Admissions prep program to debut at Tufts

High school students struggling with the college application process will find relief on the Tufts campus this summer.

The first annual Brighton Foundation College Admissions Edge program will be held at Tufts and at the University of California at Los Angeles. The program aims to guide rising high school juniors and seniors through the admissions process outside of the high school environment.

According to the program's creator and executive director David Allen, Admissions Edge aims to expose college-bound high school students to college life and to help students tailor their applications to give them the best chance of admission to selective colleges.

Students will live on campus and attend workshops that will help them with the college application process. "Colleges don't accept people, they accept applications," Allen said.

Students will also be given the chance to visit other area colleges, including Harvard University, Northeastern University, Boston College, and Boston University.

Allen said he discovered through talks with high school juniors and seniors that students were struggling to juggle their college applications in their spare time between schoolwork and activities during the hectic fall of senior year.

"Kids are finishing these applications at midnight in three different inks," he said.

According to Allen, "The more stressful the college admissions process gets, the more parents and counselors are taking over." Allen said he expects the program to motivate the students to work on their applications because students can appreciate the benefits of college while living on a college campus.

The program will last nine days and cost each student $2,295.

The exclusivity and price of programs like Admissions Edge concerns some college counselors. "The type of kids that go tend to be the kids of doctors and lawyers," said Ralph Burrelle, a college counselor at a southwestern Oregon high school.

However, Burrelle said that students who cannot afford to attend summer programs but still devote time and effort to their college applications are not at a disadvantage. "The fact that you can't afford it isn't going to work against you as long as you're doing something with meaning in the time that you have," he said.

Burelle also agreed that summer programs can be helpful to students. "Students that I've had that have gone on similar programs have valued the tours they've received, they've valued highly the advice they've been given on how to complete applications," he said.

Allen said the program will be a "self-help conference," in which a small group of students can get the focused and individualized attention from professional college counselors so they can complete a top-rated application.

Though Admissions Edge is taking place on the Tufts campus, the program is not affiliated with the University. Director of Admissions Allan Clemow said he had not been told that the program was going to take place on campus.

Allen said he has had experience working with similar pre-college programs in the past. Admissions Edge went through five years of preparation, during which Allen talked to both high school and college guidance counselors about the process, and held a test session at Pepperdine University.