 13--Getting into some colleges is like trying to get a job -- prospective schools want to see the best resumes possible.

There are a variety of ways -- outside of good grades and test scores -- for high school students to get a leg up.

The most common is by taking regular college courses, which are open to teens who have recommendations from their high schools showing they can handle the work.

Modesto Junior College has several programs.

Peggy Kroll, director of MJC's Early College and Tech Prep programs, said she knows of one 17-year-old who graduated high school this year with almost 40college credits under his belt.

"We have all kinds of ways for students to get a jump-start on college," she said.

Kroll said there are 700 to 800 high school students taking summer classes through MJC. Other colleges don't have as many high school students.

At California State University, Stanislaus, about 25 high school students signed up for classes this summer, out of about 2,100 enrollees, said Roger Pugh, assistant vice president for enrollment management services.

"A lot of high school students want their summers free," he said.

The University of California at Merced allows high school students in summer classes, offered on the campus for the first time this year. But of the 108 students taking summer courses, none is from high school.

Kent Kuo, registrar and director of summer programs, said the school didn't market classes early enough for those students.

The courses would help first-year students ease into the university, he said,before they jump into a full load in the fall.

Theyalso show an ability to do college-level work.

"Wereally are just looking to see that a student is able to succeed," said admissions counselor Jonathan Maher of Fresno Pacific University, a private school. That school's applicants must have a 3.0 grade-point average or better and meet other academic requirements. He said college-level courses won't make up for poor academics.

Could be an edge

However, Maher said, they are helpful for any student who wants to apply for scholarships and get some requirements or prerequisites, such as pre-calculus or introduction to chemistry, out of the way.

Not all colleges are looking for the same things, though.

At a school such as UC Berkeley, which calls itself "highly selective," admissions competition can be fierce.

The school says it looks at each application individually, including whether students made the most of what was available to them in school and in the community.

"We look at whether they pushed themselves to grow," said Janet Gilmore, UC Berkeley spokeswoman.

"Colleges are looking for the unique individual," said Denise Hitch, the college and career counselor at Oakdale High School. "They're looking for the life experiences you don't get from sitting in front of a TV."

That's what she tells her students and her daughters, Bailey and Caitlin, of Oakdale, who took a college course in sign language last semester.

"Students should be well-rounded," she said, with histories of employment, travel and community work.

Her daughters teach swimming in the summers, do missionary work and "have volunteered as long as I can remember," Hitch said.

Be well-rounded

The best ways to boost an academic resume, she said, are to take on classes, jobs and volunteer work that show what you feel passionate about.

For instance, she said, she advises students who love soccer to get involved with a youth league or start one of their own.

There are other ways to demonstrate how well-rounded a student is. MJC's summer offerings often include monthlong trips in which students are immersed in a foreign culture and language. Theater-production workshops and courses that get students out into the community to work with social service agencies also are offered.

"To be competitive, students have to develop themselves as people," she said. "But I'm really opposed to anyone doing anything just to get into college. If your heart's not in it, it's going to show."

Bee staff writer Lorena Anderson can be reached at 667-1227 or landerson@modbee.com.

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Copyright (c) 2006, The Modesto Bee, Calif.

Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.

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Source: The Modesto Bee

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