What is college for?

So the elder teen is in the midst of decision-making... if she is admitted to Macalester (which in my view seems likely) then if I have this right she'll be choosing between it and Calvin.

Which brings to mind the questions

• What is the purpose of college?
• What is most needful for me in particular, that college would address?

So I googled on "what is college for" (no quotes) which led me to this 1986 article from Time, which talks about "real education" versus the idea of a trade school, among other things. Do colleges graduate technocrats rather than intellectuals?

Another result was What's College For? by Karabell. The reviews on amazon.com indicate that the usual themes are covered...

Macalester's website basically brags about its intellectual orientation, as testified in reviews and rankings and in its statement of purpose. That purpose statement sounds reasonable, but there's not much to disagree with in it. I mean, it reads kinda like motherhood:

We believe that the benefit of the educational experience at Macalester is the development of individuals who make informed judgments and interpretations of the broader world around them and choose actions or beliefs for which they are willing to be held accountable.

It doesn't exactly sound like medical or engineering school, but nothing in there is antithetical to medical or engineering school. Or business school for that matter, though recent scandals might tempt one to think otherwise.

Calvin's website talks a lot about the Christian orientation -- from the "about Calvin" page to the quotes on the endorsements page. Here's their pitch:

What Makes Calvin Unique?
Calvin is the distinctively Christian, academically excellent liberal arts college that shapes minds for intentional participation in the renewal of all things.

1. Profoundly Academic
2. Purposeful Renewal
3. Spirited Community
4. Promising Futures
5. Remarkable Investment

Well, I have to say that the Calvin pitch gives the stronger impression of something unique, and distinctively Christian. When I was much younger, thinking about getting through college quickly, relatives used to say, "You'll be working all your life; why rush into it?" An analogous thing here might be, "You'll most likely be working in an environment that's at best neutral toward your faith; why not take advantage of your college years to solidify your intellectual growth in an environment that will support your faith rather than opposing it?"

But I don't know what to recommend ultimately. There is plenty of time later in life for intellectual growth (I'm a case in point; I now regularly read things that would have bored me in my 20s), but that doesn't mean it should be neglected in college. And the same could be said about spiritual growth. My leanings are probably obvious from the above...

(a good essay should have a good concluding statement but i'm just going to go back to bed)

Academic Freedom and Calvin College

We have been traveling, the elder teen and I, seeing colleges where she she may attend 18 months from now. Our first campus visit was to Calvin College (as in "John ...", not "... and Hobbes"). They have this "Fridays at Calvin" program for prospective students.

The lovely Carol wasn't really sure about the idea of a Christian college. "You could take along a copy of GENDER & GRACE (Mary van Leeuwen, IVP, 1990) and see if anyone raises an eyebrow," she suggested. I took it, but left it in the car.

But there at Calvin, in a parent/student/staff "small group," a professor of Communications said she loved the academic freedom.

My ears perked up. That's not what I was expecting.

This prof had previously taught at another college, where she was told not to talk about nor publish anything based on her faith or on her feminism. But at Calvin she is free to do both from her perspective as a Christian feminist.

(Note to any readers on the Far Right: What she meant by "feminism" is probably not what you think.)

I gamely asked if evolution was taught at Calvin, and if so, how. (It is.)

Later, we visited a psychology class, where we saw a copy of -- you guessed it, GENDER & GRACE -- near the lectern. (By the way, there were 4 or 5 non-white faces in this class of 21. In Grand Rapids, Michigan! )

The instructor handed out a list of psychology professionals. Students were expected to select someone to interview, and the prof explained the diversity of backgrounds among the professionals. "You might select someone with a background and tradition similar to yours" as a sort of role model. "But I would encourage some of you to interview..." and he pointed out two people on his list who don't even believe in God. These people, he said, would challenge you on your faith, and you'll have to think about why you believe what you do.

He then went on to review someone's theory of the origin of ethics, which was a speculation based on principles of evolutionary biology. This would be standard fare in any college psych class. But then he picked up GENDER & GRACE and referred to van Leeuwen's interpretation of Genesis 1.27, invoking the technique of parallelism in Hebrew literature.

Can you tell I was impressed? My conclusions:

1. You get the whole story, not just the politically correct parts -- as mentioned above, both biblical and naturalistic explanations of the origin of ethics.
   
