Posts Tagged Admissions
Pulling an All-Nighter for the College Application
Posted by Jerry in Admissions on August 30th, 2010
The New York Times
August 10, 2010
Everyone has their own ideas about how, when and even why seniors should submit their college applications. Take a look at the reaction of admission professionals to a student who submitted his application only three hours after the application became available. In this case the early bird will have to wait with all the other birds to have a chance at getting the worm.
No easy solution to the mysteries of college admissions
Posted by Jerry in Admissions on June 14th, 2010
The Washington Post
Jay Mathews
May 24, 2010
Parents and students are annually confused and angered when rejection letters arrive from colleges. Much of the frustration arises from the lack of an explanation for the rejection. What no one stops to consider is that the situation may be worse if the colleges did offer an explanation. Read the full article at the site below.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/05/23/AR2010052303569.html?wpisrc=nl_most
The Dynamics of Demonstrated Interest
Posted by Jerry in Admissions on June 7th, 2010
The Chronicle of Higher Education
May 25, 2010
As the number of students applying to colleges continue to rise, colleges utilize more details about the student that may not be included in the application. More schools are increasing the weight of demonstrated interest in their decisions about who to accept, wait list, or reject. Read the article at the site below.
http://chronicle.com/blogPost/The-Dynamics-of-Demonstrated/24288/
How to Prepare High School Students for College
Posted by Jerry in Good Advice on June 1st, 2010
Suite101.com
May 15, 2010 (Ashley Anderson)
This information is most helpful if freshmen and their parents put it into practice but it can help at any level. All the decisions made beginning in the freshmen year of high school will impact the decisions college admission professionals make about you. Don’t give them any reason to doubt that you are and will continue to be an excellent addition to their campus. Read the whole article at the address below.
http://college-preparation.suite101.com/article.cfm/how-to-prepare-high-school-students-for-college
You’ve Been Put on the Wait List for College. Now What?
Posted by Jerry in Admissions on April 11th, 2010
US News and World Report
April 9, 2010 (Zach Miners)
One thing to remember is that not everyone can go to the number one school on their list. There just is not enough room at most universities. The wait list is a holding tank for the students that have impressed the admissions committee but may not be accepted because all the available places are full. Because a significant number of students do not attend many of the schools that accept them, there will usually be invitations to attend for some of the students on the wait list. See what you can do to increase your chances of being one of those students.
What to Do When Colleges ACCEPT You
Posted by Jerry in Admissions on March 31st, 2010
The Huffington Post
March 29, 2010 (Jeff Brenzel)
Jeff Brenzel does a great job at using common sense and giving some very practical advice about how to proceed with choosing between all the college acceptance letters. He is the dean of undergraduate admissions at Yale University. His observations and advice are based on from years of experience dealing with students.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jeff-brenzel/college-admissions_b_517125.html
Before They Were Titans, Moguls and Newsmakers, These People Were…Rejected
Posted by Jerry in Admissions on March 25th, 2010
The Wall Street Journal
March 24, 2010 (Sue Shellenbarger)
There are few people that have gone to college that did not receive a rejection letter. Most were able to have a memorable educational experience where they were accepted. The rejection letter is not a statement of your worth. In many cases the admissions office has done the student a favor. Take a look at this small sampling of well-known people and their stories of when their dream school rejected them.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704211704575139891390595962.html?mod=googlenews_wsj
Colleges Market Easy, No-Fee Sell to Applicants
Posted by Jerry in Admissions on February 10th, 2010
The New York Times (Jacques Steinberg)
Your Child receives a customized, two-page application that requires little more than their signature to apply to a school you heard of a few years ago at a family reunion. It doesn’t require a fee or an essay so what do you have to lose? What do you think about the practice? Follow the link and see what education officials have to say about the practice. http://tinyurl.com/ydrljb5
Parents, Read This if Your Child Is Applying to College
Posted by Jerry in Good Advice on December 24th, 2009
December 09, 2009 02:33 PM ET | Lynn F. Jacobs, Jeremy S. Hyman P
US News and World Report
Holiday time is family time. And family time, in many families, is apply-to-college time. Many parents, despite their best intentions, do more harm than good to their college bound children during this anxiety-ridden time. So we invited visiting blogger Marilee Jones, former dean of admissions at MIT and coauthor of the book, Less Stress, More Success: A New Approach to Guiding Your Teen Through College Admissions and Beyond, to offer some advice to parents of children caught up in the college application maze. Here are her eight “guiding principles”:
1. Understand the college admissions process for what it is. Many parents think of college admissions as a competitive battle to be won. But, in truth, it is a key developmental phase to be experienced. This is your child’s initiation into adulthood and, at the same time, an important moment in parenting. Your job now is to become your child’s “grounding cord”—the calm and confident adult who keeps things safe as your child is exposed to the judgment and serendipity of college admissions officers.
[For more on the process, see the Complete Guide to College Admissions.]
2. Realize it isn’t happening to you. We are so connected to our children that we sometimes lose the boundaries between our own issues and theirs. You are not applying to college; your child is. Being clear about this affords you the distance to help him or her calm down when he or she is most scared. When your own anxiety spikes, walk away and firmly remind yourself that the college admission process is not happening to you.
