Political & Elections

soccerguy315 · Guru

RE: Idiocy in Motion: Washington Might Require Students to Apply for College

Cartera · Guru

I see some merit in this. According to the article, the charter schools in DC already require applications. Just to be clear, they don't have to apply to college. It can be any post graduation program, including a trade school. I'm sure there are kids who would love to go to some sort of program after graduation but they are afraid of rejection or their parents don't support or won't allow it. At least some of these kids will get into a program so it would likely change some lives.

SamuraiLandshark · Guru

http://news.yahoo.com/idiocy-motion-washington-might-require-students-apply-college-142600838.html

Idiocy in Motion: Washington Might Require Students to Apply for College

By L. Vincent Poupard | Yahoo! Contributor Network – Sun, Jan 8, 2012

COMMENTARY | Some lawmakers in Washington are considering legislation which would require District of Columbia resident high school students to register for college, according to Fox News. Some lawmakers believe this would show if students would be able to navigate through the applicationprocess. This idea is ridiculous and would cost money and time which could be invested elsewhere.

First, if a student is unable to navigate the application process, he or she should know enough to ask for help. Contacting the college in question or getting help from a teacher or councilor in school should be the first step. It is the responsibility of the school district and each Washington school to inform students that they have resources available if they have an issue.

If a student is unable to navigate through the application process for a college or university, are they really going to have a chance of making it in college? The college application process is all about following directions and applying simple reasoning skills. These are skills which need to have been developed in high school or before. Instead of forcing students to fill out unneeded forms, how about fixing the problems in the schools which might help students learn how to apply for college? Their inability to comply reflects on the school system.

If a student is not interested in applying to college in the first place, time will be wasted in filling out all of the paperwork needed. If a student is planning on joining the military, why should they have to waste their time filling out long applications they do not need? Granted, they might learn the lesson of how politicians sometimes add more burdens to us for no logical reason at all.

Are the Washington politicians going to somehow reimburse colleges and universities for the time wasted reviewing the mandatory applications of students which are not even interested in attending college? Chances are good that students will find the college with the least amount of paperwork to fill out and inundate that college with applications. This will lead to more work, and could ultimately end up coming out of the pockets of the students attending the college in question. Washington politicians need to figure out the ramifications before making a stupid mistake like this.