Three Messages about College Admissions for Juniors

 

Georgia Tech Admission Blog Read on blog or Reader By: Rick Clark Warning: The subtitle is this blog is “That you may not like to hear.” And unlike most of my intros, we’re not going to waste time or words on analogies, personal anecdotes, or admittedly stretched parallels. Instead, after watching this cycle repeat itself, here are the three direct messages/ primary hopes I have for juniors entering the college admission experience. Don’t apply to a college you would not actually attend. Seniors did this. I know, right? They basically walked into a store looking for jeans and went to the section three sizes up from theirs and were like- “Yea, I'll put those in my cart just to have a few extra.” Does that sound dumb? It is. Think about it this way- there are 2000+ four-year colleges in America, not to mention the thousands of other post-secondary options around our country and abroad. I’m guessing if someone lined up that many pairs of jeans you could easily find 7 or 9 or 11 that you could afford, fit well, and you would be excited about/proud to wear. Many application fees are $50 or more. Need suggestions for better uses of that money? Donate to a local non-profit, take your mom out to lunch, Venmo me, basically do anything with it except what the seniors just did. Want more details and insight? Check out this podcast with Rachel Hernandez, vice provost for student affairs at Johns Hopkins University. Not a podcast listener? Ok. Then hear this: Don’t apply to a college you would not actually attend! The “College Search” is internal. See, the seniors heard “search” and they went looking like a Survivor contestant scouring the island for immunity idols. This ain’t that. How do you know what to plug into a Google search if you haven’t taken time to reflect on what you value, or your hopes and goals for college and life beyond? So, yea. I’m going to be that guy and tell you to get off your phone. Worse still- I'm telling you to go somewhere quiet on your own and really listen to yourself...more than once. And too really go overboard here, maybe even bring a pen and paper and right stuff down about what you really need and want. Again, the subtitle is, “that you may not like to hear.” Promise made- promise kept. Look. As a talented student and a relatively good person, an annoyingly large number of people are going to have opinions about where and why you should visit, apply, or attend certain schools. Oh... and they’re going to tell you whether you like it or not. At the end of the day, we live in a noisy, busy world. My hope is that you will consistently pull away for a few hours to listen and be honest with yourself. The truth is that these decisions just keep getting bigger- where to apply becomes where to attend. Where to attend becomes what to major in. What to major in becomes job, city, community, family. Oh, yea. I can draw a throughline from today to one far in the distant future based on how you approach this. But hey- you are a junior and we are just on #2, so let’s start with and commit to this. Don’t do what they seniors did! Don’t begin by searching Google with criteria someone else told them was important. Don’t start by looking at rankings or lists of colleges that a marketer developed to sell ads and peddle clicks. The college admission search is internal. Nothing happens to you in college admission. Read that carefully. I did not say “nothing happens.” Just that nothing happens to you. Now, to be fair to the seniors, this has been a tumultuous and unprecedented year, particularly in light of the FAFSA situation, the first cycle following a landmark SCOTUS case, and noise and variance in testing policies around the country. Still, there was way too much why did this happen to me mentality and not enough why did this happen for me? inquiry. Here’s the truth- next year there will also be change, unexpected events, personal and macro challenges, and general unpredictability. This spring, as admission and scholarship information has come out, a lot of seniors (and their parents) have effectively said: “What did I do wrong?” or “What else could I have done?” or (directly or indirectly) “This whole thing is broken and unfair.” Well, in the spirit of “messages you might not like to hear,” that’s college admission, that’s college, and really that’s life. As a junior, however, you have a choice. When things don’t go exactly as you hope/plan, i.e. you get deferred, denied, waitlisted, or you don’t receive the amount of money you need to attend a particular school, you can cry/wallow/point fingers/ take your ball and go home OR you can re-frame from why is this happening to me? to why is this happening for me? Ok. I got deferred. “Why is this happening for me?” Now, I get to decide if I’m still really interested in this school. If so, I get to send my fall grades and submit updated information. I didn’t get admitted. Or I didn’t get into the honors program. Or that scholarship amount is just not enough to make it affordable... why is this happening for me? Now, I get to pivot. I get to figure out another way or explore a different option. I get to show up somewhere else committed to succeeding, building a network, maximizing my opportunities. Nothing happens to you in college admission. What messages do we like to hear? I can help you control this. I can make this easier for you. You are special and amazing and it’s all going to work out. I get it. I’m human. That all sounds good to me too. But it is not true (well, you’re kind of special and amazing). And you best believe you can find (often for $$) lots of people who will guarantee you things in college admission. If you see an ad online or have someone approach you claiming to have the magic formula, the secret sauce (or some other noun preceded by a descriptor), RUN! So, I will not make any guarantees, but I will make you a promise. If you will only apply to places you really want to go and would be excited to attend; if you will begin with asking yourself big and tough questions; and if you will adopt the mindset that the year ahead, while absolutely not predictable or fully in your control, will be one of formation, transformation, growth, discovery, and opportunity; then on the Ides of April 2025, you will have been truly successful in your college admission experience.

