Welcome New College Rep, ColbyAdmissions

<p>uhmm, I wanna ask another question : are religious activities (Church Youth Organization, taking classes studying the Bible,etc) regarded as ECs?</p>

<p>For "loser":</p>

<p>Religious activities may be counted as "extra-curricular activities"--particularly as some will involve considerable investment of time, energy and commitment to a cause or belief. Students often describe their youth organizations through a church or synagogue, or "mission trips" to other countries, which include some service or volunteer work as well. Some students also note taking classes outside of their formal high school experience--eg. Bible classes, Hebrew high school, etc.</p>

<p>Thank you, Colby Admissions! You're so kind.</p>

<p>ColbyAdmissions, thanks for taking the time to answer questions.</p>

<p>I was just wondering, how Canadians are viewed in terms of admissions and fin.aid? I see on several places on the website it says 'internationals-non canadians' and previously you mentioned that the transfer chances for internationals is much more difficult than Americans (though it is difficult all around!). I am Canadian and went to a Canadian university (though currently live abroad) so I am wondering where in the equation I fall. Also, are the admit. stats lower for the Spring transfer process or about the same? Thanks for any advice/feedback you can offer!</p>

<p>A quick addendum to my previous post. I am wondering additionally if it will hurt my chances being unable to visit or interview? I actually would like to do an interview, but I will be applying for transfer for the Feb. term and do not have the time nor the money to visit the main campus nor is there going to be anyone near me conducting interviews (I live in London, and the nearest as far as I can see is Wales or Nice, France). Additionally, if one is unaccepted for the Feb. term does that application automatically go forward to be reconsidered for the fall 2007 term? (apologies, maybe this was not such a quick question after all....)</p>

<p>Canadian students are treated as international students in our admission process--they are, in fact, there are more Canadians here than from any country outside the U.S. (China, India and Great Britain follow, but Canada is by far #1). The main difference between an application of a Canadian student and international student from another country, is that we ask the latter to complete the Foreign Student Financial Aid Application, whereas the former may complete either the FAFSA or CSS-Profile. All these forms are available on our website. </p>

<p>Your other questions touch upon topics I've addressed in previous posts on this and other threads... briefly, interviews are not required for admission to Colby (for reasons that include your situation); we offer alumni interviews in many places, however, and it might be possible for you to speak with one of our alums in greater London. Similarly, visiting campus isn't an option for many students, either, although we strongly recommend doing so for those who are able to do so. Students who apply to transfer in the mid-year, and who are not selected for admission, will not be automatically be considered for the fall term; however, students are able to "reactivate" an application, if they choose, and we will consider the candidacy again for the next admission cycle. We receive many more applications for the fall term than for the mid-year; however, we often have more space available in the fall, so I would say it's extraordinarily competitive either way.</p>

<p>Great thank you. Yes I have read through the thread and saw that you had touched on some of the questions I asked. Sorry!</p>

<p>Just wanted to say thank you ColbyAdmissions for all your thoughtful responses here. My D is a junior and we are just beginning the college search with her. Colby was on our "radar screen" just from reading about it in college guides, but we have become more interested after reading this. If you have time, can you give a brief description of life at Colby, from your point of you, touching on academic rigor, social life, school spirit and the surrounding environment. Thanks!</p>

<p>How would you look upon an applicant whose ECs are clustered in one area, and whose more impressive accomplishments in that area (professional acting) were before high school age? She has continued in her career, but has lightened up on it in favor of concentrating on academics. Does this reflect badly?</p>

<p>I'm afraid that any commentary I provide won't be nearly as relevant as that provided by those who are closest to the experience and "life" of Colby. A window to others' perception of what goes on here (and which we were excited to launch this fall) are podcasts from students and others around campus--from the following link, one may hear student-produced documentaries on a few aspects of Colby: <a href="http://www.colby.edu/news_events/news_article/podcast.cfm%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.colby.edu/news_events/news_article/podcast.cfm&lt;/a>. Of course, via our admission website, we offer the chance for prospective applicants to email current students, as well--and I also direct interested parties to those from whom students will learn--those who run and teach in our many programs. To be honest, I believe that our best advocates, and those with the greatest insight, are those who are "living the dream", if you will.</p>

