Average scores on the ACT college entrance exam dipped slightly for the high school class of 2008 as the number of students taking the exam jumped by 9 percent compared to last year.

This year’s results, released Wednesday, reveal that more than three in four test-takers will likely need remedial help in at least one subject to succeed in college. But the ACT’s creators said it was good news that average scores held nearly steady even as more students took the exam. That means the total number who’ve earned benchmark scores showing they’re ready for college-level work is rising.

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 When time to apply, one mistake made by many students is needlessly applying to too many schools.  If knowing from the outset that you don’t have the particulars to meet a certain university’s admission requirements or that the school is geographically undesirable for you or still yet that it doesn’t offer you the program of study to meet your interests, why bother with the process altogher?  Admissions comittees already have enough work on their hands without having to review superflous applications from non serious applicants. 

     Perhaps the overriding reason for not wanting to send an indiscriminate flurry of applications through cybermail may be personal.  No one wants to start a collection of college rejection letters.  This cannot be an uplifing experience.  The best strategy is to focus on a few viable and realistic colleges where you will be likely to receive an offer of admission.

     Certain schools are always hot like the Ivies and certain schools get hot, like the University of Florida due to the popularity gained after victory in football and other sports.  Let these shifting sentiments be your guide.  Many fine overlooked schools provide an option for freshman entrance without the intense competitive onslaught characteristic of these hot schools. 

     This may be the way to go for a majority of the incoming student body to colleges.  Parents are coming to their senses and focusing their children on realistic and practical goals.  A freshman in a two year community college always has transfer opportunities.  The door remains open to moving onward with educational plans, and that is great comfort in removing the stress associated with the entire admissions endeavor.

     Getting into college requires you to do the work of finding out which colleges are likely to admit you.  For example, if your standardized test scores are less that stellar, research those schools known to rely not as heavily on those statistics in the admission decision.  Feature your best assets and promote it to the school  to which you can likely best contribute.

     All successful leaders share a group of clear necessary and sufficient characteristics according to which they function at peak level.

     For one, a leader displays organizational ability in the most basic sense.  He meets deadlines, keeps appointments, returns phone calls promptly, is consistently reliable.  He has the solution to get the job done. 

     Second, but no less importantly, an effective leader has the ability to speak fluently, articulately and confidently in front of  an audience or the public.  This  value of this last trait should never be underestimated.  Confidence is an ineffable, seemingly effortless feature of the personality that is linked to charisma. It’s lack of fear of direct and sustained eye contact.  It cannot be taught outright;  rather, it must be cultivated and acquired,  by an individual who understands that it is possibly in some cases teachable.

     Third, every leader demonstrates forward thinking vision.  He can focus on an idea and translate it to its fullest completion for a group project.  He finds the positive contribution that can be made by nearly everyone in his community.  As such he is an inclusive visionary, working to build the worthiness  and productivity of others and, in so doing, aims to engender the creation of new generation of younger leaders.

     Further, the self - actualized leader has checked his ego at the door.  In the big picture he acknowledges himself not as a professional career politician but rather as a public servant on whose mind is the improvement of society at large.  

      Of course, since social betterment is the higher goal, human conduct must be guided first and foremost by personal ethics.  Leaders whose lives reflect exemplary morals, and they are in fact scarse and unnamable, ought to know right from wrong, good from bad, and live by those principles.  Ethics in one’s personal life are exhibited by compassion for others, sympathy, empathy and understanding.  In the wider sense, the extension of one’s own personal ethical code to social interaction gives us a moral code.  Good leaders know how to treat others fairly.   

     Not unexpectedly, this moral jargon, not having definitional constants, must be studied by political and corporate types.   This happens to be a serious core problem.  How do we approach the study  of moral terms?  What is good?  What is acceptable human conduct?  Can or should and must there be a universal standard of goodness, truth and beauty?  Who knows the answer to these questions?  The leader must develop a firm, tutored opionion of his moral code                                                         

     In a more tangible sense, effective leadership demands decisiveness.  Often decisions must be made under time constraints.  Judgements or conclusions sometimes must be made independently, without the benefit of input by one’s colleagues and appointed committee members.

     Leaders can recognize talent.  In a selfless manner, they stand eager to cultivate that talent in others, nurturing it and enabling it to flourish.  In Maslow’s terminology,  once a leader is himself self - actualized at the top of the pyramid, he in turn helps others to self - actualize.

     With all of this in mind, little gets achieved unless the leader is likable.  In order for people to take postive direction and  effect progress , they have to find the leader personable and effortlessly appealing.  Charm and charisma are not necessarily teachable –  they are part of the complete personality package  required for the ability to lead.

     A leader sees ideas and concepts openmindedly.  Leaders favor inclusionary rather than singular policies and know the benefits that derive from the input of a diverse, traditionally underrepresented constituency.  In the academic arena, colleges and high schools now have extended generous enrollment and scholarship offers to non - traditional enrolees.

