Ok, you’ve asked permission to get out of class and arrived at the room where the admissions officer is waiting to brief you on the incredible reasons why you should apply to their school.  This is a great chance to interact with an admission’s office at what could be your dream school.

Tips

Make the connection!  The admissions officer is often the first person who will read your application, what a great opportunity for some quality (almost) 1-1 time. 

Fill out the card! Yes, the admissions officer really wants these.  1^st, it helps them keep track of who comes, 2^nd it helps them match a face to name, and 3^rd, it show the all-important “demonstrated interest”.

Pay attention!  The admissions officer will tell you what is important on their application.

Ask questions! Below are some questions to ask that will help you get to know the school better.  And, it will help avoid those oh, so awkward pauses that can so often occur when a group of students are all waiting for someone else to get it started.   

Some Questions to ask

• What is unique about your school?
• Describe your school’s culture.
• What type of student fits in best or is the happiest?
• What is your school’s biggest strength?
• What it your school’s greatest room for growth?

• What do you look for in a great application?
• What do you look for in a great essay?
• Are there different admissions requirements for different departments or majors?
• What unique characteristics do you look for in your applicants?
• How might my _________________ specialty/interest influence admissions to your school?  (You can fill in the blank with your unique thing:either your major, or såomething special you are involved in – like a sport, art, etc.)
• Is it better to apply with a specific major or undeclared?

• What support is there for freshman?
• How do freshman sign up for classes? 
• What choices do freshmen have in class selection?

•  What do your students do just after graduating?
• What are the opportunities for internship, research, and employment?
• What do students do for fun?  Are the events mostly on campus or off campus?

High school seniors, do you have your seatbelts on?  Hope so, because this season’s application period is heading over rocky roads, switch back roads, and long construction delays. Headlining these issues are the lack of communications from the Common Application Membership Organization (the oversight organization for the Common App) and member universities.

When the Common App went live on August 1^st, there was a 250-character surprise in the “Short Answer” section; which went from 1,000 characters to 750; without any communications to counselors or students.  After receiving many complaints, the Common App Org, simply changed it back to 1,000 characters; again without any communications to their user constituents. While 250 characters may seem trivial, the answer cuts off anything above the specified count, making every keystroke critical in this hyper competitive environment.  Students who have already submitted their applications cannot modify the short answer. But, those students can create an “alternate” application; modify the short answer and submit the alternate application for new schools.  Students who have not submitted any schools can change the short answer on the original application. Moreover, this is creating a lack of trust in the Common App itself, with students and their parents going over each line to check for more modifications and making the students uneasy about submitting a completed application.

While the Common App is suffering from intimacy issues with their users; many member universities are having their own commitment phobias. When the Common App went live on August 1^st, a majority of member schools had not yet made their supplements available.  As of August 21, 2011, there are still a significant number of schools who have not yet activated their 2012 supplements, among them are: Chapman University, DePaul University, Loyola Marymount University, University of Pennsylvania, University of San Francisco, and Yale University.   Since these supplements change from year to year; students are anxiously awaiting their availability in order to complete the application.  There is no formal notification process; so nervous applicants add a check of the Common App to their daily task list.

For seniors heading back to school with overloaded schedules including fall extracurriculars, SAT testing, and fighting senioritis; this delay compacting supplement completion by weeks, creating yet one more added stress to the college application process.  For expert help, see a Independent Educational Consultant to help navigate the roadblocks and keep you up to date on the constantly changing landscape of college applications. 

The higher education budget crisis in California is causing shockwaves at universities across the United States as students seek options beyond the UCs’ and CSUs’.  Even on the east coast, at institutions like Bryn Mawr, Haverford, and Swarthmore; California applications and admissions are up significantly and Californians now outnumber New Yorkers at these schools.

