Kids These Days:

“Jane” is a good student attending college in Ohio. She has two years left before she graduates and decided last year that she wanted to transfer to San Diego State to be closer to home.

Her application was one of more than 60,000 vying for 6,000 admissions. She did not get in.

Locally, Orange Coast College is seeing a sharp increase in applications. On Sunday, the Daily Pilot quoted California Community College spokeswoman Paige Marlaat-Dorr as saying, “There is a huge flood of people showing up on our [community college] campuses and we simply can’t serve them all.”

In 2006, an ABC News report showed that college applications were rising. The reasons cited were “more aggressive outreach by admissions offices, demographic changes that put more 18-year-olds in the college pipeline, and the increased competition at all levels of education.”

All true, but there is a much simpler reason for the jump in applications: There are more people applying.

The nation’s population from 1980 to 2000 saw the biggest increase in history, according to the U.S. Census. The biggest jump of all was in the ’90s and many of the kids born during that explosion are filing all these college applications.

Add to the population boom the increase caused by school districts across the country, including Newport-Mesa Unified, which have been on campaigns to send every high school senior to college — plus budget cutbacks — and you have a full-blown crisis.

Today, some students who expected to graduate in four years find themselves stuck in college for five or six.

If you are a high school senior, or a parent whose child cannot get into college or has been accepted to a college other than the first, second or third choice, here is a serious alternative: Don’t go.

That’s right, don’t go. No, I’m not insane. Once the emotion is removed from the decision-making and rational thought takes over, there are more reasons today to avoid college than to go, even if not going means only that you are delaying admission by a year or two.

To the point, why on Earth would you want to go to college now, when you are going to find yourself competing for jobs with all these people the same way you are competing with them now for college admissions? That makes no sense at all.

Seniors, consider these alternatives instead:

 Travel. There are precious few chances in life where you will get to travel extensively without the tug of work or school. Try working on a farm in France or Spain for six months or more. You can set your own hours and get free room and board.

 Start a business. Here’s what happens when you graduate from college: You compete for a job where you have to be at a certain place by a certain time at least five out of every seven days. Start an Internet business and work from home in your sweats.

 Join the armed forces. You may be able to specify a non-combat role and receive college tuition. By the time you get out, the crowds and competition may be gone.

 Get a job. Go to work and save the money that your parents should have been saving for you for the past 18 years. It may help you live away from home for at least a year, which is highly recommended.

But if you still really want to go to college and you can’t get in or can’t go where you want, here’s an admissions secret: Change your major. Forget sociology or psychology: Choose a major that colleges desperately need but have annual shortages of, such as anything to do with math or the physical sciences.

In the meantime, relax and enjoy yourself this summer. Make the decision that feels best for you, emotionally and practically. You’ve earned that right.

STEVE SMITH is a Costa Mesa resident and a freelance writer. Send story ideas to [email protected] .