In our June newsletter we asked you to give us your questions so that we could answer them in future newsletters and blogs. Of all the questions that were asked, many of them were too specific to answer publicly, and so we responded to you via email instead.  But the one question that was asked most frequently and that applies to all students was:  “Are My SAT or ACT Scores Good Enough?”  So for this newsletter, we’re not only answering this question, but we’re also giving you the statistics of the 25th – 75% percentiles of SAT and ACT scores for the freshman class entering all eight Ivy League colleges in the fall of 2010.

Watch for our July newsletter, and if you have not yet subscribed, you can do so here. 

The magazines that rank our best colleges, graduate schools, boarding schools, hospitals, health plans, doctors, nursing homes, and high schools do so because they’re in the business of selling magazines. We buy into this craze, and this validates their existence. Once you learn what is actually being measured, you might see how unimportant some of these rankings are because the criteria that is used is barely significant.

This week Newsweek published its annual list of the best high schools in the United States. Since 1998, Newsweek has ranked public high schools based on the “Challenge Index,” which is calculated by the number of Advanced Placement (AP), International Baccalaureate (IB), and Cambridge tests administered each year, divided by the number of graduating seniors. Note that exams that are taken by all students, not just seniors, are counted. Public high schools whose students had taken as many tests in 2009 as the number of graduates that year, achieved the “all important” cut-off ratio of 1. According to Newsweek’s report, “Just over 1,600 schools—only 6 percent of all the public schools in the U.S.—made the list.” The actual number of public high schools in the US is approximately 27,000, and those schools achieving the ratio this year was 1,625.

If your high school is on this list do you have a better chance of gaining acceptance to the college of your choice?

I have to say that this is not the case because I can’t imagine that any college values this data.  Personally, I have concerns with this list, basically because it only measures a single factor.  What it doesn’t measure is how well students perform on this test. If the majority of students who take these exams score a 1 or a 2, the high school can still make the list, and so in this case quantity becomes more important than quality. If the rankings were to measure a quantifiable factor, possibly the results of those tests, then the high schools would be ranked based on a measure that shows how well the students have been prepared for college level work. The way it is now, this list doesn’t even take into account drop-out rates at a particular school, and magnet schools that attract the best and the brightest are not included. Interestingly enough, the list is called “Best High Schools”, but it only applies to public high schools. Seems to me this list should be called “Best Public High Schools”. Highly selective boarding / prep schools that are often considered feeder schools to the ivies, are also not on this list. And what about high schools that don't allow students to self-select AP or IB courses? Obviously, high schools that base admission to these courses on teacher recommendation, class performance, and qualifying test results may not make this list because fewer students are permitted to take these courses. And what about high schools that don’t offer these courses altogether?

In the fall of 2007, Scarsdale High School, a highly competitive school in the affluent Westchester County suburb of Manhattan, recently replaced AP courses with what they call Advanced Topic (AT) courses. As stated on Scarsdale’s website, their rationale in doing so was to “encourage higher levels of thinking beyond rote learning in a rigorous yet lively learning environment.” As a result of this innovative idea, Scarsdale’s ranked 1,011 in Newsweek’s Best High School list this year as opposed to 748 in 2009, 283 in 2008, 247 in 2007, and 174 in 2006. Yet even with Scarsdale’s rank plummeting in these last few years, for the Class of 2008, 49 percent of seniors were accepted at the most competitive colleges in the US up from 45 percent in 2007. So obviously, Scarsdale’s low “Challenge Index” ranking held no significance in the college admissions process.

But even though a college might dismiss the value of this list, the competitiveness of the high school does count! In reviewing applicants, college admissions counselors without a doubt consider the student’s high school as a significant factor. Thus, a high school that offers AP and IB courses and has impressive numbers of students who score well on these exams (not just take the exams) is likely to give students who attend these high schools a more competitive edge in college admissions than students who attend high schools that lack these more rigorous courses. However, no matter how competitive a high school is, in the end, the most important criteria is that a student takes the most rigorous courses offered and has earned exceptional grades in those courses.

According to Jay Matthews, (columnist for The Washington Post, and the inventor of the “Challenge Index”) "many educators say they think my list is dumb, narrow and deceptive because a high school's efforts to teach its students cannot be summed up in a number." So I guess you could say I’m one of those critics who thinks that this list is just plain dumb!

When reviewing our students’ senior course selections, we are often asked how senior year courses and grades are factored into college admissions decisions. 

The following are some typical questions that we receive:

Q. Since admissions counselors will only see my transcript through my junior year, how will they know what courses I am taking in my senior year?

A. On most high school transcripts, there is a space for “courses in progress”. On every college application there is also room to include senior year courses. On the Secondary School Report of the Common Application, (see chart below) the student is expected to complete the top portion prior to submitting it to his/her guidance counselor who is required to verify its accuracy and attach a letter of recommendation.

______________________________   ______________________________   ______________________________

______________________________   ______________________________   ______________________________

______________________________   ______________________________   ______________________________

______________________________   ______________________________   ______________________________

______________________________   ______________________________   ______________________________

______________________________   ______________________________   ______________________________

______________________________   ______________________________   ______________________________

Q. What would be a typical senior year course load for students who are applying to Ivy League colleges? I’ve already taken five advanced placement courses, and so I was hoping to get a break in my senior year, and take easier courses.

A. Senior year is definitely not the time to take a break! College admissions counselors want to know that as a senior you are continuing to take the most rigorous and challenging courses in all five core disciplines (English, math, science, foreign language and social science / history) and that you are excelling in those courses.  For example, if you are planning on applying as a science major, you want to have taken all of the AP science courses offered, and that would include AP Chemistry, AP Biology, and AP Physics. If you’re passionate about math and you’ve already taken AP Calculus BC, you would want to take Multivariable Calculus. Whatever your academic passion is, you want to max-out in that discipline. To more specifically answer your question: It is rather typical for students who are applying to Ivy League and highly selective colleges to have six AP courses in their senior year.

Q. How will colleges see my senior year grades if they’re not on my transcript?

A. When applying early action or early decision, some colleges may ask for your first quarter grades, especially if your junior year grades are less than stellar. When applying regular decision, most colleges will ask you to submit your first semester senior year grades. If your first or second quarter grades do not present a clear picture of your academic strengths, and since admissions decisions for most highly selective colleges are not released until April, you may be asked to submit your third quarter grades. Your senior year grades can be a conclusive factor in the admissions decision.

Both academically and through extracurricular activities, senior year is a time for you to build on your strengths, experiences, passions and talents. It is a time for you to prepare for all of the challenges that lay ahead in college and in your future endeavors. So, make the most of this exciting year, have fun, but stay focused, and when you receive your admissions decisions, your dreams may very well become a reality.

Double Depositing and Prolonging the Agony 

For the past few weeks, colleges have been sending out their admissions decisions to applicants from across the country and around the world. The Ivy League colleges are notifying applicants today, April 1st, of all days. Hopefully, this is not an April Fool’s joke, the college has not made a mistake, and if you’re one of the tens of thousands of students who applied to an Ivy League college, you’ve been accepted at the school of your dreams!

Within the text of the acceptance letters and along with “Congratulations! It is with great pleasure that I offer you admission to the ______ University Class of 2014”, the letters also state, “Whatever decision you make, we ask that you complete the enclosed enrollment response card and return it to us by May 1st, the admitted students national reply date.” While a deposit of $100 to $1000 is typically required to hold a spot, some colleges only require the enrollment response card with a checkmark next to “I will attend”.

For some students getting more than one acceptance from their top schools is a real ego-boost, but it can also force them to make a most difficult and often agonizing decision. If up until now those students have not yet figured out what their first choice is, they will need to do so in the next 30 days. Most of the highly selective colleges will offer students a chance to visit during their accepted students days, and this is a wonderful opportunity to help admitted students make their decision. So if the college offers this, it’s best to hold off on making any decisions until after attending these exciting events.