The Extra Mile: How Extracurricular Activities Impact College Admissions

By Maggie Roth 

Although this post was written for families in Virginia, it is applicable to our Westfield families.

The Northern Virginia area is well-known for having great school systems, and that means a lot of competition when it comes to college applications. On top of academic endeavors, ambitious high school students join sports teams, student councils, art and special interest clubs, and pour hours of their time into volunteering throughout the community, in part to stand out on college applications. 

But what do colleges really want to see when it comes to extracurriculars? 

Ultimately, these activities are a way for colleges to gain a holistic understanding of each applicant. 

Juan Espinoza, associate vice provost for enrollment management and director of undergraduate admissions at Virginia Tech, says that the school measures non-cognitive attributes, meaning that a student’s characteristics and experiences are considered as well as academic factors. 

“These non-cognitive factors essentially serve as predictors in not only how the student is going to do in college, but how they’re going to do in life,” Espinoza says. “And they get a lot of these key experiences from that extracurricular activity. And so, it can become critical, especially in our process.”

In a study of four-year colleges during the 2023 admission cycle, the National Association for College Admission Counseling found that 44.3 percent of colleges consider extracurricular activities to be of moderate importance in the admissions decision. That’s less significant than grades and strength of curriculum, but still a factor that could make a difference. 

While academics are the primary focus of admissions, a resume that demonstrates out-of-school involvement and personal identity could be the deciding factor between two academically qualified students. 

Motionshooter/stock.adobe.com

Prioritize Passion

Students shouldn’t feel the need to join clubs they’re not interested in just because they think they’ll seem more impressive. Schools just want to know who their applicants are, what they’re passionate about, and how they spend time outside of the classroom, experts say.

That can take many forms: The Common Application, an application platform that over 1,000 colleges use, accepts categories like academic clubs, musical and art clubs, sports, jobs and internships, community service, and family responsibilities. 

“There’s no one formula you have to do. You know, ‘You have to do this particular activity, because that will be viewed favorably by the college.’ They really need students of many different interests,” says Maureen Kim, a college and career specialist at Fairfax High School. 

Different colleges may have specific attributes they look for in prospective students, like dedication to community service or the arts, but it’s best for applicants to be clear about their genuine interests and priorities rather than trying to conform. 

“Every college sets its own institutional priorities. So what impresses one college may not be the thing that is so important to another college — which is why I always default to what’s important to you,” the student, says Hannah Serota, an independent educational consultant and founder of Creative College Connections. 

Carlos Barquero/stock.adobe.com

Quality Over Quantity

The Common Application leaves a space for up to 10 extracurricular activities. Does that mean students need to find the time to join 10 clubs? Not at all. 

“It’s not [about] quantity, never been about quantity. It’s about quality,” Espinoza says. “Find something you’re really excited about, and you’ll be amazed about the opportunities that will arise from that sort of involvement.”

