Many college experts offer advice on how to get into college. They recommend stellar standardized test scores, a killer college essay, a high GPA, and strong extracurriculars. While all those application components are important, did you know that there an admissions secret students can use to increase their admission chances by 40 percent!
Students who visit a college before they apply, are up to 40 percent more likely to be admitted than students who do not visit or show demonstrated interest, the data says.
Why does demonstrated interest matter?
For colleges, it’s difficult to know which applicants are really interested in attending. Due to the ease of the Common Application, students can apply to multiple colleges at once. Students often believe that applying to more colleges will increase their chances of getting accepted.
When a college receives your application, admission officers look for ways to determine whether you will accept their offer of admission. Since all colleges have quotas to fill and determine their admission offers based on percentages of acceptance, showing interest lets them know you will likely accept their offer. As they see it, why offer admission to someone who isn’t interested when there is someone who is likely to accept?
How do you find the colleges that place a strong interest on this?
Which colleges want your student to show them some love? You don’t have to guess. You can use a tool like Collegedata.com to determine if a college uses demonstrated interest in its admission decision. The colleges are asked to rate 19 admission factors by using these four categories: very important, important, considered, and not considered. Each year, colleges are surveyed and this data is used to compile the information on its website.
To access the data, you simply search for the college, click on the Admissions tab, and scroll down to the Selection of Students heading. Then you can see the importance a college places on a student’s level of interest. Harvard, for example, lists this as “not considered.” In comparison, the United States Naval Academy, lists it as “very important.”
Every college is different so it’s important to check before applying to determine whether a college visit or another demonstration of interest is warranted.
To learn how your student can demonstrate interest for a college, read my article at TeenLife.com.
With any project or goal, you look to the experts to help you reach success and achieve the goal. These five experts know all there is to know about creating the perfect college list.
What’s Critical in a College Admission Checklist
According to Lynn O’Shaughnessy of The College Solution Blog, using a college admission checklist is critical when your child is applying to colleges and universities.
Allowing a teenager to apply to any colleges without a solid game plan can be a financial and academic disaster.
There are five college check-list items that you and your child should accomplish before sending out applications. If you’ve already submitted your applications, you can definitely still do some of these tasks:
Debbie Schwartz of Road2College.com offers parents advice from multiple college experts and points out with thousands of colleges and universities to choose from, finding the “perfect” school is a seemingly impossible task for any high school student and their parents.
Many college hopefuls have their eyes set on a particular dream school, while others may feel overwhelmed by endless options varying in size, location, reputation, and expense.
Applying to and gaining acceptance to colleges is daunting enough, let alone deciding where to attend in the fall.
So how exactly do you make the right decision?
Keep in mind that the true secret to college success is not necessarily attending the most selective or prestigious university.
It’s finding the right school for you where you can be your best self. And much like with dating or job-hunting, there is no one-size-fits-all college, but instead, a number of potential great picks for every individual student.
In this article, you can find the answers to these questions:
Katherine Price of Great College Advice, reminds parents and students that picking the final list can be a daunting task. One way to narrow things down a bit is to really look into the academic departments at the schools you are interested in. Since academics is one of the most important aspects of attending college, it is important that students feel connected to the curriculum and the major that they could potentially be studying.
When looking at college academics, consider these topics:
Jeannie Borin or College Connections, reminds us that in conducting the college search, it is important to make sure a college list is well balanced with “reach,” “50/50” and “likely” colleges that fit the student’s profile academically and socially. Thorough research is necessary to be sure that students are applying to the right colleges for them. The research will also come in handy when completing applications and when answering essay questions that ask why an applicant wants to attend that college.
Here are some helpful tips that should help in your college search:
I always recommend that parents and students take a close look at the college statistics.
You might be surprised to know that in addition to all the factors students use to choose a college, there is one they might overlook: statistics. While location, major, campus appeal, and others are certainly important statistics will help you and your student make a more informed college choice.