Kevin says, “Okay so it’s May 1st, I visited all the colleges to which I was accepted, and can’t decide between two of them. I’m going to send deposits to both colleges.”

I explain how this is considered “double depositing” and is unethical.. He questions me further and I tell him that if either college was to find out that he did this, his acceptance may be rescinded as this is in violation of the Student’s Rights and Responsibilities as established by the National Association for College Admission Counseling (NACAC).

But let’s say that there are no consequences, that the two colleges don’t compare lists of students who accepted their offers, or that the regional admissions counselors don’t talk with one another and compare their lists, or that the high school counselor doesn’t speak with either admissions counselor.

What double-depositing does, is prolong the agony until the first semester’s tuition payment is due. At this time the student may be no closer to making a decision, and all that has been accomplished is that the inevitable has been postponed. The bottom line is that the decision needs to be made by May 1st, and that double-depositing could very well have dire consequences.

More on YouTubing the College Admissions Rapids

Missing Parts of Your Submitted Application

If you have submitted college applications that were due January 1st, you may have received letters, postcards or e-mail notifications that a part of your application is missing. While you may have submitted your application online, teacher recommendations and evaluations, school reports, transcripts and standardized test score reports are for the most part sent via regular mail. However, if you have received a letter, email, or logged on to see your application status, and find out that a part of your application is missing, just know that it usually isn't missing. Most likely, it just isn't filed yet. Sometimes, though, it's misfiled.

It might help to know that colleges face a MOUNTAIN of admissions mail every day - mail that requires very systematic and careful handling. As a result, there is typically a reasonable delay between the time your documents arrive at the admissions office and the time they are processed and placed into your file. Here are some responses from admissions counselors:

"I wish I had a photo that I could send you of thousands of pieces of mail sitting in the mail bins waiting to be processed.  Maybe this bit of information will help... we employ an "army" of students to help us process the mail.  We receive so much mail that all some students do is simply slit open envelopes, other students will date stamp the materials, and another student places the information in the proper bin (Part I- Early Decision, Part I- Regular Decision, High School Transcript- Early Decision, etc.) From the bins, our processing staff enters the information into the computer.
We estimated that we received over 100,000 pieces of information for our freshman applicants alone last year (each application requires Part I & Part II, or the Common App and our Supplement, the Secondary School Report, the HS transcript, test scores, and at least one letter of recommendation.)"

"This morning the U.S. mail delivered 30 tubs full of applications, counselor statements, and teacher recommendations to our office; two staff members spent all day just opening the envelopes, another fifteen concentrated on logging everything in, and yet our mail room still looks as though a paper bomb went off in it."

"We never receive a complete application all in one envelope since we require that ACT/SAT scores be sent to us directly from the testing agency.  There always are sorting and matching processes that must take place daily since we receive hundreds (sometimes thousands) of applications, transcripts, letters of recommendation, etc. each and every business day!"

"Typically we receive more than half of our applications right at the deadline.  They are processed in the order in which they arrive, and it takes us about three weeks to get all of the applications processed and in files.  We do enter quite a bit of data on each applicant into our student database, so for most of our data entry people it is physically impossible to process more than a certain number of applications in one day."

So if you get a note from a college saying that a piece of your application is missing, DON'T PANIC! The material in question is usually in the admissions office, somewhere in those sacks of mail. Admissions offices, too, are under pressure to get all the folders complete so that applications can be read and evaluated in a timely manner, and so as a result, the letters regarding missing information go out automatically. If your transcript is missing, speak with your counselor. If a letter of recommendation is missing, speak with the teacher who promised to send a letter on your behalf. If your official standardized test scores are missing, check with collegeboard or ACT. In the meantime, keep checking your online application status, and if necessary, call the college and ask a secretary to look through your file.

Waiving Rights on the College Application

On the Secondary School Report (SSR) and the Teacher Evaluation of the Common Application the question reads:

1. The institution does not save recommendations post-matriculation (see list at www.commonapp.org/FERPA).
2. You waive your right to access below, regardless of the institution to which it is sent:
   Yes, I do waive my right to access, and I understand I will never see this form or any other recommendations submitted by me or on my behalf.
   No, I do not waive my right to access, and I may someday choose to see this form or any other recommendations or supporting documents submitted by me or on my behalf to the institution at which I'm enrolling, if that institution saves them after I matriculate.

Students and their parents often ask me how they should answer this question. My answer is always the same: Waive your rights!

By waiving your right to access, your teachers and counselor have the freedom to write honest evaluations. When college admissions counselors read school reports or teacher evaluations and the student has not waived his/her rights, this can be an unnecessary red flag, and one that can sometimes result in a denial.

It is through the letters of recommendation and evaluations that an admissions committee can get another glimpse into just who the applicant is.  When the applicant does not waive his/her rights, the admissions committee may assume that the writer of those recommendations is being less than candid, and that the full story is not being told. When this becomes apparent, admissions counselors can and do read between the lines.

Before you ask for a letter or recommendation, you need to think very carefully about the teachers with whom you have a good relationship, and those who could discuss your attributes in a most positive light. In addition to writing you a letter, the teachers who you select may also have to complete teacher evaluations, so it is important that you consider these ratings and how you think your teachers will respond.

The Teacher Evaluation of the Common Application has the following criteria on which your teachers rate you: (Your guidance counselor completes the Secondary School Report with other questions.)

Ratings: Compared to other students in his or her class year, how do you rate this student in terms of:

Waiving your right to access is really a no-brainer since the only way you will have the right to see your recommendations would be if you were accepted and then matriculated at the college.  Once you are already enrolled, it doesn't make much sense why you would even care about reading these letters.

So trust the people who you've asked to fill out the forms, and write your letters of recommendation. If you value the relationship that you have with the people who you ask, and they agree to do it, then there is every reason why you would want to waive your rights. 

Community Service as a Factor in Admissions

Hi Bev!

My name is Hannah Sentenac, and I'm with FoxNews.com. I am currently working on a story about student volunteering, and a part of the story is how participation in such activities factors into college admissions decisions, especially for the top colleges.

Below I've posted the questions I have. I would be happy to have them answered either over e-mail or the phone, whichever is easiest for you. Thanks a million!

Hannah Sentenac

Q. What types of volunteer work do you think is most prevalent among students today?

Many students list on their activity sheets some element of community service.  Perhaps they worked as hospital volunteer, or helped out in a homeless shelter or soup kitchen. Though all of this is very noble, it also borders on the ordinary. It's when the student takes community service to a new level that it actually makes a difference.  When that student has a vision, an innovative idea, writes a grant, solicits funds, and enlists others that the student is seen as a leader, a mover and shaker, and then community service becomes a hook on the application. 

Q. Do you see a lot of students who have started their own community service groups? Do you think this type of entrepreneurial activism has increased in recent years?   

I’ve seen students try to do this, but for lack of imagination they end up joining an existing organization that, for example, may work to build homes in an impoverished South American country. Again, this is very noble, it’s also not uncommon. 

Q. What advice do you offer students about participating in community activism?  

For the Most Competitive Class in History Senioritis May Have its Consequences

Demonstrate Your Interest
Your Regional Admissions Counselor Can Be Your Best Friend

In a personal and revealing op-ed piece in the April 3, 2009 edition of the “Los Angeles Times,” Angel Pérez, the director of admission at Pitzer College in Claremont, CA writes about his experiences in reviewing applications. He talks about how when he visited a high school in his assigned geographic area, one student in particular impressed him. Based on everything that the student accomplished, as well as his interests and goals, the student made it clear to Mr. Pérez how he would be just the right fit with Pitzer’s “culture” of social justice and social responsibility.

