College Admissions Offices – Who, How, and What

College admissions offices are mysterious entities. Most high school students have no idea how they work, who they are, and yet these offices hold the key to getting into Harvard.

Below, I’ll demystify college admissions offices and describe a few inside secrets about them.

1) They are not a bunch of old, white-haired people with tweed jackets sitting in a room smoking cigars while reading your Common Application. In fact, most college admissions offices are comprised of relatively young college graduates who went through the admissions process themselves not too long ago

2) College admissions committees do not throw a dart on the wall to determine who gets into Stanford, who goes on the waitlist, and who is rejected. The deliberation process is long, arduous, and can seem arbitrary, but is actually fairly technical and numbers-based

3) Each school has a different deliberation process. Most colleges have regional review cycles (the case for most Ivy League schools) – which means that there are specific people assigned to regions of the U.S. and foreign countries to review all applications coming from that region. This helps application readers build location-specific knowledge

4) Borderline candidate decisions are usually made by committee – which means that on certain days, you may get into Yale, but on others, you’ll be waitlisted. This may worry you – but instead of focusing on things out of your control, focus on what you CAN control – your essays, your teacher recommendations, your extracurricular activities. If you have a strong enough application – and I provide a lot of last-minute college application tips on my blog – you will maximize your chances of going to your dream school

Hope that helps!

Hopeless To Harvard is a former Admissions Officer’s account of how to get into Harvard, Princeton, and any other Ivy League schools. Click here to learn about the Ivy League admissions, and break into the school of your dreams! Discover how to get into Princeton now.

Author: John Dorian Chang
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A Perfect SAT Score is Far From Impossible

Many people think that getting a perfect score on the SAT isn’t even worth trying for. They think that only a few special people have the ability to achieve it. They are wrong.

They key thing that you must understand about the SAT is that it is very limited. Because the test is standardized, there are only a few particular tricks that the College Board can use on it. It has to use the same tricks as it always has, because if it started to implement new techniques to confuse test-takers, colleges would no longer be able to compare today’s scores to those of a year ago – if the students who took the test were up against two different sets of these ‘tricks,’ then it isn’t useful to compare their scores.

This is very important when it comes to preparing for the SAT. You must realize that because you can buy copies of real SATs written by the College Board (which are only available in the Official SAT Study Guide), you have examples in advance of everything that the College Board can throw at you on test day. That’s a huge advantage that few people make use of.

You might think “Well, sure, I have copies of old SATs, but how can I know which words will appear on the test that I take?” If you pay close attention, though, you’ll see that unusual words aren’t frequently a problem on the SAT. They show up, but they are often in places where you don’t actually need to know what they mean, or where you can figure out enough of what they mean from the context and the meanings of related words. If you really learn from the copies of the test that you have, you’ll see that learning to use word roots and context will serve you much better than memorizing lists of words that probably won’t even appear on the test you take.

So remember: the College Board has its hands tied. It can only test so many thing in so many ways, and the tricks it can use are limited. Make sure that you only study with real SAT practice tests written by the College Board, and you’ll become familiar with all the different ways that the College Board tries to confuse you.

If you only practice with real SAT questions and you thoroughly review your wrong answers, you’ll be on your way to a very high score. It’s simple, but it works

John Tutor has been a private SAT tutor for more than a decade. He has developed his own unique approach toward the SAT which focuses on strategy and standards, not memorization or formulas. His goal is to teach students everywhere how to beat the College Board at its own game and get the highest SAT score possible with a minimum of time invested. Another article on SAT prep perfect score 2400 high College Board Official Study Guide real practice questions, click here.

Author: John Tutor
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How To – The College Admissions Essay

Essay Topic

From my knowledge and previous experience, a topic or general prompt will be usually provided. It is much more difficult for college admissions staff to compare and judge completely dissimilar essays than it is similar essays. Therefore, prompts are given to make the lives of college admissions staff easier!

If a prompt is not specific, write about something you feel comfortable and knowledgeable about. Also, think of what admissions personnel is looking for. This often includes leadership demonstration, work or volunteer experience, and/or an activity relating to your field of study. I would not recommend writing on the subject of academia, as your GPA, class rank, and test scores fill that area.

Where Do I Start?

Anywhere! The most difficult portions of essays is often the introduction and conclusion. Once you have your ideas on paper (or your screen), it is much easier to manipulate your existing ideas to form a solid, logical paper.

I often have 10 to 20 “mini” paragraphs, which I then form into larger portions and, finally, a cohesive essay.

Writing Tips

Don’t Be Boring!
1.The college admissions staff reads thousands of papers per day. Your admissions essay is not the place to be mundane and typical. Especially if you are on the border (GPA, class rank, and test score wise), your essay must be extremely effective and exciting.


