College Planning Blog

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving–a uniquely American holiday during which we pause to reflect and give thanks for all that we have. It also begins a season of holidays that will be celebrated by families of all backgrounds and creeds. No other time of the year can rival this for festivity.

For young people applying to college, it is also a time of applications and deadlines–a time of essays that need to be polished, new test results that could prove pivotal and report cards that carry extra meaning in the admission process. To be sure, this is a time of great anxiety and more than a little stress for those who see their futures hinging on the outcomes of their college applications.

As the clock ticks on the admission process, it is important to keep everything in perspective. After all, the admission process is not a test that determines value or attaches worth to a young person and, by fiat, his/her family. Rather, families should relish the opportunity to celebrate achievement and look forward to the new possibilities that are emerging in that person’s life. In a student-centered environment, this means putting the needs and accomplishments of the student–and not a particular destination–at the center of all future considerations.

So, as you head into the holiday season, make this a happy time for the young people in your life. Celebrate them for who they are and what they are becoming in life. And be thankful for the opportunities for personal and academic fulfillment they are about to discover as they move on to college–wherever it might be!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Or, more specifically, “Will I have a better chance of getting in if I apply Early Decision?” That seems to be the question for many students as they try to calculate the best route to approach their top choice colleges. If a first choice is emerging from your short list of colleges, this question may be weighing on your mind as well.

Between the Lines: The Early Decision Commitment
Early Decision (ED) is an application option that enables you to apply for admission and receive a decision in advance of the Regular admission process. In order to apply ED, you must declare your intent to enroll if accepted. Should you be accepted, you also promise to immediately withdraw any other applications for regular admission that you may have submitted to other colleges.

The Early Decision or ED option has become very popular among students as they seek to improve their chances of admission in what are bound to be tight competitions. Students who choose to apply ED are prepared to forego potential opportunities at other institutions in favor of an early–and binding–commitment to one. If they are dead certain of that commitment, choosing to apply ED can make a difference. Many also see a successful ED application as the ticket out of an application process than can drag on interminably throughout the senior year.

If you have found a clear favorite on your short list of colleges, you might be considering an ED application yourself. This is serious stuff, though. ED embodies a commitment–kind of like taking the “big” step in a relationship. Before moving forward, you need to be absolutely, beyond a shadow-of-a-doubt certain you are ready to do it. Just as in a relationship, there are lots of factors to consider.

“What if they don’t take me?” “What if I get in but they don’t give me the financial aid I need?” “Can I change my mind if a better offer comes along later?” “How can I be sure I will feel the same way about the school six months from now?” Unfortunately, there are no guaranteed outcomes when considering the ED option. Thus it is clear, Early Decision is not for everyone.

So, what’s the scoop with Early Decision? Colleges’ tendencies with regard to Early Decision (ED) have changed dramatically over the years. Originally an application option extended by elite institutions to their best candidates, ED has become the perfect marriage between institutions with complex enrollment agendas and students on the competitive bubble who are eager to improve their chances of admission at those schools. Let’s take a closer look at how and why colleges utilize their ED programs.

The admission process is an opportunity for colleges to manage enrollment–to maintain or improve levels of selectivity while enrolling just the right number of students. When the number of applicants far exceeds the number of places to be filled, institutions must calculate closely the number of students to be admitted or run the risk of missing badly on their enrollments. One way they can reduce this risk is by accepting students in smaller increments (with staggered deadlines) that allows them to monitor the yield on offers more closely. At many places, the first such increment is the Early Decision or, in some cases, Early Action (non-binding) program.

A secondary benefit to the process of incrementally admitting and enrolling the class is that admission officers are able to keep an eye on selectivity (a.k.a. admit ratio) and yield as it relates to the overall enrollment process. In addition to enrolling the class, admission officers at most schools are eager to demonstrate greater selectivity (limit the number of offers made) while improving the yield (percentage of accepted students who enroll). By planning to admit more high yielding Early Decision candidates, they address both of these objectives.

Clearly, then ED presents advantages to both students and the institutions they are considering. It’s not a perfect solution, however, and the decision to apply ED cannot be taken lightly. To learn more about the “pluses and minuses” of the Early Decision option, join the “Straight Talk About College Admission” teleseminar at 9 PM ET on Tuesday, November 20. Click here to register.

