Elizabeth Wissner-Gross.  What High Schools Don’t Tell You (And Other Parents Don’t Want You to Know). New York: Penguin, 2008. Print.

I have been a high school teacher since 1980, and this book was an eye-opener. It is not that I was ignorant of the book’s main point, but this book has the specifics to give high school students and their parents direction.

This is not for everyone. What High Schools Don’t Tell You directs its ideas to students who are doing very well academically or who have well-developed talents and interests. The college admission planning should begin in seventh or eighth grade to give directions so that the students will get the serious attention of the most competitive schools.

There are many opportunities out there, but they do require a certain amount of parental and student initiative. Wissner-Gross recommends that junior high students take the SAT to see if they are eligible for the Johns Hopkins Center for Talented Youth or Center for Academic Achievement.  Certain very high SAT scores, in the 700 range or higher, can make students at that age eligible for even more selective programs.

This is just one of hundreds of examples. Yes, these things “look good on you record,” but they also show a serious academic direction which colleges look for. Things have changed. I had a summer job from the time I was eleven. Nowadays laws make it so that most students cannot work until they are 15 or 16, and colleges are ambivalent about summer jobs unless they are related to academic work or if the student is contributing to family upkeep.

Half of What High Schools Don’t Tell You describes specific programs students should consider from eighth grade on depending on what their area of interest is. There are eight broad areas: Mathematics, Science, Engineering, Arts, Humanities, Media and Advocacy, Government, and Business. Each has many programs and possibilities for the motivated student to consider.

One caveat—it is not unusual for a student’s interests to change between eighth and eleventh grade. The book does make a few suggestions for this, but parents and students should be willing to make adjustments if this happens.

As detailed as What High Schools Don’t Tell You is, there are other programs and opportunities available that are not mentioned, but this gives a sense of direction.

It is my experience, for example, that a Boy Scout who gains the rank of Eagle or has a position like Junior Assistant Scoutmaster will be noted by colleges.  A student of mine who attended Yale was not only very bright, but also won a national award from the National Council of Teachers of English, one contest open to juniors that the book does not mention. That recognition not only got him hundreds of recruiting letters but even letters from members of Congress.

Many colleges offer summer school or summer programs for high schoolers. What High Schools Don’t Tell You gives ideas about what to look for in  these because not all such programs necessarily help a student in college admissions. Again and again this book enumerates helpful specifics.

There are a few recommendations workable for students whose SATs are closer to average. One noted by What High Schools Don’t Tell You is the U. S. Congressional Award Program. This requires a significant amount of community service and extracurricular activities but also does not require high academics, and though it looks great on a college application, “relatively few apply.” (69)

I teach at a small school that usually graduates 40 to 50 students. Not every class has “Ivy League material” in it, but I have noted without exception that the students who have gotten into the highest level schools (Ivies, M.I.T.) have had some exceptional things on their records besides just doing well in school, having SATs over 1400, and doing well on a number of Advanced Placement Tests.

I already mentioned the student who won the NCTE award. Another did original research on Pilgrim leader William Bradford on a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities. Three had worked in serious, higher level computer programming jobs. One was a national Math Counts contestant (there are only two from a state). Two were very actively involved in mission work—one overseas, one in the inner city, and not just a short-term trip which has become common in many churches in recent years.

Now, this does not mean that all it lost if a student has not done these things and is overlooked by those colleges. One student who academically was equal to most of the students I mentioned in the last paragraph did not get into any of the competitive schools that he applied to. However, he did work on his resumé while he was in college.  He enrolled in the honors program at the state university, thanks to plenty of AP credit graduated in three years, worked on significant medical research as a lab assistant, and got a master’s degree in his fourth year. With these things and glowing recommendations from his supervisors in the lab, he was accepted to an Ivy League graduate school where he earned his Ph.D. He used his college years in a manner that Wissner-Gross would commend.

I realize that there are some Lake Wobegon parents (“all the children are above average”) and some helicopter parents, but if you know you are a good student or you know that your child is proving to be academically strong, check this book out. This is a good starting point to creatively give yourself or your student a good chance at getting into those challenging schools.