Admissions deans have found that by accepting students who have clearly demonstrated interest increases the college’s yield, and positively affects its acceptance rate. The value that the college places on applicants demonstrating interest allows the college to accept a lower percentage of applicants to fill its class, which in turn raises its rankings with “US News and World Report”. For the Class of 2013, the most competitive class in history, I’m not surprised that there are long waitlists at most of the highly selective colleges. I actually predicted this to happen in my March blog.

The regional admissions counselors from the colleges to which you apply can and do advocate for their students. So when this person visits your high school, make sure that you attend this meeting. These visits typically take place in April, May, June, September or October. If there is no visit planned, then find out if there’s a scheduled evening visit at a local hotel, or at another high school in your area. Before and after you submit your application, follow through with occasional emails to your regional admissions counselor. The personal contact that you have made throughout the admissions process just might help you to gain acceptance to the college of your dreams.

In Pérez’s op-ed piece, he states,

“…I also recall the young man from New York City who was academically below our margin. If I had read his application without meeting him, I probably would have denied him admission. But he showed up for my school visit when I was in New York, and had several contacts with me throughout the year. Then I interviewed him, and in my evaluation I wrote, "This kid bleeds Pitzer College." He was concerned about issues of social justice and social responsibility -- two key values that our institution was founded on. Clearly this kid had done his research and was determined to help me realize that he was the right fit.

His application eventually arrived on my desk, and I knew he was not going to be an easy admit. With a GPA below our typical average of 3.9 and no test scores submitted (we are a test-optional institution), the committee was not going to be kind. Therefore, I decided to read parts of his essay out loud to the committee. I needed to make sure they saw him outside the context of his numbers. They laughed out loud in response to this young man's humor, and they could not believe how much time he took to demonstrate to us how right he was for Pitzer.

I followed up the reading by telling them about my impressions from the interview: “He won't graduate top of his class, but he is going to be a powerful presence here." One of our staff members, who was clearly impressed, said, "This kid really does want to change the world, doesn't he?"

In the end, personal contact made a difference, and the young man's ability to paint a clear picture as to why he was the perfect match for our institutional culture won us over…”

Pérez, Angel B. Los Angeles Times. April 3, 2009: Retrieved April 3, 2009, from   
College admissions' wrenching ins and outs. For school officials, deciding on students' dreams is a difficult, emotional task.

When students apply for regular admissions, the deadline is typically January 1st and the decision letters are generally received during the first week of April. While many of The Ivy Coach students were accepted in the early decision round, some students only applied regular decision, and so for them, the waiting game continues. Now at the beginning of March, we’re hearing that many of our students who applied regular decision are getting earlier notification or likely letters. While an early notification letter is a formal acceptance, a likely letter tells the student, “we can’t tell you officially yet, but we love you, and you’ll most likely be admitted.” Of course anything is possible, but I have never had a student receive a likely letter, and then get rejected. So this is a great stress reliever for some very worried applicants.

With unemployment rising, the economy on the skids, and colleges anxious about producing the yield that they expect, I’m not surprised that my full-pay students who applied early decision got accepted, and I’m even less surprised that early notification and likely letters from the highly selective colleges are becoming more common. I’m also beginning to understand why selective colleges are not only sending out acceptances months before they normally do, but that they’re offering merit money to full-pay students who probably would not have been awarded this last year. One might conclude that these colleges are attempting to entice students by offering a financial incentive, because a partial-pay is still better than an empty seat.  It seems to me that the year that we anticipated to be the most competitive in history may be evolving into a buyer’s market. I don’t envy admissions deans who are concerned about their yield. I still expect them to rate their applicants on demonstrated interest, and if they determine there has been little interest on the student’s part, I expect that those students will be waitlisted. Oh, and I anticipate much longer waitlists than in previous years.

So for full-pay students who are still waiting to hear from the colleges to which they applied, hang in there. If you've played by the rules, and demonstrated the interest, you might be getting better news than you expect.  

Stay tuned for our April newsletter entitled, “Need Blind Admissions – Does it Really Exist?” If you’re not yet a subscriber, please do sign-up. Our newsletters are FREE and we try to make them most informative.

For those who would like to see a "likely letter," here’s a sample of Columbia University’s received by two of The Ivy Coach students last week. It's not as mushy as some others, but it makes the same point - stop worrying, you're in.

Dear ________,

I am writing to inform you that your application to The Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Science at Columbia University has been carefully evaluated and that you have earned the designation as a likely candidate for admission.  As long as our midyear review finds that you are maintaining your current level of academic progress and good standing, you can expect to receive favorable word when admissions packets are mailed on March 31st.

The Committee on Admissions was deeply impressed with your scholastic and personal achievements and with your demonstrated interest in the fields of engineering and applied science.  I offer you my sincere congratulations on your accomplishments thus far and eagerly anticipate those that lie ahead.
 
If we can be of any help to you, please do not hesitate to contact the Admissions Office at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or 212-854-2522.  If you have any questions about studying engineering and applied science at Columbia, feel free to contact the professors in the departments listed below.  Please save the date for Columbia Engineering Days on Campus on April 17th and 18th, which will include an overnight stay, a chance to visit classes and labs, tours of New York City and much more.  I hope you can join us, and all of us here wish you the best during the exciting months ahead.

Sincerely yours,
Jessica Marinaccio
Dean of Undergraduate Admissions

Inconsistencies in the New SAT Score-Reporting Policy 

In November when I wrote the blog, “College Board’s New Score Reporting Policy – Score Choice,” I made references to my June blog on the same topic where I spoke to a College Board (CB) representative and learned that some of the particulars of this new policy were not yet defined.  I also mentioned how at the NACAC conference in Seattle in September when high school guidance, admissions and independent counselors asked representatives of the College Board very specific questions about score choice, the CB reps. still didn’t have many answers.  

Since then some of the information has been delineated on the College Board’s website for professionals:

http://professionals.collegeboard.com/profdownload/sat-score-choice.pdf

Yet, with this new information, in the past couple of weeks I’ve been hearing from my juniors who have been attending information sessions at different colleges that score choice may not be applicable. 

So yesterday, once again, I called the College Board’s counselor hotline and asked how some colleges would be able to see all scores, and yet others would see only the scores that the student wants them to see.  The answer I received was that they don’t yet know, but they’ve been getting feedback from colleges and they’re considering several different options.

Here are some of the possibilities that the CB representative presented:

1. Colleges may use an honor system that requires the applicant to submit all the scores.
OR
2. After receiving the student’s score report, an admissions counselor can call the College Board to verify that all the scores were reported.  If the student did use score choice, admissions counselors can then access the unreported scores over the phone.  
OR
3. The high school guidance counselor will be obligated to submit all scores at an admissions counselor’s request. 

I see each of these possibilities outlined above creating additional issues. 

#1 – ‘The honor system’: I don’t see how this is going to work.  If some students were to adhere to this “honor code,” and they will, how equitable is this system, especially when other students will purposely neglect to report all their scores?  
#2 – ‘Admissions checking with CB’:  While the College Board can and does make its own rules, this seems to negate the value and the intent of score choice.
#3 – ‘High school counselors caught in the middle’:  In what seems a contradictory statement, the College Board is actually “strongly suggesting” that high school counselors “obtain the consent of students” in sending the entire report.  Under FAQ’s of the same report it says: 

“Q: How will counselors know which scores to release or include on a transcript?

A: The College Board recommends that high schools do not include SAT scores when sending student transcripts to colleges or universities. We strongly suggest that counselors obtain the consent of students prior to releasing their scores, even if these scores are needed by a third-party program (for example, a scholarship or recognition service).”

The following are additional statements from this report:  

“Score Choice will not affect score reports sent to students or to their high schools—both will continue to receive all scores.”

“Score Choice will be an optional feature. Students should still feel comfortable sending all scores, since most colleges consider a student’s best score.”

