concerned and very unhappy. He had always made good grades....
As far as [my son] is concerned the early entry was not right and
I've regretted it."
Another
Louisville mother, who had two children in the program, wrote:
"Since I wasn't sold on the Program when I first heard about it,
I'm happy to have the opportunity now to say I'm wholeheartedly in
favor of it since our two children have tried it.... They both seem
happier and better adjusted at the University than they did in High
School. They are certainly not either one geniuses but I really
believe now that they would have been wasting their time if they
had stayed in High School another year. They have even had more
social life at the University."
Apart from
the Goucher and Louisville surveys, a number of participating
institutions have reported their general impressions on the matter
of parental attitudes. Utah said it believed that most parents
consider going to college early to have been a successful and
valuable experience for their children. Fisk reported the reaction
of parents to have been "quite favorable." Lafayette said a few of
the parents felt that it would have been better for their children
to have finished high school, but that most were well-satisfied
with the results.
Oberlin
reported that the reactions of parents have been difficult to
evaluate. It noted that where a Scholar was successful the parents
were highly co-operative and pleased but that where it did not work
out "the reactions ranged from a mature acceptance to a projection
of all the blame on the College." (In a number of these cases, it
reported, the Scholars had been strongly encouraged to apply for
the Fund scholarships by their parents.)
Wisconsin, on
the other hand, reported that the attitude of its Scholars' parents
has been "one of the most interesting and heartening aspects of
early admission." The parents were pleased and grateful when their
sons and daughters did well, Wisconsin added, but "what is more
important, when the boys did badly the parents were extremely
helpful and co-operative, and to this