STUDENT-CENTERED SOLUTIONS FOR COLLEGE PLANNING

Early April can be the best of times—and the worst of times—if you are a college applicant. Those who are fortunate to have received good news from colleges are understandably elated. For them, the process of making the final choice begins now.

Earlier this week, I received an email from the mother of a young woman whom I had met earlier in the year. Her daughter, Ali, had done well (admitted to six of seven schools and placed on one Wait List) with her applications and her mom was understandably excited. Now, she wanted to know how to help Ali sort through her options.

Ali had already ruled out one college and, upon visiting two others, had decided against them as well. She is keen on two schools, one mid-sized and the other small, and is dallying with the idea of an honors program at a state university. In her heart (according to her mom), though, it seems she really wants a smaller school. Ali is planning to visit the small school even though it is the only one that has yet to offer her financial aid. Her mother also wants to know how to approach the Wait List situation. I offered the following feedback to Ali’s mom and pass it along here in the event you are grappling with similar issues.

1. Ali needs to revisit her educational priorities. At this point in the process, it’s easy to become distracted by the commotion surrounding “who’s getting in and where.” She needs to focus on three basic questions: “Why do I want to go to college?” “In what type of academic environment do I function most comfortably?” “What are the three things I want to make sure I accomplish by the time I graduate?” If she is true to herself, the answers to these questions will guide her to a final choice with which she will be most comfortable.

2. Visiting the campuses of her top choices is a must as Ali is preparing to “buy.” She should spend twenty-four hours (not on a weekend!) on each campus of interest and immerse herself in the “neighborhoods” of the campus in which she is likely to spend much of her time once enrolled. She needs to talk with students and professors (outside of the panel discussions at open house programs that are scripted for her benefit) about their experiences. In which environment can she see herself functioning most comfortably?

3. She needs to figure out where the Wait List school fits in the picture. If it is a clear first choice, then she should remain active on the Wait List. Wait Lists are likely to move this year so Ali needs to provide new information (scores, grades, awards) and demonstrate her commitment to enroll if accepted. A campus visit can be an important expression of that interest. I do not, however, recommend remaining active just to see if she can get in—this is not a time for “fishing expeditions.” Her actions should be purposeful and reflect conviction.

4. Finally, Ali needs to make sure she clearly understands the financial aid awards she receives. Award letters, at their best, can be very confusing. At this stage of the game, it is vital that she compares “apples with apples.” Moreover, her parents need to be frank with her about the impact of cost/financial aid from their vantage point. While they might have personal preferences, are there any deal-breakers financially? It’s better for her to know of any such limitations as soon as possible.

The next month promises to be highly energized as college-bound students zero in on their final college choices. Getting it “right” is critical as the Best College Fit™ (BCF) program continues to cover the admission process through the final decision-making process. The March 24 BCF Web-Side Chat webcast, “Strategies for Evaluating Enrollment Options,” featured a discussion that covered the above topics and much more including tips for navigating the Wait List. A recording of that webcast is available in the BCF archives.

On April 7, the Web-Side Chat webcast, “Evaluating Financial Aid Options,” will compare actual financial aid awards and provide advice with regard to next steps in making the final choice of a college. In addition, the “College Talk” email forum provides on-going conversational opportunity throughout the month. To join the conversation, you must first subscribe to Best College Fit™ . The 30-day subscription rate is $19.95.

College applicants seeking to make an impression in the admission process have a new means of expression at their disposal. According to recent news reports, a growing number of colleges and universities are inviting applicants to include YouTube submissions with their credentials. This follows the rapid growth of social media as a popular meeting place for prospective students and representatives at the colleges that interest them.

The move to include social media as an active component in the admission process has drawn mixed reviews among college access professionals. Many see the logic in reaching out to young people in the media where they spend much of their time. They also acknowledge the potential value to some students of having alternate means of expressing themselves as candidates. Students have been submitting non-performance related CDs, DVDs and videos with their applications for years. Now, with YouTube, any student can record and submit a personal statement at no cost.

