The whole university admissions process, in this day and age, has become something of a circus. Before, bright young minds were encouraged to demonstrate their intellectual curiosity and potential. Now, they are expected to present a “package” of superficial qualities that exude a rather dubious aura of “diversity”–whether it is based on life experience, geographic location, ethnicity, or extra-curricular activities. And of course, students must have solid standardized test scores, which really only measure how well you can take a test.

While this all may seem like a litany of self-righteous criticisms from an old timer, it is are nothing of the sort. I am a proud member of Gen Y, and I lived through this ridiculous admissions travesty. I played that game, and I went through the expected motions. Even though the admissions process is a necessary evil, I do think there is hope. There is a way to subvert the system, simply because admissions committees aren’t as robotic as one would think. They still do want a student to demonstrate and desire an intellectual capacity. Inundated by notions of what the process has become, students just don’t know how to do this.

The only tip I can give to parents is really quite simple. Teach your children to read. Not just that–teach them to love it. And start early. Initially, it doesn’t matter what your child reads, since the learning process is a labor of love. If your child doesn’t start by enjoying it, she’ll be discouraged and she’ll stop before she even begins. As your child becomes more interested in the simple act of reading, encourage books beyond the norm. After all, there’s only so far you can get with reading books of the Stephanie Meyer oeuvre.

How does this all tie in to the college admissions? Simple. If your child is well-read, her writing skills are vastly improved. That helps with application essays enormously. If your child can read and write well, and if she’s been properly socialized from grade school and on, then she can communicate well by proxy. That helps with the admissions interview. Reading promotes a sharp and long attention span, and an attention span is really all you need in order to practice for and ace standardized tests, even the math sections.

The rewards that your child can reap from a love of reading transcend, of course, just university admissions. It will help enormously in successfully finding employment, it will cultivate a peace of mind that combats the ADD-inducing speed of the Internet, and it deepens and expands a well-informed sense of the world around us. What else could be more important?

This guest post is contributed by Katheryn Rivas, who writes on the topics of online universities.  She welcomes your comments at her email: katherynrivas87@gmail.com