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MUW coaches to
help high school juniors and seniors stand out |
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By Anika Mitchell Perkins
 In
many parts of the United States parents are
paying big bucks for “college coaches” to
help their high-performing children stand
out on their college applications, according
to Dr. Sandra Jordan, provost and vice
president for academic affairs at
Mississippi University for Women.
However, similar information will be shared
for free with some of the region’s best and
brightest students at a workshop titled
College Aspirations on Thursday, Feb. 7.
Dr. Eric Daffron, director of the Ina E.
Gordy Honors College, said, 25
high school juniors and seniors with at
least a 24 on the ACT have been
invited to MUW to participate in an all
afternoon workshop on writing a
college application essay and on
interviewing skills.
“This workshop will give students invaluable
advice on the college application process,”
he said.
The workshop will begin with pointers on
interviewing skills from Dr. Martin Hatton,
associate professor of communication at MUW.
Following his presentation, participants
will have the opportunity to sit on a mock
interview and get immediate feedback from
faculty members who regularly interview
students for scholarships.
Later that afternoon, Emma Richardson,
English instructor at the Mississippi School
for Mathematics and Science, will offer
advice on how
to write a college application essay. After
her presentation, students will write an
essay, and a couple of weeks after the
workshop, receive personalized feedback on
the essay.
The juniors and seniors will be treated to
dinner and be special guests at a lecture
given by Arun Gandhi, grandson of the famous
peace crusader. Gandhi’s lecture is part of
the Honors Forum of the Ina E. Gordy Honors
College.
Jordan said, “This workshop is designed to
help students who are preparing a college
essay or preparing for the college interview
for some of the more competitive colleges
and scholarships. College application or
scholarship essays and interviews present
students with the perfect opportunity to
showcase not only their communication
skills, but also their character and
critical thinking skills. For highly ranked
universities, the effectiveness, or lack
thereof, of the student’s essay or interview
can make the difference between an
acceptance and a rejection.”
She added for students competing for top
scholarships, the essay and
interview are critical.
With a limited number of spaces on college
campuses, schools have to be
more selective than ever, according to an
article in the Jan. 17, 2007,
edition of The Times/Tribune in Scranton,
Pa. A record high 3.3 million
high school students are graduating this
spring and universities across
the country are receiving a record number of
applicants, the article stated.
As the result of increased competition,
parents are buying into the concept of
hiring professional coaches.
According to the Independent Educational
Consultants Association, 22
percent of first-year students at private
colleges—perhaps as many as
58,000 kids-- had worked with some kind of
consultant noted a story in
the Oct. 22, 2007, edition of Business Week.
Michele A. Hernandez, who is described “as
one of the industry’s most visible
practitioners,” in the Business Week article
charges as much as $40,000 and boasts that
95 percent of her teenage clients are
accepted by their first-choice school.
MUW has been ranked a top Southern public
master’s university by U.S.News & World
Report for the fourth year in a row. MUW’s
quality of
education has consistently been reflected in
other national rankings, including being
named No. 8 of the top 50 best values for
public colleges and universities in the June
2007 edition of Consumers Digest magazine
and 54 of the 100 best values in public
colleges across America by Kiplinger’s
Personal Finance magazine. |
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