Note: The text for this blog is taken from Chapter 13, “Playing the Early Decision Card,” of Winning the College Admission Game: Strategies for Students.

A critical element of just about every application is the student’s ability to bring clarity to the interpretation of his/her academic record. In other words, when there are irregularities in a student’s program and/or performance, s/he has a “story” to tell. The context for such stories, or explanations, often rests in factors that are beyond the student’s control, i.e injury, illness, family moves, parental difficulties, etc. In the absence of explanations, though, admission officers must guess about the circumstances–and that rarely bodes well for the candidate as admission folks are more often cynical than charitable in their estimations!

A circumstance frequently raised as consequential in this regard is that relating to a student’s documented learning difference. Specifically, families often wonder if or how the presence of “Individual Educational Plans” (IEPs) in the student’s academic experience should be conveyed in the application for admission without prejudicing the candidacy. While there are few solutions that fit all situations in this regard, it is important to consider the manner in which information is shared with the institution, first, with regard to the student’s candidacy for admission and, then, as it relates to securing necessary support for the student once enrolled.

In terms of admission, I would err on the side of meaningful disclosure. Give the admission committee the full picture so it can make a balanced evaluation of your credentials. Places that value you for what you do well will try to find ways to admit and support you. Providing an awareness of a learning difference for which you are compensating may give them greater confidence in their respective abilities to help you find success. On the other hand, you can’t worry about schools that might not admit you. The odds are that they would not have been good fits for you in the long run anyway.

That said, you cannot count on the admission office to pass along the documentation of academic support needs to folks in the academic program. While that can and, in fact, does happen at some schools on a “need to know” basis, such information is routinely purged from applicant files (in the spirit of confidentiality) after a student makes the decision to enroll. Regardless, plan to present documentation of disability and need for support to the counseling center/disability office after you have enrolled. Don’t assume they will have gotten the information from the admission office.

According to educational consultant, Allen Tinkler, in a note to colleagues on the National Association of College Admission Counseling (NACAC) listserve, “one of the biggest errors kids/ families make…is the assumption that just because the documentation was sent, whether to admissions or to disability support services, the college will provide accommodations and services. This is not true. The student must…self-identify and go through some kind of intake interview, discuss accommodations requested, sometimes negotiate, and learn the procedures at the college. This is done with CURRENT, COMPLETE and APPROPRIATE documentation.”

Allen further observes, and I agree wholeheartedly, that students need to learn to be “strong self-advocates.” At his former school, “each student with an IEP or 504 plan was given a complete set of documentation…at a final meeting with parents present (and) instructed that it was now up to them to take the responsibility of receiving accommodations at college. They were instructed that sometime between the distribution of those papers and the beginning of classes at college they needed to contact the disability coordinator, present themselves and their papers. We were literally passing the baton over to them.”

Ownership and the assumption of personal responsibility are vital to your success in all aspects of life. So seize the opportunity! During the senior year, and certainly by the time you graduate, step forward and accept responsibility. Make a difference with regard to the direction you will take during your college years and beyond!

Amidst concerns that college rankings have subverted the college planning process, a new tool is emerging that helps families find good college “fits.” On Monday, November 5, USA Today announced its plans to partner with the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) to reveal institution-specific data that measures the levels of student engagement with their undergraduate experiences.

According to USA Today’s Mary Beth Marklein, NSSE “seeks to gauge the quality of an undergraduate education by looking at how actively involved students are with their studies, professors and the campus community” with the underlying premise that the “more engaged students are, the more likely they are to learn.” For consumers about to invest in four years of an undergraduate education, this is a good beginning point in identifying colleges that represent good fits for their students.

The NSSE survey employs 85 questions that address various activities common to most learning environments. As Marklein reports, “Research shows that these activities, while not direct measures of learning, are associated with student success.” Students are asked to reflect on their experiences in five categories each of which produces a benchmark for the institution that can be compared with the national average for similar types of institutions. Categories include the level of academic challenge, student-faculty interaction and the extent to which a college offers an active and collaborative learning environment.

By utilizing the NSSE surveys, college and universities are able to produce a powerful set of data that defines the learning experiences on their campuses–data that can help shape refinements to their respective educational programs while providing valuable insight to consumers about the relative health of those same programs.