On the other side of the argument, counselors urge caution for reasons both practical and philosophical. They question the use of YouTube submissions by those in the decision-making process and fear that encouraging such submissions simply opens the door to senseless voyeurism. They warn that visual presentations may reveal physical characteristics that play to the inherent biases of viewers and detract from the objective assessment of the student’s credentials. Moreover, they see privacy threats and the potential for professional coaching and editing that could tilt the playing field in favor of those with means.

Here are a few thoughts for those of you who are tempted to engage in social media as you apply to college.

1. Submit directly to the school, not to/through an open forum. When you apply for admission, you are engaging in a confidential process. No one outside of the admission committee needs to or should see the information you submit. Just as your grades, essays and letters of recommendation are confidential, your video submission should remain private as well. If you can’t figure out how to submit confidentially through YouTube, then don’t use that medium.
2. Don’t let your video/YouTube submission detract from who you are. Cameras can have a funny effect on people—they tend not to be themselves. When you hit the “record” button, be yourself. Give the viewer a sense of who you are. Tell your story. You will be most successful when the details of your physical presentation are secondary to the quality of the content.
3. Be sincere. By that, I mean you should consider the person who will be viewing your submission. If you throw something together that is frivolous or doesn’t make sense to someone who is not in the room with you, the viewer will lose interest immediately. Think about the message you want to convey. Just remember—when you hit the “send” button you can’t take it back.
4. Don’t allow yourself to be held hostage. I have yet to see that YouTube or video submissions are mandatory anywhere. You don’t have to submit them. If you are not comfortable in front of a camera, then this is not the medium for you. If the medium is a natural for you and you feel creative impulses that can be articulated well this way, then go for it.� Otherwise, don’t submit yourself to the angst and worry (and potential cost) associated with putting something together in a manner that is uncomfortable for you. It’s certainly not worth the expense that comes with coaching and production time. Focus instead on the elements of the application with which you are most comfortable.

On a related note, social networking sites have become hot locations for students (and many parents) who want to stay on top of the latest in the college application process. Such sites are the source of the latest insights (gossip) about who is getting in where and they frequently are sources of erroneous information about how the selection process works at different schools. If you frequent such sites, just remember that the sources of information are typically other applicants and/or their parents! Call me a cynic, but this is where urban legends originate around the college-going process.

Emerging technologies are rapidly changing every aspect of our lives including the college-going process. While much of the change is healthy and positive, you need to remain focused on who you are, what you want to accomplish educationally and how you can best convey these messages to the colleges of your choice.

High school seniors are entering one of the most critical phases of the college admission process. This is the time of the year when admission officers watch to see what students do when it would seem the spotlight is no longer on them. They want to see how you respond down the “stretch run” of the senior year.

Consider, then, the mile race. It is an apt metaphor for your high school experience. To complete the race, you must circle the track four times just as you must finish four years of high school in order to graduate. Winning the race—or finishing high school with distinction—requires that you endure the grueling pace going into the last lap and still have what it takes to sprint when the race is on the line.

Let’s suppose, then, that your race has gone exceedingly well through the first three laps.� You jumped out to an early lead and have maintained a strong pace. With only one lap to go, you are by yourself at the head of the pack. You can’t even see the competition! This is a critical stage of the race because you begin to ask yourself, “Do I really need to work that hard in running the last lap? Should I save myself for the next race and spare the inevitable agony that otherwise comes with a sprint to the finish?”

The question you really need to ask yourself, though, is: “What have I won?” The answer is simple. “You haven’t won a thing!” You may have a “feel-good” feeling about where you are in the competition, but the race isn’t over. Moreover, changing your approach with a lap to go could prove costly as other runners are bound to be pushing hard to catch up.

The same is true of your high school experience where each year is like a lap of the race.� Each year is important academically as you prepare to step up and meet the challenge of the year that follows. In all likelihood, your Junior Year really put you to the test as the work was harder and the expectations were greater. But you made it and that may have been cause for celebration in itself!

