Cracking the College Admissions Code
Increase the odds of getting your children into their first-choice schools
By Kingsley Kanu Jr.
September 1, 2008
When schools deny students' applications for admission, the letters they send will often mention the highly competitive pool of qualified applicants that made it hard to decide who got accepted. However, for the valedictorian and the average student alike, there are factors affecting the outcome of an application beyond grades and test scores. Most would-be collegians are unaware of this because these things aren't featured in a school's brochure.
For 17-year-old twin sisters Alex and Lauren LaBat, the application process began long before any papers were submitted. So far, they've attended college fairs hosted at their high school since sophomore year and have already visited about six colleges with their parents.
This past summer, Alex and Lauren, now high school seniors, attended a four-week $1,500 Leadership Education and Development (LEAD) summer business institute at Stanford and Northwestern universities, respectively. The LEAD program is designed to expose high school students considering business careers to the courses, college professors, and industry professionals they can expect to encounter as they pursue higher education. But the benefits of this and similar summer enrichment programs go beyond providing participants with a college experience.
"You hear all the stats about how competitive it is out there. Not only was this a great opportunity to expose them to campus life, I'm hoping they may be looked upon favorably when they do decide to apply to these schools," says Stan LaBat, the twins' father. "My goal is for them not to be anxious or to panic, to ease some of the anxiety that a lot of seniors have."
The competitive nature of the college application process, and the pressure and stress experienced by the parents and students who must negotiate it, have increased in intensity. Despite the efforts on the part of many of the schools to reduce the strain of the admissions process, getting into the school of your choice can be tougher than ever. Experts point to two major contributors to this problem. Firs, driven by record numbers of students graduating from high school each year and the near-universal awareness that a college degree is all but indispensable in a knowledge-based, 21st-century economy, the number of college applicants has skyrocketed, particularly at many of the nation's best-known schools. A second causative factor is the adoption of the common application, a relatively uniform application requiring a minimum amount of school-specific information, by nearly 350 of the nation's college and universities. The "common app," created by the nonprofit organization The Common Application (www.commonapp.org), makes it easier for a prospective undergraduate student to apply to 10, 15, or more schools, using the same essay and other information for all applications. These two factors add up to more applications per student, per school, forcing schools to reject and/or wait-list more students to avoid over enrollment.
The result: Achievements that once guaranteed a spot at most universities, such as graduating in the top 10% of one's high school class, having high GPA and SAT scores, or participating in plenty of extracurricular activities, are no longer enough. Even outstanding high school students are suffering the shock of being wait-listed or - God forbid - rejected. And for parents of average students, or kids coming out of poor mediocre school systems, the odds against getting to that dream school can seem overwhelming.
While anxiety of the college application process cannot be entirely avoided, there are things parents and students can do to reduce their stress levels and to increase the odds of being accepted. On the following pages, you'll find unspoken rules and expert strategies your sons and daughters can use to increase their chances of being admitted to the college of their choice.
Show their interest. It isn't common knowledge that colleges track applicants' interest by their attendance at informational sessions. If applicants have never visited a school or contacted the school's admissions officers for information, it will often count against them.
"Some of the schools keep track of the number of times a student touches the school," says Michael London, author of The New Rules of College Admissions and CEO of Massachusetts-based consulting firm College Coach, a division of Bright Horizons. "They ask: Did the student talk to any professors?"
Colleges also look to see whether an application seems generic, or focused and tailored to their institution. "That kind of focus and clear direction is what sets any student apart," London says.
So this fall when the LaBats send in their application forms, they won't be faceless applicants in a pool of highly qualified seniors, thanks in part to their participation in LEAD. Not only will their essays have the advantage of highlighting their experiences of visits to the schools and meetings with various professors, they could gain points toward an increased interest level because of these visits and their attendance at local college fairs.
The admissions officers and professors your kids meet during college visits could become their greatest advocates during decision time. According to Michele Hernandez, Ph. D., president and co-founder of Hernandez College Consulting, a college consulting firm that costs up to $40,000 per child to prepare eighth grade students for acceptance at their best-fit college, schools are often willing to fund trips for students who are interested in applying but can't afford to visit. She encourages students to make the call to the admissions or financial aid offices to ask about a sponsored college visit.
Leverage diversity. While historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) continue to graduate more African American scholars than other colleges in the nation, great strides have been made at majority schools in the recruitment and retention of minority students. Don't hesitate to position your child as a student who could help to represent and advance the school's commitment to creating a diverse student body and community.
More importantly, know that the drive for diversity is about more than just black and white. "Schools are not just looking for cultural diversity. They want economic and intellectual diversity, as well as a diversity of experiences in their classrooms," says Rod Bugarin, a former admissions officer at Columbia and Brown universities as an adviser at IvyWise, a Manhattan-based college counseling firm, and ApplyWise.com, an online college counseling tool.
Hernandez says that achieving diversity is a high priority for most top schools. She recommends that students consider applying to schools away from urban centers. For female applicants, Hernandez believes that the selective all-girl colleges are within reach.