This kind of transparency into the educational process is both welcome and needed. In its absence, consumers have had little choice but to try and tease meaningful insight out of the various college ranking guides. The problem with the NSSE initiative, though, is that only a fraction of the colleges and universities want to play. While nearly 1,200 schools (roughly one-third of four year institutions in the U.S.) have participated in the NSSE survey at least once since 2000, only 250 have agreed to reveal their scores in the guide that USA Today and NSSE are planning to publish.

In my opinion, there are a number of reasons for this. Chief among them are cost and risk aversion. Participating institutions pay NSSE anywhere from $1,800 to $7,800 (depending on enrollments and other factors) in order to have the survey administered to their students. While this may not be a line item for many operating budgets, I find it curious that quite a few institutions spend much more than the amount of the NSSE participation fee on an annual basis to burnish their images/credentials in the face of scrutiny from the ranking guides. The greater issue for many, however, may well be the unwillingness to take the chance that the survey results may not coincide with the rhetoric of their promotional campaigns.

Nonetheless, it is important that you, as a consumer of higher education, take stock of this opportunity to look past college rankings and become well-grounded in student-centered college planning. Whereas rankings are often used to justify the transaction, the NSSE data gets at the real substance and satisfaction associated with education. Rankings attempt to quantify the mythical pecking order among colleges; NSSE quantifies the learning experience within colleges. If families are to make good, student-centered decisions about colleges, NSSE provides a welcome perspective on the question, “What do we get for our tuition dollars?” One can only wonder why more colleges aren’t willing to open themselves to this type of assessment.

To read the USA Today story in its entirety, go to :
http://www.usatoday.com/news/education/2007-11-04-nsse-cover_N.htm?loc=interstitialskip

In preparing your applications for admission, it is important to remember that the application you are submitting is a personal statement. You are saying to the admission committee, “This is who I am and what I have to offer.” In a tight competition, your ability to make a compelling statement in this regard can make all the difference. The following excerpt from Chapter 8 “Reveal Your Talents” of Winning the College Admission Game: Strategies for Students provides additional insight that will be helpful as you contemplate the messages you want to send to colleges in your “personal statement.”

“If you have a clear sense as to what you do well and have discovered colleges that are likely to value you for the things you have to offer, the next step is to make a strong connection with these colleges. This is especially true at colleges that must make fine distinctions between hundreds of talented students. You need to make your gifts and talents known so when they ask the question, “What do we get if we admit you?” the answer is clear.

Bring your talent to life. If you are a musician, make a studio quality recording (tape or CD). Audition if you can. If you are an artist, attend portfolio days or assemble a slide collection of your work to submit with your application. This demonstration of talent will be required for entry into highly selective conservatory or specialty programs in the arts. It can also make the difference for you at schools that value the arts but are not pre-professionally oriented. You do not need to have professional aspirations as an artist, musician, actor or dancer in order for your talent to give you a competitive edge in the selective admission process.

By demonstrating your talents in this way, you go beyond the listing of activities and achievements on your application to reveal the nuances of tone and texture that distinguish your performance from the rest of the competition. Just as athletic coaches want to see game tapes to determine who will be competitive, music directors, drama coaches and art instructors observe closely to identify those who will contribute to their programs.

Consider also how evidence of your gift(s) might give flavor to the overall presentation of your application. Take advantage of an interview or email exchange with the recruiter in your area to talk about the things that excite you. Use the personal statement or mini-essays to expound upon them. Make sure the people who write on your behalf can bear witness to your personal growth and commitment through your passions.

You do need to be convincing, though. It is one thing to present an application that includes activities you have pursued extensively with listings of honors, awards and positions held. That type of presentation is important in validating your commitment. It is quite another when you list every club for which you have attended at least one meeting! Students who do that are not unlike the kids who were somehow able to sneak into all the group photos that appear in your yearbook. It’s clear they don’t belong. Admission officers look for substantive involvement over time that is marked by achievement and leadership. It is up to you, then, to reveal your gifts in such a way that those who read your application are easily persuaded that your passion and commitment are real.

