Columnist Elizabeth Chamish Reviews Road Scholar
From The Montclarion, Oakland, California
Hillside Views - On the Road to College
Did you go to college? Do you remember how you chose your school? Your parents went there, your friends went there, your friends were going there, you had to stay close to home, you wanted to get as far away as possible, your sol wonderful the college solicited you (well, it does happen)...
Whatever year you graduated, '06 or '96, you know that things have changed. The process seems to become more complicated every year -- parental and/or financial pressures, increased competition, more kids knowing by age 18 and often earlier what they want and how to get it. As if today's high school seniors don't face enough other challenges, the process of choosing a college, the right college, the best fit, can be overwhelming. Maybe it wasn't easy for you either, but over the years, it hasn't gotten any easier.
Until now, that is. Thanks to Risa Nye, Montclair resident and College Admissions Advisor at Campolindo High School in Moraga, what began as a class project for a UC extension certificate program in College Admissions Advising is now a published volume called Road Scholar: An Investigative Journal for the College-Bound Student and it is terrific. The publisher is No Flak Press, which says it all. This book is no-nonsense, helpful, road-tested, and real.
"They don't really know what they are looking for," says Risa of the majority of college-bound students. "They all look alike," say the students of their college visits. "The guides tell you the same things." Road Scholar: An Investigative Journal for the College-Bound Student leaves nothing to chance. It offers clear and necessary information on its "Getting There" pages. (Risa admits she is an anxious traveler and needs written instructions such as transportation information, time differences, and travel tips to stay cool. So might you.)
The "Campus Visit" pages have spaces for more details --interview, tour and appointment times, names, locations, "Things I want to see", and plenty of space for notes on suggested real life topics -- the food --tasty, cheap, gray? -- the campus newspaper -- are the issues politics or sports? -- campus bulletin boards --is everyone looking for a ride home? -- and what the students look like -- do they all look alike? Do they look like you? The point is to visit schools and to take notes. The same criteria is used for every school and the rating system -- use one -- is your own, Risa says. Keep it consistent -- thumbs up or down, stars, pros and cons, whatever works for you.
Road Scholar: An Investigative Journal for the College-Bound Student is engaging, handy, light, humorous, and user-friendly. The road motif works -- students familiar with standardized tests will recognize the stop signs, "just a coincidence" says Risa -- and the graphics by local designer Coleen Patterson are delightful. "I really believe in it," says the author, whose daughter, Caitlin, road-tested the book and chose Haverford where she is currently a very satisfied freshman. Not that the book will get you into the school of your choice -- come on, this is a reality-based project -- but it might help you look organized at the interview.
"It's a tool," emphasizes Risa. "It will really help a lot of kids make a good decision." While it will be fun for those who love listing and recording details, it can also help the organizationally challenged get focused. There is also space for doodles and postcards which means it could become a sweet personal keepsake -- a diary-like record of who this person was at this point in his or her life. That person will pick it up in 20 years and laugh, "I said that?"
The tone of Road Scholar is supportive and positive. "What's most important is what the student thinks, not what an uncle who went there 30 years ago says about the school," says the author. (There's even a place for comparing "What I've heard vs. what I've seen.") The book works with real life stuff not seen on videos or described in catalogs -- impressions, atmosphere, highlights, and low points -- and it works for any form of comparison school shopping -- in-state or long distance. UCLA is a lot different from Davis, you know. (Reminder: November is when applications are due for UC schools.)
No Flak Press can be reached at 94 Hermosa Avenue, Oakland CA 94618. Yes, I'm pushing it -- anything that will help these very brave seniors find their way in that altogether wild world beyond home. There are over 3,000 colleges, wonderful news for those who like to work from abundance but scary for those who need help making good choices. "Kids need guidance," says Risa Nye. "Let's hit the road" says her book. Good Luck.
The Journal of College Admission
Reviewed by Deborah J. McCanne, Director of College Counseling, St. Mary's Academy, Englewood, Colorado
The college visit is one of the most important tools in the college search process, and yet few parents and students know what to look for and what questions to ask, and many do not know how to plan a campus visit. Often, students return from college visits with only the vaguest sense of whether they liked their visit and no concrete information to further their decision-making process. The need for usable, concise advice is clear, and Road Scholar: An Investigative Journal for the College-Bound Student fills that need. Students to like to have notebooks and organizers, and The Road Scholar is a handy, compact aid to help a family get the most out of a college visit. The Road Scholar is a spiral notebook with a cover that looks like the traditional black and white composition book. Its pages are essentially a journal with prompts for recording impressions of college visits. Entry space for 10 visits ought to be more than enough for almost everyone. The compact size and light-hearted touches in both design and text should be appealing to high school students and their parents. It is hard to imagine any but the most diligent student actually filling in all the pages and reflecting thoroughly on the experiences, but such reflection enhances a college search, and at least with this book the opportunity and structure are readily accessible.
The format prompts responses rather than giving direct advice or admonition. It is engaging rather than pedantic, and the prompts themselves cover a variety of important issues from transportation to the campus to ways to discover the character of the student body. The entries for each visit are arranged chronologically, beginning with a place to record appointments, phone numbers, and contact persons and ending with reflective questions such as, "If any of my friends were thinking of visiting here, I'd tell them..." There is space at the end of each entry for gluing in a postcard and adding additional reflection. The informality and occasional humor of the tips encourage students to feel that their concerns, questions, and reactions are normal and thus reduce the feeling of intimidation they often feel.
For the first visit, sample responses to prompts are given. These responses should reassure students while helping them to focus on the experience. "While on campus I talked to: "suggests as responses" a couple of students, everyone I saw, myself." Another line prompts, "The students looked:" and suggests "tired, happy, alike, hungry, energetic." Nearly every list of responses includes a humorous or unexpected response, a technique which is both amusing and thought provoking.
The prompts were useful, especially in organizing the visit and in suggesting ways to explore the personality of the school. A noticeable weakness was the lack of ideas for more substantive questions about academics and special interests such as the depth and breadth of academic departments, undergraduate research opportunities, the availability of sports facilities and performing arts opportunities for students who are not athletes or arts students. A list of programs to look for and questions to ask placed at the end of the journal might be helpful without weighing down the journal pages themselves. However, the guide as a whole uses an engaging format to fill an important need for many prospective college students.