<p>I will say, though, that my perspective is that our students are busy--they enjoy running from class to class, to activities, keeping themselves immersed and active in the Colby (and greater) community. Students are engaged in their studies, with research and group work, and with attention from their professors; of course, discussions are encouraged outside the classroom, as well. "School spirit" is high, but not just in one sphere of Colby life (at some schools, that phrase often applies only to one aspect of a campus' personality, and often that refers to an athletic team; for instance, some rivalries might encourage bevavior that could be called "spirited", but not particularly constructive)--students attend athletic events, but also performances, special lectures, and volunteer in the greater Waterville community. I suppose it's accurate to say that here, just as at most schools, students are as engaged and involved as they wish to be, and opportunities abound for those who wish to investigate them.</p>

<p>But in addition to my words, or those of our admission publications, I defer to the "experts" in this discussion--they are the students, professors, coaches, music directors and others, who will serve as better resources than I. I hope this doesn't read as a "cop-out", but most of my perception comes from across the street from where the action is--quite literally, as our office is on the other side of Mayflower Hill from most of the rest of campus.</p>

<p>I don't know if any scenario would ever reflect "badly" on a student who chooses to focus more on academics--especially as it's the most important part of a student's life at the college, and the most important part of an admission application as well. I suppose it all depends on the context of the person, how relevant extra-curricular activities might be, either before high school--and to what level of accomplishment-- or how spread out across interests they might be. When I'm usually confronted with this question (usually phrased, "Is it better to be heavily involved and accomplished in one area of extracurricular activities, or is it better to spread one's interest over several areas?"), my answer is evasively, "Yes." Another, perhaps deflective way to respond, is that a student should be the best Annie, or Stephen (or Tanya) that s/he can be, however that's defined. We know that students make choices in their lives, to pursue certain activities or favor specific academic paths, and we will try to evaluate a student's candidacy with that in mind. Hope this helps-</p>

<p>Hi ColbyAdmissions,</p>

<p>I have another question I was hoping you might be able to answer. Since I pulled out of my old university halfway through the year there are a couple of classes which appear on my transcript as 'Dropped' or 'Incomplete' because they were full year courses of which I completely only a portion of. Do I need to clarify this on my application (taking into consideration I explain earlier why I left that university and when I did it) of why it appears as such on my transcript or is this obvious? Any thoughts you could provide would be appreciated.</p>

<p>When you clarify your situation in the application--discussing why and when you left your current university--you might make a quick note then, to remind us that due to your mid-year withdrawal from the institution, your transcript will reflect "INC" or "DR". It seems a pretty reasonable/logical explanation , but that addition should satisfy any of my curious colleagues.</p>

<p>Colby Admissions,
I am an international student interested in Colby - a prospective Philosophy major. Colby has an amazing Philo department. The courses are excellent - cover almost every part of philosophy. And the faculty is highly qualified.</p>

<p>Can you advice me in the admission process? To be honest, I have very few ECs (does it really matter?)... Good SAT Scores, studying a rigorous social studies/humanities program.</p>

<p>Secondary school (10th) grades</p>

<p>Mathematics-2
Social studies-2
English-4
Science-4
Economics-4
Foreign Language-4</p>

<p>Higher Secondary School (12th) Expected grades</p>

<p>Logic-1
Political science-1
Psychology-2
English-3
Economics-3
Foreign Lang.-3</p>

<p>GRADE SCALE
1, 2-very good
3, 4, 5-credit
6-pass
7-fail</p>

<p>I would like to know how applicants are assessed. As you can see above my scores are not so great. But I believe that these grades are not a good assessment of my potential (why they are not is different issue). What I want to know is - what are the important factors that college considers while admitting applicant. I have seen people who are applying to Colby who have 5 pages of ECs, top in the class, play varsity sports and all that hogwash (which is good) so I am afraid that college might actually overlook my application. So I don’t whether it would be worth applying. Any advice would be appreciated.</p>

<p>First, thank you for all the helpful information in this thread. My son is very interested in Colby</p>

