The Centrality of TKS Fun Chess Classes and Chess Tournaments for Kids - Post #3 of 21
Now that Post 2 has clarified that this blog is not for everyone, just for parents who feel that an elite school might be a great fit for their child, we can sink our teeth into exactly how my two very different kids, six years apart, gained admission to Georgetown.
Sometimes at parties, a friend asks if chess really does any good at all. I just look at them and say, “Well, my daughter declined admission to her life-long dream school, U Cal Berkeley, and my son turned down a monster scholarship to his dream school, NYU, each a Top-30 university, because both of them were also admitted to their other dream school, Georgetown, and both are now Georgetown Hoyas.”
I continue, “For both these kids, playing chess was a big part of their childhoods, and for both kids, chess implanted in them an unshakable certainty that all results--if proper engineering is applied--can be favorable. Chess formed my son and my daughter in every way, and they both know it.”
Invariably my friend then asks, “How, exactly, did an after-school chess program help them snag their dream school?” I typically answer, “It’s a long, complicated story, kind of like a chess game,” and we laugh and change the subject.
But this blog will not change the subject. I fully understand that chess and college admission are intimately interrelated, and I feel like I need to explain to my parents in The Knight School exactly which forces are actually at work, and which are not. Pick me, I have studied this complicated college admissions process for a lifetime.
The Moment My Daughter Was Admitted to Georgetown
For decades, my The Knight School (“TKS” for short) chess students—over seven thousand of them and counting—have been happily learning and playing chess and having a blast in our various divisions such as chess summer camp, Little Geniuses preschool chess class, The Varsity Advanced Chess, and our other wonderful chess programs. I think it is remarkable that almost none of my students, nor their parents, realize the full extent of how much good chess is doing for them in terms of their college admission prospects.
And this is ironic, because all of my families—myself included since I have had three of my own biological kids (one beginning high school now) who spent most of the years of their childhoods perfecting their chess games in The Knight School—typically share one powerful motivation: we all want to set our kids up for a lifetime of success, and for many, that begins with the pivotal step of being poised for success in the college search. Many hope or suspect chess will help. But does it really?
It certainly does. This blog will be dedicated to this truth. Every parent wants what is best for our children, and there is a very strong possibility that “what is best” may in some instances boil down to attending a very elite, very selective university. "Rejective" might be the perfect word. And this blog will never mince words or pull punches: what I will mean by “elite” colleges is that group of thirty universities with the very top reputations, colleges indisputably famous around the globe. Now, as a preliminary note: chess also helps in the path to any college, just as it helps in the overall path of life. Also, we know the pursuit of elite college admission is not every child’s dream – but this blog will be for the ones who want to chase the dream of elite education.
The top 30 universities fluctuate somewhat from year to year, from poll to poll, and from opinion to opinion, but they largely remain the same. For purposes of this blog, I will choose Forbes’s most recent ranking: 1) Harvard, 2) Stanford, 3) Yale, 4) MIT, 5) Princeton, 6) Penn, 7) Brown, 8) California Institute of Technology, 9) Duke, 10) Dartmouth, 11) Cornell, 12) Pomona, 13) Berkeley, 14) Columbia, 15) Georgetown, 16) Chicago, 17) Northwestern, 18) Notre Dame, 19) Williams, and 20) Michigan. These twenty, plus the ten who slip in and out of this list from year to year, are what I will mean when I say “elite colleges:” the top 30 premiere institutions of higher education in our land.
And to be blunt—and that is what we need here—in order to be admitted to an elite college, a student needs to begin the marathon-process of high school with a freshman-year transcript that looks something like my son’s did:
Note the course selection, the GPA, the class size, the top-5 high school in our state, and the class rank. These elements do not just appear by magic. They are cultivated and nursed over many years. So exactly what nine superpowers did my kids acquire from their years in chess that results in such a transcript?
1. Academic Confidence.
My children developed a self-perception and, over time, a self-identity, as smart and capable individuals. Chess class was probably the main place that happened. They actually feel like they can answer any question in any class at any time. Children often create their reality based on how they perceive themselves; if they have this self-identity, it helps give them the confidence and the discipline to maintain that identity, which then colors their world in a very good way.
2. Creativity.
Years of chess helped here tremendously. A solution is not presenting itself to a problem? Think harder. Go to your pre-set thinking place and settle in, and turn the problem over and over in your mind until not one, but many solutions present themselves. Then choose the one that offers the most style points. Chess teaches a child this crucial lesson over time.