   I can already hear you: "You don't teach junk social science (or biological science) in a college classroom!" Yeah, right. I have one word for you: Semmelweis. People love to talk about how open-minded they are, unless they disagree with you. Then YOU're the one who's backward, or closed-minded, or teaching junk science, or whatever. End of rant.
   
   
2. It's not a cocoon either -- note the psych prof's exhortation to interview professionals from different traditions and different faiths. (I don't say "no faith" because you really gotta believe it if you say there's no God.)
   

I am really impressed. They've got something special going there. Or maybe they did a great sales job. Or maybe both.

Finding scholarship money for college -- even if you "own" a home in California

You already know this, but there are two kinds of "financial aid" for college: need-based and other. I put "financial aid" in quotes because colleges include work (e.g., working in the cafeteria) and student loans in their "financial aid package" even when the loans aren't subsidized.

If you're a California home "owner" then the need-based aid is probably not for you unless you have 2-3 kids in college at the same time, and even then maybe not. You know that you need to fill out the FAFSA, probably online, and that it'll give you a number for "expected family contribution" iirc. For a California homeowner, that expected contribution may be something like 50K$/year.

So how about non-need-based aid? Some schools Just Say No. St John's College (Santa Fe or Annapolis), Carleton College, and I think Macalester, as well as other name-brand schools, fall into this class. What's that about, anyway?

Here's my understanding of it: colleges don't do non-need-based aid for love; they do it because they want their student body to have certain characteristics. St John's, Carleton, and some of these other schools can just admit the kids they want, because a high percentage of admittees actually attend.

Other schools use their financial resources to "engineer" their incoming class. Schools seek racial diversity, geographical distribution, gender parity, and so on; so if you're looking for an incentive, find a school that wants what you've got.

How do you find such a school? Fill out the profile on the PSAT (do they still call it PSAT/NMSQT?), and if you're in an underrepresented class, then for goodness's sake let them know about it! Then watch the marketing literature come in. Some of the schools that try to "sell" themselves will have incentives available.

It goes without saying that you should try to get a good score on the PSAT and SAT. National merit finalists have doors opened for them and money thrown at them. It is not necessarily a lot of money, but it could be. Rumor has it that a national merit finalist can get a full ride at the University of Fairbanks for example.

A word about underrepresented classes: if you're applying for admission to the University of California and you have a Japanese or Chinese surname, you're not in an underrepresented class. BUT if you're thinking about going to Calvin College in Grand Rapids (not a bad choice in my view) then you would be underrepresented there, and Calvin has some incentives to offer. Other schools do, too, but I know about Calvin 'cause I've visited there.

Unless you're headed for a traditionally mostly-male school, then boys are underrepresented in colleges these days. So it usually helps to be a boy, if you're looking for financial incentives.

Sometimes a visit will help. I know one father who visited Oberlin with his daughter. In the last interview of their visit, he said "she likes the school a lot, but I'm looking at an additional $80,000 over 4 years, vs. sending her to UC Santa Cruz." The admissions officer said something like, "Well, let's see if we can't do something about that" and basically made up the difference!

I have also read of colleges whose staff reasoned, "they came to visit, so they must be motivated to attend here -- no need to bribe them" -- in other words, visiting reduced their chances of getting financial aid. (If memory serves, that particular college has changed its ways.)

Pure dumb luck plays a role here. There was a college that was trying to increase the number of out-of-state students (as distinct from international students). In particular, one admissions officer had the mission to double the number of California freshmen over a 2-3 year period. Financial incentives were available, up to and including a full ride scholarship to this highly-regarded public university on the east coast.

This sort of thing is quite rare; I expect that the more usual thing is for a college to offer a nontrivial incentive ("scholarship" or "bribe" or "discount" if you prefer) if they think you might come, and pay the rest. Here's what I mean. Suppose two colleges, each charging about 50K$/year, compete for similar students. Now if college A offers a 12K$/year incentive to a student, and college B doesn't, there's a fair chance that college A will collect 38K$ from that student's parents, whereas college B collects zero. Obviously college A can't offer that big an incentive to everybody, but if you're the kind of student that fits college A's desiderata, that could help your cause.

So here's the summary of my advice: Study diligently but not obsessively, get the best grades and best test scores that you reasonably can, read the marketing literature, take care in filling out the applications, be earnest in the essays, and pray both for guidance and provision.

