THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, December 26, 1995 TAG: 9512220036
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A14 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Letter
LENGTH: Short : 35 lines
Regarding ``ODU looks to tighten admission standards'' (News, Dec. 5): I am currently a 25-year old full-time college student. I believe many young college freshmen are not very sure of what they want to study. Many are focused on things other than their studies, so their GPAs are apt to suffer. Some students going to college directly from high school are serious about getting the best grade they can. But many others lack the discipline necessary.
The article mentioned a professor and an administrator at ODU who stated that low-achieving students at ODU could ``take their first two years at a community college and then transfer.'' This will work fine for some, but many 18- and 19-year-old students at the community college I attend are unprepared for college in general. Taking time off to perform national service can change all that.
Some foreign countries have a mandatory-national-service requirement for students before heading to college. I am now an A/B student instead of the C/D student I was a few years ago. I credit this to the maturity and discipline I gained through my military service. I also learned that you takes higher education more seriously when you finance it yourself.
Those who achieve success in college do so because they really want it and nothing less!
C. M. WINNER
Virginia Beach, Dec. 6, 1995 by CNB