“Colleges will continue to set their own test requirement policies. These policies may vary from college to college. The College Board will work with colleges to provide them with guidance on formulating and/or clarifying their score-submitting policy. Students will be encouraged to follow the different score-reporting requirements of each college to which they apply.”

I still can’t get over the fact that now six months after this new policy was announced, the College Board hasn’t established firm guidelines.  One would think that a company that is a leader in its field would be better organized and not leave students, parents, admissions and college counselors in a general state of confusion.  

According to CB, this new policy was “designed to reduce student stress and improve the test-day experience,” but what these ambiguities are actually doing is creating additional stress. I find it incredulous that the test makers who have dominated the college testing market for over a century, and who write the questions that help to determine college admissions, cannot produce definitive answers.  

“New SAT® Score-Reporting Policy—Score Choice.” Retrieved November 28, 2008, from CollegeBoard Website: 

http://professionals.collegeboard.com/profdownload/sat-score-choice.pdf 

College Board’s New Score Reporting Policy – Score Choice

In June of 2008, when the College Board went public with their new score reporting policy, there was little specific information about the plan. In fact, before I wrote my June 23rd blog on “Change in SAT Policy Expected to Increase Revenues and Market Share,” I called the College Board counselor hotline and was told that the particulars were not yet for public information.

This past September, at the NACAC (National Association for College Admissions Counseling) Conference in Seattle, I attended a workshop “Update on Admissions Testing” sponsored by the College Board and ACT. With an audience of admissions, guidance, and independent counselors at this workshop, there was a general state of confusion regarding the College Board’s new policy. 

Just recently, however, the College Board has gone public with some of the details of the new policy in an article, that appears on its website, “New SAT Score-Reporting Policy”. The following are excerpts from that article:

• “The new score-reporting feature will launch in spring 2009, and will be first available to students in the class of 2010 participating in the March 2009 test administration.”
• “After implementation, students will have the ability to send scores from tests taken prior to the launch. For example, a student who took a Biology Subject Test and a World History Subject Test as a sophomore in June 2008—and who then takes the SAT in spring 2009—can choose whether or not to include the Biology and World History Subject Test scores and/or SAT score on the score report.”
• “This new policy will give students the option to choose the SAT scores by sitting (test date) and SAT Subject Test scores by individual test.”
• “Score Choice is optional, and if students choose not to use it, all scores will be sent automatically.” 
• “Students will be instructed to follow the different score-reporting requirements of each college to which they apply.”
• “Scores from an entire SAT test will be sent—scores of individual sections from different sittings cannot be selected independently for sending.”
• “Students can send any or all scores to a college on a single report.” 

Parental and Peer Pressure or Appropriate Colleges?

Dear Bev,

I have a 3.8 out of a 4.0 gpa with a 32 on my ACT, and I’m planning on applying to Stanford University early action. I have 5 AP’s this year and each class requires an hour a night of homework. Also, with extra time spent studying for exams, I have not been able to participate in any extracurricular activities. My parents understand this, but my guidance counselor is now telling me that I don’t have a shot at Stanford. I just don’t think she’s right, and would love to hear your thoughts.

Oh, and thanks for all the great information you give out on your website. I’m always following your tips and advice.

Andy Ross

*****

In looking to form a well-rounded class of talented students, highly selective colleges are seeking students who have demonstrated intellectual curiosity, a special talent, personal initiative, or have made an impact on their school and community. While a student who spends all of his free time studying and doing homework is admirable and fine for many colleges, highly selective colleges also want to see students who are engaged in activities outside of the classroom.

Andy called me after he sent me the email, and when I asked him why he was applying to Stanford he admitted that it was parental and peer pressure that prompted the idea.

I know that he was disappointed when I told him that I concurred with his guidance counselor, but then when I asked him if he would rather hear it now, or after he applies, he agreed that he needed to know before he put the time and energy into Stanford’s application essays.

Together we then compiled a list of appropriate colleges where Andy has a decent chance of getting accepted. The list includes some “reaches,” some “possibles,” and some “likelies”. Many of the colleges on the list are not the “usual suspects” and so his peers will not even have heard of them, but that’s okay. Andy is now going into the admissions process, knowing his strengths and his limitations, and applying to colleges that are appropriate for him.

Top Ten Tips on How to Get Great Teacher Recommendations

Since some colleges have different guidelines, make sure you read the instructions on each application before you choose the people who will write your recommendations. 

a. Academic achievement
b. Intellectual promise
c. Quality of writing
d. Creative, original thought
e. Productive class discussion
f. Respect accorded by faculty
g. Disciplined work habits
h. Maturity
i. Motivation
j. Leadership
k. Integrity
l. Reaction to setbacks
m. Concern for others
n. Self-confidence
o. Initiative, independence
p. Overall

Next to each above category is a box for the teacher to check. The headings for each column are: No basis, Below average, Average, Good (above average), Very good (well above average), Excellent (top 10%), Outstanding (top 5%), One of the top few I’ve encountered (top 1%)

a. How long have you known this student and in what context?b. What are the first words that come to your mind to describe this student?

c. List the courses you have taught this student, noting for each the student’s year in school (10th, 11th, 12th; first-year, sophomore; etc.) and the level of course difficulty (AP, IB, accelerated, honors, elective; 100-level, 200-level, etc.).

d. Please write whatever you think is important about this student, including a description of academic and personal characteristics, as demonstrated in your classroom. We welcome information that will help us to differentiate this student from others.

5. Your guidance counselor may give you some insight into a particular teacher’s writing style, so discuss with your counselor the teachers who you are planning to ask for these letters.

6. Once you decide which teachers to ask, don’t forget to ask them.

7. September of your senior year is typically a perfect time to ask your teachers for these letters, however, some teachers may want to know this in the spring of your junior year so that they can do this work over the summer.

8. Set up an appointment when you can meet with your teachers so that you can help them write more effective letters. For this meeting, it is always a good idea to give them some written responses to anything specific that you hope will be addressed in this letter including your academic and personal strengths, a memorable experience that you had in the class, something very significant that you learned, an outstanding project, paper, presentation, etc. about which you feel your teachers need to be reminded.

9. If you choose not to furnish your teachers with specific information, keep in mind that they may very well write a generic letter that will not be of any help for you in the admissions process.

10. Once your teachers write your letter of recommendation, remember to send them a thank you note, and keep them informed as to admissions decisions.

The Ivy Coach College Admissions Seminars in China

On July 19th and 22nd The Ivy Coach gave seminars in China on the US college admissions process. One seminar was at Beijing University and another was at a high school in Nanjing.  The turnout was fantastic for both.  What was so wonderful was that we met some incredible students who were very excited about the prospect of studying in the States.

When they passed us questions for a Q & A, we observed that their ability to communicate in writing was greater than their ability to communicate verbally.  It appears that they have been taught English very well, but have not had the opportunity to practice their oral skills.  One student in particular told me about how he started his own business selling hard-covered bound notebooks, with either doodle space or Sudoku puzzles randomly printed in the corners of different pages, and how he donated the profits from the notebook sales to a relief fund for victims of the Sichuan Earthquake. He even brought a sample to show us. When I asked another student if he had been able to make the trip to Hong Kong to take SAT's, he told me that he had, and then he proceeded to tell me his scores.  "An 800 in math, of course, like every other Chinese student, but I'm working on my critical reading which was only a 580."   This student brought his SAT book with him, and I noticed it was from before the exam was last revised.  There seems to be a real problem for students in China to get current college guidebooks and SAT review books. While I was there I searched Amazon.com, and saw some very dated materials, so they can't even purchase the most recent books.

