College Admissions Strategy Guide

fizix · March 20, 2007, 8:33pm

So, I thought it would be a cool idea to write a post whose purpose would be to describe college admissions in a nutshell to the average high school newbie. Edits, corrections, and additions are highly welcome (and virtually mandatory for the progression of this thread). If this thread gathers enough momentum for the opinions stated to represent a general consensus, I'll post the final version in its own thread.

To people reading this thread: the most informative version of this guide is probably the one found furthest down the page.

CC Admissions Strategy Guide, version 0.1 beta

Caveats
--This document, at the moment, represents the sole opinion of a nerdy high-school kid. (Please do not flame said nerdy high-school kid.) As always, we need people to edit it so it becomes better and starts representing the opinions of actual experts. Kinda like Wikipedia.
--Most information in this document is designed to hold in general, and for admissions to selective American colleges. For instance, a 2.0 GPA may be acceptable if you've missed six months of school due to leukemia or something. Use common sense.
--When editing, please go by the latest version only. (It might be on the last page of the thread.)

Difficulty of high school
--It's good to be from a prestigious high school (since people realize it's harder to get a 3.8 at some schools than others).
--At the same time, the more courses your school offers, the harder courses you're expected to take.
--At a more difficult high school, your rank will probably be lower. (not good!)

Courseload
--No, you do not need a certain special number of APs to get into School X.
--The type of courses you need to take depends largely on what your school offers. If your school offers 2 APs, it's good to take 2 APs.
--The guidance counselor has a large role in determining how hard your courseload is judged to be. On the Common App School Report, they ask whether your courseload is "most demanding," "very demanding," "somewhat demanding", or "not very demanding" (I forget if those are the exact words, but that's the gist of it)
--Try to take courses that reflect your interests.

GPA/Class Rank
--The higher, the better (obviously)
--(In general) Above 3.5 is pretty good, anything below 3.0 is considered a flaw
--In some cases GPA may be considered relative to your courseload and the reputation of your high school.
--Usually people look at a combination of unweighted GPA and class rank since GPA weighting systems vary hugely by district.
--If your school ranks, it is highly recommended that you be in the top 25%.
--It's good if you're in the top 5%.
--A person who's ranked second in his class will be treated pretty much the same as someone ranked third in his class.

SAT/ACT
--The SAT is split into three parts: Critical Reading, Math, and Writing. Each section is scored on a scale of 200 to 800, and then they are added together to produce your SAT score. The higher your score, the better. The Writing section was just added a few years ago, so some people make references to their "old SAT" score (the sum of their Critical Reading and Math scores). Some colleges distrust the Writing score due to its newness and other factors.
--The national average on the new SAT (the sum of all three sections) is somewhere from 1500 to 1600.
--A 1270 (Critical Reading + Math) is considered pretty good (in-state and with suitable GPA it'll get you a full ride at a state school in Florida). If you do comparably on the Writing section this translates to about a 1900.
--For the top 20 or so schools it's good to have a score of at least 2100.
--I do not know jacksquat about the ACT, so someone should add stuff on it.

Extracurricular Activities
--It's better to devote yourself completely to a small number of clubs and activities that you're really interested in than to join every club you can find and not do anything for it.
--Officer positions are good.
--It helps if you can get something external out of the activity that shows your commitment (a great recommendation letter from your sponsor, or a paper if you worked in a lab, or a few awards if you did sports/debate/etc.).

Essays
--Make them interesting, a sense of humor helps.
--Try to avoid
(a) anything overdone
(b) sex, or anything known to be taboo in America
(c) sob stories
(d) anything you wouldn't want your parents to read
(e) anything you wouldn't want a complete stranger to read
(f) anything you wouldn't want pasted all over the Internet

Awards
--For the top 20 colleges, it's nice to have some of these.
--Local awards are good, but national and international awards are much, much better.
--Some good awards to have (not all are national) are listed [here[/url</a>]

Summer Activities
--It's useful to do something over the summer other than sitting at home watching TV.
--Certain summer programs and internships are considered quite selective (most of them are in the sciences). Often the most selective ones are free (for instance, RSI).
--The most selective ones usually have their own threads in the [url=<a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/forumdisplay.php?f=614%5DSummer">http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/forumdisplay.php?f=614]Summer</a> Programs](<a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=302001%5Dhere%5B/url">http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=302001) forum.
--(Give some examples of selective summer programs?)
--Also, you can do things like take university courses, get a job, etc.

