By Kang Shin-who
Staff Reporter
Harvard-Westlake School President and CEO Thomas C. Hudnut advised Korean students not to follow school labels when they choose U.S. universities.
``Everyone knows about Yale, Harvard, Princeton, and Berkeley but there are many good colleges in the U.S. that you have not heard of like Bowdoin, Amherst, Carleton, Grinnell and Reed. They are wonderful colleges,'' Hudnut said during his visit to Hankuk Academy of Foreign Studies affiliated with Hankuk University, Tuesday.
``They don't get as many applicants from East Asia as the other schools do and so a Korean student could stand out more in their applicant pool,'' he added.
Located in Los Angeles in the United States, Harvard-Westlake, a college preparatory day school for grades 7-12, is the most demanding school among students who aim to advance into top U.S. universities and boasts a 100 year history.
Among 286 seniors who graduated from the school last Friday, about a third of them, over 90 are going to Ivy League colleges or Stanford University.
Mentioning that the U.S. college system is not exam-driven, the president stressed that students should show their unique experiences in order to appeal to college admission officials.
``Test scores are the currency, the money, of education. The fact that you have good test scores doesn't mean that you will get in,'' Hudnut said.
Also, he advised students to differentiate their strategy depending on whether the desired schools are private or not.
Having worked in the education field for more than 30 years, Hudnut headed the school over the last 20 years. His wife, Deedie Hudnut, is also an educator and works as an elementary administrative official.
Mentioning his strong impression on education fever by Koreans, Hudnut said he wanted to learn more about Korea.
``We have so many Korean students at our school, about 200, and we have a very high standing in the Korean community throughout the U.S. and in Korea,'' he said. ``Many families buy a house in L.A. and send their mom and children there to take advantage of our school and it is important for me to stay in touch with them and know what's going on in Korea and in Korean education.''
His visit was escorted by Chang Jae-min, chairman of The Korea Times USA, who is a member of the board of trustees at the school.
The president cautioned that parents' excessive concern of their children will lead them in the wrong way. ``In general Koreans are hard workers, which is a strength, but it can also be a weakness when they work to the exclusion of everything else,'' he said.
``We, Americans, believe life is to be enjoyed and not just gotten through, and students who do nothing but work sometimes miss out on the enjoyment, probably a greater degree in choice in how they spend their free time,'' he added.
Lastly, Hudnut emphasized the importance of intimate relationship between students and teachers and for this, he suggested that the proper number of students in a class would be about 16 to 19.