A Landmine in the College Application Process

During the summer, Philip and I researched schools offering Biomedical Engineering programs and Philip likewise worked on his college essay. Going into the school year we felt like Philip was ahead of the curve with a short list of schools from long-shot to safety and everything thing else in between. We were on schedule to apply “early decision” to his Ingram University, as well as “early action” at Evans Tech when we were blind-sided by an unexpected obstacle.

Philip seemed ready to line up his teachers for college recommendations. His honors chemistry teacher was his college “counselor,” his math teach that had awarded him for being top student in her class was the first of the two required “teacher” recommendations, but then his honors biology teach for both his junior and senior year shocked him with a “probably not.” We were shocked until we heard the reason. This was one of the school’s most popular teachers. He had over one hundred seniors taking his classes. And he had arranged a research trip to a rain forest over the summer for rising Hermes High School seniors that Philip did not attend. The man was genuinely “capped out” writing recommendations for promising Hermes High School seniors gunning for Pre-Med, Marine Biology, Biotechnology, Biomedical Engineering and other fields such as Kinesiology associated with Biology.

Regardless of whether there was a good reason or not, Philip’s situation initially looked like a disaster. Philip was applying to biomedical engineering programs and yet the honors biology teacher Philip had for both junior and senior year not writing a letter recommendation seemed undermine his whole position as a serious student of biology.

Fortunately, once the initial panic faded, we reverted back to our flexible and creative selves. We also wrote to his counselor for advice on how best to handle the situation. Fortunately for Philip, he was taking a class titled Biotechnology at another school in the county two days a week. Philip’s counselor liked the idea and the teacher agreed to fulfill Philip’s request.

The problem was solved but perhaps Philip’s situation draws attention to a larger problem. The kids who could afford the cost of a summer rain forest trip had a decided advantage over any kid who did not. For high school students clawing their way to get established in life, life is getting harder. College costs are up, student-teacher ratios are down, funding for special programs is drying up and massive government debt combined with reduced family earning are threatening one’s ability to even pay for college. So far, this recommendation has been our only obstacle. But I expect there will be more to come.