Here’s an interesting sampling of admissions advice tidbits from a bunch of different schools. Some are selective, others not. This advice is probably more useful than from, say, an Ivy admissions person who is looking for world-class differentiators.
Sample:
Justin Rogers, Canisius College director of undergraduate admissions: “The only thing colleges and universities have in common is that we are all different. The same can be said for the students who apply. Make sure the colleges know that. Tell your story. Some of my most memorable offers of admission have gone to students who like to color outside the lines.”
I like this advice (although I’m sure there are plenty of tricks). I know some of my D’s colleges have links from the admission section of their website on “What distinguishes a College X applicant” or “Tips on writing a great essay” and so forth. Now that her application list is set I’m going to check back and add these links into the application table (which has her deadlines, requirements, essay questions, etc.)
I’m a little flummoxed by the ones who suggest you keep in contact with the admissions office. Even if you have one of those rare questions not answered on the website, how do you keep going back and forth? If I worked as an AO, I think I’d be annoyed by students who continuously “kept in touch.” Maybe it’s good advice for some, but if my D did this it would be a case of using tricks and playing the game!
Does it reflect poorly on me that I rolled my eyes reading most of these? Maybe it’s just because i’m on kid 2 and I’ve been through this but here’s what i think colleges want:
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the highest possible standardized scores/GPA they can attract (easy for the top 20…harder for the rest) so they can move up in rankings.
good essays that make the kid seem likable – or at least intriguing.
hopefully someone who will reflect well on the school, who will be liked by professors, who will add a spark, and who will donate money later.
can pay full tuition.
And that’s pretty much it.
I’m surprised the ad coms at large state schools like Stony Brook University wanted students to keep in touch. SBU accepted almost 14,000 students last year. I’d think that if 80% of prospective students continued to contact admission counselors about things that could be easily found online, at least a few ad coms would get ticked off.
^Given the kinds of applicants/essays they occasionally see, as well as other aspects of the job (getting up at 5 AM to visit 4-5 schools in a day, day in and day out for much of the fall) I’d guess adcoms are very patient. The ones who can’t put up with a long list of annoyances don’t stay adcoms for long.
May be they just want them to say, “Happy Day. I am still planning to apply.”
I have seen the Northwestern adcom mention a few years ago that interest to them means they want students to go through them to contact a professor, department etc to ask any specific questions as opposed to going to them directly since they don’t know they are showing interest by contacting someone directly in the school.
So true! What a game. Just got through the college admission process with my first child. What an eye opener. Will definitely do things differently with my second child. Painful!
“Don’t try to play the game, as there are no tricks to getting admitted. Listen to the advice of admission counselors from each institution to provide insight on their admission process”-Janine Bissic
After filling out 8 different applications with my son from a process that started from the fall until May 1st, it sometimes felt like a game. The problem is that advice of admission counselors are so broad that it is difficult to apply so that it fits the student. One says “Be Yourself” in the essay-yeah but what does really mean?? Especially when there are so many gifted students also applying.
With that being said I think essays are the key for getting acceptance. I also agree that its better to be great at a few things than okay at a large amount of EC’s. At least this is what has worked in our case.
The adcoms want some things, the profs want other things, the alumni office wants entirely other things. So messages get mixed during a school visit or during one’s experience attending a school.
I say "Don’t play it safe with the essay. Go Big!! If you whiff well its still better than playing it safe. For UCLA alone they had over 100,000 applications. At the top private schools some have 40 thousand applying for 2 thousand spots.Starting out with “I want to help people because…” is not the way to go. I want to clarify “be truthful” but make it funny or bold. What have you got to lose? This is assuming you have academic stats that are comparable.
I do not want to help people or change the world…diversity blah blah blah I just want to go to college at your school because I like the location , there were a lot of pretty girls around campus when I went on the tour and you have nice dorms. I realize your website says you have all these cool options that make the school unique but, I have applied to 12 schools and you are in my top 3. (none of your business where in the top 3 you fall) please accept me or don’t one of my schools I applied to will accept me and my parents money.
I do not want to help people or change the world…diversity blah blah blah I just want to go to college at your school because I like the location , there were a lot of pretty girls around campus when I went on the tour and you have nice dorms. I realize your website says you have all these cool options that make the school unique but, I have applied to 12 schools and you are in my top 3. (none of your business where in the top 3 you fall) please accept me or don’t one of my schools I applied to will accept me and my parents money. >
@zobroward Kudos for the honesty!! Just spice it up with some funny commentary and you have yourself a winner. And I would not just come out and say that you don’t want to help people or change the world. A little too honest!! But I’ll take it over hearing about how you “made a difference” by having mommy and daddy spend 10K to have you color with local village kids on a South American vacation.
Do not forget the line I went to teach the peasants but soon I discovered I was actually the one learning. Being so humble as to realize we humans are all the same and even a wealthy kid from the United states can learn from those people living in a farming village on the edge of the jungle.
@zobroward Yes!! Don’t forget the myriad of challenges you have overcome in life like that one afternoon when the internet went down or when it took you over two hours to find a gluten free restaurant. Sharing these hardships only make you stronger and top schools want fighters!!
Do schools have the resources to read each essay? May be, the essay counts as one of the final ‘filters’. Even then, do schools have the resources to read an ENTIRE essay? One thought is to keep an essay kind of small - just say what you feel.