NOTE: Sorry, I started off addressing this to parents, but then ended up writing as though to students. Maybe I'll fix this later...

Religion and Politics?

In 1 Corinthians 5, the apostle Paul writes:

What business is it of mine to judge those outside the church? ... God will judge those outside [the church].

from 1 Corinthians 5.12-13

Here is one difference between Paul and any number of "Moral Majority" types, who want to reform society according to their religious preferences, whether Calvin in Geneva or the Taliban in Afghanistan.

Wait, Calvin? Yes, the author of The Institutes of the Christian Religion, John Calvin, made it a crime in Geneva for a while to dance "wildly". I wonder what he would have thought about King David's dancing in 2 Samuel 6:16 ...when she saw King David leaping and dancing before the Lord, she despised him in her heart.

Or, if you prefer, the difference between Jesus Christ and the theocratic (or despotic) impulses of fallen man.

Jesus himself said, "My kingdom is not of this world" (John 18.36), which stands in stark contrast to Muslim theology -- as shown not only by recent history (the aforementioned Taliban) and also some friends who have worked in the Muslim world for some decades.

Here's the thing. As it was explained to me, Islam teaches that perfection is possible in this world. All you have to do is remove all sources of temptation from before the eyes of man (and woman), and poof! No more sin!

It apparently makes no difference that this idea has never worked; there is no limit to man's stubbornness. Just ask the Pharoah who opposed Moses in Exodus.

Yet we pray, "Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven." How do we reconcile that with "My kingdom is not of this world"?

Here's my take on it, which you've probably guessed by now.

As an American, I have opinions about what's good for the country long-term. Divorce tends to have disastrous impacts on the children. They tend to drop out from high school more than their peers do, their job choices are more limited, they have a higher incarceration rate, and so on -- all of which is bad for the long-term future of our country.

And the negative economic effects of divorce fall disproportionately on women, and since I have two sisters and two daughters I'm sensitive about that, too.

So as an American, I have big problems with a high divorce rate in our country, and hence with things I believe promote divorce.

So what do we do? Should we outlaw "Murphy Brown" or make divorce a crime? I don't think that's wise.

Instead, we work to strengthen marriages in our churches, we reach out to those in the community (you know they're hurting). And we pray that the Lord would bring his kingdom to earth, and show us how to be part of that.

Amen?

posted 8/14

Traveling daughters; traveling parents

I'm going to try not to write too much or spend too long here.

Our girls have been traveling. You already know I went with the elder teen, now almost (i-learned-the-truth-at-) seventeen, to look at colleges in Minnesota and Michigan. Here is my brief summary of that. You already know my impressions of the flight to Michigan, and our visit to Calvin College so I'll continue with...

• Kalamazoo College, in (surprise) Kalamazoo, Michigan. (The aforementioned friendly midwesterner thought we were visiting Western Michigan University, also in Kalamazoo -- but no, it was Kalamazoo College itself, apparently not well-known in Detroit. It took just just about an hour to drive there from Grand Rapids. We stayed at the Red Roof Inn -- Kalamazoo West. A nice enough place, but if I do it again, I'll stay at the Baymont, which is nicer inside -- your door opens into an indoor hallway, not into the snow-covered parking lot (-11°F wind-chill, that's about -24°C, ouch!). Baymont also has free wi-fi, unlike the T-Mobile that's "on offer" at Red Roof: $7 per login under 60 minutes, or $10/day iirc. Kalamazoo has great language programs, internship and what they call "externship", great study-abroad programs.

  We had a nice conversation with a Mr. Tavares in the admissions office, who graciously worked that Saturday to talk to us (or any other inquisitive visitors) about the college. He told us that the merit scholarships are renewable if you maintain a 2.5GPA. "Why do you suppose we make it so low?" he asked.
  
  Supposedly my girl is the first student in 3 years to come up with the right answer. Of course I think it's because she's a genius, but she says "they probably didn't go to the Reed [College] presentation before coming here."
  