Having done well through your Junior Year may have left you feeling good about your prospects of graduating and getting into the colleges of your choice. Nonetheless, you need to ask yourself, “What have I really accomplished at this point? How many colleges have accepted me?”

The Senior Year is the all-important “last lap” of your high school experience—and all of it counts! If your objective is to not only graduate but to get into colleges that are selecting from among hundreds if not thousands of compelling candidates, you need to be attentive to how you finish the “race.”

Even now, in late February of your Senior Year, the outcome of the race has yet to be determined. In fact, admission officers at selective institutions are waiting and watching to see what you do academically when you don’t think you have to do anything. They want to see who among the competitive applicants will sprint—or stumble—when the race is on the line. And they will wait until the middle of March to make their final decisions.

So, stay focused academically. Continue to get the most out of your high school experience—even when it would seem that doing nothing is a viable option. Give admission officers every reason to be excited about you as you sprint to the finish!

Do you know you have rights as a college applicant?

Well, you do. As you apply to colleges, you have the right to certain information about them including information about how much it will cost you to attend. According to the National Association of College Admission Counseling (NACAC), a member organization that includes more than 11,000 college access professionals, you have the right to:

• “Receive factual and comprehensive information from colleges and universities about their admission, financial costs, aid opportunities, practices and packaging policies, and housing policies. If you consider applying under an early admission plan, you have the right to complete information from the college about its process and policies.”

• “Be free from high-pressure sales tactics.”

• “Wait until May 1 to respond to an offer of admission or financial aid.”

In order to make good decisions, you need good information and, quite often, a reasonable amount of time in which to consider your options. Toward that end, NACAC further stipulates that:

• “Colleges that request commitments to offers of admission and/or financial assistance prior to May 1 must clearly offer you the opportunity to request (in writing) an extension until May 1. They must grant you the extension and your request may not jeopardize your status for admission and/or financial aid.”

• Candidates admitted under early decision programs are a recognized exception to the May 1 deadline.”

It is important to note that May 1 is regarded as the “Candidate’s Reply Date”—the date by which admitted applicants must make their final college choices. That date was established years ago to allow students a reasonable amount of time to consider their college options and to give colleges a date by which they could begin the registration process (course selections and housing) for the coming year. If you are not an Early Decision candidate, then, you should be afforded time to process admission decisions and financial aid awards that you receive from various colleges and universities.

That said it is easy to fall prey to pressures to make enrollment commitments before you are ready. For example, you may have already encountered enticements such as early or “priority” application deadlines associated with scholarships or housing preferences. Some colleges may offer you scholarships that you can only claim by enrolling well ahead of May 1. And, if you applied to schools that offer “Rolling Admission,” you may be offered admission with the expectation that you will submit a non-refundable enrollment deposit—as soon as possible!

If you feel uncomfortable about the conditions that seem to be placed on your admission status, there is probably a good reason to proceed with caution. Listen to your instincts. And recognize the circumstances for what they are. The colleges in question are attempting to secure as many enrolled students as early in the process as possible.

If you don’t feel you are in possession of the information necessary to allow you to move forward comfortably with a particular college, ask for an extension. It’s not likely that your enrollment opportunity will be withdrawn if you miss a deadline (May 1 is the possible exception). And communicate your concerns with your college advisor as well. If the college remains insistent, ask yourself whether this is the sort of place with which you want to be associated for the next four years.

NACAC has produced a number of important documents that help to define ethical behavior for everyone involved in the admission process. To learn more about your rights and responsibilities as an applicant, go to the Policies and Statements page of the NACAC website. Click on Student Rights and Responsibilities in the College Admission Process to download a pdf brochure. In addition, you may find the Statement of Principles of Good Practice (for the enrollment cycle of 2009 and 2010 academic year), a document that guides the actions of colleges and universities, to be instructive as well.

The college admission season is now in its last days and I thought it might be interesting to give you perspective on why the May 1 deadline is so important to colleges and how it effects those who monitor the enrollment efforts at those colleges.