The impact on private and public universities closer to the west coast is even more pronounced.  For example: Chapman University, a mid-sized private school in Orange, CA saw a 30%+ increase in applications for the incoming class of 2011. University of Arizona saw thousands of applications from Californians in the days after UC acceptances were posted. But, nowhere is the impact greater than at the University of Oregon where significant changes are coming for the applicants for the class of 2012.

Oregon saw 25% growth in both 2010 and 2011 applications. While the number of California applications has not yet been released, admissions officials do admit that Californians have impacted the class diversity and applicant base.   In 2010, Oregon offered 623 students places on their waitlist, 306 acknowledged remaining on the waitlist, and 142 were ultimately offered admissions. However, in 2011, the waitlist has grown threefold; 2300 students were offered waitlist slots, 1100 confirmed and they anticipate offering 900 students admissions, with a majority of those with GPA’s between 2.9 and 3.3.  This would indicate that while Californians are applying in droves, those with GPA’s over 3.4 are not ultimately matriculating at Oregon.

Therefore, Oregon is about to announce significant changes to its admissions processes and policies.  While these are not yet published as final, these changes are being communicated unofficially to counselors and students who request information. Here are the salient portions of the changes for 2012 applicants:

·      Eliminated: The automatic admissions for students earning a 3.4 GPA or higher.  This guaranteed admission was a simple application and fee; making it easy for those who met this threshold to apply. It will be interesting to see if this results in less applications for those that now need to do yet another essay and application (since Oregon is not on the common app).  Perhaps this is one of Oregon’s desired outcomes?

·      Modified: More holistic reviews.  The admissions office specifically called out to me their review of the essay, extracurricular activities, and curriculum as part of their admissions process.  However, they also enumerated that even fabulous extracurriculars would not compensate for extraordinarily low GPA or test scores.  This would however, let Oregon accept students who are below their historical automatic threshold earlier in the application cycle.

·      Added: Essay required of all applicants. In the past, essays were only required of those who did not meet the automatic admissions requirements. There are a number of implications: less applications submitted, more work for the admissions office, potentially better balanced classes as holistic applications reviews look beyond the GPA, and a chance for a student to express why Oregon is the school for them.

·      Added: 1 additional college prep class requirement.  Oregon has increased to 3 years for Science requirement.  This includes a minimum of 1 lab science.

In lieu of the automatic acceptance, Oregon is offering a non-binding early notification option for applications submitted by November.  Early submitters will be notified of admissions status by early January.

Housing policies have been modified as well, so that only freshmen will be offered housing. Therefore, housing will be guaranteed for all freshmen.

In a time when unpredictability trumps reach, target, or safety categories, University of Oregon’s new admissions policies will ratchet up stress on students up and down the western seaboard.

Now here was a university I was prepared to dislike.  With much bad publicity as a party school, and widely reported problems with drugs and drink in the Greek system, I was already prejudiced before even walking onto the campus.  

However, we were lucky to have a current student from my own kids’ high school available take us on a tour (Thank you, Eric!).  He walked us through the campus, showing us the place where almost 25,000 students are immersed in higher education.  The campus was very clean, considerably cleaner than most other California public universities and notably cleaner than UC Berkeley.  It was very diverse with almost every culture, age group, and personal style represented.

SDSU was one of the prettier campuses with a distinct mixture of traditional California adobe

 and ultra modern architecture that somehow all seems to go together. 

The very modern library is mostly underground, but the architecture makes effective use of natural lighting. 

As an in-city school there was a plethora of eateries and off-campus housing surrounding the perimeter of the school.

As we were leaving we walked by a number of student run organizations. The Jewish Student Union caught my eye, partially because at every other table there was one lonely student just hanging out.  At the Jewish Student Union there are 4 students all speaking animatedly (note to students: a smile and enthusiastic body language goes a long, long way in getting other to talk to you – including recruiting new members).