2.If you can write about an emotional experience, may it be saddening, frightening, or action-packed , please do so! It will capture the readers attention and give your paper longer than the average minuet or two.


3.Convey your feelings to the reader! If you were crying tears of joy, your goal should be to have the admissions reader excited and jumping out of their chair!

Style

1.As stated in my previous post, have your own style. You have been writing for about 10 years now, and you should have a definitive, catchy style to your writing. Vary sentence structure and word choice.


2.On the note of word choice: Your essay should not be the annual gathering of large words! Don’t hear me wrong, whenever I am writing an essay, I always have thesaurus up. They are great to find the word on the tip of your tongue or just to add some variety.

*On a side note, my favorite are MSN Thesaurus and Thesaurus.com. They both offer a different variety of word choices.

3.More is not always better. Be concise and to the point. Wordiness can cause boredom and lose attention of your reader.

Follow The Prompt

1.Answer the darn question! Don’t ramble on and write an autobiography if the question is “How will ___ College help fulfill your dreams?”

Get Assistance

1.t is highly encouraged that you ask for a read over from, at minimum, your parents and siblings. Having a teacher or other mentor give their input can also be quite helpful.


2.Although I have not personally used an essay service, many applicants are using them to receive (what some argue) is an unfair advantage. Personally, I had three high school teachers and my mother read my essays. I was accepted to the University of Illinois, so I must have done something right…

*If you insist on having a professional opinion, or want that extra advantage. I have heard EssayEdge does a bang-up job. The founder, Geoffrey Cook, also wrote Yahoo’s article on admissions essays.

3.You can never have too many opinions! If you don’t agree with what someone suggests, even after an explanation, just smile, nod, and ditch their suggestion!

Don’t Panic

1.Take your time, and get ideas on paper. Like I stated earlier, it does not matter what order or way the information is lied out. Just get it on paper, and your life will become much easier!

2.Walk away from your essay and come back in a couple hours or a couple days, depending on your time constraint.


3.Don’t wait till the last minute! Get a jump start and work on your essays longer than your competition (other applicants!).

Be an AppliCAN, Not an AppliCAN’T!

*As cheesy as this sounds, I know many peers of mine didn’t apply themselves, get good grades, apply to top schools, and write solid essays. All because they where not confidant and saw themselves as appliCAN’Ts! You are reading this blog, and by doing so, you are becoming an appliCAN!

My name is Parker Jendrycki and my goal is to provide prospective students with knowledge they will use in the time leading up to, and throughout their college experience. I am currently a freshman attending the University of Illinois at Urbana – Champaign studying under the Division of General Studies.

Visit The College Student Blog for more practical tips and tricks relating to college admissions!

Author: Parker Jendrycki
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Extracurriculars Can Boost College Admissions Odds

“All parents are rather stressed about the college admissions process,” says Susan Macaluso, the parent of a child who graduated from NYC Lab School in 2007 and who is now a sophomore at Brown University. Indeed, the process does become more competitive every year, largely due to the fact that increasing numbers of students are applying to college, while the number of spots at colleges is not increasing. The result is that while top grades are necessary for admission to first-tier colleges, grades alone no longer guarantee admission. One must also possess high SAT or ACT scores, compelling essays and outstanding extracurriculars.

In fact, many students believe that their grade-point average is given more emphasis in the admissions process than it actually is. While most applicants to selective universities are academically qualified, there are simply not enough spots available. Accordingly, students seek to distinguish themselves through their extracurricular activities. These activities provide another set of criteria by which admissions committees make their decisions. An ability to demonstrate lasting dedication to a few meaningful extracurriculars, rather than mere membership in many, can make a significant difference. Students should aim to show a meaningful contribution to their school or community and how that participation or leadership has influenced them.

Arsean Maqami, who grew up on Washington St. in the Village, agrees. This recent graduate of NYC Lab School, on W. 17th St., will attend Swarthmore College in the fall. Maqami’s high school passion was soccer, so he ultimately chose Swarthmore over the University of Chicago, where he was accepted early action, because he preferred the soccer coach at the former. Maqami feels that students really need to promote themselves.

“College admissions is a pretty strenuous process for most people, and sports were only a little bump for me,” he says. “It’s all about why are you better than anybody else? I played soccer and a lot of people don’t do anything.”

Randy Subramany recently graduated from Xavier High School, on W. 16th St., and will be starting this fall at Columbia University. Subramany believes that in his admission, “Test scores by far were most important thing, but…demonstrating the ability to balance everything was also important. I was on cross-country and track. I was also a tutor for three years and a Big Brother, and I was in the math club and the medical science club. Colleges saw my ability to challenge myself. I didn’t just do one different activity per year. I always kept that level of challenge on my plate and never really backed down from it, while I made sure that my work didn’t slip at all.”