The last 10 days of April can be the most maddening of the year for deans of admission as the May 1 National Candidates’ Reply Date draws near. After two years of exhaustive recruiting and then months of intensive credential review, the next entering class still hangs in the balance for colleges and universities. In my own experience as dean of admission, while my colleagues and I were confident each class would materialize as surely as a rite of spring—history offered that assurance—we never felt secure in that knowledge until the last enrollment deposit was received.

We could imagine the fully formed class but we still couldn’t see it. It remained a work in progress on a very tight schedule and that only added to the angst. Twice daily trips to the campus mailroom didn’t produce more immediate results and, at times, only added to the frustration. And, yes, there were times when misplaced mail pouches caused near meltdowns among anxious observers.

Adding to the angst felt in the admission office was the seemingly incessant and increasingly impatient stream of calls and emails from the “higher ups” on campus regarding the status of the class. “How do the numbers look today? How does that compare with last year at this time?” “When will we know if we need to go to the Wait List?” “How many scholars have enrolled?” “How does the yield look on our financial aid offers?”

So many questions for which there were, at best, partial answers. We were always confident in the credentials of the students we had admitted, however, we knew they would be attractive to our competitors as well. We admitted these students because we saw them as good fits for our campus. Now, we had to convince them that our school was the best fit for them.

The offers of admission had been made weeks earlier and financial aid awards followed soon after. The open house for accepted students had been a success. Now, phonathons featuring our most engaging students and faculty worked overtime to make accepted students feel welcome and wanted. And families continued to visit the campus for one last look before making the final choice of a college.

Unfortunately, no amount of hard work or worry on the part of the admission staff could hasten the outcome. While our history told us that the class would indeed materialize, it also told us that 75-80% of the non-Early Decision enrollments would arrive after April 25! All we could do was “hurry up and wait.”

I offer this perspective because similar scenarios are playing out on hundreds of college campuses around the country—right now! You might find it only fitting that college officials feel the stress and uncertainty of a process that has exacted a similar toll on you and your family. After all, as a college applicant, you have been living the “hurry up and wait” experience for months.

The proverbial “ball” is now in your court and you need to determine your next course of action. After waiting for months to learn of your acceptances, you have to stop everything that might be going on in your life to focus on choosing a college. The timing isn’t great, but you have little choice. You have worked hard to put yourself in the position of being able to make the final choice and no one can blame you for wanting to take full measure of the time available before the May 1 deadline. Nonetheless, you need to act soon.

By the way, May 1 is not an arbitrary deadline set to ease the anxieties of admission officers. College officials have a very short turn-around time after the enrollment process is completed in which to assign academic advisors, set the academic schedule, complete course registrations and order classroom materials for the coming fall. In addition, they need to make housing assignments, verify financial aid awards, set their operating budgets and set up the billing process for a new group of students. As you can see, May 1 is certainly not any more convenient for colleges than it is for the students they admit.

The bottom line: it is important that you honor the deadlines and requirements that have been placed before you. Choose one school and inform the rest of your decision. Resist the temptation to submit enrollment deposits to three or four or five colleges now so you can make your decision later. Instead, follow your instincts to the place that fits you best and begin to invest in becoming a first-year student at that college.

Over the course of a year, no universal deadline looms larger than does April 15 for American taxpayers. But don’t tell that to the hundreds of thousands of families whose children need to make the final choice of a college by May 1!

For students admitted to one or more colleges this spring, the not-so-fine print on the letters of acceptance have instructed them to respond with an enrollment deposit by May 1. This date, the National Candidates’ Reply Date (NCRD), is observed by most colleges and universities in an attempt to bring closure to the college admission process.

If you are an admitted student, the rules are simple. Choose one school and submit the required enrollment deposit by May 1. Colleges cannot insist that you submit the deposit prior to May 1. And you may not submit deposits to multiple colleges. Allowable exceptions involve late (post May 1) offers of admission from Wait Lists that would require you to forfeit an initial deposit at one school in order to enroll at the school that has accepted you from the Wait List. As a matter of courtesy, you might also notify institutions that have admitted you of your decision to enroll elsewhere.