<p>I have 2 questions for Admissions at Colby:</p>

<ol>
<li><p>Do you superscore the ACT?---i.e take the best sub scores from different sittings and recalcuate a new composite</p></li>
<li><p>My son's school does not calculate a GPA or class rank...will you calculate
a GPA for him and if so, how to you weigh honors/AP classes and do you figure in +/-</p></li>
</ol>

<p>Thanks in advance!</p>

<p>Since I rarely work with the applications of international students, and since they're considered in a slightly different light/context than our domestic applicants, I defer most advice & dialogue to our Director of Admission, Steve Thomas (<a href="mailto:tsthomas@colby.edu">tsthomas@colby.edu</a>). He reads all international applications, and has a better grasp of who is competitive in that pool--which is, as you know, probably the most competitive subgroup of all our applicants. </p>

<p>I can say, however, as I have posted previously, that we pay close attention both to an applicant's academic record (school attended/courses elected/ grades achieved/recommendations offered), followed by extracurricular engagement/involvement and standardized testing. That we have many more students who present outstanding and highly-qualified candidacies, than we have available spaces in each class, is where the difficulties come into play for you and your peers. This is partly why I avoid discussions of "chances", as it often depends on who else applies, from where, with what background(s) and with what credentials. In the end, perhaps Mr. Thomas may be your best resource for your questions and concerns.</p>

<p>We do pick apart a student's standardized testing, and consider the best subscores of all sittings--and, if necessary, recalculate a composite score for the end result. We do this for both SAT-1 and ACT; moreover, if a student sends us results of both SAT/ACT, we'll add subscores and consider which is the "strongest", and go with that version.</p>

<p>We do not, however, recalculate GPAs for any student. We know that schools have wide arrays of numerical and alphabetical systems, levels of instruction, etc... but that's mostly my point. That we <em>know</em> this, and that schools instruct us on the nuances of their transcripts and offerings (via their profiles) helps immensely when we consider applications from all over the world. I've seen most letters from A-Z (E, for example, is a flunking grade at many schools, but means "Excellent" under other grading structures), and most numbers from 1-100, including +/-, checks, and some that don't offer any of the above--evaluations from all teachers and administrators are provided in lieu of grades. I suppose we <em>could</em> attempt to standardize all applications by recalculating GPAs, but I believe that each school's grading policies are in place for a reason-- and as I learn about these schools I feel I can appreciate not only their individual missions, but also about the students under their charge. </p>

<p>Hope this is helpful--</p>

<p>Colby Admissions--thank you for the information</p>

<p>One additional question, have you determined how much weight you will put on the writing score of the SAT?</p>

<p>I'm not sure that we've really wrapped our heads around the issue of the SAT-1 (WR) component yet... with only last year's worth of results/data to use, there's no other set to compare. Speaking for myself, I'm a little less inclined to pay close attention to the scores, for the following reasons:</p>

<p>1) We never required the Writing component when it was an SAT-2, nor placed tremendous emphasis on it then; now that it's been folded into the SAT-1 (with some significant changes, I recognize) is the exam, or my consideration of the results, that much more and immediately important? </p>

<p>2) We already require two essays from each applicant--one from the Common App, and one from our supplement. I prefer to think that these untimed samples adequately reflect a student's command of writing, even if one considers possibilities of outside coaching, editing, etc. </p>

<p>3) Looking at last year's (HS class of '06) submitters/applicants, the SAT-WR and SAT-CR (critical reading, or "verbal") scores were nearly identical, anyway--I imagine that, had we required (and therefore tracked data from) previous years' SAT-2 (WR) scores, we might find similar trends. </p>

<p>We will pay close attention to any trends in our applicant pool, of course, and of any national statistics, and I imagine that we will require the SAT-1 (or ACT) no matter how many sub-scores are involved foir the time being.... as important as standardized testing is, however, I would much prefer to focus my attention on a candidate's academic record, and extra-curricular activities. In the end, my school & a particular student might or might not be a good "fit" no matter how a student performed on one or a number of Saturday morning, 3-hour+ tests.</p>

<p>Thanks for taking the time to answer questions ColbyAdmissions, I really appreciate it.</p>