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Archive for the ‘College admissions essays’ Category

College Application Tips You Don’t Expect: Part 2

Wednesday, November 18th, 2009

It’s time to stop recycling the same-old admissions advice and start breaking out of the box. Last week we talked about the age-old adage “be yourself” and whether it has a place in college applications. This week, we tackle the admissions essay and the hoopla that surrounds it. It may be unexpected application advice, but by the time we’re done with it, your 5 paragraphs are going to be a piece of cake.

Quit Stressing About Your Essay: It’s easy to put all your energy into your admissions essay. By the time senior year rolls around, there’s not a lot you can do about your SAT scores or your GPA. So putting all your efforts into the one part of your application that you still have some control over is tempting. But if you’re putting off other things-like studying for your midterms and getting those recommendation letters-you’re doing yourself a disservice.

Contrary to popular opinion, college admissions departments frequently do not rate the essay as highly as they do your class rank and test scores. There are of course exceptions, especially among small liberal arts colleges like Hampshire College and Sarah Lawrence College. But for the most part, your admissions essay is a secondary part of your application. Large colleges just don’t have the time to go over every applicant’s essay with a fine tooth comb. Another reason why they tend to undervalue the admissions essay is that it is a subjective measure of a student’s capabilities. Colleges look for applicants who will do well in their college and go on to do well in the job-market. Your GPA and SAT scores are statistically-proven predictors of your future success, your essay is not. Of course there are plenty of bright students who just underachieved in high school, but unfortunately, many colleges do not want to make that gamble.

It’s hard to hear, but if you’re praying for a brilliant essay to rescue you from rejection, you may be out of luck. An admissions essay is not going to resurrect your application if everything is sub-par. It’s important to try and write a good coherent essay, but putting all your energy into crafting a “brilliant essay” will not save you. You may even unintentionally detract from other parts of your application by focusing too much on the essay. Do your best, get someone else to proofread it and make comments, and write a second draft. Beyond that, and you could just be wasting your time.

POSTED BY Bloggin' with Robin IN Admissions Process, Applications, College admissions essays, SAT and ACT
11.18.09
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What Luxury Cars and College Admissions Have in Common

Thursday, September 17th, 2009

College admissions officers like to throw around words like “well rounded”, “student leader” and “driven” when describing their ideal applicant. Personal essays, clubs and sports, volunteer work, internships… what does all this “supplemental” criteria really amount to on your college application? And somehow, this hodgepodge of qualities is supposed to set you apart from the masses as amongst the best and the brightest of students, the one with the shiniest future.

Or at least, that’s what college admissions officers would have you believe. Malcolm Gladwell, author of the New York Times bestseller “Outliers“, wrote an article for the New Yorker chronicling the change in college admission procedures for Ivy League schools. Back in the day, like the 1920’s, students merely needed top grades to get into these selective universities. If you got the score, you got in. Then, according to Gladwell, admissions officers started to notice a rather “unsavory” trend: more and more Jews were entering the prestigious halls of the Ivy League. Oy Gevalt!!!

Blatant anti-Semitism aside, Gladwell sees the Ivy League’s desire to keep out the “undesirables” as a major turning point in the history of college admissions. From that point on, colleges looked for more than just grades, but for “personal qualities” that singled students out as the “right kind” of student (i.e. WASPs). The personal essay, the interview, the reliance on extracurricular activities were all introduced as a way to screen applicants. Hey, what better way to keep the hebes out than introduce a requirement for excelling at sports? Because clearly Jews don’t know how to throw a ball. And thus, the vision of the well-rounded, athletic applicant was born.

Gladwell’s argument presumes that at the time these changes in admissions practices were happening, a predominance of Jewish students in the venerable old Halls of the Ivy League would weaken the legacy that Harvard, Princeton, and Yale had worked so hard to achieve. The introduction of social selection through the college admissions process became tantamount to branding. Elite colleges wanted to maintain their elite statuses, and so - like Lexus and Rolex - they targeted elite audiences. Says Gladwell, “No good brand manager would sacrifice reputation for short-term gain”. Ivy League institutions are not just elite because of the quality of the education, but because of the perceived status of its students. And what better way to ensure the status of one’s applicants than by screening them to begin with?

Today’s admissions officers may not be screening out Jews, but they are still manipulating admissions criteria in order to favor certain traits. More schools than ever are shunning standardized tests in favor of a more “holistic” approach to the college application, like Sarah Lawrence College, Bard College, or Bennington College. There argument is that SATs and ACTs are not a good predictor of a student’s abilities. But is this always advantageous? The SAT was originally developed to provide an unbiased judge of a student’s academic potential. Schools that only look at “qualitative” measures may be giving preference to more privileged students. Regardless what any school says officially, admissions officers prefer applicants who’ve had elite internships, and years of specialized activities, like a piano prodigee or devoted dance. And what do these illustrious credentials require? $$$

Interning at your Dad’s Fortune 500 company will look better than working at a Starbucks. Going to a competitive high school with stellar college prep will lead to a better essay. And students with the time and money to study an instrument or go on foreign exchange will always be ahead of the curve. Beating the admissions game often simply comes down to having the resources to compete.

College admissions officers are in the business of making sure their student body meets the standards of the school’s own legacy. Whether this means seeking out athletic WASPs, like in the 1920’s at Harvard, or intellectual creative types, like at Bard College, college admissions might not be about what you know, but who you are.

POSTED BY Bloggin' with Robin IN Admissions Process, Applications, Articles, College admissions essays, In the News, SAT and ACT
09.17.09
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The College Dating Game

Wednesday, August 26th, 2009

As the school year begins, the ancient drums of the college dating game call the high school juniors and seniors to action.

The dating game? Isn’t that some lame 70’s game show?

Well, yes. But it’s not a bad analogy for today’s college applicant, so says a recent study by Harvard University and the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor. According to their study of college admissions selectivity, elite schools are getting more and more selective every year. Students applying now are on average 10% less likely to be admitted than students in 1972.

So what affect does that have on the college admissions game? More and more students are looking for ways to become “more attractive” to competitive colleges. Like the peacock pluming its feathers, high school students are taking more and more AP courses, volunteering more, and finding more internships to attract the eye of the hottie colleges.

Although this works temporarily, over time, it only raises the standard of admissions that higher. Once upon a time, only the most ambitious students would take AP courses, and maybe one or two at the most. Now schools are offering as many as five AP’s a semester, and students are taking them. The result? Anything less than at least two AP’s makes you look like a slacker.

What’s our high school student-next door type supposed to do? Sure, you have good grades, competitive scores, and a rigorous class schedule. But so does everybody else. Are the latest trends of private admissions counsellors, expensive SAT tutors, and even ghost essay writers the plastic surgery of the college admissions market? Perhaps, but not all augmentation is bad. The competitiveness of the college admissions field pushes students to take classes they never would have, volunteer, and in general, think outside the box in order to make themselves more attractive.

And remember, the college-dating game is a two-way street. It’s not just you who need to woo a college. Focus on finding your own best match, that college or university with that special something that sparks your eye. If you go after the schools that are the best fit for you, it’s way more likely that they’ll feel the same way. Try comparing schools to see which ones really fits your college style. For in college admissions, as in dating, it’s all about compatibility.

POSTED BY Bloggin' with Robin IN Admissions Process, Applications, College admissions essays, In the News
08.26.09
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