We will be returning to China to do more of these seminars in different cities. For 2009 we will be presenting in Beijing, Nanjing and Shanghai.  We don’t have the exact dates yet, but if you’re interested in attending, please contact us at The Ivy Coach, and I will forward your email to the sponsors so that we can reserve a seat for you.  The seminars are in English and translated into Chinese, they are open to the public and are free of charge.

Change in SAT Policy Expected to Increase Revenues and Market Share

He who guards … his tongue keeps himself from calamity. (Proverbs 21:23)

About a month ago, after having invested considerable thought I purchased a MacBook. I had visited the Apple Store on Fifth Avenue several times, played with their demos, and asked the specialists tons of questions.  I had bought one for my son the previous spring when he graduated from college, and he had no trouble making the adjustment from a PC.  Okay, he was only 21 years old, and has always adjusted well to change.  I queried him as to what he thought my learning curve would be, and he felt that I would be up in running in a few hours and fully functional in a few days.  He had confidence in my abilities, and that gave me all the confidence I needed.  After a few weekly one-on-one sessions with the Apple tutors, I’m now very comfortable with my Mac, but there are some things that are still problematic, for example, I can’t always find a document as fast as I was able to on my Sony Vaio.

Deciding on the College to Attend

You have been through the stressful and at times grueling application process. Once your applications were mailed, you began the long waiting period for admissions decisions, but now the decisions are up to you. You have received multiple offers of admissions, you are excited about many of them, and you are feeling great that your accomplishments have been recognized.

You have several wonderful college choices, but now you ask yourself where you will get the best education and at the same time find happiness. It’s now the middle of April and the deadline of May 1st to respond to the college of your choice is fast approaching.

So how do you decide?

If you have already visited these colleges you have a better idea, so go back to your notes on each visit. Go to the colleges’ websites and search for whatever it was that you liked in the first place when you decided to apply. If that doesn’t help, then visit the campuses again. You’ll have a much different perspective this time. If you have not visited, now is the time to make those trips, even if it means taking a few days off from school.

Many colleges have specific days for admitted students. If you can visit on one of these days, then by all means do it. If you can’t, then make another visit on your own. Go through the course schedule and find a couple of classes you would like to attend at each college, and make arrangements to sit in on these classes. Call admissions and schedule an overnight in the dorm. Once you are at the college, talk with students and faculty, have a meal or two in the dining hall, attend classes, and if you have arranged to stay overnight, attend a social activity in the evening. If you’re an athlete, meet with a coach, and talk with members of the team. If you’re interested in a particular program, meet with the advisor of that program, and talk with student members.

While on campus make the most of your visit, and try to picture yourself there as a student. Do you feel comfortable walking around campus? Do you think it will be easy to make friends? Are there certain characteristics of this college that are attractive to you? Do you feel at home on campus? Is this campus what you imagined your college experience to be? While your parents, friends, counselor and teachers have all given you their advice, ultimately, this is your decision. You are the one who will spend the next four years at this college. So relax, and go with your instincts, the decision is not as complicated as you may think.

Harvard College Shame on You!

The administrators at Harvard College should take a course in business planning at Dartmouth’s Tuck School because obviously they haven’t learned anything from what’s being taught at HBS.

The deadline for applications for transfer students for fall 2008 was February 15th but a few days before the 15th it was announced that the deadline was extended to February 16th. Now, over a month after applications were due, it has been announced that the college is not accepting transfer students for the next two years. Just yesterday, March 20th, Harvard's Director of Transfer Admissions, Marlene Vergara Rotner, emailed applicants with this news.

Harvard administrators attribute this decision to a lack of available housing. While the college doesn’t require students who enter as freshmen to live on campus for all four years, they do require transfer students to reside on campus for the entire period of their undergraduate studies.

Since the stock of available dorm space has not changed for some time, I wonder how Harvard administrators could not have come to this decision before they made transfer applications available for the upcoming 2008-2009 school year.

Students invest their hearts, minds and scores of hours in writing essays for a Harvard application. If these administrators had to come to this conclusion so late in the process, couldn't they have at least continued to accept transfers for one more year? Then, when they made public their decision to not accept transfer applications for the subsequent year or two, there would have been fewer casualties. This would have been the kinder and more responsible thing to do, and much more in line with what one would expect from an institution such as Harvard.

The following is Harvard’s Transfer Admission Announcement posted March 20, 2008:

“Harvard College will be unable to enroll any transfer students for the next two academic years, 2008-2009 and 2009-2010. Following the most thorough examination of its residential housing in Harvard's history, the Dean of Harvard College, Professor David Pilbeam, has concluded that the Harvard Houses cannot successfully accommodate any new transfer students. Instead, the College has embarked on a planning process for substantial capital investment to renovate and revitalize its residential spaces.

In important respects, undergraduate education at Harvard College is residential in character. Students learn a great deal from the residential experience and contact with one another, complementing the experience of classrooms and laboratories. Harvard does not admit transfer students to non-residential status.

The College offers a Visiting Undergraduate Program, which enables students to enroll in Harvard College for academic credit at their home institutions. Visiting Undergraduates are not ordinarily offered College housing, and they are not permitted subsequently to transfer to Harvard as degree candidates.”

Expensive Summer Programs

Back in the nineteenth century, French novelist Alphonse Karr was quoted as saying: “plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose" which roughly translates to "the more things change, the more they stay the same.”

I couldn’t help but think of this quote as I read “Pricey summer programs raise fairness questions” in yesterday’s edition of the Boston Globe.

The following are excerpts from this article that hopefully will help parents and students as they consider the value of expensive summer programs:

"College admissions officers say they certainly have to weigh an applicant's internships or farflung adventures. But a student can have an extraordinary experience in variety of ways, not all of which cost money, they note. Bill Fitzsimmons, dean of admissions and financial aid at Harvard University, said high-priced internships can be 'wonderful experiences,' but 'in and of themselves, they will not give a student an advantage in the admissions process because the playing field is not level. The substantial majority of high school students cannot afford to do these things. I think there are many people now who understand there are plenty of activities, for example, working a full-time job in the summer or volunteer activities, that don't have to be in Tanzania - they can be right down the street.'"

"Gil Villanueva, dean of admissions at Brandeis University in Waltham, said that travel abroad used to be impressive but is now 'commonplace.' His school looks for students who - whether they travel or not - show a desire to contribute to society, he said. He casts a careful eye on an application if a student has traveled across the globe but is not active in his or her community, Villanueva said. 'While I think that's exciting in terms of what that person might add to the campus, it might not be nearly as much as the individual who committed hours and hours in working for their local chapter of Habitat for Humanity or worked on their Eagle Scout project to enhance a park.'"

In recent years these expensive summer programs have become more pervasive. Parents are paying thousands of dollars for their college bound children to enhance their extracurricular involvements, while students are finding more exotic places in which to do community service. Then there are those parents who are actually paying for their children to participate in non-paid internships. What students and parents fail to understand is that these pricey programs can sometimes do more harm than good because they highlight how the family's affluence unfairly tilts the playing field.

What The Ivy Coach wrote in our June 15, 2007 blog, “Community Service as a Factor in Admissions” still holds true: Students need to be creative, to think outside the box. They need to do something different, something that will attract attention. Students don’t have to spend $6,000 to travel to the Fiji Islands to work with preschoolers or construct a nursing station. Through their school, synagogue, church, and together with their friends, or even on their own, students can do something very significant in their own community.

Study Abroad Freshman Year...A New Trend?

Admitted – Yes! .. but Freshman Year Must Be in Paris, London, Florence, Madrid…

With more students applying to college than ever before and with each of those students submitting more applications than in previous years, college administrators are finding new and innovative ways of not rejecting qualified applicants. By offering these prospective freshman an acceptance contingent upon them spending their first year abroad is becoming more common for some highly selective colleges. According to last week’s Wall Street Journal article, “More Students Head Overseas in Freshman Year,” colleges such as NYU, Middlebury, Colby, Hamilton and others, have employed this program.

