Hollywood Kids and Ivy League

Hollywood Kids and Ivy League July 30 The Hollywood Reporters piece on college admissions seems like it was written in 1992, not 2015. Theres a piece in The Hollywood Reporter by Alexandria Abramian entitled L.A. Parents Sports Freak-Out: You Cant Cheer at an SAT Exam that we figured wed share with our readers. The article seems a bit behind the times as it discusses the highly selective college admissions craze as though this is a new phenomenon. Well, Hollywood isnt right on trend with many of their offeringslike so many of their TV remakes from decades past. So it should come as no surprise that The Hollywood Reporter is writing about the college admissions craze as though this is something new, even a fleeting trend. The article in The Hollywood Reporter particularly focuses on students who aspire to play sports at the college level. As quoted in the piece, Kids used to play sports in parks. Then theyd play in high school, then college coaches would come to high school games to watch, says West Los Angeles teen and adult therapist  Larry Green. Thats all changed. Now coaching kids has become an incredibly specialized business, and a big part of this is driven by celebrity culture: Sports heroes are also celebrities now. Parents want that status for their kids. And for themselves, he adds: Ive had to work to help parents accept when their kid stops playing ball because Mom or Dad were so involved. †¦ They love watching the games, which, he notes, give parents a public forum to celebrate kids achievements. You dont get to cheer at an SAT exam.' No, no you dont. Theres another quote in the piece that seems like its an anachronism, maybe from 1992: That sports-to-university pipeline is a key force, says  Nat Damon, a former head of school for a private elementary school in West L.A. This current craze isnt about getting your child into the NBA, he says. Its about getting them into Penn. This is something thats changed dramatically over the past 10 or 20 years as colleges have become increasingly competitive. Parents see sports as not just a way into a great university but, more specifically, a way into East Coast colleges.' Sports sure can be a way into highly selective colleges (though it certainly doesnt have to be an applicants hook). But this isnt a new thing. And students in Los Angeles and across America have been trying to get into schools like Penn for many years now. We should know because weve been working with these students, including the children of Hollywoods elite. It seems The Hollywood Reporter  is in its own world, not unlike many Hollywood celebrities. Maybe this piece would be more appropriate  for The Onion.