Why statistics? Statistics will help you determine some of the key factors involved in choosing a college. With statistics you increase the odds of your student being accepted, receiving more financial aid, and graduating on time. You can also determine the class sizes, the freshman retention rate and the odds of finding a job after graduation.
Numbers aren’t everything, but consider these eight important stats when you and your student are looking at schools:
High school juniors may be wondering how the pandemic will affect their college plans. Your student may be asking:
How is this virus going to affect my future college application?
Are these abridged AP exams going to count?
I worked so hard this year, took a rigorous curriculum, but now how can this pass/fail grading highlight my improved grades?
My prestigious summer program was just canceled—what can I do for the next several months?
With all the seniors currently asking for gap years, will this mean there will be fewer spaces in future years?”
These are all valid concerns. Most of these questions don’t have black/white answers yet and as each day passes, colleges are making decisions that will most likely answer all of your questions. Your student can take comfort, however, knowing that every junior is facing the same challenges and concerns. They aren’t alone in their uncertainty.
We can’t know the future, but we can deal with what we know now. As time progresses, the options will change, but for now, here is some helpful information:
Standardized Testing
The June SAT and SAT Subject Tests have been cancelled. You can click here to see the up-to-date information. As it looks now, they are planning tests for August 29, September 26, October 3, November 7 and December 5. If schools don’t reopen in the fall, the College Board will provide a digital at-home version.
The ACT test that was scheduled for April 4 was cancelled. You can reschedule your test date here for June 13, July 18 or schedule a future test date.
To account for all the disruption, colleges will most likely decrease the weight that standardized test scores carry in the admissions process. That being said, if you are able to achieve a high score despite disruptions, you will have an advantage among other applicants.
For the 2020-21 application cycle, many colleges, including selective ones, may choose to move to test-optional admissions. This means that applicants are not required to submit any standardized test scores.
You can find a list of schools who are currently going test-optional here.
Academics
The majority of students are now engaged in online learning. Because of this and the decision by most schools to use pass/fail grading, grades from the second semester of junior year will not count for very much in the admissions process. If your student has an option to take a grade for the current semester, I would advise them to do so. If not, colleges looking to see growth in a student’s profile will focus on grades from the first semester of senior year instead. If your student is applying early, colleges won’t have first semester grades available.
Extracurricular Activities
Extracurricular activities, especially ones offered through schools and the ones that require face to face interaction, have screeched to a halt. Colleges are aware of these challenges. However, students who find ways to remain engaged despite the pandemic will stand out.
Just because you can’t participate in the normal activities, be creative. Here’s a list of ways you can still volunteer locally:
Project LiveNotes – deliver a “musical telegram” to someone in need.
Even though you haven’t had the chance to visit this spring, you can still visit virtually. Connect through social media with current and past students and ask questions about their college experience. You can find them on the college websites, instagram, LinkedIn and YouTube.
Considering all your options
Since the impact of the virus has certainly changed everyone’s outlook on the future and possibly affected your family financially, your student might want to consider some alternatives to the traditional path to college. Talk to your student about taking a gap year and working at an internship or job, going to community college for the first two years and transferring, attending classes online, or even looking at the military as an option.
Other things to consider
Colleges may choose to accept a higher percentage of next year’s applicants early in an effort to lock in more students. Or colleges may also be looking at their list of deferred students and hold spaces open for them in the upcoming class. Financial aid may also be affected because of less alumni contributions with less money to spread around. Colleges will also be feeling the financial impact of the virus and have less money to give as merit aid.
We all want the best for our children. As soon as we know they’re on their way, we start making purchases to meet all of their needs once they do arrive. We do our utmost to get them into the best schools so that they can have more choice when it comes to what they want to do in terms of career and their future. But there are other things you can do besides securing them a spot in a great school that produces great results. Here are a few things that you can encourage them to do to increase their skills, their abilities and their knowledge. Just make sure not to be pushy. If your child doesn’t enjoy something, don’t force them to do it. Instead, find something else enriching that they’re actually passionate about. This will create the happiest and most rounded child in the long run.
