Betsy and Sarah were recently interviewed by Suchi Rudra of College Confidential for her article, “Superscore Is Great, But Individual Scores Are Just OK — Should You Retest?”
Juniors: Why You Should Request Teacher Recommendations Now
Most colleges require applicants to supply one or two teacher recommendations, and often a counselor recommendation as well. But it’s only April, and college applications won’t be due until the fall, or early in 2019, so you may think you have plenty of time to ask teachers for letters of recommendation to include with your college applications. However, keep in mind that some teachers limit the number of recommendations they will write as they usually do them on their own time, sometimes over the summer if they have requests from juniors in advance.
Ideally, you should choose two teachers from your junior year. They should be from different subjects; the ideal is one from math or science and one from social studies or humanities. But if you have other ideas, check with the colleges themselves to see what their requirements are.
So, now is the time to ask the two teachers who know you best if they would be willing to write a recommendation for you! Get on their list and check that off your “to do” list for college application preparations. It’s an easy task to take care of now and important to help ensure that your application is as strong as it can be.
High School Seniors, Open Your Email!!
You’ve worked so hard, don’t miss something now!
It happens every year, despite our warnings. “I’m not sure what happened…” begins the text or email. A housing lottery has passed, or course registration is almost over and the pickings are slim.
“Have you been checking your email?” we ask.
“Kinda.”
It’s time to get in the habit of checking your email every day. And really reading it!! Most colleges will send a communication to you once - there are no multiple reminders, no follow up emails to mom and dad. And when a deadline passes, it passes.
You’ve worked too hard to blow it now!
The Myth of the Perfect College
Love at first sight? Rarely!
It’s the stuff of fairy tales: “I walked onto the campus, and I knew immediately that it was the place for me!”
College-bound high school students hear this anecdote so often that they expect it to be true. For a few it is, but most often, each college or university presents pros and cons. There is no one clear winner. I say: that’s OK!
I recently received a note from a high school junior, who had just returned from a lengthy college visit road trip over her April break. “OMG, this is going to be the hardest decision of my entire life.” Even after multiple visits, there was no clear winner!
So, when putting together your college list, don’t look for one that sweeps you off your feet. That’s too much pressure. Like everything in life, your experience won’t be perfect. And there will be trade-offs. But if you do it right, the pros will far outweigh the cons.
The Peril of Asking a 16 or 17-year old: What do you want to do with the rest of your life?
What do you want to do with the rest of your life? Counselors, teachers, parents, and friends often ask this question of high school students as they begin to think about post-high school graduation plans, and it makes sense: we want goals to inform planning. However, it is essential to recognize that many kids this age don’t know what they want to do… or be. They may be more drawn to STEM classes or love literature and writing, but their goals may still be quite vague. And they may not have identified a major or area of interest for college.
In the wake of the prolonged recession that started in 2008 that resulted in a rising number of unemployed college graduates, we have found that families want their kids to identify careers earlier and make that a key criterion of the college search and match process. The students we work with are feeling the pressure, increasing anxiety for some.
“Let’s stop stressing out our kids with career choice pressure” an op-ed in the Philadelphia Inquirer by the psychologist, speaker, and author, Janet Sasson Edgette reminds us that forcing our children to decide on a career before they are ready can lead to false starts and unintended consequences. She also makes a case for raising children who are adaptive — who value education for the opportunity to explore and discover as they will be better prepared for futures where they will have to change as the career landscape changes. Parenting our children to seek a balance between security and what brings them joy is a goal worth promoting.
Ask the Consultant: Breaking Up is Hard to Do!
Congratulations on making your decision!
Q: I’ve decided where I’m going to go next year. Do I need to tell the other colleges that I’m not going to be coming?
A: You should! College admission deans watch numbers very carefully leading up to the May 1 deposit deadline. Letting them know early helps them predict and plan for what’s to come. Should enrollments not be setting pace with expectations and former trends, the college may decide to go to their waitlist early, which could help that classmate of yours that has their fingers crossed for that school.
You can let the college know in one of two ways: via your admission portal for that college (there is often the option there) or by emailing them. And while you do not have to tell them where you are attending, it is a nice thing to do. It helps them to discern their most popular overlap schools and who they are losing students to.
When Selecting a College, Do Something Scary
Seeing Double: Twins in the College Admission Process
Will they take us both?
When working with twins, the question invariably gets asked, “What if we apply to the same school?” And so we’ve asked those that make the decisions… hundreds of them. Not surprisingly, the answer is often, “it depends.”
Every admission officer that we approached assured us that twins were looked at as individual applicants first. For those colleges using holistic admissions, that means that the student’s essay, transcript, test scores, recommendations, etc. are evaluated together. After that first read and a provisional decision is rendered, however, approaches vary. But there seem to be some common themes:
If the multiples are quite different in their academic profiles, extracurricular activities, or writing ability, or if they are applying into different majors or schools within the college or university, the siblings could get a split decision. One could be admitted and one could be denied. “If we are going to admit just one, we want to have a justifiable reason should we get a call from a school counselor or student.”
But what if the students are virtually identical? Similar transcripts, test scores, and activities. “We try to make the same decision for both if they are close,” an admission dean told us. “It’s a yield thing.” Does that mean that a stronger twin can give a boost to a slightly weaker sibling? “Sometimes, yea.”
And that makes sense. Twins are tight! They look out for one another. And so, even if they aren’t intending to go to college together, a school saying no to their other half can be off-putting!
So, if you are a twin, think carefully about the schools that you choose to apply to! Confer with your twin, but make the best decisions for you and your future.
The Final Choice: It’s Intangible
It may be a coach, or possibly the tour guide, or maybe something they read on the web site. When it comes to making their final decision, students choose where to attend for the darndest reasons. Often, the most difficult decision an 18-year-old can make, where to attend college, comes down to the intangibles.
Waitlisted! Now What?
Being relegated to the waitlist can be hard. Here are a few tips to keep in mind.
Waiting isn’t easy and it certainly can be nerve-racking when it comes to your college results. At this point in the process we always have a few students that aren’t accepted or denied, but are waitlisted at one of their top choice colleges. If you happen to be in this situation, we offer the following tips:
In most situations, you will need to put a deposit down at another college. The universal deposit date is May 1st. At that time colleges will know how many students are enrolling in the fall which will determine whether or not they need to rely on the waitlist to fill the freshmen class. Don’t lose your spot at another college because you are waiting for your name to come off the waitlist. If you happen to get offered a spot off the waitlist, that will likely happen after May 1st. So, go ahead and put your deposit down at another college.
Keep in mind that your deposit is non-refundable so if you are accepted from the waitlist you will lose your deposit at the college you initially selected.
When you were first informed of your waitlist status, you had the opportunity to remain on or withdraw from the waitlist. If you have already moved on and are no longer interested in attending, please take your name off the waitlist.
It is smart to put together a letter or email to your admissions representative to provide them with any updates academically or extracurricularly. This may nudge them to offer you a spot if they need to use the waitlist to fill the freshmen class.
Finally, by the time colleges are pulling students from the waitlist, the financial aid budget has been exhausted. So, if you are looking for need-based or non-need-based aid, you will not likely receive much, if any, financial award coming off the waitlist.