Getting into college isn't getting any easier.
Hopeful parents are so eager to purchase the latest "best colleges" issue of U.S. News and World Report that bookstores give the magazine its own display case. Meanwhile, a recent article in the Health section of The New York Times (one in a seemingly endless series) examined the negative effects of the college admissions process on adolescent health.
It's not surprising, then, that there is no shortage of summer programs for high school students that promise the "real college experience." However, many of these programs, including some provided by Penn's College of General Studies, have lost the balance of independence and academic rigor that gave students a more accurate picture of college life.
This phenomenon is the result of both the desires of parents and the efforts of the "college prep industry" to ensure that promising students get into college, even at the high cost of $1,500 per week. In doing so, however, both parents and the industry have sacrificed their children's intellectual and emotional growth for a ticket into the hallowed ground of East Coast academic establishment.
Penn has long offered a "Pre-College Program" that allows bright high school students students to take Penn classes while living on campus. To read CGS's program website, a parent might assume that these programs might involve a few hours of class per day, followed by some free time to explore, as well as structured programs to introduce students both to Philadelphia and to prepare them for what to expect in college.
And a year ago, that may have been true. But try searching online for "Penn summer pre-college program." If you scroll down the page a bit, you'll find a listing titled "Musiker Teen Tours Summer Discovery".
What does a tour group have to do with Penn?
Penn's College of General Studies now outsources the management of its Summer Pre-College Programs to the "Musiker Discovery Family", a decades-old company that has recently diversified into the lucrative market for college preparation. But in addition to streamlining the process for CGS, Musiker has replaced the freedom high school students used to enjoy with highly supervised activities and field trips, designed to boost their chances at admission.
After attending class, perhaps appropriately mandatory considering the high cost (though wildly unrealistic considering the challenge of going to a 9 a.m. lecture after a night at a local watering hole), students are ushered into any number of activities.
That's right, high school students are obliged to participate in summer camp-like activities: arts and crafts, intramurals, even board games. Combine those with a healthy dose of SAT/ACT preparatory courses and college living "workshops" and students have a small 4-5 hour window of well-organized, often supervised "hang time" per day.
Evenings don't look very good either. I spoke with Jamie, a high school student from California who returned for a second year in Penn's Pre-College program. He reported that the restrictions placed upon the students have become "more stringent" since Musiker took over. At night, students are not allowed beyond the area between 34th and 40th streets, which is patrolled by camp counselors cum sentry guards whose 24-hour-a-day job leaves them well-trained in the meticulous art of nametag recognition.
As for any hope of students seeing the rest of Philadelphia, chances are it's not going to be on SEPTA, as they are required to sign a contract affirming that they will not use the venerable public transportation service.
Instead, it seems that weekends are for traveling. The Musiker program loads students onto buses for tours - not only of Philadelphia, but also up and down the East Coast on mandatory visits to many of the "Ancient Eight."
The all-important college admissions process now prevents students from enjoying their weekends of relaxation, an important part of the lifestyles of both college and high school. But why?
Perhaps as colleges raise their prices and lower their admission rates, parents actually want a program soley designed to make their children the most attractive candidate for admission,.
Students, however, suffer in this process. To stifle their capacity for responsible, independent living is particularly insulting considering how bright many of these students are.
Penn must seriously reconsider whether it wants to endorse Musiker as the preferred type of preparation for its future student body.
If it does, Penn might become the new home of a sad generation - all qualification and no independence.
Philip Rocco is a rising College senior from Pittsburgh, Pa. His email address is philipbr@sas.upenn.edu.
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