Encourage Them to Learn Another Language
As your student enters school and continues through high school, the best time to learn another language. Generally speaking, children do tend to pick up new languages more easily and quickly. Learning a language encourages an understanding of different ways that grammar can be used. It creates a wider vocabulary. But most importantly, it encourages an appreciation and respect for other cultures, as well as an ability to communicate with others who may not speak the same first language as your child. In the long term, fluency can help them to spread their wings, increasing their job opportunities when they eventually begin to look for work. Many Private Schools will have a wide choice of languages to offer, but smaller schools with more limited funding may have more limited options. Nowadays, learning languages, however, can be easy to do at home online. Language learning apps and software are constantly improving and your kid could genuinely pick up a second language through Rosetta Stone, DuoLingo or Babbel.
Introducing Them to Music
Learning an instrument is a truly impressive skill. It can also provide social opportunities for your child, as they may grow up and have fun joining orchestras, bands or other musical groups. Music comes hand in hand with a host of benefits mentally too! It significantly improves memory, as the mere act of learning how to play an instrument places a high-working memory load on you. They’ll need to remember how different notes sound, where to place their hands on the instrument to create those notes and what order to play the notes in. As well as this, playing an instrument intrinsically encourages improved hand-eye coordination. Your little ones will have to learn how to play without looking at their instrument – instead, reading from music sheets instead.
These are just a couple of different activities you can encourage your students to get involved with to maximize the scope of their education. They’ll greatly benefit from either. If they’re not interested in these options, there are plenty more out there. It might just be a matter of a little trial and error before you find the perfect option for them.
Many of you are in this college limbo. Your student was accepted to college in the fall, you’ve accepted the offer, and now there’s talk of colleges not opening campus to students. The concern is that if one college does it, they will all follow suit–just as they did in March with the closings.
We are already seeing rumblings and articles in the news about colleges not reopening in the fall. Here are just a few:
Boston University appears to be the first American college or university to announce that it may not resume live classes until January 2021. If public health officials deem it unsafe for students to congregate, the campus could remain closed until the start of next year.
Richard Ekman, president of the non-profit Council of Independent Colleges, says that some of the 659 colleges in his group have begun quietly to consider whether they too will have to postpone campus openings. Some are discussing start date delays of a month. Others are looking at more extended closures. “They’re all waiting to get better health information,” he says.
“We’ve got to be prepared for 100 percent online and virtual and 100 percent on campus and everything in between,” said University of Massachusetts president Martin Meehan. The UMass system lost more than $100 million this school year due to COVID-19 and the refunding of student room and board fees.
Universities and law schools aren’t ready to make a decision because the pandemic is so fluid and there is so much uncertainty, nor do they have to yet. But the question is being discussed on a daily basis, and we have spent a good deal of time speaking with college presidents, provosts, and deans and trying our best to get the most recent and trust-worthy epidemiological modeling and medical community input.
“This crisis is causing massive disruption to students, institutional operations and institutional finances. On some campuses, it is creating an existential threat, potentially resulting in closures,” Ted Mitchell, the group’s president, wrote in a letter to Education Secretary Betsy DeVos.
Even colleges with deep reserves are expecting a painful financial blow from the pandemic. Brown University was among the first to announce a hiring freeze, citing “dramatic reductions in revenue.” Yale University followed on March 31, asking departments to update budgets in preparation of a “significant loss” in revenue.
Early national surveys ocof high school seniors are showing those who initially were bound for four-year colleges changing their first-choice schools for something less expensive. Some of those surveyed say they are thinking of giving up on going to college in the fall entirely.
The financial stress for families was cited. About 63 percent of students said they would still enroll in college but were worried about whether they could attend the school of their choice, while 17 percent said their plans have changed, according to the education consultants Art and Science Group.
Students with changed plans said in the survey that they would take a gap year, enroll part time at a four-year institution, go to community college, work full time or enroll in a certificate program. Some still didn’t know what their plans would be. Other surveys have also found similar conclusions.
Colleges and universities in Massachusetts and across the country have begun planning for what was once an unthinkable scenario but now may be a real possibility: a fall semester without students on campus.