Unfortunately, the NCRD comes only weeks after you received notification of your admission decisions and financial aid offers. After months of anxious waiting, you must suddenly shift gears to make one of the most important decisions of your life. Making matters worse, everyone who knows you will have an opinion about what you should do! There is a good chance you are hearing things like: “Take the scholarship and run!” or “Wow! You got into an Ivy—you’ve got to go!” or “You know your grandfather went there and it would make him proud if you were to choose his alma mater,” or “Their engineering program is ranked higher than the others…” and so on and so on!

All of these good wishes simply add to the growing paralysis by analysis that takes over your thought process. However well intended the arguments and pitches, they don’t really contribute to productive decision-making. You need to summon all of your tact and diplomacy to step out from under the weight of these conversations and refocus on making a choice that makes sense for you. To do so, I recommend the following:

• Re-visit your priorities. Why do you want to go to college? What are the 3-4 things you want to take from your college experience? Get past the clamor of public opinion. This choice is about you and how an educational experience can best serve you.
• Reflect on the five elements of a good college fit. As a reminder, the best college for you will be one that provides:
  1. A program of study that meets your needs.
  2. A level of academic rigor/challenge commensurate with your ability/preparation.
  3. A style of instruction that matches the way you learn most comfortably.
  4. A community that feels like home.
  5. Evidence that it values you for what you do well.
• Create a spreadsheet on which you list the five elements on one axis and the colleges under consideration on the other. Then, rank the each school within each category. In other words, if you are considering five colleges assign a rating of 5 to 1 to each school under each element of a good college fit.
• Visit the campuses. Even if you have seen them before, go back. While the schools will offer tours and information sessions, give each your own “white glove” treatment. Make a point of visiting the academic departments that interest you. Talk with the professors and undergraduate students who are hanging out in that area. What do they like about their experience? What do the professors value in the students who come into their classrooms? How do the students feel about their opportunities to learn and grow?
• Evaluate costs. If money is a factor, create a spreadsheet on which you list all of the schools on one axis across the top. Then, down the side, list total educational expenses, financial aid and out-of-pocket expenses. Be exhaustive in listing all expenses and forms of financial aid. This will give you an objective look at the actual costs of attendance. I created such a template for the April 13 Web-Side Chat and would be happy to share it with you. Contact me (Peter@theadmissiongame.com) to learn more.
• Finally, put rankings aside. In all likelihood, there is very little actual difference in the strength of program at these schools. Besides, your ultimate success has much more to do with how you embrace the opportunities available to you at a given college than it does the name on the parchment that hangs on your wall after graduation!

As you approach the May 1 deadline, remember to celebrate the moment. This is about you, your life and your achievements. Remain true to yourself and you can’t go wrong!

“But I don’t want to go there!” Such is the all too frequent response of a despondent high school senior as s/he is reminded of the colleges that have admitted him/her. Despite the best of plans, when outcomes don’t match expectations in the college admission process you may be left feeling like your life has gone into a hopeless tailspin.

All is not lost, though. Before you allow despair to overwhelm you, take stock of your opportunities. The reality is that things are rarely as bad as they seem. So, in deference to an old and worn cliché—“when life hands you lemons, make lemonade.”

In the interest of finding the best “lemonade mix,” I would like to discuss two scenarios you may be encountering now that all of your admission decisions are in hand.

Scenario #1: While you have been admitted to a number of very interesting schools, your absolute first choice college has offered you a place on its Wait List. Now, you find yourself in an awkward position. Do you hold out hope that you will be moved from the Wait List or do you begin to invest emotionally in the options that are real?

As I have been preaching all winter, Wait Lists are likely to be active at most institutions this spring. The only questions, then, are when and for how many students. The key to getting in rests on the decisiveness of your response. If you want to compete for a place in the class from the Wait List, you must get on the “radar screen” of the admission committee at that school. We talked about steps you can take to accomplish this during the March 25 Best College Fit™ Web-Side Chat webcast, “Admission Decision Letter Preview.”