So is this a new trend in college admissions? Perhaps. In the past, study abroad programs have typically been for juniors. While very few college administrators will admit it, by sending freshman to study abroad, they alleviate overcrowding in the dorms. Then when these study abroad students return for their sophomore year, they fill the spots vacated by students who have transferred out.

Studying abroad certainly does have its perks. One perk in particular is that students are immersed in the language and culture of the country, and learn to speak that language fluently. On the downside study abroad programs can be very expensive, especially in a time when the US dollar is severely deflated. For some students, being exiled to Europe is not what they imagined their initial college experience to be. When students are eager to bond with their classmates their first year, that’s not going to happen in a study abroad program where only a few freshman are enrolled. For some parents, studying abroad can present another concern. With no minimum drinking age outside of the US, spending freshman year overseas may not be all that appropriate for their immature and inexperienced 18 year old.

This may not be the ideal college experience, but it can be the opportunity for many students to attend the school of their dreams.

With a Surge in Applications,
Do Admissions Counselors Actually Read Each Application?

According to an article in today’s New York Times, “Applications to selective colleges and universities are reaching new heights this year, promising another season of high rejection rates and dashed hopes for many more students.”

“Harvard said Wednesday that it had received a record number of applicants — 27,278 — for its next freshman class, a 19 percent increase over last year. Other campuses reporting double-digit increases included the University of Chicago (18 percent), Amherst College (17 percent), Northwestern University (14 percent) and Dartmouth (10 percent)… Princeton received a record 20,118 applicants, up 6 percent…”

All too often I hear from a parent who is convinced that with the sheer volume of applications received at highly selective colleges, there is no way that admission counselors read through every application, but I would say that in 90% of cases they do.  

Last February, when an admissions counselor from Duke University wrote in an acceptance letter (two months earlier than usual) to one of The Ivy Coach’s students that she was very impressed about how the student combined his passion for music with his dedication to community service, it was obvious that Duke looked beyond the student’s less than stellar grades and SAT scores, and read his application thoroughly. In four separate essays, without being too boastful or too shy, the student wrote about different aspects of his life, exhibiting his true passions. In a tightly woven fabric, by taking threads from each of his essays, he gave Duke’s admissions counselors a glimpse into his life and submitted an exceptional application.

While grades, courses and standardized test grades are always going to be significant factors in the admissions process, the other parts of the application (the essays, activity sheet, letters of recommendation and in some cases, the interview) can sometimes make all the difference between an acceptance and a denial. 

So in writing those essays, put in your best effort, and count on them being read.   

Are You a Helicopter Parent?

According to Wikipedia a 21st Century term “helicopter parent” refers to “a person who pays extremely close attention to his or her child or children, particularly at educational institutions. They rush to prevent any harm or failure from befalling them or letting them learn from their own mistakes, sometimes even contrary to the children's wishes. They are so named because, like a helicopter, they hover closely overhead, rarely out of reach whether their children need them or not. An extension of the term, "Black Hawks," has been coined for those who cross the line from a mere excess of zeal to unethical behavior such as writing their children's college admission essays.”

Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retreived November 25, 2007 from www.wikipedia.org: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helicopter_parent

Below are 20 questions for you to answer and find out if you are a “helicopter parent” in regard to the college admissions process.

1. Do all of your conversations with your child involve the college admissions process?
2. Do conversations that begin about something entirely different end up with college admissions as a focal point?
3. Do you listen to your child when you have conversations regarding college admissions?
4. Have you abandoned reading your usual novels and replaced them with college guides and books on how to gain admission?
5. Do you worry incessantly that your child will not be accepted at the college of his or her choice, or worse, the college of your choice?
6. Do you lose sleep because you’re concerned that your child is not doing enough to make himself / herself stand out in his / her class?
7. Do you have family meetings to brainstorm ways to make your child unique?
8. Do you talk with your friends about colleges?
9. Do you call or email admissions offices asking for information?
10. Do you schedule visits to colleges and make appointments for your child to meet with admissions counselors or other college representatives?
11. Are you concerned about what your child will write for personal statements and essays?
12. Do you keep an ongoing list of your child’s extra-curricular activities?
13. Do you continually ask your child to join more clubs or become more involved in activities?
14. Through your friends and colleagues at work, do you arrange internships for your child?
15. Do you communicate too often with your child’s guidance counselor, and think that you know more than your child’s counselor?
16. Do you communicate with your child’s teachers when you’re not happy with a grade your child has received?
17. Do you push your child to take more rigorous classes even if these classes may not be appropriate?
18. Are you making a list of colleges for your child without his / her input?
19. Would you be happy if your child was accepted and decided to attend a school that was not on your list?
20. In regard to the college admissions process and your child’s everyday educational and extracurricular pursuits, might your child say that you are way too involved?

If you have answered “yes” to 10 or more of these questions, then you are indeed a “helicopter parent” and you need help! Let an expert, The Ivy Coach, assist you and your child in the college admissions process and at the same time help maintain family harmony.

After the Application Is In

If you have written some powerful essays and personal statements, then it is very likely you have worked for weeks devoting countless hours to writing, researching, rewriting, tossing out, and starting all over again, and now, finally your applications have been submitted.

So what do you do now? Most students think they can sit back and wait, but if you want the admissions counselor who reads your application to get to know you beyond all this paper, then it’s important to connect with this person.

One of my students called me tonight to say that the assistant admissions director from ______, (one of the most selective colleges in the country) came to his school to speak with prospective applicants. He claims that he and the other seniors in the audience were made to feel inadequate by this person’s overt arrogance. He embarrassed several of them about questions they asked, he ridiculed one student, and questioned another student about a personal issue. To make matters worse, all of this was done in front of the other students and the attending college counselor.

No matter how egotistical your admissions rep. may seem, he/she is all you have right now, so learn to make the best of it. Try to connect with this person. However, test the waters slowly and carefully, making sure not to muddy them up.

It’s Time to Write Your Essays

Your parent has been on your case for the last few weeks now, school has just begun and you’re finding out that many of your friends have already written most of their essays. Your guidance counselor has called a meeting for all seniors and has warned you of last minute applications and getting your essay done asap. Reminders have come from all directions and you are now more stressed than ever. You haven’t a clue as to what to write about, and every topic you think about, you wonder if it has been done before.

Your essay is the only part of the application where you have complete control, so take advantage of it and express your individuality. Make the essay come alive and help the admissions counselors who read it understand who you are, and what’s important to you. Your essay should help an admissions counselor connect the dots between your grades, test scores, extracurricular involvements and letters of recommendation. Your essay should tell your story.

The perfect essay may not pop into your head overnight, and you will have to write several revisions, but if you think about the things you do, the passions you have and the talents you possess, you too can write a powerful essay.

Social networking websites have recently been a topic of conversation in college admissions. Thanks to Google, anything you write can be read by anyone! All a college admissions officer has to do is Google your name. That’s not to say that college admissions officers routinely Google every applicant’s name, but if something you say in an essay or about an activity listed on your activity sheet is questionable, an admissions counselor may turn to Google to get more information. “Most colleges do not look up students on these sites, but when other people draw attention to these possibly offensive blogs, then schools often take action.” Can you be sure that someone who has applied to the same college won’t submit your blog to an admissions officer at that college? My advice to students is not to post anything on the Internet that you wouldn’t want a college admissions officer to read.

Here’s an article on NACAC’s site:

“Whether it’s through MySpace, Facebook, Xanga, LiveJournal, or Friendster, students are online—online sharing details with friends, online for everyone to see… Now, how would you feel if your teachers saw your site? A college admission officer?”

“Most colleges are not surfing the Web for your profile. However, when other people bring students’ blogging to their attention, schools do respond.”