  We took a plane (without incident) to MSP and spent three nights with Jan and Britton and their kids. I went to junior high with Jan, who I hasten to tell you is not as old as I am. She skipped at least one grade and so is at least one year younger than I am. I wouldn't want you to think she's as old as me 8^>
  

• Monday February 20 we drove to down to Northfield in plenty of time for the free food, I mean, for the opening session of "Junior day" at St Olaf College. A record crowd was there. Their academics, including the language and study-abroad programs, looked really good. The director of admissions is a great entertainer, but I don't hold that against the school, really I don't. Since our visit, I heard positive things about St. Olaf from at least 3 people -- mostly concerning the music program there.
  
  The chapel service was nice and the address by the president was good if rather liberal. Apparently St Olaf is Lutheran.... I asked an admissions staffer about how welcome God is in the classroom. The answer? Basically it depends on the professor.
  
  The financial aid seminar was well-attended and worthwhile. We were encouraged to grab a box lunch before heading to our next visit across the river, viz.,
  
  
• Carleton College, where we snuck into the info session after it had started. They don't have "merit aid" at Carleton -- they don't need it. I feel a little guilty thinking like that, but well, we're talking about a lot of money here. The academics at Carleton are definitely top-notch. Many (most?) graduates leave Carleton as published authors (I assume "...in peer-reviewed journals," but our tour guides did not say). We sat in on a history lecture with a professor who took his citizenship exams in Redwood City, California! Now I wish I'd had a history teacher like him when I was in junior high -- when "don't know much about hiss-toe-ree" could've been my middle name. Later, I could not remember seeing anyone non-white at the school, besides the assistant director of admissions who gave the presentation.

  That was it for Northfield; we drove back to the twin cities and had dinner with Jan, Britton, and a few of the kids (the ones who weren't fencing) at what's in effect a Chinese restaurant with a Vietnamese name. Our last evening in Minnesota.
  

• Tuesday morning 2/21 we packed up and got to Macalester college in time to not be totally left behind by the tour group. The language program is excellent there -- there are language houses where if you live there, you speak the language there. (Not sure how many hrs/day that applies or is enforced.) The 4-year grad rate is supposedly over 90% -- this would be a year-on-year retention of over 97.5%. The students are brilliant -- median SATs are 720 verbal, 710 math. The setting is really urban, I mean the campus borders on Snelling (a main drag), students don't need cars because they can take city buses -- this sort of thing. They gave us lunch tickets and I'll tell you, their cafeteria food is totally excellent.
  
  We sat in on a creative writing class with a prof who was very engaging/engaged with the students... the most enjoyable class we saw on this tour. I think it was 90 minutes but he had no problem keeping our attention. I don't know if they cherry-picked this class but there was an Egyptian lady, an African man, an African or Afro-American woman, at least one Asian-American - in a class of 16.

That was it basically. Our return flight home was basically without incident; we left MSP late but arrived at SFO a little early. But some of the gate hardware (jetway maybe?) was broken so they had to tow us to another gate -- so we got off the plane on-time rather than early.

So where will she go to school? Well, Calvin and Macalester were on her A-list before we started, and those are the ones still on her A-list afterwards. Now, about St John's College...

the younger teen's travels

I wasn't there on the younger teen's travels to Southeastern North America so I won't be able to give you as much of a report. But it was a Sojourn to the Past tour -- one of the Little Rock Nine traveled with them on this 9-day visit to some major sites of the Civil Rights movement. Near the end of her trip, our younger teen heard Rev. Shuttlesworth speak, and afterwards he sat at the table where she was. She asked, "How do you know when God is speaking to you?"

What a great question! And he answered, "It's like a mother, talking to her children." Wow.

The Parents' Travels

Yesterday the lovely Carol and I went to visit her mom. We left the house at about 8:30 and drove to Turlock. About 10:00 I gave her a call. "Hi Charlsey, it's Collin."

"Oh, are you coming to see me?" I told her we were, and that we'd visit for a bit, then go to a nursery and then to lunch. She thought that sounded fine.

