After news arrived that Corey Parker had died of cancer at 60 this March, loving tributes flooded in for the Memphis-born actor, who had starred in such ’80s movies as Friday the 13th Part V: A New Beginning, Scream for Help, and Biloxi Blues, before also becoming an acting coach for shows like Ms. Marvel in later years. Less spoken about was the underrated How I Got Into College, in which Parker starred as Marlon Browne, an underachiever who pulls out all the stops to get admitted to the same college as his talented high school crush, Jessica Kailo (Lara Flynn Boyle.)
The film did not do well, critically or commercially, and curious cinephiles seeking it out in the decades since its release have found it hard to get hold of. That’s a real shame, because where the themes of other ’80s teen comedies like Revenge of the Nerds and Porky’s have aged like milk, How I Got Into College deals with a coming-of-age scenario that feels more relevant than ever.
In Savage Steve Holland’s lesser-known 1989 movie, we follow a group of young characters whose post-high-school worth is suddenly defined by their academic achievements. The endearing Marlon seems to be a hopeless case, while two African-American seniors from Detroit also have to fight for consideration by the admissions team at Ramsey College. On the team is the sneering Leo (Charles Rocket) who is entirely focused on SAT scores and clashes with former students Kip and Nina (Anthony Edwards and Finn Carter) who want to take a more holistic approach to admissions.
Satirizing a system that prioritizes credentials over character and attempting to break the myth of “the perfect applicant,” How I Got Into College explores whether the will to push forwards into higher education is enough and whether the ladder is being pulled up by those who have already benefited from it. The students applying to Ramsey College feel they need to stand out, whatever it takes, but this tale of their efforts still seems pretty quaint compared to today’s college admissions arms race.