STUDENT-CENTERED SOLUTIONS FOR COLLEGE PLANNING

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.