3. Higher Test Scores.
Yep. The scientific research is now overwhelming that chess produces higher standardized test scores. You may be aware that The University of California system recently announced the abandonment of standardized tests as an element in their decision-making process. As someone who understands the intricacies and realities of admissions, I perfectly agree with UCal that standardized tests largely just measure the affluence of an applicant. I am also sorely aware, however, that if grades alone are the determiner, that simply will not work long-term. In other words, as later posts will flesh out, I personally do not buy for a minute that standardized tests are going away.
And set aside standardized tests—which likely weigh at least 16% of most college committees’ admissions decision—for a second. Look at math class alone. My children were never on the math team, but they always did well in math anyway. The mental crispness that chess imparts produces a clarity of thought that makes super-advanced, honors math classes much more manageable.
4. Problem Solving.
Systematically examining every possible response to a dangerous chess position until the successful approach is determined is fundamentally an excellent brain exercise; it’s just plain good for you. When such problem-solving is practiced hundreds and thousands of times by my veteran chess students, it has the capacity to change the way they approach all problems, on and off the chess board. Critical thinking on a routine basis sharpens the mind so that every classroom is more conquerable. And throughout our curriculum TKS routinely and intentionally reinforces this parallel between the chess board and real life.
5. Quick Thinking.
In TKS, we play with ten-minute clocks. That means reacting quickly to challenges and threats, and reacting correctly. Timed, exciting chess for prizes makes all my chess students very sharp under time pressure. This attribute pays dividends in every classroom, and outside them as well.
6. Cause and Effect.
When driving fast on the interstate, should I check the other lane several times before merging? Chess answers this for you in a painless exercise. If you take a certain action, a very specific consequence will follow. If you take an action without thinking it through, unpleasant consequences may follow. This lesson is drilled into the minds of all chess students, and it produces children and teenagers and adults who understand the consequences of their actions before they take those actions.
7. Smart Friends.
Please never underestimate this point. We primates mimic those by whom we are surrounded. This is biological fact, and being enveloped by bad behavior makes that bad behavior seem more and more acceptable. Our fun chess tournaments for kids do more than meets the eye. Surround your kids with smart, careful, motivated people, and their strengths are the qualities that will influence and form your children.
8. Street Cred.
Your child should be thought of as “that chess kid” whenever they are passed in the hallway. Children respect chess experts, and so do teenagers. Guess who else? Teachers, including those who will eventually be writing your college letter of recommendation. Reputations matter. Chess for kids helps build these reputations, and that can lead to quality relationships.
9. Work Experience.
College applications always ask for an applicant’s work experience. This section is important, and leaving it blank or completing it with non-academic activities is not optimal. What is optimal? "Optimal" is exactly what the other 10,000 valedictorian applicants to your dream school will be presenting in that section and in every section of that application. My children worked at summer chess camps and taught private chess lessons and even taught online chess classes while in high school. Yours could as well. Volunteer opportunities, such at The Knight School Internship Program, abound for the chess-savvy high schooler. And I assure you, these volunteer or employment experiences are very impressive to colleges. They also help demonstrate deep and committed and sustained activity in your chosen passion – which is another thing colleges desire. Elite colleges need to see and feel your passion. Engineering what you will be placing in each section of a college application should be approached like all of life: intelligently and proactively.
The below image depicts "Check Mates:" a Chess Camp for kids with Down Syndrome that my daughter organized, designed, and directed for three summers while in high school.
Future Posts
In the coming weeks and months, I will populate this blog with all my thoughts, ideas, techniques, strategies, and innovations that helped make my older kids’ college-application experience successful and happy. And don’t worry: I fully internalize that I did not get my kids into college; they did all the work all those difficult, late nights, week after week, year after year, while I enjoyed an early bedtime. But truth be told, I did point them in the correct direction, and I did work tirelessly to be the support system they needed to make their agonizing high school labors finally bear the fruit my kids craved. In the end, I just shared these concepts with them, and they created their own paths, just as your kids will. But you have to understand the concepts in order to guide them.
And by the way, my youngest child is in eighth grade. Shocker: my youngest, like her big bro and big sis, is dead-set on becoming a Georgetown Hoya as well. To be perfectly honest, I am also dead-set on her achieving her dream school, and yes, that plan is fully in motion, with my youngest giving her input and asking questions at every stage. I’ve honestly worked so hard on this subject that I would hate to waste the knowledge I have accumulated, so here it comes!
See you soon for Post 4: Setting Up the Knights ♞: Value and develop all the varied pieces of a challenging and diverse childhood - The 11 experts who taught me the admissions game.
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