Sizer, N.F. (2002). Playing the College Game. Crossing the stage (pp.75-112).
Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
Summary:
In chapter four of her book Crossing the Stage, Sizer shares how many seniors feel they have
entered into the realm of a slightly dishonest game world when applying to
college. Hyper alert to hypocrisy, they struggle with the need to stay true to
who they are (faults and all) and the push to market themselves as top-grade
meat for selective schools. They hope that once this stressful, self-depleting
process is over, they will have earned the ticket to truly discover themselves
when they actually get to college. During the senior year, however,
authenticity must be put on hold for the sake of playing the game.
According to Sizer, the game involves a lot of
gambling. Students become so overwhelmed
with the brand new task of selecting
a school, that they often fall into the trap of applying to the most selective schools
that they might have the chance of getting into. They don’t have the energy or
experience to seek schools and properly evaluate whether or not each would be a
good fit for them. Instead, they
often resort to parents’ prodding, arbitrary qualities in a brochure, or those
which simply sound impressive. They are
unsure how to measure whether or not they have a “feel” for the college even
upon visiting, and would rather someone “impose order on all the chaos” (p. 84)
by telling them where to go.
Once the application process commences, students are
terrified to see their statistics staring back at them on a form. Standardized
tests cause the most frustration, as students (and teachers) note the inequitable
nature of the test, but must “play the game” in order to move to the next
level. They feel “ripped off” (p. 95) by a system that takes their money and
spits back a number. They are torn between engaging in activities they are
truly interested in and those that will look good on their application. Sizer
notes that adults “encourage this inflation” by recommending students involve
themselves in certain activities in order “look good on your CV” (p. 100). Once
their resumes and applications are filled, they cynically pit their odds
against one another, and begin to prepare excuses as to why another student may
get in before them (p.102). These issues often relate to how heavily a college
considers the applicant’s racial and ethnic identity and/or whether or not s/he
is a child of alumni. Many students alter their sense of justice during this
time. Some are willing to take whatever odds will work in their favor in order
to gain admittance, even if they acknowledge that it may not be completely
just. On the flip side, students who may understand the larger reasons behind
affirmative action will insist upon “strict equity” when applications are being
reviewed (p. 104).
Students also begin to question the level of preparation
they received at their own high schools. When they hear tales of high scores
and radical projects at other schools, they sometimes feel betrayed by a high
school should have pushed them to do more. They wonder if the grades they have
earned in high school will be the same in college. This causes further
disillusion in how seniors perceive their abilities. Once again, they question
their worth.
The only section that students seem to approve of is the
application essay. They know that “they are being given a chance – and that
they can’t throw it away” (p. 105). However, while many students are accustomed
to examining their faults, they are uncertain how to reflect upon their positive
qualities. They have great difficulty bragging when they are so keenly aware of
their own faults. It feels dishonest, but once again, they play the game and
request the assistance of others to help them “dress things up” (p. 107). One student describes how “for the sake of
his future, he described his present in a way quite different than he knew it
to be” (p. 109). The struggle between being honest and selling out is intense
and students feel the pressure to bill themselves as “impressive products
rather than in works in process” (p.111).
Response:
Sizer clearly articulated what I am experiencing in my
classroom. It is so interesting that her description of interviews from ten
years ago sound eerily similar to own my own students in 2011. I am looking
forward to moving into the “What We Can Do” section in order to make some
changes.
I realized how vigilant I need to be about the way I
encourage students to sell themselves when applying to schools. This year, I
have asked my students to put themselves in the shoes of admissions readers
several times. My hope was that by examining case studies, the admissions process
would be demystified as they became familiar with how an application package is
viewed. My fear is that I have further perpetuated the “game.” I find that many
of my students have no idea where they want to go to school or what they want
in a college. They just want to stop playing the high school game and discover
who they truly are in college. I do not
want to perpetuate dishonesty. I want them to feel pride in what they have to
offer a school without making them feel they have to game the system. I am encouraging the creation of more
personal digital portfolios this year with the hope that students will feel
they can present a more vivid picture of who they are to combat their poor test
scores. I don’t want this to just be an extension of the dishonest package,
however. How can I encourage them to be “real”
while they fear being judged?
I was also struck by how the students Sizer spoke to began
to question their own high school. This
is something especially disheartening to me. I have noticed students beginning
to question their experience at HTHI when they note lack of AP classes on their
transcripts. The school they once held pride in for being different doesn’t
seem to align with “what colleges are looking for” and students feel betrayed
by a school may not have prepared them in the way it should. I find it extremely difficult to be a college-prep
school and one that offers authentic learning experiences when “college prep”
still entails “college admissions prep,” which is smattered with tests and adding
up hours of activities.
As a senior teacher, I feel much like the students who
struggle between being true to education and playing the college game. I would love to change the narrative
surrounding college at our school. I hate to hear college used as a carrot… Too
often, I hear the phrase, “When you’re in college, you’re going to have to do
_______” when a teacher assigns a difficult assignment. However, to some extent, I know it’s true. I spoke to a graduate who insists that our
school is amazing because of the authentic learning opportunities, but feels
that by being too radical, we shortchange our students who are preparing to
complete inauthentic tasks in college, such as high stakes exams and
papers. She insisted that we should
strike the proper balance in order to prepare students for this. To some extent, I agree, but then again, are
these (usually larger public colleges) justified in continuing an older style
of learning? If we change, but colleges don’t, does this mean I still need to
play the game in order to help my students? Must I teach them the language of
power in order to teach them to combat it? How can I be a game-changer? How can
I make my students more aware of what college is (or should be) in order to add
meaning to the senior year?
Quotes:
“Success in life depends fare more on how well a student
does in college than on which one he attends. Although teachers and counselors
may stress the importance of making a good match rather than putting blind
faith in a selective college, it’s hard for students to believe it. There are
so many mysteries, rumors, and ‘deals’ regarding college admission that it’s
hard to blame seniors who may prefer to think that a little ‘luck’ now is
preferable to the hard work required to do well once they get to college. High
school has been give to them. College is something they have to go out and get
for themselves” (p.77).
“This obsession with college, however, has cause us as a
nation to pay less attention to other ways in which a person might prepare
himself or herself for productive adulthood. It has also affected the senior
year in high school, because it has created the false impression that college
admission is the only rite of passage, when in fact there are several” (p.78).
“College is the reward for surviving high school, the pot of
gold at the end of the adolescent rainbow” (p. 79).
“’My whole life is reduced to a piece of paper,’ one senior
observed. ‘They don’t want to hear your reasons: just what you did. The more I
thought about, the more I got stressed out. Not so much working on it, but
thinking about it.’ Being a ‘beggar’ is disheartening, and the notion that so
much is riding on so little invites manipulation – and procrastination” (p. 87).
Regarding SATs: “Any system that can be manipulated, she
believed, could not really be objective. But none of the adults in the seniors’
world – not parents not teachers – dare to counsel them to bypass these exams,
let alone organize a revolt against them. ON this issue, therefore, seniors
grow increasingly cynical and sullen. One told me, ‘We are just objects to be
played with, and in a matter that will really affect our lives’” (p.96).
“Each ‘lift’ is added without much worry about being
dishonest; each is tolerated by the culture that surrounds the seniors. Added
together, the seniors hope, these things will make them stand out. But the
growing disconnection between the person presented in the application and the
person who still has to live with herself, her family, and her teachers can’t
help but undermine what is left of the senior year” (p. 112)