Wise Like Us

Take heart... admissions officers feel your pain, too!

April is a tough month for high school seniors. You have great offers of admissions from some amazing colleges, but it's hard to understand the schools who decided that you weren't right for their incoming freshman class.

We spend lots of time celebrating the schools our students get into, but we spend just as much time talking to our seniors about their denials. Admissions officers are human--people who discover amazing seventeen-year-olds in their applications, and who agonize about students that they fought hard for, but who just won't be admitted.

This article, by Angel Perez, Pitzer College's Director of Admissions, looks to remind students that they are "what keeps admissions officers in this business -- knowing that young people are doing amazing things and creating transformative experiences that will affect our world tomorrow."

This is just a reminder that the admissions process is about so much more than your GPA, and whether or not your test scores were 10 or 100 points higher than the kid next to you. And you're not going to believe this, but it's true--whether you're admitted or denied from your first choice colleges doesn't determine what kind of kid you are. And it won't even matter in a few months. In September, you'll find yourself happier than you expected. Wherever you end up.

CTCL - Colleges That Change Lives

The 2007-2008 application cycle is history.  It was an extremely competitive cycle.  More high school seniors than ever before applied to college and they submitted applications to a larger number of schools.  Our students how where they will be in the fall and we extend our best wishes to them for a successful beginning of the next chapter of their lives.  We now turn our attention to our rising seniors; those students who will be applying to college in the fall of this year.  As counselors, we are busy helping our kids compile a list of potential colleges that they will research and hopefully visit before they begin completing their applications.

Let the wait begin

For the majority of current high school seniors, the college application process is finished.  Those who applied in the early round, especially early decision, already know where they are going to be come September.  Students who applied early action, and were accepted, at least know that they are going to college in September. 

Nice Kids Finish First

Good things happen to nice kids. 

During application season, the Collegewise counselors are a little bit like the legend of Santa Claus.  We know which kids have been naughty and which have been nice.  We notice the seniors who were on time for all of their appointments, who always returned our phone calls, and who said, “Thank you so much” after our meetings.  And while we don’t treat them any better or work any harder for them than we do for our few naughty kids, we do notice them.  We’re human, after all.   

College admissions officers are the same way.

5 Things Seniors Can Still Do to Help Them Get Into College

Seniors, whether you've already submitted your applications, or if you're planning one final application assault over the holiday break, here are five ways you can still improve your chances of admission to college. 

1.  Keep working hard in school

We know that might sound like the same old advice, but the truth is that a lot of colleges ask to see your first semester senior grades before they make admissions decisions, and those grades can absolutely impact your chances of admission.  Of all the things you can do to improve your chances (or not do that will hurt your chances), this one is the most important.   

The One Thing You Need To Know About...

The more advice you're given about college admissions, the more complicated the whole process seems.  So this month, we picked some of the most common college admissions topics and, for each one, asked ourselves, "What's the one thing a student really needs to know about this?"  Read one to find five of those of those one-things.      

1.  College Essays

Don't write what you think the colleges want to hear.  You'll inevitably end up writing about how community service taught you that it's important to help people, or how your trip to Spain taught you to appreciate different cultures.  And those are the essays that everybody writes. 

Inside the Admissions Office

Arun Ponnusamy, director of our Los Angeles office, is riding high these days. His beloved Ohio State Buckeye football team is ranked #1—he hasn’t missed a game on his flat screen all season.

When she’s not in the office next to Arun, Collegewise Counselor Jessica Schattgen is planning her wedding. This means she can recite all the advice from Martha Stewart’s last six “wedding guides.” And in our Irvine, CA office, Allison Cummings thinks that Burger King’s “Whopper with cheese” is a culinary delicacy to be enjoyed as frequently as possible. She’s acting on that belief. Regularly.

Fascinating? Not necessarily. But that’s the point. All three of these Collegewise counselors are regular people like the rest of us. And all three used to work as admissions officers at selective colleges.

How to Ruin Your College Application

Jay Matthews of the Washington Post does it again.  We love Jay's take on the college admissions process because he's a member of the press who takes every opportunity to inject a healthy perspective, not fear, into his writing on education.  In fact, we like his book Harvard Schmarvard so much that we give it to our Collegewise families as a thank-you when they refer a friend to us. 

This week, Jay's column offers up Ten Stupid Ways to Ruin Your College Application.  From posting questionable photos on Myspace to letting parents get too involved, all of his "don'ts" are mistakes we've actually seen kids make. 

Notes from the Abyss...

Apparently the new trend in admissions is writing "thank you" notes.   Enough so that the New York Times decided to publish an entire article about it.  While we do encourage our students to write thank you notes when appropriate, I found much of the article cringe-worthy.  For example:

"Take the one that came with M & Ms to match Lehigh University’s school colors of brown and white, and with the applicant’s name inscribed on the candy. She thanked officials for her interview, adding, “Keep me on the tip of your tongue when reviewing applications.”

Groan.

Like so much in the admissions process, let Common Sense guide you.  If you truly had a wonderful experience speaking with an admissions officer while visiting a campus, absolutely drop them a line.  If a tour guide really did an exceptional job, let them know.  Everyone loves a well-deserved thanks but mandating good manners doesn't really work.  If a mom nags her kid to write a thank you card, it shows and the words ring hollow.  Admissions officers spend far too much of their time reading very personal writing to not know when something is forced or not heartfelt.  And of course, save the M & Ms for Halloween.  (Unless, of course, you're sending me a thank you note--I prefer Reese's Pieces.)

Welcome to the 21st Century!

It's official-- the FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) will soon be exclusively available online. In a recent article, the US Department of Education announced that next year it will no longer be distributing paper copies of the financial aid application forms to high schools.

So, when you're applying to college and it's time to apply for financial aid, remember to look for the online form. It's just another effort to reduce paper waste and be a good friend to the environment. I'll cheers to that!