Subramany’s appetite for maximizing the opportunities available to him was not limited to his high school activities.

“I applied to 16 colleges, and my list was originally 10,” he says. “This was my one chance to apply to my dream schools, so I was very aggressive. I would say, ‘Don’t be scared to apply to your reach schools.’ I didn’t think I’d get into Columbia, so don’t let the statistics scare you. Believe in yourself. The only thing it’ll cost you is maybe the $60 application fee.”

While being elected to an important-sounding club position is a goal of many ambitious high school students, it is a misguided one. An explanation of why the student was involved in a club, and of the contributions that he or she made, will impress admissions committees more than simply obtaining a fancy title. At top high schools, it can be difficult to gain leadership positions in school clubs where there are many other qualified candidates.

Meanwhile, an abundance of opportunities exist in the “adult world” through community organizations, nonprofits and internships. Many students launch fundraising campaigns for worthy causes or mobilize peers to tackle a problem head on. Teachers, parents, friends and college counselors can help to plan and advise these endeavors.

Joining several clubs is a great way to learn where one’s interests lie and ascertain which groups will allow the student to accept meaningful responsibility. Yet, one should not list every club on the college application. If the student wants to write about extracurriculars, pick one that was meaningful and explain its impact. In the college essay, discuss a specific experience or activity, and concentrate on the details that draw a picture of the experience.

As Maqami puts it, “You basically have to be full of yourself in your college essay. There are so many colleges out there for you, especially if you do something with yourself. You need to accentuate what’s better about you than anybody else. Also, use spell check. There was one word I spelled wrong in my opening paragraph. I freaked out and called the college to ask if I could resend my application, but they said not to worry about it.”

Maqami was lucky in this instance, but as the admissions process becomes increasingly competitive, students in future years may not be so lucky. The application is the student’s only chance to show colleges who he or she truly is. A college essay about the student’s most fulfilling extracurricular activity will provide the admissions committee with a snapshot of his or her personality and with the lasting impression that the student is a focused, responsible and well-rounded individual who will be a valuable part of the college community.

Steve Schwartz lives in Manhattan, where he is a professional college counselor and tutor for SAT, Regents and Advanced Placement exams. He can be reached at CollegeCounselingServices@gmail.com

Author: Steve Schwartz
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Why Do I Need a College Admissions Strategy?

Picture This:

You’ve completed your college application.You breathe a sigh of relief as you click “Submit” or drop the envelope in the mail. Your application and all of your supporting materials work their way to the desk of the admissions officer at your number onechoice school. Where it is added to the stack of, depending on the school, 450, 700, 1000, maybe even 1500 or more applications.

How do you intend to stand out? How will you make yourself memorable in the average 7-9 minutes the admissions rep spends to review your application? Your message – some call it a “hook” – as part of a college admissions strategy will make the difference in getting NOTICED.Done correctly at the right schools, will get you IN and get you MONEY to help pay the bill.

Now I know you’re thinking… “my friends aren’t doing this” (they should be) or “is this really necessary?”

You can get through the college admissions process without a strategy – it’s possible. Yet, every year, you hear the stories of students who didn’t get in to a choice college. They had the GPA, the SAT scores, a laundry list of activities but they are left scratching their heads wondering why they didn’t get in. With few exceptions, the one thing that could have made the difference for a student was a strategy that helped them organize and present themselves better to the colleges.

Your College Admissions Strategy should be part of the larger, longer range plan. College is a stepping stone, not the end game. It is part of a plan to get to a particular career or a particular goal you have set for yourself. Your plan guides your actions when taking the steps of choosing colleges, creating your application strategy, and so on.The steps of the college admissions process are not a plan of action. They are simply the things you must do to complete the task.

If you’re serious about winning at the college game, you need to create a master plan that will guide your actions.Your plan will ensure you have a purpose behind the steps you must take to complete the college admissions and financial aid process. Your admissions strategy, as a piece of this plan, will help you put your best foot forward with the colleges.

So, yes, you could choose not to do this and realize your mistake if you don’t get in or you miss out on a scholarship – but, there will be nothing you can do about it at that point. You’ll just be one of the students saying “But I thought I would get in…”

Jeanmarie Keller, Admissions and Financial Aid Strategist who has advised hundreds of students and their families on how to develop their strategies to get NOTICED, get IN and get MONEY to help pay the college bill.

She publishes the award-winning, weekly newsletter, ‘The College Oracle’. If you’re ready to jump-start your college search, get money to help pay the bill, and have more fun while planning your future success, visit her on the web at http://www.jeankeller.com

Author: Jeanmarie Keller
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