Recommendations
--Any teacher can say you're "excellent"; the box that will really push you over the top is "best in career."
--It helps if teachers use specific examples from class that show exactly how excellent you are.
--Bring them a short resume beforehand so they know something about you.
--Ask teachers two weeks to a month in advance. Don't ask them for a recommendation a week before it's due.

fizix · March 20, 2007, 9:11pm

The following is to be considered part of version 0.1:

Other
--Certain colleges may give you special preference if you are:
(a) an underrepresented minority (black, hispanic, native american, etc.)
(b) a recruited athlete (explain precise definition of this term?)
(c) a legacy (parents went to the school you're applying to, etc.)
(d) a first-generation college student (your parents didn't go to college)
(e) have overcome tremendous obstacles (as shown in your essays)
--International students often have lower chances at top 20 schools than their domestic counterparts
--At most colleges, transfer admission is significantly more competitive than freshman admission

colege · March 20, 2007, 10:46pm

I think this is a great idea and can be very useful, with some more information. Not saying this is bad, it's a GREAT start but with some more info it could be very helpful.

fhimas88888888 · March 21, 2007, 12:53am

OP: Are you procrastinating??? hehehe.

Good idea though.

fizix · March 24, 2007, 1:23pm

Thanks for the support, here are a few additions that may be added in the next version of the strategy guide if they are sufficiently noncontroversial. Again, I invite and encourage people to post their own contributions. (I'm just getting it started.)

Where should I apply?
--It is advisable to start visiting colleges and thinking about which ones you want to go to in junior year, if not earlier. Keep in mind that the later you do this sort of stuff, the more busy you'll be.
--Do not apply to too many or too few colleges.
--Always apply to at least one "safety" school. Requirements for a safety school:
(a) you would be happy to go there, and if you were accepted to no schools except your safety school, you would not consider yourself a failure.
(b) you'll almost certainly get in (it may be advantageous to pick a safety that admits purely on stats and publishes minimum cutoffs)
(c) you can pay for it no matter what (in-state helps for this)
--In addition to your safety school, apply to some reaches (dream schools) and matches (schools where you think you'll have a realistic shot at getting in). Look at mid-50% GPA/SAT score ranges (published by US News).
--It is usually unwise to apply to more than ten schools (unless they're all on the Common App, etc.). Doing so will give you less time to perfect each application and provide you with an overly stressful senior year. However, you should probably apply to at least two or three.
--Special rules apply for people applying under an Early Decision, Early Action, or Single-Choice Early Action plan.

The College Process
--Most colleges require you to submit applications by sometime in January, and will give you your decision by sometime in March.
--Not all colleges follow this rule. Some have unusually late or early deadlines. Rolling admissions schools (e.g. University of Michigan, I think) will review your application whenever you send it (and will give back your decision pretty quickly), but you should apply as early as possible to such schools since fewer spots will be available for you if you apply later.
--Some colleges allow you to apply Early Decision, Early Action, or Single-Choice Early Action, meaning you must submit your application in November and they give you your decision sometime in December.
--College applications usually ask you to provide your identification information, family background, SAT/ACT scores, list of extracurricular activities, summer activities, academic honors, and essays/short answer questions.
--Additionally, you may be required to provide two teacher recommendations (this number varies).
--You also have to get your guidance counselor to fill out a school report, which includes your rank, GPA, description of your courseload, and a counselor recommendation. (Colleges understand that counselor recommendations will be generic.)
--In March you will receive your decision: accepted, rejected, or waitlisted. The waitlist is used by some colleges so that in case not enough people decide to come to the school, they can invite people on the waitlist, thus giving them enough students to fill the class. In most cases this does not happen, and very few students on the waitlist get invited to come.

