Raising the bar: Getting into college will be tougher for class of 2006

Jennifer Knight

Friday, Dec. 14, 2001 | 9:35 a.m.

At an age in which appearances matter, when voices change and high school is imminent, eighth-graders at Schofield Junior High School on Thursday learned that they have one more thing to worry about -- getting into college.

A group of recruiters from a local magnet high school told the eighth-grade class that if they want to get into one of the state's two universities, they will have to work harder than the students who came before them.

When they graduate from high school in 2006, new entrance standards will kick in, requiring students to have a 2.75 grade point average in 13 core classes.

"I'm worried," said Marcus Harris, 14. "If you're not doing so well in your core classes, but you're doing good in your electives, that won't count. I don't think that's fair."

"It just forces you to work harder," said Anjali Nigan, 13.

Although the ink isn't yet dry on the new admissions standards passed by Nevada's Board of Regents last week, admissions officers are preparing an information campaign to forewarn the class of 2006 for what lies ahead. And counselors are still largely in the dark about what to tell the eighth-graders.

"As a school counselor, I just heard it on the news," said Cynthia Lippmann, a counselor at Schofield. "I'm going to have to give a talk about it in January when I go over college options with students. I guess I'll be winging it."

Lippmann said that her one concern with the policy is that elective courses in the arts and humanities may become obsolete if they don't count.

"I'd hate to be one of those teachers and have a room full of kids that are sitting there thinking that their course doesn't matter," Lippmann said.

University officials reasoned that such a policy was needed to close the gap between high school and college so that students are better prepared in English, math and science.

Although the policy seems complex, it is designed to force students to take tougher high school courses in core areas to secure their academic future.

Students will be judged on 13 courses: four in English, three in math, three in social sciences and three in natural sciences (two of which must include a lab, such as physics or chemistry).

Students must have a cumulative average in those so-called "core requirements" of 2.75.

What's unique in regard to this policy is the addition of a weighted average.

For every honors course taken, no matter what the grade, students will automatically have extra credit added to their grade point average.

"We want them to take more honors courses," said Pamela Hicks, University of Nevada, Las Vegas director of school community relations and coordinator of the Millennium Scholarship Program.

"The quality of the work in those classes is more in keeping with the rigors of university work. Even if you get a 'D' in an honors course, you are better prepared than you are getting a 'C' in a regular course."

To add to that policy, regents plan to make it easier for students with hardships by allowing them to fall below the minimum requirement to apply under a special circumstances clause.

Students such as 14-year-old Joseph Reed said that he may need such a policy. He now holds two jobs, one as a janitor's assistant during the day and the other as a newspaper carrier on Sundays.

"A lot of times, life can interfere with your plans for college," Reed said. "I want to go to college though. I'm just looking at what it is I'm going to do with the rest of my life."

The school district also faces a problem of timing.

University officials must review the language on the policy during a meeting in January and then approve it for any final revisions.

The final version of the policy won't make it in time for the Clark County School District to add the new requirements to its Transitional Planning Guide, a yearly publication designed to educate college-bound students on their options.

"It's kind of a pathway document that tells students, here's where you are, here's where you want to go and here's how you get here," said Jane Kadoich, director of guidance services at the Clark County School District.

UNLV officials say it is unlikely they will meet the district's deadline and will have to allocate resources to launch a massive information campaign.

"We're estimating that we have 20,000 eighth-graders in the state that we need to reach," said Stuart Tennant, UNLV's dean of admissions and assistant vice president for enrollment management. "We have to wait to get the word out until the meeting so we have the exact language."

The only obstacle for regents in approving the final language during their January meeting surrounds the issue of handling other districts in the state that do not offer weighted GPAs.

"There are schools that don't have weighted (honors) classes, and I don't know how much of a thorn that is going to be with regents," Tennant said.