Are colleges going overboard to impress—possibly bribe—high school guidance counselors? Many institutions, especially those lacking a certain brand cachet, go to great lengths to treat visiting counselors like royalty, hoping they'll in turn remember their experience and recommend that high school students apply. Here, from the New York Times, is a sample of what some colleges do:

When Centre College in Danville, Ky., invites counselors to visit, for example, it puts them up in a bed-and-breakfast and takes them golfing at a country club and to the racetrack. It even gives them a small stake—around $50—so the counselors can gamble on the horses.

Goucher College in Towson, Md., takes visiting counselors to the theater, the symphony and an occasional Baltimore Orioles game. John Carroll University has rented out the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum for a night to thank Jesuit counselors for referring students. The University of Southern California took more than a dozen counselors to the Orange Bowl last year, also out of gratitude and to create what it called a "lifetime memory."

The United States Air Force Academy has counselors test their mettle in a flight simulator, though airsickness is a common consequence. Some colleges in vacationlinks areas like the Adirondacks or Vermont invite counselors to bring their families and stay free for a few days in the summer. And the University of Denver used to fly in counselors to ski Vail but ultimately stopped because it cost the university too much.

Why such elaborate treatment? Again, from the Times:

"If we're not doing the wining and dining, we're falling behind," said Al Newell, vice president for enrollment at Washington and Jefferson College in Washington, Pa. "We all want to get on that kid's list, so at some level it behooves us."Is this ethical? Are universities bribing counselors? And don't these counselors have a conscience about providing the best advice to students and not just returning favors to institutions that have wined and dined them?

Seems fishy to me. But here's what one observer told the Times:

"At the end of the day, people need to realize that colleges are businesses," said Katherine Cohen, an independent college consultant. "They're trying to stir up interest, because the more applications they get, the more selective they become and their ranking goes up. Then their alumni see that and give them more money. It's very clear what they're doing. That's how they stay in business."So that's why colleges play this game. Sad, really.

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