Not many college recruiters visit low-

income high schools

By Los Angeles Times, adapted by Newsela staff on 01.08.14
Word Count 941

Students gather in the ofce of college counselor Teresa Carreto at Roosevelt High in Los Angeles on Dec. 13, 2013. Bob
Chamberlin/Los Angeles Times/MCT

LOS ANGELES The Webb Schools, a private high school in Claremont, attracts college
recruiters from around the country and even the world. This fall, 113 Ivy League and other
schools sent representatives to the campus. That's more than the 106 students in the
senior class.

The story is different at Jefferson High School. It's a low-income public school in South Los
Angeles with 280 seniors. Only eight recruiters from local universities showed up there.

Recruiters visits often are an important rst contact for students. They allow them to
discover campuses far beyond their hometowns. And for colleges they offer an opportunity
to discover talented applicants. According to counselors and education experts, students
may be left behind in the competition for college entrance and nancial aid when recruiters
skip their campuses.

Across Southern California, campuses with a high proportion of low-income and minority
students had far fewer visits from college recruiters.

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Well-Off Schools Visited Often

Among schools in well-off communities, La Canada High School had 127 visits from
recruiters between August and November. Palisades Charter on the Westside had 133; the
private Marlborough School, a girls school, had 102.

Corona del Mar, a public school in wealthy Newport Beach, had 85. Sometimes it books as
many as six in a single day.

In contrast, schools in low-income areas received far fewer visits. Pasadena High School
had 20 visits over the fall semester; Compton High, ve; Hoover High in Glendale, 15;
Santa Ana High, ve; Belmont High near downtown Los Angeles, about 25.

Underserved communities have trouble getting resources and access to things like that,
said Jefferson Principal Michael Taft. He said his school lost funding for a full-time college
counselor. That counselor had arranged visits and had encouraged recruiters to overcome
negative images about low-income, heavily minority public schools.

Colleges, particularly from out of state, say they do not discriminate against those schools.
But they say limited time and tight budgets compel them to return to schools where theyve
been successful in enrolling students or at least gathering applications. Some say that
students ability to pay tuition without substantial nancial aid also can sway their choices.

According to education expert Gregory Wolniak, students at high schools receiving few
recruiters often need more information and encouragement than do students at better-off
schools. This is because they are more likely to come from families with less college
experience.

Having visits from schools can serve to compensate for some of those family background
differences, said Wolniak.

Too Traditional An Approach?

Roosevelt senior Beverly Vasquez said she found the college presentations at her public
school helpful. But she believes more visits could expand students horizons, particularly
with private and out-of-state colleges.

I think it would make a huge difference, said Vasquez, who wants to study engineering.

Her classmate Javier Evangelista is applying as a mechanical engineering major. He said

some colleges probably stay away from public schools like his. He believes it's because
they dont think there could be a student in this school who has the potential to win the
next Nobel Prize, come up with a new technology or change the world.

He added, I do believe they are making a mistake.

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According to education researcher Shaun R. Harper, too many colleges stick to traditional
recruiting efforts. Many, he said, concentrate on high schools with substantial numbers of
students who meet eligibility requirements and those that have previously sent graduates
to enroll as freshmen.

That is shameful since so many talented students are not given a chance or not
introduced to the vast landscape of higher education opportunities, he said.

In research that tracked young Latino and black men with good grades in New York City,
Harper found that many colleges avoided their high schools. They wrongly assumed, he
said, that nothing good is going on.

Recruiters say they seek talented minority and low-income students in other ways. They
search for them through large college fairs, citywide recruiting sessions, online outreach
and videotaped presentations. Some join community-based organizations that help young
people enter college, such as the national Posse Foundation, Bright Prospect in Pomona
and One Voice in Los Angeles.

A Circle Of Same Schools

Admissions recruiters from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign travel to about

800 high schools nationwide. Representatives tend not to visit a school where the majority
of the population may not be mobile and are not going to leave a certain radius of home,
said recruitment director Mike Drish. And they avoid schools where kids are unlikely to be
able to afford out-of-state education even with some aid, he said.

Given limits on recruiters time, the pattern of high school visits can be self-perpetuating,
said Robert Springall, admissions dean at Pennsylvania's Bucknell University. The
downside is that it locks you into a circle" of visiting the same schools, he said. It doesn't
"give you great opportunities to discover completely new schools.

His representative visited about two dozen high schools in the Los Angeles region this fall,
but no schools in a poorer L.A. district.

To help compensate for that, Springall said, Bucknell is part of the Posse Foundation. It
connects bright public school students to colleges that offer them full-tuition scholarships.
Bucknell annually enrolls 30 Posse freshmen, including 10 from Los Angeles.

Students who impress college representatives during high school visits may have a leg up.
The recruiters they meet during visits usually help make admissions decisions.

Joshua Vincent, a Webb senior, said college visits to his school proved super-important.

I got to know the people who might have my fate in their hands, he said. It doesnt feel
like I am handing my application to some random strangers.

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Quiz

1 Which sentence below BEST explains the advantages of college recruiter visits to low-income
high schools?

(A) Recruiters could have the opportunity to meet minority students with good
grades.

(B) Recruiters can introduce students from low-income high schools to colleges
far away.

(C) Recruiters offer information on colleges and nancial help in a personal

meeting.

(D) Recruiters have the opportunity to compare students from private schools
with students from public schools.

2 Select the paragraph from the section "A Circle Of Same Schools" that describes reasons for
out-of-state recruiters to skip some schools.

3 In the section "Well-Off Schools Visited Often" what is the connection between recruitment visits
and meeting the needs of students from low-income schools?

(A) The recruiter's visits can help overcome negative images of low-income
students.

(B) Visits offer information and support for attending college often missing for
low-income students.

(C) Visits offer information on college life and tuition for out-of-state schools.

(D) The recruiters can help make up for a lack of a full-time counselor in a
school.

4 College recruiters would agree with all of the following statements EXCEPT:

(A) Recruiters are limited in their visits to schools by time and money.

(B) Recruiters are often more successful in getting students to apply for
admission at private schools.

(C) Recruiters favor wealthy students who are able to pay tuition without
nancial aid.

(D) Recruiters would prefer to try new ways rather than using the traditional
methods for enrolling students.

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