3. Watch those pronouns! Think carefully about the messages you are sending your child. You may think it’s OK to refer to your child’s application as “our application.” But chances are your child will hear something like, “You aren’t mature enough to get into college on your own, so I have to help you.” This is your child’s initiation into adulthood. Your job is to lift your child up, not bring him or her down.
4. Keep your anxiety to yourself. Parents of college applicants have much to worry about, such as, “How can we afford this?” “What if my son or daughter gets rejected?” “How can I be old enough to have a child going to college?” While your worries are real, it’s important that you do not share them with your child. Your fears will only amplify his or her own. Keeping a peaceful household is the goal now, so share your feelings with a trusted friend or peer. And if you’re really at your wits’ end and have no trusted friend, buy one: Now could be the perfect time to get professional short-term counseling.
5. Work with your team. Never act as your child’s one and only adviser. The most effective parents team up with their child’s guidance counselor and follow his or her lead. Even if that counselor is a 20- or 30-something, he or she still knows more about college admissions than you do.
6. Teach self-soothing. Sometimes we collect information because it helps us feel more in control. We ask our child such questions as “What did you get on that test last week?” or “How do your SAT scores compare with your classmates’?” These questions imply judgment to our child, something that teachers, school administrators, college admissions officers, and peers might already be offering in large amounts. When your child is expressing anxiety, offer reassuring responses—”Don’t worry, things always work out for you,” “Everything is going to be OK,” “It seems scary now, but better days are ahead.”
7. Look for the grief—yours. It may surprise you to know that some of the upset you feel about the college application experience may actually be grief over your child’s leaving home soon. Because grief is about loss, it’s more comfortable for many people to turn it into another emotion that’s easier to feel, such as anger. Rather than create more turmoil for you and your family, it is best to recognize the grief for what it is, feel it, and then move on.
8. Develop Plan B. It’s not surprising that the main source of anxiety in the college admissions process comes from being unable to control the result. So here’s a secret: In order to maintain an inner sense of calm, prepare yourself in advance for your worst case scenario—e.g., your child gets rejected or wait-listed everywhere—and work out a plan to deal with that. Then file the plan away somewhere and get back to focusing on success. Knowing that you have a backup plan in place will keep you more relaxed throughout the process so you can be that positive, steady influence for your child during the anxious moments ahead.
© Copyright 2009, Professors’ Guide LLC. All rights reserved
Shedding Further Light on How One College Decides
Posted by Jerry in Admissions on December 17th, 2009
By ANN MCDERMOTT December 4, 2009, 11:31 am
The New York Times
Ann McDermott is director of admissions of the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Mass.
My recent post on how the College of the Holy Cross evaluates an applicant’s transcript generated a lot of discussion — and prompted some important questions about how other things like essays, letters of recommendation, extracurricular activities, and SATs factor into admissions decisions.
Your comments helped broaden the conversation on what is a complicated, multidimensional process and shed light on the myriad factors involved in holistically evaluating a student’s credentials. While it would be impossible to fully explain every aspect of college admissions in a short follow-up post, I want to respond to some of the issues raised by readers.
Holistic Approach
It’s worth repeating that, while vital, the transcript is just one component of the application. In addition to a student’s academic qualifications, we do everything we can to understand the person behind the application and how they’ll thrive at Holy Cross. That’s why we have a highly individualized admissions process that takes into account teacher and counselor recommendations; interviews (the vast majority of our applicants have one and we strongly encourage them); essays; short answers; extracurricular involvement; leadership and community service (extremely common among our applicants and very much in line with our Jesuit mission).
All of this is summarized on the reading sheet — part of which is reproduced again as a graphic here — which gives us a much more comprehensive picture of the whole person. The one thing we don’t consider at Holy Cross is an applicant’s ability to pay. We have a “need blind” admissions policy, which means admissions decisions are made without regard to, or knowledge of, family income.
Context is Critical
Each aspect of an applicant’s transcript is evaluated within the context of his or her high school. The content in that graphic represents a fictional example of how a student’s transcript could look. While the example I used showed a student whose high school offered honors and A.P. courses, other high schools may offer International Baccalaureate or other programs of equal rigor.
All of this is taken into account during the evaluation process. As one reader explained very well, one of the ways we understand individual high school course offerings is through the school profile.
SAT’s
Many readers commented on the role of standardized testing in admissions — an often-debated issue that is too complex to fully address here. What I can tell you is that test scores are used differently by different institutions. Holy Cross is a “standardized test optional” institution, meaning that students are not required to submit their SAT, SAT II, or ACT scores. Our experience shows that the rigor of a student’s high school program and overall academic performance are better indicators of his or her potential than a single test or combination of tests. As a result, we place much more emphasis on day-to-day performance in the classroom.
Finally…
The college admissions process is bigger than just the numbers. It’s about getting to know the person behind the application. To do that, we consider all information an applicant gives us, from basic biographical information (family background, culture, and where an applicant grew up) to more personal challenges and triumphs. It is only by examining everything together that we can make the fairest assessment of an individual’s ability to thrive at Holy Cross.