     Most particularly though, this platform of pluralism applies to the policies of higher education and to the policies that shape current college admission guidelines.  Universities are seeking to diversify their student body by accepting what have been considered non- traditional matriculants.  Many are culled from urban, poor areas and would be normally not have access to higher education. Greater ethnic and socio-economic diversity in the student body leads to an open exchange of fresh ideas, builds trust and communication, and facilitates religious tolerance.

     Leaders of tomorrow actively participate not only in their own continuing education but in the training of future leaders and educators as well. They actively continue to educate themselves and encourage others to do so.  They remain proactive in the tradition in which they were raised and they want others to benefit from the accumulation of their life long experiences.  Devolving to the next generation  the conclusions from our accumulated experiences would make a difference, provided our students heed the word.

     Implementation and development of leadership mentoring programs is a step in the right direction to foster social cohesivness and cameraderie  for the next generation. 

     Perhaps one day through medical advance and especially neurological study we can learn more about moral sensibilities and the condition of the body.  I have in mind not a reductivist but more of a correspondence theory to approach a complex metaphysical  discussion.

DISPLAYING ABSTRACT - The discussion in the States of Poverty seminar here at Amherst College was getting a little theoretical. Then Anthony Abraham Jack, a junior from Miami, asked pointedly, ‘’Has anyone here ever actually seen a food stamp?'’ To Mr. Jack, unlike many of his classmates, food stamps are not an …

Thus arises the burgeoning industry known as college admissions and application coaching. Coaches have a critical part to play in the lives of parents and students with whom they are working. They provide useful conversation, sort through repetitive paperwork, but most importantly ask clear, pointed questions and listen with careful attention to the answers.

Adopt a healthy skepticism when interviewing or hiring a college coach. Make certain the individual meets specific moral and academic standards. Use some conduit to vet the coach such as a counselor or parent referral.  You can easily verify academic credentials and background experience as well. 

 You must also feel at ease with your coach. Don’t ever feel intimidated or uncomfortable so that you won’t ask a question. Coaches must be relatable and genuine if they are to make a substantive impact on your child’s education. Among the benefits gained are the  building of vocabulary, the inculcating of  discipline and organization, and the general goal to bring out the best your child has to offer.  If the coach takes a condescending approach towards your family, the time has come to terminate this relationship.

As more and more parents pay for this service, which proves time consuming as well as costly but often necessary nonetheless, make sure the coach knows exactly what needs to be done.

What does your child need to work on? Can the coach efficiently assess grades, writing needs and weaknesses, and make realistic recommendations for improving test scores? Is the coach adept at managing time efficiently?      Role playing and acting prepare the student for a possible interview with an admissions counselor at the target college, so this exercise is always helpful.  Have you found the coach in tune with the  great variety of student extracurricular activities? Is the coach sensitive and perceptive enough to evaluate your child’s particular talents and interests?   Is the coach conversant with appropriate target colleges and universities for your youngster? 

Make sure the coach challenges you to fully participate in the session. An ethical coach will demand your feedback by respecting boundaries and never writing an admission essay or personal statement for you. Rather, a responsible coach will monitor your progress periodically and ensure you continue working on the things that have been discussed in prior sessions. A truly professional college coach strengthens your own work, teaching basic writing and verbal skills, so that suggestions help you learn to develop coherent, grammatical speech and text patterns.

You will witness a lot of guidance counselors supporting coaching services in the coming months and years as they themselves become overwhelmed by the sheer number of student and parental inquiries for help with the college admission process. As the field expands, and coaching services become more user friendly and common place, remember that a good coach will not try to befriend you. They ought not to let you off easy but instead hold you accountable to standards and tangible improvement in your written work and test scores.  On the other hand, a co-dependent relationship should not develop either. This is not a love affair in the works, and at some point the string has to be cut.

Of course, like the clergy and the physician, you should expect strict confidence. An ethical coach neither gossips nor betrays your trust. No material should never find its way into the hands of a third party.

Further, a coach who assures you that your child’s situation can be fixed in one session is a diletante to walk away from. Follow up should be included in the service to close out the relationship and make sure that at least some forward progress has taken place.

Ultimately, the coachee, the student, winds up doing the hard work and all of the work. The coach helps, but the student shapes his academic plan, his own educational future and decides whether he himself chooses to succeed. No doubt coaching for college will continue to flourish as a supporting academic service, although in many cases an indispensible one. High school guidance counselors and parents must develop a keen eye and sharp ear to separate the professional who delivers the best possible help from the unethical time waster who will indulge your son or daughter. A good coach understands what he or she is up against and understands the complexity of academia and admissions work. There is a sobriety and seriousness in the realization that there is always room for improvement.

A boxer continues to train even though he may be the world champ. It is never the case that those at the top of the class have no room for improvement. Everyone can benefit from the input of the right coach.