What started out as a research project for his master’s degree in educational leadership soon turned into a career for Shane Bybee. Founder of Bybee College Prep, Shane has spent over half of his life teaching. Over the years, he has seen the eld of college prep become more in demand. With an immense amount of knowledge and experience on the topic, Shane was nice enough to give us an inside look at college prep and offer some advice along the way.
MY COLLEGE EXPERIENCE WAS... different than the experience of most of my students. First, it was almost 30 years ago. So much has changed in the admissions process. Back then, we picked up paper applications and wrote the essays by hand. Writer’s cramp was the biggest factor that kept us from applying to more than three schools. Everything is digital now. Now students can copy and paste their way through 7 to 10 applications. In addition, I was the first generation of my family to finish college. My father attended a semester at UNT when it was called North Texas State, but neither of my parents were able to give me much guidance about the college process. However, in 1987, you didn’t need as much as you do today.
MY WIFE AND I... have been married for 13 years. I got started on this fatherhood thing a little later than most. I have two boys, 6 and 4, and am constantly amazed about how much I didn't know about parenting before I became a parent. I’m sure by the time they’re teenagers, I will know even less.
WHEN MY FIRST SON WAS BORN... it was clear that I wanted more flexibility than a classroom teacher’s schedule allows. Since I had seen success helping students on the SAT, I decided to see what I could do as a test prep coach. That has inevitably developed into college prep as well with the development of my College App Camp. I am incredibly lucky that my avocation and my vocation have so much overlap.
COLLEGE PREP AS A PROFESSION... is exploding, largely because the barrier to entry is so low and demand is so high. Getting into selective schools (less than 50 percent admissions) has become more difficult. The sheer number of applications submitted each year has created a lot of “noise” admissions officers have to work through. While 30 years ago we applied to three or four schools, today's students are applying to six to eight. All of this has created even more anxiety for parents and students, much of it unnecessary. Parents are looking for help, which has created an opportunity for college prep and test prep specialists.
THE FIRST THING PROSPECTIVE COLLEGE STUDENTS NEED TO FIGURE OUT IS... what kind of problems you like to solve. Too often we start with the question about what a student wants to do. It’s a version of the “What do you want to be when you grow up?” question we asked them in elementary school. The debate is sometimes should they follow their passion or their purpose. My advice is to follow your purpose. Find out the things you’re good at and work to get better at those things. It builds a sense of efficacy, which builds confidence and the other elements a student will need to succeed. College is going to be hard enough as it is. Finding an area of study that gives them the opportunity to learn more about the types of problems they like to solve will create the motivation they need to keep going.
ONCE THEY HAVE AN IDEA... of what kinds of things they want to do, they can start finding a degree that lets them study those things and a school that offers the degree they’re looking for. Students shouldn’t compromise on what they want to study in order to go to one school over the other. Once they have a list of schools, they can make the other decisions about which colleges t their academic pro le and offer what they are looking for in other areas. They can also consider which schools make the most sense for them financially.
IT’S IMPOSSIBLE TO RECOMMEND... one standardized test over the other in a blanket statement. The biggest difference in the two tests is the time they allow. In a strict time-per-question comparison, the SAT has 180 minutes to answer 154 questions while the ACT has 175 minutes to answer 215 questions. The ACT is 5 fewer minutes to answer 60 more questions. The comparison has more nuances than that, but the biggest problem students have on the ACT is answering all of the questions in the time allotted.
TOO OFTEN, STUDENTS FOCUS ON... getting the highest grade possible rather than learning the material. They get the syllabus for an assignment and dive in to figure out how to maximize value. It’s a short-term approach that leads to cutting corners by reading an online summary instead of reading the novel. Sure, they have something they can say in the discussion; however, they don’t develop the reading comprehension skills they need. Or maybe they copy a friend’s worksheet for history instead of doing the work on their own. It’s great for the daily grade, but when the test comes, they don’t know the material. Test grades usually make up the majority of the grades, so the lack of preparation drives down the GPA.