Colleges would much prefer to see students who are engaged in a handful of activities that they are committed to than for them to be loosely involved in many activities. Sticking with activities for a long time, rather than jumping to a new endeavor every few months, can demonstrate hard work, dedication, and enthusiasm. 

Multi-year involvement can develop into really valuable experience. If a student joins the high school newspaper, they may start out writing just a few articles here and there as a freshman, then write every week sophomore year, help show younger students the ropes in junior year, and eventually take on a role as an editor as a senior. 

Of course, many teenagers don’t have set interests, especially when they first start high school. It helps to experiment with activities early so that there’s time to course-correct later, if the activities aren’t something they enjoy. 

“Just try to start in ninth grade. And then hopefully by 11th and 12th grade, maybe you’re going to have more established interests and you could take on a leadership position in an institution,” Kim says. 

Craig/stock.adobe.com

True Leadership

Leadership is an important characteristic to demonstrate, but only if it’s authentic — not just a title. 

“We make sure that we don’t evaluate leadership in those traditional terms of class president, team captain. Those roles are great, but we often find, too, that leadership comes in many forms,” Espinoza says. 

One important example where leadership can be demonstrated is in family responsibilities, he says. In addition to school clubs or community volunteering, the student can list a part-time job or taking care of younger siblings. 

“That counts. They’re learning the same set of skills they would if they were in leadership, or with a traditional organization that might be found at the high school,” he says.

Even within institutional organizations, active involvement will demonstrate leadership most effectively. If a student organized meetings, tutored new members, or put together fundraisers, those actions show leadership just as much as being voted in as the club president. 

Seventyfour/stock.adobe.com

Community Mindset

One way to stand out is to take interests out of the high school setting and engage with the community.

“I think that by getting out of their high school experience and helping other members of their community, I think that that that shows the colleges that they care about their neighbors,” Kim says.  

There are plenty of ways to take a hobby, passion, or prospective career path and turn it into a service opportunity. Nature lovers can join park cleanups. Future political science majors can volunteer for political campaigns. 

Most schools have college and career counselors who can help find opportunities, and online resources like Volunteer Fairfax post volunteer needs.  “In the end, colleges are building communities, so they want to have students who are going to be actively engaged in the community,” Serota says.

Tell Them About It

Once it’s time to apply, here’s how to effectively share extracurricular experiences:

The activities section: The Common Application provides 150 characters to explain each activity. That’s not much space, so descriptions should be brief — not in sentences — and full of strong verbs. Quantifiable achievements like specific dollar amounts fundraised or the number of students tutored are helpful.

Recommendations: A coach or activity supervisor can write a letter of recommendation that focuses on the student’s extracurricular involvement.

Personal essays: If an experience was truly impactful, it can go in the personal essay section — but only if it can’t be conveyed in the activities section, to avoid repetition.

Feature image, stock.adobe.com

This story originally ran in our December issue. For more stories like this, subscribe to Northern Virginia Magazine.

Do Colleges Track Demonstrated Interest?

 From: College Curators

Simply put, colleges are trying to gauge how likely you are to enroll if they admit you. Some schools use demonstrated interest as a factor when making admissions decisions. With so many applicants worldwide, it is important to show schools that you know about them and you are serious about your intentions to attend. 

All schools offer highly effective virtual ways to connect. If you do have the chance to visit a school in person that is a bonus, but certainly not necessary.

How do you show Demonstrated Interest? 

