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College Scramble

Competition for "prestige" universities
has high school students and their
parents pulling out all the stops.

Alan Hitsky

Associate Editor

A

"perfect storm" mixture of baby
boomer offspring, high out-of-
state tuition costs and incom-
ing freshman limits at the University of
Michigan and Michigan State University is
putting pressure on the high school Class
of 2007.
Some professionals and parents say
unreasonable expectations also are adding
to the mix.
The end result is the need for higher
grades and test scores to get into U-M and
MSU — and a frenzy of pressure on stu-
dents who feel those are the only in-state
schools they can attend.
"Getting into a good college is every-
thing — starting in middle school;' said
Allison Shipper, 17, of West Bloomfield,
a senior at West Bloomfield High School.
And the pressure is coming from her
peers, she said, not from her parents.
Like all parents, Sandra and Stewart
Shipper want the best for their children.
Ben, 19, is a sophomore at U-M. David,
14, is an eighth-grader at Orchard Lake
Middle School. Sandra Shipper sees a
major difference between Allison's experi-

ence
today
and •
her own
When she
applied to
college in 1974.
"Back then, by
and large, everyone
went to a local [Michigan]
school;' she said. "U-M, MSU and
the other state schools are outstanding. It
would never have occurred to me to apply
elsewhere.
"But now, the world is so much larger.
The state schools are not the only place
you can go. There are more choices, not
less, and you have to decide which of all
these places meets your needs:'
Admission standards are climbing at U-
M and MSU because of growing numbers
of applicants. For many in recent years,
Sandra Shipper said, "these used to be the
fall-back schools" where local students
could go if they weren't accepted at out-
of-state colleges. But the thinking among
high schools students today, she says, is
"if you're not getting into U-M and MSU,
you're not making the grade."
She said that false stigma is driving
many high school seniors to try to get into
U-M or MSU, or pressure their parents to
send them to an expensive out-of-state
university with similar prestige.

Admissions
Ted Spencer laments that he works at a
school "that I couldn't get into right now:'
Director of admissions at U-M, Spencer

75 percent of the MSU freshmen had a
said applications to public and private
3.84 GPA or higher and 25 percent had a
universities have increased "exponen-
3.42 or lower. That compares to 3.82 and
tially" in recent years. In addition, U-M
3.29 in 2005, and 3.75 and 3.24 in 2000.
has closed the Alice Lloyd Residence Hall
"We are looking for B+ and above aver-
for renovations and admitted 600 more
ages:' Cotter said, "but, of course, not all
students in both 2004 and 2005 than it
B+ students are created equal. We also
expected.
This year, U-M had 25,733 undergradu- look at the classes they took, the competi-
tiveness of those classes and the competi-
ate applications and accepted 12,196. Of
tiveness of the school."
those, 5,418 actually enrolled.
MSU took in 7,200 freshman in each
Fifty percent of those freshmen who
of the last two years, compared to 6,800
began school in Ann Arbor in August had
an ACT admissions test composite score of in both 2000 and 2001. Cotter said MSU
27 to 31 (36 is perfect) and an unweighted admits roughly three out of every four
applicants, and that figure has been rela-
high school grade point average (GPA)
tively consistent over the last 10 years.
of 3.9 or 4.0. Twenty-eight percent had a
perfect 4.0.
Outside Help
Spencer quickly points out that 48 per-
With the pressure on, high school students
cent of the U-M freshmen had less than a
are increasingly turning to professional
3.9 and less than 27 on the ACT.
But the bottom line is U-M is seeing "an help to get into the college of their choice.
Allison Shipper took the ACT
increase in the quality of appli-
exam as a high school
cants;' said Spencer, and
junior in October 2005.
must make sure that
She took the ACT
each student "gets
Pressure
again in September
their classes; resi-
Points
2006, after tutor-
dence hall and
/ "This is an interesting generation of
ing, and raised
has the great
7 students. They are as sophisticated as
her score 3
experience in
I any at looking at their options. But the
points.
college" they
parents are more involved than ever before.
Allison spent
are looking for.
They are helicopter parents, hovering over
six weeks get-
James Cotter
f tutored in
their children's every move. All of this con- / , mg
at Michigan
tributes
to
the
angst
over
the
college
/
math
and sci-
State University
admission
process."
ence at May ACT,
tells a similar
— James Cotter, acting director of admis-
a new business
story. The acting
sions, , Michigan State University
in West Bloomfield.
director of admis-
The 12 hours of tutor-
sions said the 2006
ing cost $70 per hour, but
MSU freshman class "was
made a major impact.
one of the strongest in our his-
tory." Preliminary numbers show the MSU
College Scramble on page 41
academic profile tweaking upward. Some

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November 2 • 2006

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