ED/EA/SCEA
--Some colleges allow you to apply under an Early Decision (ED), Early Action (EA), or Single-Choice Early Action (SCEA) plan. These programs all allow you to apply and receive your decision earlier than under regular decision (RD).
--Early Decision is legally binding, meaning if you apply and are accepted there, you are promising you will go there. If you are accepted there, you have to withdraw your applications to other schools.
--In some cases you may be able to opt out of Early Decision (if your family can't pay), but this happens rarely, so do not count on this happening.
--If you apply Early Decision, you should
(a) know you can pay, no matter what financial aid is offered
(b) be sufficiently committed to the school
(c) be prepared to apply (have taken all required SATs by then, etc.)
--The advantages of applying Early Decision (ED) are
(a) at some schools, it is easier to get in ED than under regular decision
(b) if you are accepted, you don't have to work on any other applications
--Early Action also allows you to apply early, but is not binding (you don't have to go if you're accepted). You can apply EA to as many schools as you want.
--Single-Choice Early Action is like EA, except you can only apply SCEA to one school. You do not have to attend if accepted, however.
--Under an early plan, colleges can either accept, defer, or reject you. If you are deferred, your application will be looked at again in the regular decision round and you will know your final decision in March.
--Once again, an advantage of applying under an early program is you can get away with only applying to one college if accepted. 
--However, bear in mind that if you are deferred/rejected, you will have to write many, many applications in a time span of approximately two weeks. Not to mention some deadlines might happen before decisions are received (for instance, this year Caltech decisions came out after the deadline for scheduling an MIT interview had passed).

ferrisbueller · March 24, 2007, 3:05pm

GPA is almost always viewed relative to your courses and the difficulty level of your high school etc., at least at any school that isn't purely formula based.
Otherwise a very cool idea.

Shrivats · March 24, 2007, 3:11pm

Combining all of the above:

CC Admissions Strategy Guide, version 0.1 beta

Caveats
--This document, at the moment, represents the sole opinion of a nerdy high-school kid. (Please do not flame said nerdy high-school kid.) As always, we need people to edit it so it becomes better and starts representing the opinions of actual experts. Kinda like Wikipedia.
--Most information in this document is designed to hold in general, and for admissions to selective American colleges. For instance, a 2.0 GPA may be acceptable if you've missed six months of school due to leukemia or something. Use common sense.
--When editing, please go by the latest version only. (It might be on the last page of the thread.)

Difficulty of high school
--It's good to be from a prestigious high school (since people realize it's harder to get a 3.8 at some schools than others).
--At the same time, the more courses your school offers, the harder courses you're expected to take.
--At a more difficult high school, your rank will probably be lower. (not good!)

Courseload
--No, you do not need a certain special number of APs to get into School X.
--The type of courses you need to take depends largely on what your school offers. If your school offers 2 APs, it's good to take 2 APs.
--The guidance counselor has a large role in determining how hard your courseload is judged to be. On the Common App School Report, they ask whether your courseload is "most demanding," "very demanding," "somewhat demanding", or "not very demanding" (I forget if those are the exact words, but that's the gist of it)
--Try to take courses that reflect your interests.

GPA/Class Rank
--The higher, the better (obviously)
--(In general) Above 3.5 is pretty good, anything below 3.0 is considered a flaw
--In some cases GPA may be considered relative to your courseload and the reputation of your high school.
--Usually people look at a combination of unweighted GPA and class rank since GPA weighting systems vary hugely by district.
--If your school ranks, it is highly recommended that you be in the top 25%.
--It's good if you're in the top 5%.
--A person who's ranked second in his class will be treated pretty much the same as someone ranked third in his class.

SAT/ACT
--The SAT is split into three parts: Critical Reading, Math, and Writing. Each section is scored on a scale of 200 to 800, and then they are added together to produce your SAT score. The higher your score, the better. The Writing section was just added a few years ago, so some people make references to their "old SAT" score (the sum of their Critical Reading and Math scores). Some colleges distrust the Writing score due to its newness and other factors.
--The national average on the new SAT (the sum of all three sections) is somewhere from 1500 to 1600.
--A 1270 (Critical Reading + Math) is considered pretty good (in-state and with suitable GPA it'll get you a full ride at a state school in Florida). If you do comparably on the Writing section this translates to about a 1900.
--For the top 20 or so schools it's good to have a score of at least 2100.
--I do not know jacksquat about the ACT, so someone should add stuff on it.