“At least one college applicant was denied admission in part because of his blog on LiveJournal. The admission dean said the student’s blog, which was brought to his attention, included seemingly hostile comments about certain college officials.”

“Although blogs can be fun, remember that what you post is for public view, like broadcasting it on the six o’clock news. So when it’s time to apply for college, give your blog a second look to make sure you feel comfortable sharing everything you have posted with an admission officer and, later, with potential employers because your site becomes permanent, public information about you.”

“Now a kid who is applying to Harvard, Yale, Princeton is also applying to the Lehighs and Lafayettes,” said Brett Levine, director of guidance at Madison High School in New Jersey. “It’s the same tier, basically.”

Lehigh and Lafayette in the same tier as Harvard, Yale or Princeton? No, Brett, Lehigh and Lafayette are not even close.

This latest NY Times article, “Ivy League Crunch Brings New Cachet to Next Tier,” is just another example of how a reporter makes the college admissions process ever so more stressful for students and parents.

What Alan Finder fails to say in this article is that more students are applying to college and they’re submitting a larger number of applications than ever before. Students who are applying to the highly selective colleges are also applying to colleges such as Lehigh, Lafayette, and Bucknell because they are uncertain as to their chances of admissions at their top choices. While this was not surprising to me, this past year one of my students was accepted at Brown, Penn, Dartmouth, Duke, Tufts, and Columbia, and was waitlisted at Lehigh. The way I figured this to happen was that based on my student’s grades, scores, and extracurricular accomplishments, Lehigh’s admissions committee, with an eye towards their US News and World Report rankings in the area of student selectivity, waitlisted her because they figured if they accepted her it would be highly unlikely that she would attend. What the article also does not say is how some of these schools drown students with glossy unsolicited advertising materials just so students think they are being courted. The students then apply, the college rejects them, and the college moves up a notch in the rankings because of the selectivity factor. Articles such as Mr. Finder’s only add to the pressure on the student applicant.

Here's the article in its entirety.

Today when it was discovered that Marilee Jones, the Dean of Admissions at MIT, lied about her credentials 28 years ago it sent a shock wave through the college admissions community. According to her own statement on MIT’s website, Marilee apologizes:

“I have resigned as MIT's Dean of Admissions because very regrettably, I misled the Institute about my academic credentials. I misrepresented my academic degrees when I first applied to MIT 28 years ago and did not have the courage to correct my resume when I applied for my current job or at any time since. I am deeply sorry for this and for disappointing so many in the MIT community and beyond who supported me, believed in me, and who have given me extraordinary opportunities. I especially apologize to the Institute's leadership and to my extraordinary staff, whom I have every confidence will continue to deliver on the Institute's mission. This is the only public comment I wish to make at this personally difficult time and I hope my privacy will be respected."

While the college admissions community deeply admires and respects Marilee Jones for her efforts in depressurizing the college admissions process, it is with sadness that we learn of her deception. When colleges are holding students to the highest standards, when there are strict honor codes in place at high schools and colleges, when schools such as UC Berkeley do background checks on students, and when there are discipline questions on applications that students are required to answer truthfully, then I can certainly understand why students and parents would find it extremely difficult to find compassion for the Dean of Admissions at one of the most highly selective colleges in the country.

Perhaps, instead of judging her on her indiscretion, we need to applaud her for the work she’s done and for getting her message out to students, parents and colleges. If she is able to continue that work, then maybe, just maybe, this stressful process of college admissions can become just a little more sane.

Marilee Jones' statement can be found here.

College Admissions Police

In a recent Wall Street Journal article, “Admissions Police Bolster Efforts to Uncover Fraud” Jon Weinbach discusses what can be a new trend in college admissions, the College Admissions Police.

“Before mailing out acceptance and rejection letters over the past week, thousands of colleges and graduate schools conducted their usual reviews of test scores, transcripts, and essays. But less publicly, admissions officers focused on something else: police databases, plagiarism checks, and reports by private-investigators.”

In my experience I have found most students to be very honest in giving information on their college applications, but every now and then a student will ask me, what if I embellish on the hours per week or weeks per year that I spend on an activity, what if I say that I was the president of a particular club, or that I invented this amazing gadget, or that I spent the summer cleaning Yala National Park in Sri Lanka? My answer is always the same. You don’t want to risk getting rejected because you lied on your application, no matter how small that lie may seem to you. You have to assume that a lie or an inconsistency on a college application can be found out. Let’s suppose that you write on your application that as a member of your school’s chess club, you are involved 20 hours per week, 40 weeks per year. Then another student from your school applies to the same college(s) and says that as a member of the same chess club, he is involved only 5 hours per week, and 20 weeks per year. While it might be easier to believe the applicant who includes less time on his activity sheet, it’s just as easy to call the school and speak with the guidance counselor who can then speak with the advisor of the chess club.

Sometimes it’s those insignificant details that can make a difference between an admissions acceptance or rejection. In his article, Weinbach goes on to say, "Admissions officials at the Haas School of Business at UC-Berkeley saw the desperation firsthand. In 2003, admissions director Jeff Pihakis tried to call an applicant to tell her she had gained admission. After several failed attempts, he reached a woman who gave him a cell phone number for the applicant. Looking again at the file, he saw the number he'd just been given matched the number the applicant had listed for a purported boss. That led Mr. Pihakis to uncover other fabrications, including false job titles and fake stationery for the sham company. The admissions staff ultimately investigated all 100 of the students it had admitted, uncovering four more applicants who had misrepresented themselves.

The next summer, Kroll approached the school about providing background checks. Since then, all accepted students have had to pass an "employment and background verification"--and pay a $65 fee--before enrolling. In the past four years, only one has been rejected. "We were hoping it would be a deterrent," says Mr. Pihakis. "And it has been."”

If you are lucky enough to gain acceptance to a college with your fabrications or exaggerations just imagine while you’re still a student you’re asked to leave the university because it was discovered that you lied on your application. Then just imagine, years after you graduate, the college finds out that you lied on your application and now your degree is revoked. Fabrications or exaggerations may come back to haunt you, and it’s just not worth the risk. Whether you’re writing essays, filling out your activity sheet, answering personal application information questions, reporting test scores, or interviewing, the best thing that you can do for yourself is to tell the truth.

While colleges look for the student’s depth as well as breadth of involvement, extracurricular activities should be great fun, but they should also be activities about which the student is passionate. When listing extracurricular involvements on a chart of the college application, there is room for the description of the activity, grades involved, position held, hours spent per week, weeks spent per year, and honors earned. In the end, this activity chart should give an admissions counselor a glimpse into the lifestyle and personality of the applicant. It should list the student’s passions, primary interests and commitments.

When reviewing applications, admissions committees do not want to see serial joiners with an activity sheet that is a laundry list of clubs showing attendance at one hour meetings per week. The activity sheet should rather show that the applicant has a deep evolving commitment of specific interests over the high school years.

Students need to consider the activities they do each day, the activities they are passionate about, and the activities they plan on pursuing in college. Extracurricular experiences which show dedication should be further discussed and highlighted in short essays and personal statements.

How to Make the Most Out of Your Summer

This blog was used as our June, 2007 newsletter. Here's an excerpt..."Whatever it is that you plan to do during your summer break, you need to make plans in the early spring. So think about what it is that you enjoy the most and then do something where you can further develop your talents, skills and interests."

Bev,

I am writing an article for the New York Times on the growing number of companies that offer search engines to help high school students come up with a list of potential colleges. Many are set up as kind of electronic guidance counselors. Princeton Review, for instance, offers "Counselor-O-Matic." Kaplan, Peterson's.com and the College Board itself offer similar services. Basically, the students enter criteria - how big a school they want, whether they want an urban, suburban or rural setting, what region or regions they'd like to be in, majors offered, etc. Most also include a selectivity rating, and an option to enter the student's own grade point average and SAT scores. The search engine then generates a list of colleges. Some search engines are more refined than others; some also break the list down into "reaches" "good matches" or "safeties." 

