College officials across the country have some stern advice for high school students preparing to enter the world of higher education — take college prep classes.
A survey released by The Chronicle of Higher Education last week reveals that significantly more university professors think incoming freshmen are unprepared for college level course work than their high school teachers.
According to the report, 84 percent of college instructors surveyed said incoming students did not have the study skills needed to be successful in college upon entrance. By comparison, only 65 percent of high school teachers who responded thought their students were unprepared to succeed.
MSU's Admissions Director Pam Horne said the best way to get ready for college is to take a rigorous course load that includes some Advanced Placement, or AP, classes. She said too many high school seniors want to take it easy their senior year.
"Some students think senior year is a reward for the previous 11 — it's not," Horne said. "Many students assume, 'Well, I have fulfilled all my requirements, I'm ready for college.' Doing the minimum is not enough."
She said when a student comes to MSU unprepared, it costs extra time and money while they take remedial course work.
"A student who is excited about chemistry that gets placed in intermediate algebra — well, it's going to be a much longer haul than if they had gone through calculus in high school," Horne said.
Hannah Mittleman, a senior at East Lansing High School, embraces the idea of pushing herself in preparation for college.
"I'm taking AP courses — AP statistics and calculus," Mittleman said. "For me, it's not about testing out of classes, but preparing for the course work."
Mittleman, 17, has been accepted to MSU and is currently planning on studying medicine. She said her high school does a good job of pushing students to get ready for college, but the responsibility lies with students to get motivated.
"Students don't push themselves," she said. "If they are not motivated, they won't take it upon themselves to take the serious courses, or if they do it is too late. Some people really get motivated as a junior or senior, but they don't have time to take all the classes they need to take."
Randy Bowles, principal of Williamston High School, said the school works hard to educate both students and their parents about the dangers of taking it easy during senior year.
"A lot of them will put their feet up and start to coast," Bowles said. "That's ludicrous to do when you're getting ready for college."
Janet Swenson, director of the MSU Writing Center, said many of the professors she has talked with want their students to go beyond the basic essay required in many English classes.
"The faculty I have spoken to want the students to show a critical analysis, with a clear development of thought in their writing," Swenson said.
Swenson said a lot of the problem is in the temptation to focus on assessment tests in a high school setting.
"Standardized testing is having a detrimental effect," Swenson said. "We can create tests that show or don't show improvement, but tests have such a high stake that teachers are not preparing students for work outside of that."
She said teaching students what they need to pass a test is not a time for critical thinking. In college, she said students are asked not only to engage in the writing, but create the opportunity to think critically.
Bowles said standardized testing is a necessary evil, because schools always will need to test students against themselves and their classmates. He acknowledges that some schools might overemphasize the test and concentrate on education that revolves around memorization.
"Shame on us if we do," Bowles said. "If we teach the important critical thinking skills, the students will get the memorization — that's the lowest form of thinking."
