Applying For College

When should I start applying to colleges?

College applications generally come out in the late summer or beginning of the fall. There's been a little controversy about students applying prior to that if they're recruited by the college, but generally speaking, students apply in fall of their senior year to colleges.

What does it mean to apply "early decision"?

Early decision is the binding agreement that the student makes with the university that if they are accepted they will attend. If the student applies early decision, generally those applications would be November 1st and they find out the decisions by December 15th. This is really nice for kids, because coming into the holiday season, if they get accepted they know where they are going to college. To apply early decision, a student really must know that is the school they want to attend. They can apply for other college places, but if admitted to their early decision school, they have to rescind their other applications.

What are "rolling admissions"?

Rolling admission means that--( generally public universities have rolling admission, some public universities) once they have all the material on a student, they make up their mind. Sometimes a student can apply rolling early in their senior year, find out early, and already know where they're going to college by Thanksgiving or even sooner. If a student is applying to a rolling school, they should apply early because the slots get filled up, so there's a little bit of strategy involved.

Do colleges require an application fee?

Yes, generally they do.On average the application fee to colleges is around $50. That application fee can be waived in certain circumstances for students that have difficulty paying it.

What information is commonly required on college admission applications?

Certainly personal information: where you live, birth date, family information. Often times they'll ask where your parents went to college and if they went to college. They'll ask what professions your parents are in and the schools you've attended, the courses you have taken, currently taking, the extra curricular activities you've been engaged in, what years you were engaged, some of them ask the number of hours per week. There is a section for awards and honors, work experience, community service, and there are also sometimes supplemental forms such as recommendations where teacher recommendations are required from the student as well as the school counselor report form. The two teacher recommendations I often suggest that students select: two different academic teachers in their junior year of high school because they've known them for a whole year, for the longest period of time and the school counselor generally will submit the transcript to the university and also ask the student often times questions about themselves and what their goals and aspirations are and then submit a recommendation form as well to the university.

What are some tips for filling out my college application?

A lot of schools today will prefer online applications, but I still like students to print out a copy of the application to use as a rough draft. I feel that often you can see something in print that you can't see on a screen. I really think it's very good to print out a copy and do a rough draft before applying to college online.

How will colleges evaluate me during the admissions process?

I often feel one of the most important ways that colleges evaluate you during the admission period is through the coursework you've taken in high school and your GPA. The second most important would be standardised tests, if in fact the school required standardised tests. The third would a talent of some sort that may make you stand out from everyone else; whether that be an artistic talent, an athletic talent, a writing talent, a musical talent, or something that would really make you specific. Legacy is another issue that schools look at. Believe it or not, geographic location sometimes plays in. University officials love to say that they have students representing all the states. So, if you happen to be from a big city like New York or Los Angeles, you may have a more difficult chance than if you lived in South Dakota or Nebraska, just because schools may want students from those states where there are not as many applicants. They will also look for the kinds of careers, academic programme, and things that you're looking at. Universities don't want to build applicant pools that are all artists or all scientists. They want to balance their classes as well.

What is a "legacy" college applicant?

A legacy college application means that you have had a relatively close family member who has attended the university you're applying to. Often, this legacy can put another feather in your cap; it can give you another notch and help you take a second look. Sometimes a legacy college application can make a difference, sometimes it can't. It depends on the individual school.

How will my ethnicity factor into the college admission process?

According to Affirmative Action ethnicity is not anything that can be uniquely and strictly identified. What universities generally do now is what they call a comprehensive review, where ethnic diversity is considered, along with socio-economic status. This includes whether you are the first in your family to attend college in the United States. as well as several other factors that may play into examining the whole person, not just the ethnic quotient.

Why do colleges require essays in the application process?

In order to get a window into the student's soul, they are looking for that exceptional story in the essay, to learn about the student's character. In saying that, I have to say that quite frankly, some of the brightest people who probably got straight A's in high school and did great on standardized tests may have been criminals. So I think it's very important for schools to identify things about the student through their essays. I do know of a university this past season that actually hired some psychologists to sit in on some of their admission committees to help evaluate their essays to try to get an idea of the personalities behind the applications. How do you personalize them? How do you really learn who this person is? And by the student telling their story and being passionate and sincere and intellectually stimulated in their writing, it will give the application and the admission committee a real sense of who they are.

What are some secrets to writing a well-crafted college application essay?

When students learn how to write in high school, it's often third-person writing, where they are told to either research or write about another person, place, or thing. College essay writing is first person writing, and it's very hard for teenagers. Often they're a little self conscious and it's hard for them to be immodest and to really speak to their talents. I encourage that, I encourage them to really highlight themselves in the essay. Writing in first person is definitely what they want to do. Another tip for writing college application essays is to take an isolated experience, or passion - perhaps a person of influence - and make a little story out of it. I always like to say that these admission readers sometimes are reading thousands of these admissions essays, and they're reading them into the wee hours. I have heard college admission officers get up at conferences and say they read the first paragraph and the last and then decide whether they're going to read the rest of the application essay. They really are looking for something to capture them. Sometimes when I read these college essays, what I may do is extract the center of the essay and make it the beginning, because the students take a while to get going. By the time they get to the middle, they have a spectacular statement. Then I say, "Why don't you just start there?" I just think that there has to be a sense of stimulating, meaningful, passionate writing: something that the applicant honestly and sincerely care about.

When will I hear if I have been accepted to a college?

When you hear whether you've been accepted to college depends on the university and on how you apply. If you apply to college early, you're going to hear early, usually by around December 15. Spring is generally when regular decision college applicants hear about their results, sometime usually in March or the beginning of April.

What should I do if I haven't heard from the college of my choice?

One thing I would suggest after you apply is--most universities will send out a confirmation that they have received your application. They'll also let you know if any pieces of the puzzle are missing. But in saying that, I would also just confirm by calling the admission office--and students, YOU do the calling, don't let your parents call for you--confirm that they've received everything and then you should hear. If you don't hear, you need to get in touch with them and ask them why not and what's going on and make sure they have everything they need and all the recommendation letters are in and everything's in place.

What does it mean to be "waitlisted" to a college?

Generally, being waitlisted means that you are qualified, but you didn't make the cut and it means that they will reconsider your application in the next pool. So, for example, there's waitlisted and deferred. It means that you're qualified to enter the class but, for any number of reasons which universities don't like to reveal, you didn't make it in on the first round. You're generally put into another pool. whether it's the regular application pool, your application is reconsidered and then you are notified. That's for deferred status. For waitlist status, you're considered if a spot opens up. So generally what universities do is they may over accept. They'll see how many accept from the first pool and then they will see how many slots they have remaining, and then they will approach their waitlist. In saying that, if you're on the waitlist, it is a very very rare chance that you will be accepted.