My questions:

- In what ways can these services be helpful?

- What are the various aspects that (human) guidance counselors can bring to the college search process that can not be replicated by an electronic search? 

Thanks so much for any help you can give me with this.

Sincerely,

Kate  

Hi Kate,

The electronic search engines certainly solve a function, but I find that students who are just beginning with the search process don’t always know the criteria to input in these searches and that can be problematic. As an independent college counselor, I discuss in more depth the different criteria in selecting appropriate colleges. I also encourage my students to read about specific colleges on the school’s website and in books such as, The Fiske Guide to Colleges and Princeton Review’s Best Colleges. From colleges in which my students seem interested, colleges that I feel would be appropriate matches based on their academics, talents, personality, values, goals, and colleges where their chances of admission are realistic, I then encourage them to visit those schools. A visit includes attending an information session, taking the tour, sitting in on classes, meeting with a particular coach or director, and if possible, spending an overnight in the dorm.   

After my students visit a few colleges, I find that they seem to have a better grasp on what it is that they’re looking for, and know a little more about what they like and what they don’t. From there I offer them suggestions on other colleges that have similar characteristics.  The next step is to make subsequent visits, and to continue the discussion.  So, yes, the human element of a college counselor is necessary in helping a student through the search process. 

I hope this helps.  Feel free to call me if you have any questions.

~Bev

More about early decision…

There’s an interesting article posted February 8, 2007 on News@Princeton by Cass Cliatt “Princeton sets third consecutive applications record.”

In Princeton University’s last early decision class, (at least for right now), another new record has been set. Applications are up from last year 2 percent in early decision, and 9% in regular decision.

In November 2006, Princeton received 2,276 applications for early decision and in December admitted 597 candidates. The students who were accepted under the early decision agreement comprise 48% of the 1,245 students of Princeton’s class of 2011.

In Princeton’s regular decision pool, another 16,615 applications were received. Of those applicants, Princeton will admit only 648 students. This number includes any early decision applicants who had been deferred..

Applying to Princeton in the fall of 2008 will be different for wanna-a-be Tigers because there won’t be an early decision option. The elimination of early decision was instituted in an effort to create a less stressful admissions process and because Princeton President Shirley M. Tilghman felt that early decision was a disadvantage to students who were not aware of the advantages.

In a letter posted September 18, 2006 on News@Princeton, President Tilghman states "We agree that early admission 'advantages the advantaged’. Although we have worked hard in recent years to increase the diversity of our early decision applicants, we have concluded that adopting a single admission process is necessary to ensure equity for all applicants. We believe that elimination of early admission programs can reduce some of the frenzy, complexity and inequity in a process that even under the best of circumstances is inevitably stressful for students and their families.”

Time will tell whether Princeton officials will reinstate some form of early admissions. The application process for the fall of 2008 (the class of 2012), should be very interesting to watch. It’s our guess that in a year, or maybe two, Princeton will have an early action option. If they truly don’t want to ‘advantage the advantaged,’ they will not revert back to early decision, but early action makes sense both for Princeton and for its applicant pool.

When colleges such as Harvard, Princeton, and the University of Virginia announced that they will be dropping their early admissions programs, high school students, parents, and college counselors began to wonder if this was the beginning of a new trend in admissions, and that perhaps more colleges were going to follow this lead. The University of Delaware dropped their early decision policy for fall 2006 applicants. In an op-ed article in the New York Times on September 27, 2006, entitled "Applied Science," Stanford Provost John Etchemendy gave his comments. You can read his letter at http://www.stanford.edu/dept/finaid/News.html.  

While early decision options at colleges cannot benefit students who plan on comparing financial aid offers, early action options at colleges can.  The difference is that early decision is a binding contract and students who are admitted under this plan must withdraw all other applications and may not submit any additional applications. However, students who apply under the early action plan have until May 1st to decide which college they want to attend.

So the question remains, why would a college that has an early action policy, want to abandon this practice?  I believe that it is very unlikely that more colleges with early action policies are going to follow Harvard’s lead.  The situation for colleges with an early decision option may be different, and it is my belief that they will keep their current early decision policies in tact.  The bottom line is that colleges loved to be loved.  They want to know that if they have a student who has applied, that student will definitely attend. While Provost Etchemendy says that “Stanford maintains the same standards for early admissions that it does for applications submitted under the normal deadline,” from my experience, students who apply early decision have an advantage in the admissions process, and in some colleges this advantage can mean the difference of one hundred points on an SAT.

I received the following email today from a high school guidance counselor:

Dear The Ivy Coach,

Am I misinforming our families when I indicate that almost universally the ACT plus Writing is accepted in lieu of the SAT Reasoning and Subject Tests? I have an inquiry from a parent and it has given me pause.

The inquiry reads: It appears that many schools either require or recommend the Subject Tests.  My daughter hasn't been planning on taking the Subject Tests because she will be taking both the SAT I and the ACT+Writing. My impression was that ACT+Writing is very often accepted instead of the Subject Tests.  I realize that the colleges vary in their policies, but it appears that more schools than I'd expected still want the Subject Tests. I'm now concerned that perhaps it is wise to take one Subject Test in the spring. 
 
The last thing I want is for a student to overload on testing, yet I also want to provide good counsel. Where better to turn than to my colleagues?

Sincerely yours,
H.S. Counselor

Dear H.S. Counselor,

Although it would be ideal if all colleges were to accept the ACT in lieu of Subject Tests, very few colleges actually have this policy.  

Something that the parent said in her email to you makes me wonder why she's planning on taking one Subject Test, instead of two or three? The Subject Tests are designed for students to take three exams on one day. Besides, colleges that require SAT Subject Tests typically require at least two, and there are a few schools that require three exams.  There are also some colleges that require specific tests.   

My best advice is for you to tell your student to call each college on her list and ask the questions.  

Hope this helps.   
~Bev

Dear Bev,

I’m a junior from Tennessee, and would love to attend Vanderbilt University. I know it’s a really competitive school, but I have the grades and the scores, and I’ll have the recs. The only thing I don’t know about is the ec’s. I read your Peterson's article on “Talented Students Winning at the College Admissions Game” and was wondering what other talents besides the ones you discuss would be important to a school like Vanderbilt?  

Rachel  

Good question Rachel!  It can be difficult to imagine what sorts of activities are valued and considered different enough for a highly selective college, but maybe this excerpt giving examples of the unique talents of the students in Barnard College’s most recently admitted class will help.

"Beyond their strength in academics, the admitted students are accomplished and talented in many areas; notable examples include the following: two Junior Olympic Tae Kwon Do medalists (twin  sisters); a New York State champion golfer who has played on PGA Junior Tour Tournaments; a state champion fencer; a top-level high school figure skater from China; a winner of the "Leaders of  Tomorrow" Scholarship sponsored by the New York State Lottery; a winner of the New York City Shakespeare Oratory Competition; a world finalist in the Odyssey of the Mind competition; a Massachusetts State speech finalist two years in a row; a semi-finalist in the National Biology Olympiad; and two trapeze circus performers. With its excellent dance and theatre programs, Barnard admitted several accomplished actresses, dancers, and musicians, including three professional actresses (credits include the films Lords of  Dogtown and Spanglish and three Broadway productions); a student who founded a community Shakespeare troupe; a world champion Irish dancer; a dancer with the Boston Conservatory; a violinist with the New Hampshire philharmonic orchestra; and an accomplished bag-pipe player. Other students who applied to Barnard have led lives distinctly different from the urban experience encountered in New York City, including a student who helps birth lambs on her family's farm; the  winner of an outstanding dairy goat exhibition, and a student who works on the family ranch from Colorado.”