Our little group stopped to talk to the students grouped around the desk and walked away very impressed by their engagement at the school in both academics and extracurricular activities.  One young women specifically brought attention to her path. She’s a sophomore, majoring in education: elementary studies and explained to us about her internships, working with primary school students.  Listening to the passion in her voice, I was reminded not to judge a school by its notorious headlines or the gossip in College Confidential, but to look at the school on its own merits and to have each student see it for themselves – the good and the bad. 

Does SDSU deserve its reputation as a party school?  I can't say for sure, but I can say there are serious students studying with intensity and that whether any school is a party school is fully dependent on the student. 

Ok, I’ll admit it.  Like everyone else I have pre-conceived notions of what certain colleges are like based on what others say and write about them.  Some of those impressions are positive and some are not as enthusiastic.

Over the last 5 years, I’ve received very strong reactions about 2 schools in particular – University of California San Diego and San Diego State University.  The majority of the transfer clients I’ve worked with who have not come out of community college, have come from 1 of these 2 schools. Anecdotally, I hear often of students dropping out of or transferring from these schools.  In contrast, the stories I heard of happy students from these schools are rarer.

So, when our family started planning our spring break trip to San Diego, I anticipated due diligence tours of UCSD and SDSU, so that I could confirm my negative opinions and then get to the rest of our vacation.

Well, last week I was reminded about why it is so important to visit colleges yourself and research school fit before passing judgment.  Tours of both schools helped me discover why these schools are not a fit for some and what you should consider before matriculating at either one.

University of California – San Diego

UCSD’s campus is beautiful.  Close to the coast, it is a sprawling behemoth with over 1,200 acres and a mix of modern and even more modern architecture.

 This is UCSD's main library (in addition to being a building of the future in many feature films).  It is stunning. 

With over 23,000 undergraduate students, UCSD is highly competitive, admitting only 37.9% of applicants.  Admitted students had an average GPA of 3.96 and SAT composite of 1980.

Over the years, I had heard from multiple students how unhappy they were at UCSD and most of the criticism was around 2 different areas:

• The campus, large and spread was too isolating.  The colleges within UCSD tend to be cliquish and unwelcoming
• There was too much inflexibility around the lower division general education classes

·          As I took the tour and learned about the 6-college system at UCSD, I began to understand the reason for the dissatisfaction of some students. Beyond the usual mismatch fit of a specific university, which happens occasionally, it appears that being placed in the “wrong” college at UCSD is significant grounds for university unhappiness.

Each student who applies to UCSD completes their college choice at the same time by ranking each college in order from 1-6.  UCSD first admits the student to the university and then assigns a college.  While we were told that 92% of students receive their first or second college choice; in an official straw poll I conducted, the number was far lower and a fair number of students were housed in their 5^th or last choice college.

Since the college admitted dictates the underclassmen general education classes to be taken, a college mismatch can be meaningful to the overall educational and college experience.  For example, a student primarily interested in history and humanities may feel out of place at Sixth College where the emphasis is on technology and modern era content.

UCSD is a university where particular attention to the college one is assigned needs to be factored into the decision on whether to matriculate. It also points up to the importance of doing due diligence on where to spend the all-important 4 years (or more) of undergraduate studies. A good fit college assignment correlates directly to UCSD student satisfaction. 

In the case of college visits, more is definitely better.  It is only with seeing a number of schools and hearing first hand about their offerings that a good comparison of the qualities can be made.

Go see a school, or even better go see a dozen schools. Learn first hand and in-person what makes a school unique. 

Last year, I wrote about the UC/CSU system-wide budget crisis and the trend toward privatization; this year’s update is more focused on elitism that is becoming our state public system.  I recently attended a college admissions industry update on the state of the California schools and walked away with a number of points to ponder when making a decision on whether to apply and matriculate to a California state school.  

What is the outlook for 2011? 