Extracurricular Activities
--It's better to devote yourself completely to a small number of clubs and activities that you're really interested in than to join every club you can find and not do anything for it.
--Officer positions are good.
--It helps if you can get something external out of the activity that shows your commitment (a great recommendation letter from your sponsor, or a paper if you worked in a lab, or a few awards if you did sports/debate/etc.).

Essays
--Make them interesting, a sense of humor helps.
--Try to avoid
(a) anything overdone
(b) sex, or anything known to be taboo in America
(c) sob stories
(d) anything you wouldn't want your parents to read
(e) anything you wouldn't want a complete stranger to read
(f) anything you wouldn't want pasted all over the Internet

Awards
--For the top 20 colleges, it's nice to have some of these.
--Local awards are good, but national and international awards are much, much better.
--Some good awards to have (not all are national) are listed here

Summer Activities
--It's useful to do something over the summer other than sitting at home watching TV.
--Certain summer programs and internships are considered quite selective (most of them are in the sciences). Often the most selective ones are free (for instance, RSI).
--The most selective ones usually have their own threads in the Summer Programs forum.
--(Give some examples of selective summer programs?)
--Also, you can do things like take university courses, get a job, etc.

Recommendations
--Any teacher can say you're "excellent"; the box that will really push you over the top is "best in career."
--It helps if teachers use specific examples from class that show exactly how excellent you are.
--Bring them a short resume beforehand so they know something about you.
--Ask teachers two weeks to a month in advance. Don't ask them for a recommendation a week before it's due.

Other
--Certain colleges may give you special preference if you are:
(a) an underrepresented minority (black, hispanic, native american, etc.)
(b) a recruited athlete (explain precise definition of this term?)
(c) a legacy (parents went to the school you're applying to, etc.)
(d) a first-generation college student (your parents didn't go to college)
(e) have overcome tremendous obstacles (as shown in your essays)
--International students often have lower chances at top 20 schools than their domestic counterparts
--At most colleges, transfer admission is significantly more competitive than freshman admission

Where should I apply?
--It is advisable to start visiting colleges and thinking about which ones you want to go to in junior year, if not earlier. Keep in mind that the later you do this sort of stuff, the more busy you'll be.
--Do not apply to too many or too few colleges.
--Always apply to at least one "safety" school. Requirements for a safety school:
(a) you would be happy to go there, and if you were accepted to no schools except your safety school, you would not consider yourself a failure.
(b) you'll almost certainly get in (it may be advantageous to pick a safety that admits purely on stats and publishes minimum cutoffs)
(c) you can pay for it no matter what (in-state helps for this)
--In addition to your safety school, apply to some reaches (dream schools) and matches (schools where you think you'll have a realistic shot at getting in). Look at mid-50% GPA/SAT score ranges (published by US News).
--It is usually unwise to apply to more than ten schools (unless they're all on the Common App, etc.). Doing so will give you less time to perfect each application and provide you with an overly stressful senior year. However, you should probably apply to at least two or three.
--Special rules apply for people applying under an Early Decision, Early Action, or Single-Choice Early Action plan.

The College Process
--Most colleges require you to submit applications by sometime in January, and will give you your decision by sometime in March.
--Not all colleges follow this rule. Some have unusually late or early deadlines. Rolling admissions schools (e.g. University of Michigan, I think) will review your application whenever you send it (and will give back your decision pretty quickly), but you should apply as early as possible to such schools since fewer spots will be available for you if you apply later.
--Some colleges allow you to apply Early Decision, Early Action, or Single-Choice Early Action, meaning you must submit your application in November and they give you your decision sometime in December.
--College applications usually ask you to provide your identification information, family background, SAT/ACT scores, list of extracurricular activities, summer activities, academic honors, and essays/short answer questions.
--Additionally, you may be required to provide two teacher recommendations (this number varies).
--You also have to get your guidance counselor to fill out a school report, which includes your rank, GPA, description of your courseload, and a counselor recommendation. (Colleges understand that counselor recommendations will be generic.)
--In March you will receive your decision: accepted, rejected, or waitlisted. The waitlist is used by some colleges so that in case not enough people decide to come to the school, they can invite people on the waitlist, thus giving them enough students to fill the class. In most cases this does not happen, and very few students on the waitlist get invited to come.