University officials said they are trying to figure out how to re-open safely, how much public health testing is needed for students and staff to be on campus even if there’s no coronavirus cure, whether large lecture classes should be held, how many staff to employ, whether to augment their online capabilities, even what to charge students for online classes.
What will your student decide to do? Will they decide to take a gap year? Will they choose to enroll close to home and save money while living at home? Will they enroll and be satisfied with taking classes online?
Hopefully, colleges will know more by July and be able to make a concrete decision. It’s certainly uncertain times we live in and it’s especially affecting college students and their families.
A few years ago I wrote this article for TeenLife online. With school starting and students beginning their college lists during junior year and finalizing the list at the start of senior year, this advice is particularly timely.
Most teens will tell you that making the college list is one of the most stressful times in their life. It’s a process that begins with a little bit of knowing what you like, what your goals are, and that intuition that every student takes to the table. Knowing yourself, your likes, and your dislikes will help you in the process.
There’s a theory among teens and many parents, which says, “The more colleges you apply to, the better your chances.” In theory it makes sense, but there are other things to consider besides hedging your bets with numbers.
Three Considerations When Applying to College
1. The Cost
College applications can be time-consuming and pricey, costing as much as $100 per application, unless you get the fees waived by the school or an organization. Ten schools at $100 each is $1,000. These application fees are non-refundable and aren’t applied toward your total cost of attendance. Although this should not be the only factor in determining the number of applications submitted, it should be considered.
2. The Time
Applying to college takes a tremendous amount of time, and each college has their own specific application criteria. The average college application usually takes about two hours to complete, not including writing the essay. Common sense dictates that the more applications you have to complete and collate, the less time you will spend on each individual application. The applications are your way of communicating who you are to a college—it’s not the time to spread yourself thin to rack up the numbers.
3. Quality vs. Quantity
Allen Grove, an admissions expert in the About.com College Admissions Guide, thinks it’s a little ridiculous when students apply to a dozen or more colleges. He can’t imagine how the student visited all those campuses, in addition to doing extensive research, and then decided that many schools were good matches.
“You see students who apply to every single Ivy League,” Grove says. “I just have to wonder if the student who is going to like Columbia (in New York City) is really going to like Dartmouth (located in a town of around 11,000 people). I find that unlikely, so I often think students who are sending out that many applications haven’t done their research.”
How Many is Too Many?
Most admissions officers generally advise students to apply to about five to seven colleges, but no more than 10. That includes a couple of safety schools (schools you’ll no doubt get into), a couple of match schools (schools you meet the requirements for), and a couple of reach schools (schools that are less likely to accept you).
In a Huffington Post article, Maura Kastberg, Executive Director of Student Services of RSC Your College Prep Expert, concurs with that advice. “There may be 20 colleges you want to attend, or you could have your heart set on just one. When you are applying to college, be practical. Most students should apply to somewhere between five to seven colleges. There are no guarantees that you will be accepted to the school you desire, but you should have a good idea about your chances of admission to each school.”
What Are the Criteria?
If you’ve done a thoughtful job when compiling your list, you should be able to answer the following questions (provided by Carolyn Lawrence of AdmissionsAdvice.com and contributing author to the College Admission Book blog): (http://collegeadmissionbook.com/blog/how-many-colleges-should-students-apply)
1. Can I explain why all of the colleges on my list are right for me?
If your answers to this question are superficial—such as rankings, prestige, location, or a friend’s suggestion—it’s likely your list is too long. Before you add any college to your list, you should be able to explain how the college aligns with the things you personally need to be happy and successful in college.
2. Will I have enough time and energy to put my best effort into every application?
Even the simplest applications require time and effort. Can you really handle the work involved in completing 15 or 20 applications? Be honest with yourself. It’s better to do an outstanding job on fewer applications than to do a so-so job on too many.
