Counselor Edition: 5 Things For College Applicants
College Counselors want you to know
(~5 Min Read)
Dear Future Undergraduate:
Another school year begins. For the seniors, it is the start of the college applications season, if it hasn’t already started.
This is a good time to distill and share some key learnings that College Counselors discussed on our various Podcasts over the last few months.
To provide broad context, the last couple of years have seen a lot of change and fluidity in higher education in general, and College Admissions in particular.
In this piece, I have grouped the counselors’ advice and discussions into these 5 Things:
SAT or NOT?
“Good” But Not Necessarily Well-Known, Colleges
Tell Your Story
Manage Your Time
Enjoy the Process
1. SAT or NOT?
Test Optional moved into high gear with the Pandemic. Over 1000 US Colleges and Universities allowed students to decide whether they wanted to take Standardized Tests or Not as part of their college admissions process.
Now 2 years later, the Big Question for applicants is not whether to take the SAT or NOT, but whether to report the Test Scores once they have taken the test!
While colleges differ on the best way to handle this, here are two Counselors Tyler Sant [Head of College Counseling, Atlanta International School] and Bill Hancock [Senior Assoc. Dean of College Counseling, Cranbrook Kingswood Upper School, Michigan] with suggestions on what to do in the next applications cycle:
A student is in a stronger position, if they have taken the Tests, because then they can make choices. They can decide to Submit them or Not on a College by College basis.
To decide, for a given college, study what percentage of admitted students submitted Test Scores and percentage that didn’t. If a particular university only admitted 30% of students without a test score, then you could elect to Submit the Test Score;
On the other hand, for a specific college, if your test score falls below the middle 50%, and your high school grades are good, and you feel like you have other parts of the application standout, then you may elect to not submit the Test Score.
2. “Good” But Not Necessarily Well-Known, Colleges
What is a “Good” College?
The College Rankings folks have hijacked this discussion. They have made rankings the only factor in selecting colleges. The rankings have led to a media frenzy around the top ranked colleges and universities which has falsely created a perception for students and their families that- if they don’t make it to those 30-50 named colleges, their future is in peril!
Students, Parents, take a deep breath!
There are over 4000 colleges and universities. The road to a “Good” college does not start with US News or whoever is making these rankings.
A “Good” College for you is where you fit in, the right match for your interests - academic, extracurriculars and cultural!
So, start with what you are looking for in a College and then make a list of colleges that meet that criteria.
Katy Murphy [Dir. of College Counseling, Bellarmine College Prep] & Tyler Sant discuss this eloquently:
Remember that there is no one perfect college;
There are very few colleges and universities in the US and around the world that are so completely unique, that they don't have peer institutions or analogous places you could point to that would offer a similar type of experience;
Focus on College Fit or Match. Ask yourself:
Is this a place I want to live for four years?
Am I going to this place to go to 10 football games a year or would I rather focus on career planning?
And what kind of career planning support is there?
And am I going to be successful at that place?
Am I going to struggle, because there's no use going to a school where you're going to struggle for four years.
What are the graduation rates and retention rates?
3. Tell Your Story
“I'm just trying to figure out what the College wants to hear”, a student told Kelly Jorgensen [Dir of College Counseling, The Nichols School, Buffalo, NY].
Kelly told him “The College wants to hear who you are. They're trying to shape their college community”.
Here are Kelly’s suggestions on how a student should create their story:
Take advantage of all that the School community has to offer;
Coach, Mentor. Combine what you love to do, whether that's hockey, robotics, scouts, whatever it is, and mentor or coach younger students;
Make summers meaningful;
Experiences that can shape the future and then bring to that college community.
4. Manage Your Time
College applications take time, effort. It is very easy to get lost in the myriad of academic and extracurricular activities that you are already doing, and procrastinate on your applications.
Here is Colleen Koppes [College and Career Coordinator, Dowling Catholic High School, Des Moines, Iowa] :
Students underestimate the amount of time it actually was going to take them. For example, a student applying to 10 colleges, at the rate of two essays per college, that's 20 essays that need to be written;
Don’t wait until the last minute to submit everything.
Remember teachers and high school counselors have a full time job, on top of writing a letter of recommendation. So give them ample enough time to write a strong letter of recommendation.
To build on that, a while back I did a survey of select college applicants on how much time they spent doing their college applications. Over half spent 5+ hours a week!
So, here are some things you can do:
Create an Applications Calendar
Make a weekly schedule
And finally, make a List of all the Deadlines for the Colleges you are applying to.
5. Enjoy the Process
There will be some discomfort that comes with the Applications Process whether you apply to one college or 18 colleges!
But it is important to remember that this is your senior year.
As Tyler Sant says, “This idea of a senior year well lived, involves a whole lot more than just college applications”. So, make sure that all that you do in high school, in Kelly Jorgensen’s words, not only has personal meaning to you, but helps you find your joy and happiness.
Kelly Jorgensen and Tyler Sant have a few ways to enjoy the process:
Parents should be keeping an eye out for any of those moments that bring some sense of joy back to this process;
You have to seek every opportunity that you can to find some joy, and that could be on a college visit, it could be writing an essay that reminds you of something funny or interesting;
You could take a moment out of working on application things just to send a quick email of gratitude, for example to a teacher who wrote a recommendation for you.
I hope you find these 5 Things from Counselors helpful as you embark on your college journey.
Good Luck with all your College Applications!
July 2022 Podcasts Curated For You
1.Rebecca Youngers: Freshman at UT Austin This Fall
Rebecca Youngers is a recent graduate of Dowling Catholic High School, Des Moines, Iowa. She starts at University of Texas at Austin this fall.
On my podcast, Rebecca shares her passion for writing & journalism, her broad range of interests in high school, how she went about her college search process, and her advice to college aspirants.
Key Takeaways:
Rebecca was super involved in Journalism and Sports in High School
One of the challenges she encountered during the college process was figuring out how much a college would cost to attend
Managing her time during the college application process was hard.
Listen to Hi5s. Podcast Highlights with Becca Youngers. (2.5-Minute Listen).
2.Olivia: How Astrolabes Captured Her Imagination and Guided Her at USU.
Olivia Brock grew up loving most subjects in high school. When she applied to college, she was planning to major in Business and then apply to Law School.
When she joined Utah State University, she took an introductory Art History class where she discovered Astrolabes, an ancient astronomical instrument that changed her education trajectory to Art History and Statistics.
Key Takeaways:
USU allowed Olivia to explore different majors, rather than being tied to 1 Subject
Olivia discovered UG Research that allowed her to combine her Math background with the Humanities
Writing was a key skill that stood her in good stead as she wrote reports on her work and when she applied for Grants and Scholarships.
Listen to Hi5s. Podcast Highlights with Olivia Brock on USU. (3 Minute Listen)
Finally, A Big Thank You to all the College Counselors who have been generous with their time and counsel on my podcasts.
Have a Great August.
Venkat