American U. Admissions staff member jumping into the fray!

Colleges and Universities A-Z American University
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<p>@nervous - I think iwrite’s son is a pretty good example that you don’t have to do everything to be a competitive candidate for us. Solid, consistent commitments with increasing responsibilities are great, as are involvements outside the HS environment. I think the goal though in these cases is to show that these involvements are STRUCTURED (I’ve had students include “reading books” as an activity but without any structure to this how can I tell what sort of commitment the student has made?). So, as to question 1, I would say that he’s in fine shape. Service is an important part of our culture (pet adoption) and we sincerely value the maturity that work experience demonstrates. As to question 2, we do accept additional recommendation letters, within reason. No student should have more than 4 letters of recommendation on file, but one from an employer/supervisor is a fine way to round out an application.</p>

<p>@AUgirl - again, iwrite is giving you a good blueprint! When I talk about “fit,” what I’m talking about are the values that a student has and how they jibe with our values as an institution. When I talk about AU, I note that we are a global, diverse, hands-on institution with a student body that wants to serve the world and make a sincere difference in their efforts. So when I see students who have strong service commitments, have traveled or studied abroad, are hands-on in their learning (internship, etc.), and are working hard to make the world a better place (through politics, service, community activities, etc.) then I know I’ve got a great fit for AU. That said, not every admitted student is going to have each and every one of those points checked off on a list, and we don’t expect them to. The goal should be to follow your passions and if you’re passions fit with AU, then we’ve found a good fit!</p>

<p>Glad to know about your interest in ED as well; while our exact admit rate eludes me, I do know it’s well above our 43% admit rate for RD. As to deferring, generally we would not defer a student from ED to RD unless we were waiting for an additional testing date or fall semester grades. We don’t think deferrals help anyone in ED!&lt;/p>

<p>Finally, we love to hear that you’re head over heels for us, so tell us whenever and however you can! Visit campus, do an interview, see us when we’re traveling, do an online chat, do a college fair, email your regional director, etc. etc. There are many, many ways to reach out to us and we do note your interest along the way!</p>

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<p>KBJandAUandADMIS: I’m loving AU from all the information I’ve been able to gather (structure, classes, profesors, career service, etc). But as everyone is commenting on FA packages I do have a few questions:
Is financial aid provided for students seeking a second degree?
Are there work/study opportunities available?</p>

<p>Any similar information would be appreciated.</p>

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<p>Any admitted undergraduate who qualifies for need-based financial aid can receive financial aid to attend the University, which would include grants, loans and work study monies. I’d encourage you to poke around the website below for peeks into the various programs we would offer for financial aid recipients:</p>

<p>[Transfer</a> Prospective Students](<a href=“http://www.american.edu/financialaid/transferprospects.cfm]Transfer”>Prospective Transfer Students | American University, Washington, DC)</p>

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<p>Thanks for answering my questions!</p>

<p>I really want to visit AU again. I visited my sophomore year and loved it. I tried to go again last year, but the snow storm kicked in… and my parents decided against it. =(</p>

<p>So we’ll be coming in the fall, hopefully.</p>

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<p>Hi! I’m really interested in American but I don’t know if and when I’ll be able to visit, but I plan on doing an online chat. I know that interest plays a role in admissions, is there anything else I can do to show that American is at the top of my list? I don’t think I would be able to apply ED for financial reasons.</p>

<p>Also, I write on my school paper. Would it be okay to send in copies of articles I’ve written?</p>

<p>Thank you!</p>

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<p>Similar to what Shannonm525 said, I am extremely interested in AU and I am considering applying ED next year. Do you have any tips as to how I can convey how much I love the school and how I think its right for me?
Thanks so much!!</p>

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<p>@shannon - Glad to hear of your interest in AU! If you can’t make it to campus (which is absolutely fine), I would encourage you to see if one of our staffers is coming to your region (I think we visit something like 40 major metropolitan centers in the fall), participate in an online chat, reach out directly to your regional director of admission by email (all of our contact info is on our website), or speak to your interest in AU directly in your application (essay, etc.). All of these things are great ways to demonstrate your interest in and knowledge of AU!</p>

<p>As to additional materials, generally I discourage the submission of these materials as they have no bearing on our admissions file review. If you do a few of the things I’ve listed above then you’ll be in fine standing when it comes to “interest” in AU (as well as hopefully cementing your knowledge of and desire to attend American!).</p>

<p>@college - Aside from simply demonstrating your interest in the University through interactions with us, it is important to consider your “fit” with us. I know fit is kind of a buzz word for college admissions, but for our community it is very important that we fashion a class that reflects the values of the institution. If I were to attempt to define the values of AU, I would note our international dynamic, diverse perspectives, desire for hands on engagement and an earnest interest in changing the world for the better. Couple that with a liberal arts university academic context, where we bring together the strong teaching element of a liberal arts institution with the abundant professional and academic resources of a university, and you have the AU experience. We have a passion for creating meaningful change, and the more we see of these elements in your own experiences, the more likely we are to determine a positive fit with us in our review. So while there’s not much you can do actively to impact this, if you have a history of involvement in service, or hands-on learning (internships, etc.), or interest in diversity of international experiences (study abroad, etc.), or a desire to change the world, then chances are we would deem you to be a good fit with AU!</p>

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<p>A question for the admission staff member (I think it’s great you are helping students and parents out here!) - my oldest daughter was accepted to AU honors program with a generous scholarship, but ultimately decided to attend elsewhere. My younger daughter may also apply to AU; would the fact that her sister declined to attend affect the younger D’s chances of admittance?</p>

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<p>Not at all! While we are a spiteful lot in general (kidding!), your older daughter’s application/decision/enrollment will have absolutely no bearing on your younger daughter’s decisions here at AU!</p>

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<p>A question about financial aid: my D will be a Sophomore at AU this fall, we review her Financial aid package this morning and we are very surprised that she received less than last year… our FAFSA is 0 ( last year was $900) and she made the Dean’s list twice with an 3.8 gpa… my H called and they said we need to appeal … do you think it will work? it’s a difference of $4000 , we are talking about…</p>

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<p>Unfortunately, my knowledge of financial aid practices at the University is very limited. I would defer to the professionals there for all questions financial aid related.</p>

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<p>Does AU Admissions re-weight stuff or do they use the given school’s GPA’s?</p>

<p>My school gives both an uw and a weighted GPA, but my band classes are placed into both of those. I know at some schools, they completely take band out of the picture or they won’t weigh it as an honors class. [At my school, if you complete both jazz band and concert band, it is considered an honors class.]</p>

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<p>I am pretty sure AU takes/looks at the GPA your school gives them.</p>

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<p>@AUGirl - college993 is right. So long as the GPA your high school provides is on a 4.0 scale (or some variation thereof), then we will accept it outright. Also, we would normally utilize your weighted GPA over your unweighted GPA. The only cases where we do recalculate a GPA are for those institutions where the grading scale/marks do not fit a 4.0 grading format.</p>

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<p>My son is a very interested senior with a very well-rounded background and solid GPA (3.8) The problem is is that he is not in the top 10% of his class (barely top 20%) because of competitiveness of his high school. In fact, out of his class of around 1100 kids, 7 of them just scored 36 on the ACT. Does AU have any way of knowing that and taking that into account?</p>

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<p>@Mallrat - You’ll be happy to know that we do not actively review class ranking when making admissions decisions for many of the reasons you’ve illustrated above!</p>

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<p>Also, per my absence of last week, quick apologies to all as I was away in Maine for vacation!</p>