3. Do I love my “safe bets” as much as I love my “reaches?”
Build your college list from the bottom up; fall in love with the schools that are most likely to love you in return before you add colleges that are less likely to admit you. If you do, you’re apt to find that you really don’t need to apply to as many colleges as you think you do. Finally, don’t let fear sway you into panic mode.If you’ve carefully thought about the reasons why every college is on your list, and do your best job with each application, you’ll end up with great choices!
Even with all the right information, facts, and figures in place, choosing a college is more than just a list on a piece of paper. Most students will tell you that they just “knew” when they set foot on campus they knew it was right for them.
In an article for The New York Times, Jordanna Suriani, an admissions counselor at Ramapo College of New Jersey, writes that students who apply to several colleges because they’re undecided are doing themselves a disfavor come April when it’s time to make a decision. Once you get that acceptance letter, you have even less time to make a choice.
Ms. Suriani advises, “Figure out what you need and want now, and apply to schools which offer you most, if not all of it. Forget about trying to get as many acceptances as possible to places that don’t speak to you. Trust me. Come April, you’ll be glad you did.”
This article was originally written for and published at TeenLife.com
The first semester of senior year is filled with anticipation. It’s your last year of high school and you have so much to look forward to, such as graduation and college. But in order for seniors to reach those goals, you have some high-priority things in the area of college admissions and creating the best college application that you can.
1. Get recommendation letters.
There’s no time to waste. Teachers and administrators and other mentors are busy people. With multiple students asking for recommendation letters, you want to be first in line. If you’ve done your homework, you have built relationships and now it’s time to ask for that college recommendation. Choose people who know you well and will be able to make the recommendations more personal.
2. Complete the college essays.
It’s time to put the finishing touches on that college essay you began working on over the summer. Remember the essay is your chance to demonstrate who you are. Be yourself and don’t try to write what you think admissions officers want to hear. Once your essay is completed, have someone proofread it before submitting with the application.
3. Finalize your college list.
It’s time to nail down your college choices. Review your notes and anything you learned during college interviews. Look at the entire picture for each college: Is it a fit academically, socially and financially? Are you at the top of the applicant pool and in the best position to receive merit aid? Make sure you have some colleges on your final list that are reach schools, some that are perfect fit schools, and some that are schools where you are pretty much ensured acceptance.
4. Visit the colleges on your list.
Fall is the perfect time for college visits. Not only will those visits help you finalize your list, but visiting a college demonstrates interest. Once the colleges receive your application, they will check to see how interested you are in attending and that will influence admissions officers. While you are on campus, schedule an interview and an appointment with the financial aid office. Ask questions that will help you finalize your college list.
5. Complete the FAFSA.
The FAFSA – the Free Application for Federal Student Aid – is available online. You should make filing it out a priority and the sooner the better. Colleges will be awarding financial aid this year along with their admissions decisions. You want to be first in line for this merit aid, so file now. Students who complete the FAFSA are not only eligible for federal aid, but for college-based aid such as grants and scholarships.
6. One last task: Submit your college application ASAP.
Consider submitting your application early. Applying early decision or early action means you will hear from the colleges sooner and also get information on your financial aid award. If you apply EA (early action) you’re not bound to any one college and you can apply to more than one. If you know the college you want to attend and it’s your absolute first choice, you can apply ED (early decision). You are bound to accept the school’s offer of admission, however, and you cannot apply to other colleges.
The college search
is easily stressful for both parents and students. The amount of knowledge a
parent needs to help their student navigate through college prep can be overwhelming.
From choosing the college, to deciding how to pay for it, to making the final
decision, it’s hard not to become stressed and frustrated.
Both my children
attended college but took different paths. One entered college straight out of
high school and the other after four years of military service. Even though the
college search for each of them was different, during their individual searches
I learned some valuable lessons.
Expand your search
beyond the usual perimeters
When you begin the
college search, you should cast a wide net. Many students limit themselves to
state colleges, colleges with prestigious names and even nearby schools. There
are over 4000 institutions of higher learning in the United States and even
more if you expand your search beyond our borders—Canada and even
internationally. Canadian colleges offer excellent educations and are often a
better financial fit than many U.S. colleges.
