College Admissions Consulting Early Admissions Trends, Summer Volunteer Programs, and Scholarship Negotiations Written by Tova Javetzon February 15th, 2018 I began my career as both a tour guide and senior interviewer at my alma mater, Barnard, where I later joined the admissions team and read and reviewed applications from students applying from the northeastern, midwestern, and western regions of the United States, as well as Canada. A few years later, while pursuing my master’s degree, I briefly left admissions to be the director of student life at the Jewish Theological Seminary. Realizing I missed working closely with students on the high school side of college counseling, I joined the admissions team at Fordham University where I recruited and reviewed applicants applying to Fordham’s liberal arts and business colleges. My most recent experience at Montclair State helped me understand what the application process looks like outside of highly selective colleges and how to help students who may not be fully prepared for college-level work. One of my favorite past experiences was managing the athletic recruitment process at Fordham as well as a number of sports at Barnard. Understanding the inner workings of both the Ivy and Patriot athletic leagues meant I was able to guide students to find the best athletic matches as part of their college search. Learn More About Tova early action, early decision, getting in, negotiating scholarships, Sally Ganga is in the host seat for the latest episode of Getting In: A College Coach Conversation, tackling early admission round trends, summer volunteer programs, and scholarship negotiation. Early Admission Trends In the first segment, Sally is joined by Elyse Krantz to discuss the trends we saw this fall in the Early Action and Early Decision processes. (Fear not, Elyse begins with a quick crash course on what these plans are.) They talk about how students are applying to school earlier (20% more early applications than last year through the Common App!) and how some of the larger state universities have shifted their admission tendencies accordingly. Elyse and Sally muse on how this may or may not change a student’s game plan on when to hit submit. Summer Volunteering Next, Sally is joined by Olivia Sajjadieh, former admission officer at both American University and the University of Southern California, to discuss summer volunteer programs. They chat about the many options and benefits, the pros and cons to consider when looking at programs abroad, and share some important reminders about the value of service at any level, even when outside a formal program. They also offer some tips on how this should (or hint: shouldn’t!) connect to the application essay. Scholarship Negotiation In the last segment, Sally welcomes back Shannon Vasconcelos to talk about how to negotiate scholarships with colleges. Shannon clarifies the difference between need-based aid and merit scholarship dollars. (Listen to this episode for tips on how to appeal for more need-based aid). When addressing merit scholarships, Shannon explains what tone to take, what information to include in your request, and what follow up is appropriate. They share a bit of information that might help you manage your expectations, including the effects of applying Early Decision on negotiating packages. On our next episode, Ian Fisher will be back to discuss summer programs in the arts and tax breaks available to those paying for college. Don’t forget to download the latest episode and past archives on iTunes! Related Resources Read | Posted on April 16th, 2024 Understanding Direct Admission: A Pathway to Success Read | Posted on April 10th, 2024 Acceptance by Emi Nietfeld; Why You Should Fill out the FAFSA Read | Posted on April 9th, 2024 Community Colleges with Campus Housing
