Camden charter school piles on college applications

LEAP Academy University Charter School in Camden is touting an unusual number this spring: Its seniors sent more than 5,000 college applications - an average of more than 45 per student.

Nationally and regionally, most students apply to four to six colleges. South Jersey school counselors say they rarely see as many as 20 or 25.

LEAP administrators describe the application process as a way to combat negative perceptions of Camden, set high expectations, and expose students to as many opportunities as possible.

"It's my job to put them through this high school-to-higher education transition process, and we do it aggressively," said Khary Golden, the school's head of advising. "There's a lot that can be learned by . . . that kind of exposure to higher education, which these students don't typically get."

Jonathan Strout, head of guidance at Washington Township High in Gloucester County, said he could respect LEAP's philosophy but worried about its implications for other students.

"I'm torn between saying it's a good thing and saying it's somewhat unfair. . . . Everybody has the right to apply to as many schools as they want to," said Strout, who also has worked at Cherry Hill High School East.

"My only concern is that every time you're accepted to a school that you have absolutely no intention of going to . . . you're stealing someone else's dream," he said.

Applying to dozens of colleges means giving the students the largest number of options, said Golden and Gloria Bonilla-Santiago, founder of LEAP.

"It helps the kids to boost their self-esteem; it helps them to legitimize who they are; it builds capacity for them," Bonilla-Santiago said.

At LEAP, the average composite SAT score in 2013-14 was 1250 out of a maximum 2400, according to the state Department of Education. That is above the average for its peer group and below the state average of 1514.

Students from low-income households can receive application fee waivers from the College Board and from individual colleges, Golden said.

LEAP's approach is meant to put its students on par with affluent suburban districts, Golden said. But the students themselves pushed application numbers toward 50.

As students are accepted to colleges, LEAP places stickers on seniors' photos displayed in the school lobby. Sidia Mustapha, a LEAP student since kindergarten, said she was motivated to get a lot of stickers.

Mustapha, 17, isn't sure how many applications she sent out - "probably like thirtyish" - but she knows where she is headed in the fall: the University of Pennsylvania.

Two-thirds of LEAP's senior class have been accepted into more than one four-year college; more than three-quarters have been admitted into at least one.

Abraham Nwaemo, 18, set out to break the school's record of 50 acceptances.

"I'm the kind of person who jumps at every little thing that happens, so one school came into our school and I was like, 'Oh, I like that school, I'm going there.' And then another school came in, and I was like, 'Oh wait, wait, I like that school, I'm going there,' " he said. "So as it just happened, I just . . . found myself applying to everywhere."

He sent out more than 70 applications and has been accepted to 52 colleges so far.

"It's a great thing for our community that students are still aspiring to break records and to be admitted to as many colleges and universities as possible," said Steven L. Phillips, a Rutgers-New Brunswick grad student who set the LEAP acceptance record in 2010.

"And it shows that you can't put limits on students or the city," he said. "Camden is an untapped source for talent, whether it be academic or creative, and we get overlooked a lot."

Submitting dozens of applications is rare. The Common Application, the nonprofit organization that runs the centralized application for more than 500 schools, reported a national average of 4.32 applications. In New Jersey, students applied to an average of 4.9 schools; in Pennsylvania, the average was 3.9, the group said.

Hobsons, an education company, says its popular Naviance online guidance system, used by more than seven million students in 8,500 schools and districts, also shows single-digit averages.

"I get the fact that you want to jump-start this and make a big splash and change the culture and institute it, but I think you do have to keep in mind that college admissions is not a skins game," said David Hawkins, executive director for educational content and policy at the National Association for College Admission Counseling.

"You're going to eventually reach an upper limit on this thing, and in addition, you don't want to discourage kids who can't submit 50 applications."

At other Camden high schools, counselors focus on a tighter range of "safety," "match," and "reach" schools.

Yvette Pruitt, a longtime guidance counselor at the city's Woodrow Wilson High, recalled a student who considered Princeton but decided to focus on Montclair State University because of its music program. He met with representatives, auditioned, and in the end, got the financial aid he needed.

"We don't encourage students to apply to schools where they don't really want to be," she said. "There won't be 10 applications next to his name, but to me, he's reached his goal because he's found what he feels is the right fit for him."

The approach at Camden Academy Charter High School is similar, with students researching three or four colleges, and then adding a few more based on campus visits, college fairs, and meetings with representatives, said Marvin Jones, school principal.

"I guess you can look at it from two perspectives: The more choices I have, the better choice I can make," Jones said. "We say, Let's get them to a school that they definitely are serious about committing to, and not just putting colleges in front of them."

Seniors at Moorestown High send out about six applications each, said Kat D'Ambra, head of guidance. "We are really about tailoring the application process and culling the list to meet the needs of the students."

Nwaemo, the LEAP student who broke the 50-acceptance record, readily admits he applied to some colleges he was not interested in. When he says he wouldn't go to a Canadian university where he applied, Golden jumps in to suggest Nwaemo consider it, if accepted.

That's the LEAP approach.

"It's a process that builds upon itself," Golden said. "So if a student ends up getting a couple acceptance letters into La Salle and Drexel, it's like, OK, why not Temple? You get a kid who gets accepted to Temple, it's like, Why not UPenn? You get a kid that gets into UPenn, it's like, Why not anywhere in the world?"