Between the Lines: Win An Advocate
When you present evidence of your performance, you put those who view it in the position of imagining what it would be like to have you in their programs. If you can convince them that you would make a difference–that you would add value to their existing efforts–you will win them over as advocates. While having a talent advocate does not mean you are sure to be admitted, it can make a big difference in a tight competition.”

Important Reminder: The Straight Talk About College Admission teleseminar series features two programs in November. Join Sam Barnett and me on November 20 for “How to Find the Best College Fit” (8 PM ET) and “To ED or Not ED: The Pluses and Minuses of Early Decision” (9 PM ET). Go to http://www.TheAdmissionGame.com/teleseminar_schedule.php for more information about how to register.

A question I hear more frequently as application deadlines draw near is one that relates to the relationship between admission and financial aid. Specifically, parents want to know if checking “yes” or “no” to the question on the application for admission: “Will you be a candidate for financial aid?” will effect their student’s admission status. It’s a fair question given the way the world of college admission is spinning these days.

Unlike the relatively laid back admission process that most parents experienced, the present-day deliberations at many colleges are strongly influenced by the desire to enroll the most impressive entering classes possible and, thus, increase their standing among their peers. As institutions seek to burnish their reputations by increasing their selectivity and enrolling high profile students, the role of financial aid has shifted from that of “enabling” students who need assistance to “leveraging” the enrollments of those who possess talents/interests that are valued most highly by the institution.

A student’s ability to be self-supporting financially, then, has become an important credential in the eyes of many admission officers. And, yes, the fact that a student can indicate that s/he is not applying for financial aid can only help. On the other hand, checking “yes” to this question on the application for admission should not hurt. Why? While colleges may, in fact, discriminate based on financial status, they are foolish to do so at the front end of the process before they have seen any real data that demonstrates a student’s need. It is often the case that up to one-third of the students who check “yes” (that they will be applying for financial aid) either never apply for aid or they do apply and demonstrate that they don’t need it. As a result, admission officers are likely to wait (usually until early March of the admission process) so they can see all of the financial aid data for all of the students whom they might admit before deciding, albeit discretely, who will get what.

Years ago, before colleges became concerned about improving their admit ratios and yields (percent of admitted students who enroll), it was not uncommon for them to recognize the strength of a student’s credential by admitting him/her even if they were not going to offer financial aid to meet that student’s need. While consistent with the notion of “need blind” admission–the belief that a family’s financial circumstance should not influence the admission outcome–such a strategy would prove counter-productive for colleges that are concerned about improving their respective yields and becoming more selective.

While claims of “need-blind admission” status continue to emanate from many institutions, they should be regarded somewhat cynically. Institutions, both rich and poor, are becoming increasingly adept at strategically deploying their financial resources in order to leverage the enrollments of students whom they value most highly. When they make decisions to admit and to aid students, with either need or merit-based assistance, they are “resource aware.” In effect, they are making business decisions intended to benefit their institutions. An absolute concept, “need-blind admission” can only exist when it applies to every student in every circumstance of the admission process. When there are exceptions–and one doesn’t need much of an imagination to see the possibilities–institutions fail to meet the “need-blind test.” Unfortunately, “need-blind” is a great idea that is rarely, if ever, achieved.

This brings us back to the original question of, “How do we check the financial aid box on the admission application?” The answer: respond honestly. If you need assistance, say so. At this point, it costs nothing to express an interest. Besides, the simple fact of the checkmark in the “yes” box doesn’t provide sufficient information for an admission committee to discriminate one way or the other.

If you know you don’t need assistance, say “no.” Answering with a checkmark in the “no” box doesn’t eliminate a student from merit scholarship consideration nor does it preclude him/her from receiving assistance from government sources. In fact, there is nothing binding at all about the checkmark. In my experience, the checkmark serves of little value to admission officers except to alert them that you might be submitting a financial aid application in which case they can help to make sure it is complete.

In light of the revelation about “resource aware” admission, it should behoove the student to focus on finding the best college fit. Critical to the discussion of good fit is the notion that the college that is a good “fit” will value the student for what s/he does well. In this instance, a good college fit will not let a student’s financial status stand in the way of admission.

This is an important topic for many families and I will address it at greater length during the December 19 Straight Talk telesminar, “Inside the Financial Aid Application Process.” I look forward to having you join us with comments and questions.