"Very few minorities apply to these schools, but they're actively seeking diversity on their campuses. It's almost a mistake not to apply because you have better odds at getting into the selective schools in rural areas," she says.
Don't reach beyond their grasp. Shane Ogunnaike will be leaving his home in North Brunswick, New Jersey, to begin classes at Swarthmore College in the fall. Of the 11 schools he applied to, he was accepted at eight. Although his grades and extracurricular activities were impressive, Ogunnaike's SAT score of 1740 out of 2400 was not as strong as he'd hoped. Nevertheless, he applied to dream schools where he knew he had lower odds of being accepted, and to realistic schools where he was more likely to get in. And for his peace of mind, he applied to safety schools which had much higher overall acceptance rates.
"I wasn't accepted at three out of my six reach schools, but I got into Swarthmore," he says.
It's important to know the range of SAT and/or ACT test scores and grade point averages (GPAs) typical of students admitted to the schools on your child's list of prospects. "Be realistic about where your GPA and test scores put you," says Hernandez, who co-authored Don't Worry, You'll Get In: 100 Winning Tips for Stress-Free College Admissions. "In addition to doing their own research, students should sit with their guidance counselors to identify the schools for which they fall in range." In some cases, the guidance counselor may not have heard of the schools you might be considering, so it's good to check your list with members of your family, church, or community.
If they're sure, apply early. Knowing the difference between rolling applications, early decision applications, and early action applications is critical. Early decision applications are binding and, once accepted, the student is obligated to withdraw applications at other schools. Unlike early decision, early action is nonbinding, but both application types have the benefit of an earlier notification of admission.
For students who have done the research and are sure of their top choices, Hernandez encourages students to apply as early decision applicants. She explained that the chances of being accepted as an early decision candidate are better than as a regular applicant.
According to Admissions Consultants, a Vienna, Virginia-based admissions consulting firm, the most selective colleges currently admit 25% to 50% of their total students from the early admissions pool.
Get advocates who will go the extra mile. If there's a school they really love, it helps to have someone other than the guidance counselor place a call to communicate their level of interest.
"When a teacher calls to recommend a student personally, it has greater resonance than the guidance counselor calling," Bugarin says. "It's the counselor's job to call the school, but when a teacher calls, it speaks volumes about the student."
David L. Evans, senior admissions officer at Harvard College, says, School support is very important. No student is ever admitted without good school support. We're not just admitting an individual. We're admitting someone's roommate or teammate, and it could be helpful if a student's primary activity is community service."
In some cases, recommendations from mentors, teachers, and guidance counselors could be more important than academic records and essays. The more specific an advocate can be about your child, the better, and Evans suggests providing the advocate with a resume and discussing with them why your child is applying to those schools.
Nail their college interview with great questions as well as great answers. On Super Bowl weekend when Joe Hall visited Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University, (FAMU), he did two things that admissions officers look for in the students who visit. First, he was clear about what he wanted out of his college experience - a place where he could play Division I football, for a team that would hold him to as high a standard academically as it would athletically, and a place that felt like home. Second, he asked questions that clearly demonstrated that he'd done his research.
"I asked about the average GPA of the football team and about how many people graduated from the team," he says. When Hall arrived for his visit, he knew that FAMU's joint engineering program with Florida State University (FSU) had just commissioned a new building. He asked his interviewers whether he had access to both FAMY and FSU professors.
"Students should ask questions that show their research and demonstrate their interest in a particular facet of that institution as opposed to a generic question," Bugarin says. He adds that applicants should take advantage of every opportunity to interview and speak in person with school representatives.
After his visit at FAMU, Hall was sure he'd found the right school.
Use the application to tell their story. The challenge for some students is figuring out who they are and being able to communicate that to the admissions committee. Some students end up with a list of activities and awards that say a lot without communicating anything in particular.
Even for students who are unable to participate in school activities, it is important to show leadership experience in other areas, such as at home, at work, or at a place of worship. The quality of the experience is more important than the quantity of activities - it's not about showing how busy they've been, but how engaged. "We'd rather see depth than breadth," Evans says.
London suggests making an exhaustive list of interests and activities, whether school-related or not, including all sports, and identifying the commonalities.
"If someone played five or six sports, I would make sure the application screamed athlete. If for someone else, the activities don't match up but a commonality such as leadership or helping people emerges, I would make sure the application screamed leadership or helper."
Use positive authenticity to make their essay stand out. Learah Lockhart's applications screamed two things: motivated and funny. In her main essay, the freshman, who begins at Harvard in September, talked about being motivated to excel academically as she watched her mother struggle as a single parent. Her mother put herself through school while working to uphold her responsibilities as a provider.
Being original - and avoiding cliches - goes a long way in making your application memorable. Assume the admissions officer has had to read 50 essays that day, London suggests. "Does yours stand out or does it sound like a topic someone else would have written about in the same way? If the answer is the latter, move to another topic. Show what's unique about you."
Bugarin adds that students' essays should lead admissions officers to visualize the student already on campus. Mention the residence hall you see yourself living in and the activities you want to take part in both on and off campus. It helps the college have a sense of who a student is and what he or she can contribute to the school's community.
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