1. 1. Request Information.  Visit the websites for each of the schools you are interested in and register your email and other requested information.  More than ever, schools are tracking prospective students’ activity on their website.  For an in depth analysis see this 2019Washington Post article which explains how colleges track data, Colleges Quietly Rank Prospective Students Based on Their Personal Data.
   2. “Visit” and Connect. If colleges visit your school be sure to attend the visit (be it in person or virtually). Be sure to take virtual college tours and keep your eyes open for online college fairs this fall.  
   3. Participate in Interviews. Many schools these days offer in person and online interviews. We recommend participating in any way you can. Here is a list of schools that offer interviews BEFORE you apply! 
   4. Open Emails.  If a school to which you are applying sends you an email, be sure to click on it. 
   5. Get Social: Participate in social media interactions by joining schools’ Facebook and Instagram pages. Like posts. Be aware, however, when you are engaging in social media with these universities, they are not your online friends. Interactions should be much more formal. 
   6. Be Specific. In your supplemental essays, be sure to include information that is specific to that institution. Use this information as it relates to your particular interests. Scour the schools’ websites and see if there are any classes or professors who share your passions.
   7. Thank Everyone! Please remember to thank everyone with whom you interact. Do not to send anything in the form of gifts or gimmicks — your words are enough. You do not want to cross the line between demonstrating interest and becoming a nuisance. 
   8. Proofread all your Communications. Need we say more? 
   9. Choose Early.  While it is difficult and not always possible, the best way to show a school your demonstrated interest is to apply Early Decision or Single Choice Early Action. 

List of Colleges that Track Demonstrated Interest

If a school tells you it considers demonstrated interest as a factor in admissions, believe it! This list is not comprehensive and subject to change.  Please check the website of each school. Our source of information is The Common Data Set issued by each school.  

Demonstrated Interest = Very Important:

• American University
• Cooper Union
• Dickinson College
• Hampshire College
• Ithaca College
• Morehouse College
• Quinnipiac University
• Syracuse University
• Thomas Aquinas College
• United States Air Force Academy
• United States Naval Academy

 Demonstrated Interest = Important:

• Allegheny College
• Auburn University
• Bates College
• Bentley University
• Butler University
• DePaul University
• Eckerd College
• Elon University
• Fairfield University
• Florida Institute of Technology
• High Point University
• Kenyon College
• Lehigh University
• Loyola University Chicago
• Michigan State University
• Oglethorpe University
• Reed College
• Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
• Roanoke College
• Seattle University
• Seton Hall University
• Skidmore College
• The College of Wooster
• Trinity College
• United States Merchant Marine Academy
• United States Military Academy
• University of Arizona
• University of Massachusetts Amherst
• Wheaton College (MA)

 Demonstrated Interest = Considered:

• Agnes Scott College
• Babson College
• Bard College
• Barnard College
• Baylor University
• Beloit College
• Berea College
• Boston University
• Bradley University
• Brandeis University
• Brigham Young University
• Case Western Reserve University
• Catholic University
• Chapman University
• Clark University
• Colby College
• College of Charleston
• College of the Holy Cross
• College of William and Mary
• Colorado College
• Colorado School of Mines
• Connecticut College
• Cornell College
• Dartmouth College
• Davidson College
• Denison University
• DePauw University
• Drew University
• Drexel University
• Duke University
• Fordham University
• Franklin & Marshall College
• Furman University
• George Mason University
• George Washington University
• Georgia Institute of Technology
• Gettysburg College
• Gonzaga University
• Goucher College
• Grinnell College
• Hamilton College
• Haverford College
• Hobart and William Smith Colleges
• Hofstra University
• Howard University
• Juniata College
• Kalamazoo College
• Knox College
• Lafayette College
• Lake Forest College
• Lawrence University
• Lewis & Clark College
• Loyola University Maryland
• Marietta College
• Marist College
• Marquette University
• Middlebury College
• Mount Holyoke College
• Muhlenberg College
• New York University
• Northeastern University
• Northwestern University
• Oberlin College
• Occidental College
• Oregon State University
• Pitzer College
• Providence College
• Purdue University
• Rhodes College
• Rice University
• Rochester Institute of Technology
• Saint Joseph’s University
• Saint Louis University
• Saint Mary’s College, Notre Dame
• Santa Clara University
• Sarah Lawrence College
• Sewanee: University of the South
• Simmons College
• Southern Methodist University
• Southwestern University
• Spelman College
• St. Olaf College
• Stevens Institute of Technology
• SUNY, Binghamton University
• SUNY, Stony Brook University
• Swarthmore College
• Texas A&M University
• Trinity University
• Tufts University
• Tulane University
• Union College
• United States Coast Guard Academy
• University of Central Florida
• University of Chicago
• University of Colorado Boulder
• University of Delaware
• University of Denver
• University of Florida
• University of Miami
• University of Michigan
• University of Missouri, Columbia
• University of North Carolina at Charlotte
• University of North Carolina at Wilmington
• University of North Texas
• University of Notre Dame
• University of Oklahoma
• University of Pennsylvania
• University of Pittsburgh
• University of Portland
• University of Puget Sound
• University of Rhode Island
• University of Richmond
• University of Rochester
• University of San Diego
• University of Texas at Austin
• University of Vermont
• University of Wisconsin
• Ursinus College
• Villanova University
• Virginia Tech
• Wake Forest University
• Washington & Jefferson College
• Washington and Lee University
• Washington University in St. Louis
• Wellesley College
• Wentworth Institute of Technology
• Wheaton College (IL)
• Whitman College
• Whittier College
• Worcester Polytechnic Institute
• Xavier University
• Yeshiva University

