College Admission Help

Leadership Conferences Don't Assure College Admission
By Gerald M. Bradshaw
Special Writer
Post-trib.com
This will surprise teachers, parents and students who believe students can buy academic honors by attending a paid leadership conference.
It's a come-on, according to New York Times writer Diana Schemo, in a recent expose entitled: "Congratulations! You Are Nominated. It's an Honor. (It's a Sales Pitch)."
Each year, parents contact me about being solicited by companies selling leadership conferences as a way to help their child get into college. They want to know if it is worth spending up to $3,000 to have their son or daughter attend. The invitations arrive in fancy envelopes with impressive gold seals -- some with the seal of the National Association of Secondary School Principals -- which appears as an endorsement, along with the names of members of Congress serving on their boards of advisers. All are printed on heavy stock paper, ready to be framed.
Schemo wrote that these "ticker-tape parades in an envelope -- the Congressional Youth Leadership Council, for example, tells potential students they are 'the nation's most highly acclaimed students' and 'most promising young leaders of tomorrow' -- bewilder many parents and students. On the chat forum College Confidential, the thread begins in 2007: 'I got this thing in the mail which I am not sure about. ... Is it worth it? How does it look for college?' Others wonder: 'Is it overpriced?' Is it 'legit'? The thread continues into 2009."
According to Schemo, solicitations start in middle school. Then, the pump is primed year after year with solicitations until finally, on advice from a teacher, they decide to pay the money and attend.
Critics charge teacher involvement borders on a potential conflict of interest. Some companies offer grants to teachers who participate, or pay for hotel rooms. Companies depend on teachers to nominate students.
But the bottom line should be, does attending a paid leadership conference help students gain admission to college? According to Schemo, companies do not track those statistics.
I do not know of a college or university willing to accept participation as evidence of academic achievement. Apparently, as the report points out, a few do, but it cautions potential conflict of interest if, in order to earn credit, students must take a full-tuition class with the participating university.
Enough complaints have been filed that many companies sponsoring conferences have lost their not-for-profit standing with the Internal Revenue Service.
Even the National Association of Secondary School Principals admits "attending a leadership conference is not likely to enhance college applications any more than attending a soccer camp."
So, parents and students must again do their homework. My advice is to accept these programs as an expensive field trip. Don't expect them to help you get into college.


Leadership Conferences Don't Assure College Admission