"We'll be there in about half an hour," I told her. Twenty minutes later, we signed in and walked over to her room. She recognized us and remembered my name. After a while in her room, we headed off to the nursery, where she enjoyed looking at the flowers. Carol bought some flowers for our garden at home. Charlsey had a pretty good time. We left about 1pm, which was probably about long enough for all concerned. Although she probably forgot about the visit 15 minutes after we left, I know she enjoyed seeing the flowers, having a burger off-campus, and gettng that attention from us. Oh -- we also showed her some old photos and read some stuff from her travel journal, and a letter her sister had sent in 1958.

the following section rated PG

Afterwards, Carol and I went for a drive. We had a tent and a thermarest® pad in the car. The map showed a national wildlife refuge off highway 132, but when we got there, the signs were emphatic that nobody was allowed in! We drove on to some "S.V.R.A." which we found out, unhappily, means "where dirt bikes roar" -- not a place to pitch a tent for a peak kid-free outdoor afternoon experience. After some more driving, we came to Del Valle Regional Park, where the $6 entrance fee is far lower than any hourly motel rate. We pitched the tent in an unauthorized campsite under the shade of some beautiful trees, and....

Ah, Del Valle.

We drove to Palo Alto to look for the Apple Store -- which we found after much wandering around. I asked my question, then it was time to pick Jenny up from church. She had ridden her bike there to help with the K-1 class. We drove home, where Jenny asked me the embarrassing question of why there was a thermarest pad in the car. I tap-danced my way out of that one, mostly by not giving much of an answer. Luckily she didn't notice the tent I was putting away.

Well, that was probably more detail than you wanted. But it was fun for me to write anyway.

Even though I did spend over an hour on it.

Christian kids and college: notes from a parents’ seminar

A few weeks ago, our church had a seminar for parents and high school seniors. They started it off with a panel, and then Kara Powell, from the Fuller Youth Institute, spoke to us for a while. There was a Q&A session (kids in one room, parents in another). Following are some notes -- none from the Q&A though.

What did your parents do that helped you feel supported when you were in college? A panel of college students replied:

• Being available on my schedule, i.e., being flexible
• Telling me "I'm praying for you"
• Taking me to Costco!
• Coming to see my athletic events (using up their vacation time like that)
• Care packages.
• Asking every few weeks, "How can I pray for you?"
• Sending cards and packages. And newsy e-mails.
• Supporting me in my decisions even if they don't fully agree.

What annoyed you?

• Once when I was home on vacation, my dad told me, "Go to bed." ???
• Telling me to do my homework at a certain time.
• E-mailing my academic advisor
  (about what, I don't remember --collin)

What about getting connected with a faith community?

• I didn't know anyone other than my (athletic) teammates and ignored faith for a while. Eventually another kid found me and told me about a good church in the area; we went together.
• got connected through an FCA-like group (FCA = fellowship of christian athletes)
• Don't just commit to the first church you see.

Kara Powell

Confession: "I can go a long time" (minutes, sometimes hours even) "without thinking about God." Life is full for Kara now, research and teaching and raising kids etc., and it gets full very quickly for students entering college.

According to research of T. Clydesdale(?), Christian kids sometimes put their faith into a "lockbox"; it's invisible from the outside. In some cases they drift away from their faith entirely.

One case: a leader in high school (worship leader? Bible study leader?) went to college and gave up on all that. He smokes pot with his buddies who are, he says, "far more supportive than" anyone at church was to him. (Is that reality, or was he only justifying himself? Did his youth group leader just use him, or did he really care about his relationship with Christ?)

They showed a 5-minute section of a longer (20-minute) video. I think you can see the clip at http://liveabove.com -- summary of the video: Christian kids go to college, some of them discard their faith (at least for a time) and get into alcohol and (other) drugs. Some get drunk every weekend; one girl was sexually assaulted while too drunk to resist. etc.

This video was shown at an InterVarsity meeting (this is a Christian group!) and some of the kids couldn't speak because they were so upset. The point: this sort of experience is far more common, even among Christian kids, than we would like to think.

Later, a mother asked if it's different at a Christian school vs others. They didn't answer the question, but I have my own sources :). Regarding alcohol and the party scene, I have a young friend at Vanguard University of Southern California, and she affirms that it's definitely easier to avoid it on a Christian campus than a "secular" one. But if you're determined to get drunk, you can still do it. My friend visited Cal Lutheran with her son, and alcohol is definitely available there. (She was not favorably impressed.)

Regarding sexual behavior, according to an article in Christianity Today (and a book by a Catholic college professor), there is a dichotomy between conservative/Evangelical colleges and others (including Catholic schools). At the Evangelical schools, abstinence and restraint are affirmed/celebrated, and at the others, promiscuity is the norm. So our kids probably would have a different experience going to Whitworth, Vanguard, Calvin or Hope than they would at Cal Lutheran, Holy Cross, Stanford or UC.