 Demonstrated Interest = Not Considered: 

• Albion College
• Amherst College
• Arizona State University
• Belmont University
• Bennington College
• Berry College
• Birmingham Southern College
• Boston College
• Bowdoin College
• Brown University
• Bryn Mawr College
• Bucknell University
• California Institute of Technology
• California Poly, San Luis Obispo
• Carleton College
• Carnegie Mellon University
• Centre College
• Claremont McKenna College
• Clemson University
• Colgate University
• Colorado State University
• Columbia University
• Cornell University
• CUNY, Baruch College
• CUNY, Brooklyn College
• CUNY, City College
• CUNY, Hunter College
• Drake University
• Earlham College
• Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University
• Emerson College
• Emory University
• Florida State University
• Georgetown College
• Georgetown University
• Georgia State University
• Harvard University
• Harvey Mudd College
• Hendrix College
• Hope College
• Indiana University
• James Madison University
• Johns Hopkins University
• Kettering University
• Loyola Marymount University
• Macalester College
• Massachusetts Institute of Technology
• Miami University
• Millsaps College
• Milwaukee School of Engineering
• Mississippi State University
• North Carolina State University
• Ohio State University
• Ohio University
• Penn State University
• Pepperdine University
• Pomona College
• Princeton University
• Ripon College
• Rockhurst University
• Rutgers University
• Saint John’s University (MN)
• San Diego State University
• San Francisco State University
• Scripps College
• Smith College
• Stanford University
• SUNY, Purchase College
• SUNY, University at Buffalo
• Temple University
• Towson University
• University of Alabama
• University of California, Berkeley
• University of California, Davis
• University of California, Irvine
• University of California, Los Angeles
• University of California, Riverside
• University of California, San Diego
• University of California, Santa Barbara
• University of California, Santa Cruz
• University of Cincinnati
• University of Georgia
• University of Hawaii at Manoa
• University of Houston
• University of Illinois, Urbana Champaign
• University of Iowa
• University of Kansas
• University of Kentucky
• University of Louisville
• University of Maine
• University of Maryland
• University of Maryland, Baltimore County
• University of Minnesota
• University of Mississippi
• University of Missouri, Kansas City
• University of Montana
• University of Nebraska-Lincoln
• University of New Hampshire
• University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
• University of North Carolina at Greensboro
• University of Oregon
• University of Redlands
• University of San Francisco
• University of South Carolina
• University of South Florida
• University of Southern California
• University of St. Thomas (MN)
• University of Utah
• University of Virginia
• University of Washington
• Vanderbilt University
• Vassar College
• Washington State University
• Wesleyan University
• West Chester University of Pennsylvania
• Williams College
• Yale University

College Admissions is Not Fair - Get Prepared!