ED/EA/SCEA
--Some colleges allow you to apply under an Early Decision (ED), Early Action (EA), or Single-Choice Early Action (SCEA) plan. These programs all allow you to apply and receive your decision earlier than under regular decision (RD).
--Early Decision is legally binding, meaning if you apply and are accepted there, you are promising you will go there. If you are accepted there, you have to withdraw your applications to other schools.
--In some cases you may be able to opt out of Early Decision (if your family can't pay), but this happens rarely, so do not count on this happening.
--If you apply Early Decision, you should
(a) know you can pay, no matter what financial aid is offered
(b) be sufficiently committed to the school
(c) be prepared to apply (have taken all required SATs by then, etc.)
--The advantages of applying Early Decision (ED) are
(a) at some schools, it is easier to get in ED than under regular decision
(b) if you are accepted, you don't have to work on any other applications
--Early Action also allows you to apply early, but is not binding (you don't have to go if you're accepted). You can apply EA to as many schools as you want.
--Single-Choice Early Action is like EA, except you can only apply SCEA to one school. You do not have to attend if accepted, however.
--Under an early plan, colleges can either accept, defer, or reject you. If you are deferred, your application will be looked at again in the regular decision round and you will know your final decision in March.
--Once again, an advantage of applying under an early program is you can get away with only applying to one college if accepted.
--However, bear in mind that if you are deferred/rejected, you will have to write many, many applications in a time span of approximately two weeks. Not to mention some deadlines might happen before decisions are received (for instance, this year Caltech decisions came out after the deadline for scheduling an MIT interview had passed).

natmicstef · March 24, 2007, 3:27pm

Fizix; what a good idea and well done so far.

I found it useful to know the below information; I don't know if you want to include this in your guide.

To know if a college is a safety/match or reach, search for Common Data Set or Insitutional Resarch in your college's web-site. This will give you a report on previous years admittance/enrollment figures with a breakdown of SAT/ACT of accepted applicants. The statistics will also show what percentage of applicants were accepted/deferred/waitlisted as well as other useful information.

BLY · March 25, 2007, 1:31am

This one has to be pumped

nowayjose · March 25, 2007, 10:09am

Try to do an obscure activity. The year someone in my Boy Scout Troop applied to a certain Ivy, they only had two other Eagle Scouts in the applicant pool (according to an alumnus friend). Needless to say, he got in.

chronicidal · March 25, 2007, 1:41pm

why does the common app ask if your school is on block scheduling, and for how many years?

menloparkmom · March 25, 2007, 1:57pm

fizix,
EXCELLENT post!!!! wish I had this 2 years ago!

milki · March 25, 2007, 3:08pm

Which is better Common App or the school's App ? Does doing the school's show any interest in them (vs Common App - Just another applicant)

erhswimming · March 25, 2007, 3:14pm

Maybe you could put all this into a series of articles on wikipedia. I know games like Puzzle Pirates and shows like 24 have their own wikipedia sites dedicated to those specific purposes. If you got one set up, I know there are enough people on here that would be willing to contribute to writing articles and such. Just a suggestion

danceluvur26 · March 25, 2007, 3:16pm

fizix great idea for a post! It's really good for people who are diving into the college application process and don't really know where to start.

Shrivats · March 25, 2007, 3:19pm

Common App is treated equally as the school's app by all schools. It's just a matter of which essays you prefer. (As well as the fact that common app saves a lot of hassle)

MorsVenit · March 25, 2007, 4:02pm

I like the concept and the general advice you offer, but I would suggest removing the link to the discussion of good awards to have. Getting too specific about what's good and what's not might make people pursue these awards for the prestige instead of something that they're interested in.

itida · March 25, 2007, 4:17pm

erhswimming that's a really great suggestion. I know what you're talking about. But we need a domain and hosting and such. I can work on that, but not right now since I'm kind of busy with stuff. In the meantime though we can just compile advice here!

DirectorsCut · March 25, 2007, 4:22pm

great job on this post OP

PlayerHater · March 25, 2007, 4:39pm

Ok, what you guys are thinking of is called a wiki, which is a collaborative site that allows multiple users to edit, e.g. wikipedia. So I made one.

<a href="http://collegeadmissions.pbwiki.com/%5B/url%5D">http://collegeadmissions.pbwiki.com/</a>

To edit, the password is "niagara".

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