Craig Cohen: SAT prep summer camps go too far

According to Greek legend, Sisyphus was a man renowned for his cunning and slyness. Said to have outwitted even Death himself, he had a knack for disrespecting the gods and was later punished for his transgressions. For all eternity, he was condemned to push a boulder up a hill, and when he approached the edge of the peak, it would fall back down under its own weight. No matter how hard he tried, he would never make it over the top.

Looking up at the goal of getting their children into a top-tier college, some parents may feel that this struggle is not unlike Sisyphus' journey. While that boulder won't necessarily roll all the way down the mountain -- after all, their child will presumably still get into college -- parents do whatever they can to make that road easier. Three companies have recently established programs to do allegedly just that.

The New York Times describes these college admission prep camps as: "No campfires. No hiking. Just hours a day of essay writing, SAT preparation, counseling, mock admission interviews and a potpourri of workshops and college visits, all intended to give high school students an edge on the admission process." Bob Musiker, executive director of one of these "camps," explains that in one of the programs offered, "every student will visit at least 20 colleges in the two-week period. We'll be doing two a day, and sometimes three or four on weekends." These programs may lead to results by giving an advantage to those who are willing to pay for it, but in the long run, they're actually making the process all the more competitive.

These companies are trying to capitalize on the psychotic frenzy that exists in the minds of countless parents today. Parents believe that they must do whatever they can to gain an edge. It's not enough to go to your school's guidance counselor. You need an outside college adviser, too. It's not enough to do practice SAT tests. You need to take a full-blown course, too. It's gotten to the point where kids who don't take an SAT course are at a distinct disadvantage.

My friend tutors a boy for the SATs. She prepares vocabulary cards and makes him read The New York Times, circling the words he does not understand. What's the problem with this? The kid is in the third grade. It's exactly this sort of paranoia that the directors are cashing in on.

It's only a matter of time before such "preadmission" programs become a necessity, too. Then any sort of advantage that these programs might have offered is effectively neutralized. The process becomes harder because not only is everyone getting 1500s on their SATs but also amazing essays and interviews, too. How does this help or make the process any easier? It doesn't.

I never went, nor would I have gone to a program centered entirely on the admissions process. I don't want to spend hours writing essays over the summer or visiting nearly two dozen schools. But the directors are smart. They know high school kids are not their target audience. It doesn't matter to them who attends these programs so long as someone pays the bills. They're targeting the parents.

One parent who is sending her son to such a program remarked that "teenage boys have a tendency to be a little goofy. This seemed like a way to put them in the driver's seat and get the parents out of the middle." She further added that "we think it will help Drew see the long-range picture that he really needs to keep his GPA up if he wants to go to this kind of school." She feels sorry that her teenage son is a bit goofy; heaven forbid the boy act his age. All work and no play make Jack a dull boy, but if that dull boy has a killer essay and nails his interview, apparently it no longer matters. Balance has become irrelevant.

These programs may entice parents with a chance to beat the system, but in the long run, parents are doing more harm to their cause. It doesn't make the process any easier, because it increases the competition. All it succeeds in doing is lining the pockets of the directors. I may not be able to stop people from going to these camps, but all I can do is hope that this ridiculous new idea does not become the norm.

On top of Sisyphus' mountain sits the goal of a stellar college education. The founders of these camps claim that they will make the journey to the mountain's peak easier. Yet parents would be wise to realize that the more money they throw at these camps, the bigger they make that mountain, and the more treacherous the path to success becomes.

Craig Cohen is a Wharton sophomore from Woodbury, N.Y. He Hate Me appears on Fridays.

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