Staying Ahead of Your Applications | Part 2

In Part One of this post, we offered three big organizational tips to help juniors get started on their college application process. Now that you’ve gotten yourself organized, here are five key elements that every student should add to her timeline in the spring of the junior year of high school:

Staying Ahead of Your Applications | Part 1

As we ring in the New Year and juniors begin the spring semester, the college application process kicks into high gear. With so much work in such a short period of time, many students struggle with what to do and how to do it.

Every junior needs to take two small steps at the start of the year to get on track and stay there. First, adopt a strategy to keep content organized. Second, create a college application timeline that will ensure that the entire family knows what needs to happen and when. It is critical that students find ways to manage their college processes while simultaneously maintaining their school work and extracurricular activities. Consistent academic performance should always be at the top of your to-do list.

In 1990, I started my first job at a college. I processed federal student loans at a proprietary trade school. Two years later, I became an Assistant Director of Financial Aid at a four-year private college and then, five years later, the Director of Financial Aid at another four-year private college, where I stayed for seven years, also serving a stint as the Director of Admissions. This college was quite small, allowing me to interact with people in many departments on campus: residence life, student services, the registrar, and student accounts. I thought I knew all there was to know about college admissions and financial aid…

Then my twins became high school juniors and our own process began.

Here, in this first of a series of blog posts about my kids’ college application and enrollment processes, I plan to share all the new things that I have learned along the way. First: how to stay organized.

So you’ve just submitted your application and you’re patiently waiting to hear a response when – beep! – a surprise email lands in your inbox. “Greetings!” the email begins. “My name is Mary Jones, and I’m the alumna assigned to conduct your interview for Grand University.” Whether the idea of an alumni interview puts you completely at ease, or if you’re feeling nauseous at the prospect of impressing an alum, here are six secrets you should know to best prepare for your alumni interview.

Six Tips For Your College Alumni Interview

That loud exhalation you heard over the weekend was the sound of tens of thousands of high school students submitting their first round of college applications before early deadlines on November 1. For those of you who have confidently put your personal statements and supplements in the hands of admissions officers at your first-choice colleges, congratulations! You’ve earned a well-deserved break from essay writing and resume building, and may even want to share your status with your friends on Facebook or your followers on Twitter. But before you publish that tweet, take a step back, and think about the door you may be opening.

Engaging with College Social Media Accounts

Colleges and universities are using social media as much as their prospective students. Have you seen the Tumblr for the University of Michigan’s admission office? Or the Twitter account for Harvard? These can be great ways to follow along with your favorite schools—and to learn more about what they offer. But be cautious of over-connecting with schools, particularly small ones. While Harvard (with half a million followers) might not notice that you show up in their mentions every single day, Connecticut College (with just 8,000) surely will. And it’s not just a school behind that account, it’s a real person who might even be reading your application. Every time you comment on a school’s Facebook post or reply to one of their tweets ask yourself, “would I want this comment included as part of my application?” If not, toss it.

If the college admission season has gone according to plan, you’re likely putting the finishing touches on your last supplemental essays, penning personal thank-you cards to your teacher recommenders, and hunkering down for a congratulatory bowl of ice cream and Netflix marathon. While this dream scenario is appealing to parents and students alike, it doesn’t quite match up with reality for so many seniors scrambling to stay on top of things during this stressful fall. If you’ve put off your applications for the last few months, waiting until a sense of urgency kicks in, you’re not alone. But we’re here to tell you that the time to get started is now (if not a month ago), and to help you take the first big steps towards college application success.

Earlier this week, we suggested five ways for students to begin to get involved during their high school careers. Today we pick up where we left off, with the last five tips on our list!

6. Part-time jobs

Whether a student is looking for a little extra pocket money or experience in the working world, a part-time job is a great way to demonstrate independence and initiative. Even 15 hours a week at the local ice cream shop can reinforce a strong work ethic (and a bank account balance).

7. Volunteering

Many high schools these days are requiring students to do community service or complete volunteer hours as part of their graduation requirements, but regardless of the requirement, giving time to a cause your child cares about can be wonderful for a number of reasons.  Interest in animal science? Volunteer at the local shelter. Curious about medicine? See if there are opportunities to help at the city hospital. Is your child itching for political experience? Tell her to sign up to canvass for a local campaign. Volunteering isn’t just about stacking up hours, it’s also about exposure to new experiences and organizations.

When it comes to the college application, some parts are easy to understand. Take tough courses. Get good grades. Write a strong essay. But when students are also encouraged to “get involved,” it’s hard for them to know exactly where to begin, and understandably so. For freshmen in particular, high school is a new experience with a wide variety of clubs, organizations, teams, and activities to be a part of, and getting involved in just a few of those activities can enrich your child’s four-year experience in high school.

So where do you begin? Before helping your child decide what it is he may want to do, it’s important to first spend some time looking at what his passions and talents are, the time he has committed to each of his current activities, and how much he enjoys participating in those activities. The start of high school can be a great opportunity to make changes to your student’s extracurricular involvements, or to introduce her to something new. Remember, this isn’t just the first step in her new academic career, it’s also her introduction to a brand new community.

Last Thursday, Bev Taylor authored an article on Huffington Post, claiming “Need Blind Admissions Is a Lie.” Its publication ignited a flurry of responses among college admissions professionals both publicly and privately. On Thursday, we posted part one of a response to her article, which offered a rebuttal to some of her proscribed actions and clarified some of the terms surrounding “need” in admissions and financial aid. Today, we continue with part two, which challenges Taylor’s central claim that need blind admissions just doesn’t make logical sense.

Good use of data vs. “logic”

Enrollment management practices at colleges and universities are based on historical trends. For example, if I want to yield a class of 1,600 students this year and I know that an average of 40 percent of students have accepted my offer of admission over the last five years, I will admit 4,000 students. Sometimes this leads to over-enrolling a class and a scramble to find extra beds on campus, and other times it leads to under-enrolling a class and use of the waitlist. The guess is imperfect, but it’s as close to accurate as colleges can be, and it often turns out to be a pretty good guideline.

Last Thursday, Bev Taylor authored an article on Huffington Post, claiming “Need Blind Admissions Is a Lie.” Its publication ignited a flurry of responses among college admissions professionals both publicly and privately. For those of us who read applications at highly selective institutions, her article simply did not jibe with the reality of our own experiences. Those on my team who worked for institutions like the University of Pennsylvania, MIT, Georgetown, and Babson were adamant that need-blind admissions means exactly what it says. I hope that the following conversation will help provide a clear response to Taylor’s article and offer some clarification on some challenging issues in admission and financial aid in higher education.

Why this matters

The reason that colleges try to be transparent about their admissions and financial aid policies isn’t because they are trying to trick you into creating a disadvantage for yourself. It’s because they’re trying to keep you as informed as possible through a very stressful process. Admissions officers are educators, and they want students to be successful in college without incurring significant financial hardship, whether at their institution or elsewhere.