The key to success in any Wait List situation is to maintain a balanced perspective. While you want to do everything possible to enhance your chances of admission from the Wait List, be careful not to under-value the other options you do have in the process. After all, you are holding offers from places that are presumably good “fits” for you. Make sure you invest the requisite time and energy in preparing to choose from among them if the Wait List situation doesn’t pan out.

Scenario #2: You didn’t get into any of your top choice colleges, but you have been admitted at a couple of your “safety” schools. Unfortunately, they don’t hold the same luster that is associated with the places that turned you down. As “back-ups,” they we were fine—perhaps because you didn’t think you would ever really have to consider them. Besides, now that your friends have been admitted to some of the places that turned you down, the schools that are left may not seem nearly so exciting. You feel stuck. If this is the case, what can you do?

If you find yourself in such a situation, re-assess the options you do have. They weren’t so bad when you decided to apply. Rediscover them. Find out why they made it to your list in the first place. They may not carry the same cachet as the places that turned you down, but the academic opportunities they present are probably every bit as good as those you would have found at the other schools.

An alternative is to apply somewhere else as a late applicant. This is easier said than done, though, as most schools are reluctant to entertain late applications from students with whom they have little or no history. Your best chance in this instance is to find a college or university with an active Wait List and hope it will see your credentials as competitive with the students it is considering from its Wait List. This is not likely to be the case, though, at places that are as selective as those that turned you down earlier.

The conversation about admission decisions and enrollment options continues for Best College Fit Members on April 13 with the Web-Side Chat Series and “Evaluating Financial Aid Options.” At 7PM (ET), I will talk about the concept of the “expected family contribution” (EFC) and how colleges across the spectrum can interpret it differently. Then, I will review actual financial aid awards. In the process, I will guide you through a comparison of award letters and answer your questions.

NB: All Web-Side Chats are recorded and available for review in the Webcast Archives. In addition, I am offering a limited number of short-term private consultations to help families sort out college options including those relating to Wait Lists and/or financial aid. Please contact me directly at Peter@TheAdmissionGame.com to make arrangements.

Who would have thought that the headlines would read “Recession has Silver Lining for Class of ’09”? (Washington Post, Susan Kinzie, April 1, 2009) After hearing how “record numbers of talented applicants were rejected at top colleges” for much of the past decade, it would seem that this is the year of the applicant—or is it?

It turns out very little is predictable about outcomes this year. Sure, some members of the Class of ’09 are finding unexpected success, but the good news is not flowing evenly. In fact, if you are an applicant, much depends on your personal financial circumstances.

Students who do not need financial aid are finding more college options than usual. Conversely, those who need assistance are either finding themselves admitted—but short of the money they need—or, worse yet, on wait lists.

I heard about these scenarios and more during the March 25 Web-Side Chat in which I talked with Best College Fit™ members about what to expect with regard to admission decisions. I received questions about the impact of needing financial aid on a student’s ability to gain admission from the wait list as well as the likelihood of receiving merit scholarships from selective schools.

One participant, a college advisor, observed that, “Many of my full pay kids are getting money even though they haven’t asked. And my inner city kids are getting scholarship offers in their acceptance letters, but when the financial aid package letters come, they are gapped so much they cannot attend the schools.”

The next six weeks promise to be unprecedented with regard to renewed admission activity as colleges and universities press onward to get their classes. And it will be a time of opportunity for students who understand the process and are prepared to respond decisively when that opportunity presents itself. Wait lists will move and I won’t be the least bit surprised to see schools revisiting admitted students with new offers of financial aid and/or merit scholarships.

The Best College Fit™ (BCF) Membership program continues to provide insight and support to families as they sort through the various college options that lie before them. On April 13, BCF hosts a Web-Side Chat webcast, “Evaluating Financial Aid Options,” that will compare actual financial aid awards and provide advice with regard to next steps in making the final choice of a college. In addition the “College Talk” email listserves provides on-going conversation opportunity throughout the month.

NB: All Web-Side Chats are recorded and available for review in the Webcast Archives.