It Takes a Little More Than Making the Grades
August 24, 2009 | Guest Contributor
By: Kelsey McGonigle
Since 1997, students at any Texas public high school who graduate in the top ten percent of their class have been granted automatic admission into any one of Texas’ 35 public universities, thanks to the passing of Texas House Bill 588. As a native Texan, it has been drilled into my head that all I really needed to do to get into school was stay above that top ten percent dividing line in my graduating class. In the back of my mind, though, I always thought this law was kind of a cop-out for those brilliant-but-lazy kids to easily secure their place in a Texas public institution. But, what about those kids who are not above that dividing line? They could be the biggest go-getters in the world, but because they don’t make the grade, they are shut out.
Well, the times are a’ changing. The state of Texas is currently in the process of capping the number of students admitted to the University of Texas at Austin, the state’s most popular university (I am only slightly biased), under the top ten percent law to 75 percent of entering freshman. And similarly, the University of California is discontinuing the system’s previous policy of having applicants take two SAT subject tests and meeting set GPA and test score requirements. As it turns out, many of the traditional admissions policies are actually stifling diversity as grades alone do not accurately measure student caliber. It is only a matter of time until automatic admission processes are eliminated from the college game completely.
What does that mean for you? Well, among other things, it is important for high school students in Texas, California and in the rest of the nation to realize once and for all that relying on grades and grades alone to get you into a decent college is NOT the way to go. So bland kids, be forewarned. All the college hopefuls out there need to have a little spice in their lives.
Kelsey displays the evidence of her extracurriculars on graduation day.
A lot of kids rely on their super stellar grades to get into college, but what they do not realize is that this kind of approach to academia ultimately does not benefit them. The students who make a habit of “just getting by” in high school find themselves in trouble when they get to the university level. They have not become accustomed to putting forth the effort needed in order to be successful at a four-year institution. With nationwide revamping of the college admissions process in the works, it is better to be a well-rounded applicant than the applicant who makes straight A’s but fails to branch out.
What initiatives should you take on, exactly? In my opinion, the two absolutely essential activities that every high school student wanting to go to a good college should do are participate in an in-school activity that you love and volunteer.
Whether you are captain of the football team, drum major in the band or the choir superstar, colleges love to see that a) you are involved within your school and b) that you have a strong passion. Think about it for a second: If you were a college admissions officer, would you rather have someone who lacks a sense of community, or someone with school spirit and enthusiasm to spare? If you were a reliable officer, you would pick the latter of the two. Why is that? It is because the second person has the most interesting stories to tell and can help better the campus environment in general. No institution wants to admit a kid who simply “gets by” because those kids would fail to keep the happenings at the university interesting.
Another really important habit to get into is to serve, Serve, SERVE. Getting involved in service organizations shows colleges that you can do more than just the stuff you are absolutely, whole-heartedly, one hundred percent into. You may not necessarily think tutoring elementary school kids, planting trees or moderating a Bingo tournament in a retirement community is loads of fun. But, I promise you, even participating in the most mundane volunteer ritual has its benefits, the most important of which is that you have, in some way, helped someone. Even the most cynical of volunteers cannot help but to feel a little bit of pride when the child they have tutored solves a math problem, the tree they have planted grows into a huge oxygen-giving force or the winner in that Bingo tournament is declared. Universities want those who give, so give as much as you have got!
In regards to getting into college, the worst thing you can do is the minimum requirement. Those who go above and beyond just making good grades are the ones who have the most to show for themselves.
