Tougher OSU academic standards leads to more mental health counselor visits

Tougher OSU academic standards leads to more mental health counselor visits

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) - Tougher academic standards are creating a side effect at Ohio State University -- more students seeking psychiatric counseling.

In the year that ended June 30, a record 2,722 students sought help from the university's Counseling and Consultation Service -- a 17 percent increase over the previous year.

The numbers started going up three years ago and have increased as the university has implemented tougher admission and academic standards, said Louise Douce, the service's director.

"Anxiety is what has risen the fastest among OSU students and, as we have become more academically able, anxiety has gone up," she said.

Depression is the most mentioned reason among students seeking counseling, followed by anxiety, relationship concerns, academic performance and family concerns.

http://www.mansfieldnewsjournal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070819/UPDATES01/70819008

Don't get me wrong, college is great for many, and many don't go who should. Still, I was one of the writing tutors at our college, and we worked with many kids who just plain weren't college material. They didn't know what an essay even was, and their writing was unintelligible. Their ACT scores were below 20, and everyone in Academic Support knew those students weren't going to make it. Even with many of us helping them (some kids with low grades and test scores had individual tutors for one-on-one help, even) and working hard to get them to pass their 0-levels and frosh classes, even with all kinds of help, they'd flunk out after two terms, max. We were a lot less busy during Spring semester.

I went on to teach high school English for three years. I had several students get into a college whom I knew wouldn't make it. I'd worked hard just to get them to pass my class and tried and tried to get them to come to extra tutoring sessions with me to learn how to write better essays and such. They didn't make it past their first year in college.

The reality is, there are many who just aren't college material. That's just fine, frankly. They would do better to go to a trade or tech school and find a trade that they would excel in rather than get a history degree that they don't know what to do with or a communications degree just to work at some McJob.

Call me elitist, but I've worked with those kids. Some just can't hack it, and that's okay.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_law_school_GPA_curves

http://moritzlaw.osu.edu/registrar/rankings/2006_rankings_wi2006.pdf

Look at that embarassment. Median GPA of 3.7. No one else is even close to that.

OSU fans take their sports pretty seriously.