College admissions in the United States
[15] Private and affluent public primary education, test-prep courses, 'enrichment' programmes, volunteer service projects, international travel, music lessons, sports activities – all the high-cost building blocks of the perfect college application – put crushing pressure on the upper middle class and their offspring.The college applications process can be stressful for parents of teenagers, according to journalist Andrew Ferguson, since it exposes "our vanities, our social ambitions and class insecurities, and most profoundly our love and hopes for our children".
[29] Another risk in hiring a consultant is overpackaging: the applicant appears so smooth and perfect that admissions officers suspect the person is not real but a marketing creation.
There are many college and university rankings, including those by U.S. News & World Report,[40] Business Insider,[41] Money,[42] Washington Monthly,[43] and Forbes.
[51] In 2007, members of the Annapolis Group discussed a letter to college presidents asking them not to participate in the U.S. News & World Report "reputation survey".
[72] The online calculators look at financial need and academic merit to try to estimate the likely discounted price offered to a particular student from a particular college,[59] using information including details from tax returns, household income, grade point averages and test scores.
[13] College advisers suggest that parents keep financial records, including tax forms, business records, to use when applying for financial aid,[81] and complete the FAFSA online, using income and tax estimates (usually based on previous years), early in January of their college-bound student's twelfth grade.
[85][86] There are reports that many parents make mistakes when filling out the FAFSA information, and mistakes include failing to hit the "submit" button, visiting an incorrect FAFSA website,[87] leaving some fields blank instead of properly entering a zero, spelling names or entering social security numbers or estimating tax data incorrectly.
[90] U.S. News & World Report and others suggest another factor overlooked in terms of financing college, which is the length of time it takes to earn a degree.
Two-year colleges are often county- or community-oriented schools funded by state or local governments, and typically offer the associate degree (AA).
They are generally inexpensive,[80] particularly for in-state residents, and are focused on teaching, and accept most applicants meeting minimum grade and SAT score levels.
[98] Generally counselors suggest that students should plan on taking the SAT or ACT test twice, so that a low score can possibly be improved.
)[102] Generally over half of eleventh graders retaking the SAT or ACT tests during the twelfth grade saw improvements in their scores.
Reporter Jacques Steinberg in The New York Times suggested that admissions deans repeatedly inform him that colleges view the ACT and SAT tests equally and do not have a preference.
[13][115] Knowing a college can be helpful during an interview, so that an applicant can say something specific about the school, or a professor who teaches there, or a subject or internship opportunities, since it shows sincere interest.
This is not a date.One suggested that a goal of interview preparation should be to present oneself as "comfortable with spontaneous conversation" and be able to talk about interests without sounding like the answers were prepared in advance, and suggested it was important to show intellectual passion and a love of learning with a deep excitement, and show "social maturity" with sensitivity, empathy for others unlike oneself, and concern for issues larger than personal career ambitions.
In part that is true, but what impresses an admission officer is an essay that conveys something positive about the applicant; that allows the committee to get to know the kid just a bit from those few pieces of paper.
[116] Former guidance counselor for students at Andover and college admissions authority Donald Dunbar suggested that essays must emphasize personal character and demonstrate intellectual curiosity, maturity, social conscience, concern for the community, tolerance, and inclusiveness.
include babysitting experiences, pets, encounters with illegal drugs or alcohol or criminal activity,[131] excuses to explain a low grade,[131] stories about a former home or big brother or sister,[132] a simple listing of achievements,[131] expressing thanks for being chosen as a leader, talking about a "wilderness leadership course",[133] general complaining or whining,[131] racism or sexism or disrespect for groups of people,[131] bad taste or profanity or vulgarity or bathroom humor,[131] early love or sex experiences,[131] criticism or disrespect for parents,[131] telling only jokes,[131] excessive bragging or too many instances of the "I" pronoun,[131][134] personal health information about yourself or a friend or a family member,[131] and copy-and-pasting a term paper in the essay form[131] such as about global warming or the European debt crisis.
[138] Former admissions director Michele Hernandez agreed, and suggested that the best essay topics were a slice-of-life story with poignant details, in which the writer shows and does not tell.
[116] Advisors counsel that mistakes or changes should be explained somewhere in the application; for example, an adviser at Grinnell College suggested that a record need not be perfect but there must be an "explanation for any significant blip".
[147] A report in The New York Times in 2016 suggested that some universities were considering changing their admissions guidelines to be more inclusive of less affluent applicants, to put less emphasis on standardized test and AP scores, and to put more emphasis on determining "which students' community-service projects are heartfelt and which are merely window dressing"; the report suggested that college admissions policies were often "cited as a culprit in sleep deprivation, anxiety and depression among students".
[152] According to Andover counseling director Sean Logan, applications to American universities from foreign students have increased dramatically in the past decade.
Colleges put together their entering class as a mosaic: a few great scholars for each academic department; a handful of athletes; some musicians, dancers, and theater stars; a few for racial and economic diversity; some potential club leaders, etc.
Criteria include standardized test scores (generally ACT and/or SAT), college prep courses, grades (as shown in the high school transcript), strength of curriculum, class rank, degree of extracurricular involvement, and leadership potential.
[168] Some of these models take into account factors such as an applicant's "zip code, religion, first-choice major and extracurricular interests, as well as academic performance".
Some colleges extract information from the federal FAFSA financial aid form, including names of other schools the applicant is applying to.
We know they're probably using us as a back-up and they haven't done much to show any sincere interest, so we decided to waitlist them.One report suggested that colleges seek students who will be actively involved on campus and not spend every day studying alone.
[227] Many community colleges have articulation agreements with four-year schools, particularly flagship state universities, so that matters such as the transfers of credits are handled appropriately.
[citation needed] In 2018, there was a probe by the Department of Justice into whether colleges practicing Early Admissions violated antitrust laws by sharing information about applicants.
[236][237] Wealthier applicants also benefit from other advantages, like test-prep courses, private schools, international travel, and extracurricular activities, such as in athletics and music.