Moving outside your
comfort zone might help you and your student find a better fit. My daughter had
her heart set on a large university and while doing a college search, we
unearthed a small private college in the same city that was a better academic,
social and financial fit for her. Keep an open mind and don’t discount a
college simply because of name, location, or lack of notoriety.
Do the leg work
Do your research
before narrowing down the final college list. Look at statistics. They will
tell you so much about a college. You should compare graduation rates,
financial aid award percentages, freshman retention rates, admissions
acceptance rates and more. Make your choices based on your research statistics
and whether or not the college fits your student’s academic and social needs.
College visits for
you are fact-finding missions. College visits for your teen are highly
emotional. You can expect to hear words like “I’m just not feeling it”, “I won’t
get out of the car”, “I don’t like the look for the campus/buildings”, and
other irrational comments. Just remember that feelings are a part of the final
college choice. You can’t expect your student to make their new home at a
college they don’t like, for whatever reason.
I experienced this
with my daughter. She received an offer of admission and a full-ride
scholarship from a college we applied to but never visited. Based on the website,
location and academic offerings she felt it would be a good fit. When we
arrived on campus in early April for our first visit, she refused to get out of
the car. She didn’t like the look or the size of the campus. Of course, I was
completely frustrated with her, but she just instinctively knew it was not the
college for her. Looking back, even though it seemed emotional, she knew what
she wanted and ultimately chose the perfect college she felt was a good fit.
Organization is critical
You will be bombarded
with information during your college search. The key to keeping track of it all
and staying on top of all the deadlines is to stay organized. Your teen should
set up an email purely for college information and correspondence. Make it
official by using firstname_lastname @gmail.com. All college correspondence will
come to this address and your teen can set up folders to help organize it.
You should also
maintain a filing system for organizing paper. This might be anything from
college brochures to scholarship materials and applications, to keeping track
of accomplishments for the resume. Keep all college-related materials in one
place—a college landing zone.
Ask for help if
necessary
Some parents like me choose to work alone and guide their student through the college process, while others choose to hire a professional college consultant. Choose what is best for your family and its own financial resources. If you choose to work alone, there is a wealth of information online from blogs and social media. If you have a question, leave a post on a Facebook page, comment on a blog or DM someone on Twitter. Most professionals are happy to help with anything that might stump you.
You can also seek advice from your high school counselor, teachers or even college admissions staff. You don’t have to flounder around hoping you have the right information. Approach the college search with knowledge and determination and your student will succeed!
What factors influence colleges when filling their freshman class?
College admissions is definitely a subjective process.
Colleges must delicately balance a student’s application along with the goals
and priorities set by each individual college. While much is written about
admissions criteria for students, it’s normal to wonder how the colleges fill
their freshman class.
In 2014, Rachel B. Rubin, a doctoral student in education at
Harvard University, researched and authored a study on
how and why colleges choose some students over others. In her study, she found
that most colleges focus first on academic merit. They base the first cut on
grades, rigor of high school courses, test scores and so on. Although each
college has an individual formula differentiating the relative weight that is
given to these various factors, the result is the same: students who do better
than others in this area are more likely to be admitted.
Beyond the academic factors, colleges look to create a
well-balanced freshman class. This means they look at demographics (where a
student is from), minority factors, special talents such as sports or music and
any other attributes that might set the student apart and be a welcome addition
to the college student body.
Large public universities tend to follow this admissions
pattern and a student with an excellent academic record is likely to be
admitted. In Texas, all students in the top 10 percent of their class receive
automatic admission to any state university.
How are elite
colleges and large public universities different?
Elite institutions and small private colleges are a whole
other ball game. Ms. Rubin’s findings revealed that these colleges group
applicants into “pools” and applications are compared within these individual
pools, but not overall. “Certain pools receive preference, largely as a result
of the perceived benefits of a particular applicant’s background, academic
characteristics, and exceptional talents, and their relationship with a
university’s needs.”
For
elite colleges, institutional fit is often more important than a student’s
academic merit. These colleges do the initial cut based on other factors:
student essays, recommendations, and specific questions related to whether a
student will contribute to the college in various ways. Each college has their
own unique set of qualifiers based on the type of freshman class they want to
achieve.