1.     The UC’s have capacity to increase admission, but will be decreasing admissions to meet budget restrictions.

2.     The guarantee of an UC admission to the top 12.5% will be decreased to approximately the top 9%

3.     An estimated 20,0000 to 30,000 qualified students will be denied acceptance to a UC.

4.     More use of waitlists. In order to better optimize enrollment, it can be anticipated that more UC’s will go to wait lists.  However, UCLA has already stated it will not use waitlists and it is unlikely that Berkeley or UC San Diego will either.

5.     Tuition increases of 8% to 20%.  One proposal under consideration is annual increases of 8% - 10%.

6.     Additional acceptance offers to out of state students.  It is possible for enrollment to increase to 20% or above.

7.     Majors, minors, and classes to be cut.  As of now, specific items have not been identified but it is possible that entire programs will be cut.

Is this all? Not by any means, at recent budget meetings the regents made some extremely disturbing comments that indicate additional impacts on the UCs  are still to come:

"All bets are off. No longer can we say the Master Plan even exists," said regent Sherry Lansing, in reference to California's 50-year-old blueprint for ensuring that all Californians had access to higher education. "We have a core value system we have to protect. I'm asking every one of us to be really entrepreneurial." (UC Newsroom)

“The moment is fast approaching when the university will no longer be able to guarantee admission to all California applicants who meet the eligibility criteria,” the central tenet of the state’s 50-year-old Master Plan for Higher Education, Yudof said.

What does this mean to the class of 2012 and beyond?

1.     Capacity and legally mandated matching funds for in-state students.  The state of California is cutting the per student contribution from $7,930 to $7,210.  But even worse, as a budget-cutting device, they are cutting the number of students that they are matching resulting in fewer acceptances by in-state students.

2.     More competition for fewer slots. Since there are fewer acceptances, and for the most part, in spite of the newly identified “holistic reviews”, UC’s are by the numbers.  Those with higher-class ranks, GPA’s, test scores and AP’s are more likely to be accepted.

3.     As high schools are not all created equal, California introduced use of Eligibility in the Local Context (ELC) in an attempt to level the playing field.  Therefore, students at highly competitive high schools who have excellent statistics, but are not in the top 9% may lose out to students with lower credentials at less competitive schools who are in the top 9% of their schools. In the past, this was not a gating factor for high performing students, but with the current budget crisis, those students should expect denials at UC’s.

4.     More out of state students accepted as revenue generators.  However, this may not be the solution the Regents are looking for, as anecdotally out of state students are questioning the quality and cost of the UC experience on discussion boards like College Confidential and College Prowler.

5.     Longer time to graduation with fewer major choices.  This will be addressed in more detail in a subsequent post.

6.     Total higher costs for students within the California system.  Calculate with an 8% annual estimated cost for a minimum 4.5 years to compare with costs of out of state public or private schools.

California students should look at alternatives to the UC system for competitive, high quality education that can be completed in 4 years.

Do you think it’s fair that out of state students are being offered admittances based on their ability to pay over $50,000?  If you were an academically qualified, in-state student who was offered the chance to attend a UC but pay out-of-state prices, would you? Let me hear from you. 

If the Graduate were re-made today, everyone would be whispering “Engineering” instead of “Plastics” in Dustin Hoffman’s ear.

As a college admissions consultant in the heart of Silicon Valley, it is the norm to work with students whose parents are highly educated, and the significant majority of their fathers are engineers.  As such, they have a substantial bias towards their students applying for an engineering degree.  I’ve refereed many such debates over the last 4 years.

Today this debate  has gone mainstream between two stratospherically successful college dropouts: Bill Gates and Steve Jobs.

If you are a student being lobbied by a parent (or two) to major in Engineering or parent trying to influence a student’s major here are some points to ponder:

¨     Following one’s strengths is really key to long-term success. Engineering requires strong STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) skills.  If you are (or have) a student excelling in English, Social Sciences, and Arts but barely passing the STEM subjects, forcing an engineering agenda is not a recipe for success.