Kara next went into three factors for keeping faith in the college years:

Having a firm grip on the gospel

What is the good news, really? They observed (Fuller Youth Institute research) that youth group graduates who are teetotalers completely switch gears when they get to college and drink a lot. From this observation they think the kids don't really understand the good news. (How did they come to this conclusion? I didn't catch that.)

Summary of the gospel in four points:

1. God made us GOOD; but
2. we sinned, which led to GUILT.
3. God responded by forgiving us through his GRACE, and
4. we respond with GRATITUDE. It's not about "sin management."

How do we deal with doubts?

Questions inevitably come to the Christian student when s/he enters college. Why do you go to church? Why does God let nice people go to hell? (Imagine a Bible Belt kid going to Stanford or Harvard and meeting a lot of nice kids who are not Christians. They're nice; will they go to heaven? Why not?)

Four principal ways of dealing with doubt:

1. diffused. student becomes a chameleon, simply adapting to whatever's around them.
2. closed; they don't want to think about it.
3. moratorium; they don't want to jump to any conclusions, so they try to hold all possibilities in their heads at once
4. achieved identity; having considered all possibilities, aware that nothing in this life is 100% certain, yet deciding that following Jesus makes the most sense.

We all hope our kids come to #4 but that's not realistic for a new college student. Probably #3, a willingness to really examine conflicting claims to truth, is the healthiest for a college student. Some of us remain in #3 forever. Personally, I go between #4 and #3.

Preparation

The suggestion was that we work on preparing our kids for what's coming. Part of this is being aware of the top 3 difficulties for Christian kids:

1. Finding friends;
2. Aloneness;
3. Finding a church community.

So a poll of high school seniors showed 15% believe their youth group prepared them well for the transition to college. (In other words, 85% didn't think so.) The action plan then would be to think and talk about these things ahead of time:

• where/how to find friends;
• recovery: how will (my parents? myself?) respond when I goof up?
• finding a church or an on-campus Christian group;
• time and money;
• the first two weeks.

Kids were asked why they go to youth group. #1 is they love their youth group leader. Seeing their friends was #6!

Most important factors on kids' faith:

1. Relationship with their parents (and their parents' own faith);
2. Non-parent adults;
3. Peer relationships.

This isn't very precise. Was this positive influence, negative influence, or both? How was this measured? Was this kids who were still holding onto their faith after college? Those who had drifted away? When was the survey taken? etc.

That said, parents and non-parent adults apparently have a huge impact on kids' faith.

---

So: Do your kids have adults in their lives other than you? Are there any kids in your life other than your own?

Why did he write this?

I ran across this quote by Harvard biologist Richard Lewontin in a book that came in the mail when the elder teen was considering Calvin College (Grand Rapids, MI). It's refreshing to see someone so forthrightly admit his prejudices, but I wonder what drove him to write it:

Our willingness to accept scientific claims that are against common sense is the key to an understanding of the real struggle between science and the supernatural. We take the side of science in spite of the patent absurdity of some of its constructs, in spite of its failure to fulfill many of its extravagant promises of health and life, in spite of the tolerance of the scientific community for unsubstantiated just-so stories, because we have a prior commitment, a commitment to materialism. It is not that the methods and institutions of science somehow compel us to accept a material explanation of the phenomenal world, but, on the contrary, that we are forced by our a priori adherence to material causes to create an apparatus of investigation and a set of concepts that produce material explanations, no matter how counter-intuitive, no matter how mystifying to the uninitiated. Moreover, that materialism is absolute, for we cannot allow a Divine Foot in the door. The eminent Kant scholar Lewis Beck used to say that anyone who could believe in God could believe in anything. To appeal to an omnipotent deity is to allow that at any moment the regularities of nature may be ruptured, that miracles may happen.

This apparently came from a 1997 issue of The New York Review of Books.

Essentially, he's admitting that his philosophical preferences drive his interpretation of any data turn up. If God Himself were to turn up in the data, in other words, Lewontin would by his own admission be neither willing nor able to recognize the fact.

I think it's silly, but at least Lewontin 'fesses up to his religion. I don't know if Dawkins has 'fessed up to his, but somehow I doubt it.