Although
academic merit is considered important, the vast majority of applicants to
these elite colleges have the appropriate level of academic merit. This allows
the colleges to weigh this later, and focus on other parts of creating a
freshman class.
What are the most favored factors
used to determine institutional fit?
For
these elite colleges, the two most favored factors are underrepresented
minority status and exceptional talent, which is, of course, any talent the
college feels might add to their freshman class. For those colleges who
responded to Ms. Rubin’s survey that started with “fit” as their focus, these
four factors were the top contenders:
Underrepresented
race/ethnicity–42%
Exceptional
talent–42%
Recruited
athlete status–7%
Likelihood
of enrolling–7%
Fund-raising
potential–2%
These
practices may not be considered “fair” among parents and students. A student
with a strong academic background that doesn’t fall into any of these
categories might not be offered admission. But another student with a lesser
academic resume who does fall into one of these categories and helps the
college create a diverse freshman class might be. However, each college is allowed the freedom
to create their own ranking system for applicants.
What happens after the initial cut
is determined?
After
colleges have made the initial cut, whether by academics or institutional fit,
most colleges have a more formal system. Two readers review the application and
all its corresponding documents, with a third reader or entire team to help
make the difficult calls. At this state, the colleges that made the first cut
using academics, discuss “fit”, and colleges that made the first cut with
“fit”, discuss academics.
How can this information help
applicants?
While
it’s impossible to “get into the heads” of admission officers, it’s important
to take into account the college’s means of choosing applicants. If a student
is applying to a public university, it’s important to have a strong academic
record. If a student is applying to an elite college, it’s important to
remember that most all applicants will have a strong academic record. The
student will need more than exceptional grades to receive an offer of
admission. He will need to fall into one the other categories these colleges
use to determine admission.
As always, the key ingredient to applying to college is fit. If a student does his homework, researches the colleges, is at the top of the applicant pool, and fits well with the current body of students, his chances of being offered admission are extremely good. Without that fit, the chances of being offered admission are slim.
When you have children, you know that you always have to play the right kind of role in their lives. And that can feel quite overwhelming. You need to keep them safe, you need to ensure that they’re healthy, and until their old enough to make the best decisions for themselves, you also need to guide their futures too.
This is why we’re often so interested and invested in the college process. When it comes to college prep, you’ll often know that you need to be actively involved. But sometimes, you won’t know what that looks like, or what you should be doing in order to help them prepare. So let’s take a look at some of the things that will help.
Grades
To start with, you’re going to want to make sure that the basics are covered – grades. Because your kids will need to have good grades to get into the best colleges. Or, at the very least, you need to know what the grade requirements are, and ensure they can keep up. This needs to be seen as the base.
Extracurriculars
But you do have to remember that college is about more than just grades. So many kids have fantastic grades, so it’s important to standout in other ways. This is where extracurriculars come in. There are lots of impressive extracurriculars that your kid could try. Think about their interests and where their strengths lie, and then sign them up as early as you can to see where they flourish.
Tutoring
Now, it’s also a good idea to think about tutoring. When it comes to getting in, a college prep tutor could be great. Your child many not necessary need tutoring academically, but it can often help to work with someone that knows the process, and can help you get in!
Summer Camp Prep
From here, you’ve then also got camp to be thinking about. Summer camp can be so rewarding for your kids, alongside tutoring. So why not think about enrolling them in a camp that can help? You could look into something specialist, such as CT STEM classes, or just a general camp that covers off a wealth of different areas. Either way, this experience can help them develop for the future.
That Je Ne Sais Quoi
Finally, you may also want to think about the little things that will help your child get into their dream college too. Now, not everyone will want to go Ivy League – but even other top schools can be competitive to get into. And it’s nice for you to think about ways for them to stand out. Do they have special interests? Any experiences that they can press? Having that little special something, or je ne sais quoi, can really help when it comes to applications. So pinpoint their special qualities and run with it.