¨     Passion for STEM and engineering is often in a student’s DNA. I recently had this exact conversation with an engineer who hires engineers.  He observed that he could easily tell the “natural” engineers during the interview merely by asking if they had done any programming in high school.  He further observed that those who had tinkered in high school were also the most successful engineers over time.

¨     Statistically, STEM careers (not just engineering), do make more money over time than Liberal Arts students, however, those that are passionate are successful with any degree.  If your only measure of success is the amount of your paycheck, and you are likely to prosper even at subjects you dislike, then an engineering degree may be a viable path.  If quality of life, following a passion, or balance are highly important, then pursuing that passion should take precedence.

¨     It is much easier to switch out of engineering degree than into one. Engineering disciplines begin in freshman year; for many other degrees students’ don’t need to declare their major until their junior year.  This allows the undecided student time to explore and discover who they are.

¨     Engineering programs are competitive to get into and competitive to stay in. Starting with the application itself, the process for engineering students is more demanding.  Additional supplements describing “WHY ENGINEERING?” are required at almost all programs. And, like students perusing admission in performance arts, or music, there are many more engineering candidates than slots available. Engineering prospects must be thick skinned during the college admissions process. They must also prepare adequately by including safety (both academic and financial) schools and being open to attending those schools, should their first choice not be an option. (Oh, and this goes double for their parents as well)

All of this may make it seem that I am predisposed against students majoring in engineering. Nothing could be further from the truth, what I am about is encouraging students to find and pursue their passions; not their parents’ or any societies determination of what is the hot thing to pursue.

 Were I at that graduation party, I would be whispering “Passion” in Dustin Hoffman’s ear – as long as my husband wasn’t listening. 

One of the changes in the Common Application this year, is the requirement to send 1^st semester Senior Year (7^th semester) transcripts to all common app schools.  This request encompasses early action, early decision, and regular decision applications. In addition, this year a record number of non-common application schools have requested the mid-year transcript to review before making a final offer of admission.

What are schools looking at in the senior year first semester transcript? Signs that the senior is no longer serious about school and ways to determine the fit of an applicant who is on the cusp of eligibility.  Here are some of the things colleges will be looking for:

•        Is the senior completing all of their graduation and college required classes? Each year there are students surprised that they while have completed the requirements for high school graduation; they have not met the additional requirements to be admitted to their first choice university.
  
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•         Is the senior still taking challenging classes?  A student, who’s been taking AP classes sophomore and junior years, still needs to be challenging themselves and not just taking underwater basket weaving.
  
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•         Is the student keeping their grades up?  For a student who has earned A’s and B’s, a C can have a negative effect, and for any student a D or F can be devastating.  Sites like College Confidential abound with discussions of students who have had their admissions offers rescinded because of a bad case of senioritis.  The elite UC’s (UCSD, UCB, UCLA) are notorious for rescinding automatically upon receipt of a senior transcript with a D or F, even in a non-required class.  Aggressive and immediate action in filing an appeal to be reinstated is only sometimes effective.
  

• Is the senior dropping classes?  A dropped class is a beacon to an admissions officer that the senior is not keeping up the pace.  Carefully consider the classes registered in the senior year.
  

Care should be taken during registering for senior year to make sure classes are consistent with the student’s portfolio, but not so difficult or boring that the student is not inspired to study.  Stay on top of those pesky homework assignments so grades stay up.

Of course, the best way to avoid potential application bombs is to prevent them, but what happens if one of these potentially damaging events does happen?  While detrimental, it is not necessarily catastrophic if handled immediately and in a proactive way.  Communicate the issue and planned solutions (registering for a makeup class for example) as soon as grades are published, so that the communication reaches the admissions offices before the transcripts.  Where possible address to the regional admissions officer for each school.   Be sure to send to all schools, even schools where admission has already been offered. 

This should put to rest any lingering doubts within students and parents regarding the importance of senior year class selection and grades.