 

Let’s Get Few Things Straight about College Admission

By Rick Clark, Georgia Tech Admissions There has been a lot of talk in the last few weeks about how much has changed in college admission. Maybe…. But just like during and following the pandemic, much remains constant. So, let’s get a few things straight. College Admission is Not Fair. I know some groups may claim to have brought this about with the proverbial wave a wand or banging of a gavel, but the truth is no system or process is (or ever will be) fair or perfect. Humans run processes. Humans are imperfect, flawed, and operate in a broken world. Do not confuse quantitative measures with fairness. I remember when Georgia Tech operated on a purely formulaic basis. We recalculated GPAs so that everyone had a max GPA of 4.0. We did not consider the rigor of the high school, performance of past graduates, grade trends. We considered Honors, Magnet, Gifted, AP, IB all rigorous and each received an extra .5 bump- again with a max GPA of 4. We effectively “let out the slack” from the top until we had admitted the number of students, we needed to base on historic yield models. I’m guessing many of you already are already poking holes in how this model is FUBAR. And you can likely channel some of the complaints and questions we’d get… I have all APs and my classmate only took honors level. You’re weighting that the same? But I had all As in a full IB diploma program and my “friend” only took general courses. Are you telling me that we both end up with a max 4.0? I made a 1300 on one take with no outside help. My neighbor made a 1200 the first time and then after thousands of dollars in private tutoring ended up with a 1350. That’s going to be the difference? He’s got lower grades than me? At this time, I was not the director, but my name was on admission letters for students whose last name started with A-C.  As a result, even though I did not agree with how we were making decisions, I was left to defend them. One of the most memorable cases was a girl in North Georgia who was the valedictorian of her high school. She had taken the toughest classes, made the highest grades, and accomplished all of this while juggling a 25-hour a week job at a local restaurant to help support her family. She was not admitted because her SAT score was 10 points below our threshold that year. 10 points. Meanwhile, we admitted three other kids from that school who had slightly lower grades, less rigorous courses, and less impact on their community, etc. Fair? No. In fact, I can still remember talking to her mom on the phone and having to suppress my own frustration. Over the years, we have continued to evolve our file review process to make it more contextual and holistic. Academically, we look closely at grade trends, course choice, rigor, high school history, etc. We do not draw hard lines on test scores and we use macro data to help understand student testing context. And, of course, a great deal of time is spent in committee looking at a student's involvement, impact, and influence. Still, I'd be the first to say that neither our process, nor any other colleges in the world, is perfectly fair-- it's not possible or designed to be. Instead, it's designed to be comprehensive and thorough, but fair....NO. There has been a lot of talk lately about checkboxes on applications. Here is one you won’t see on an application, but you need to mentally agree to: “By submitting this application, I understand I may not agree with the decision I receive, the timeline on which I receive information, or the rationale I get for why the decision was made.” Mission Drives Admission. Think of your high school. It exists for a purpose. Maybe it’s a public school and is located to intentionally serve kids from your part of the city or county. Maybe you attend a private or religious school. Again, it was founded for a reason and is attempting to attract and enroll students and families centered on that mission. Companies, community centers, organizations… they all have a mission and are making decisions geared toward moving that forward. As a public school, Georgia Tech’s goal is to enroll 60% of our undergraduates from our state. This means we prioritize Georgians in our entire process. We recruit more in Georgia than out of state; we set deadlines earlier for our residents, and inform GA applicants of their decisions ahead of non-residents. Tuition is much lower for Georgia kids and our admit rate is three to four times higher for Georgia students than it is for non-Peach staters. In an attempt to enroll students from all across our state, we have programs like the Georgia Tech Scholars Program for valedictorians and salutatorians. Are there cases where the number three (or thirteen) student at one school is as strong as the salutatorian from another... and yet decisions vary? Yes. Is the average SAT/ACT from out of state/country higher than it is for Georgia students? Yes. Is mission driving admission? Yes. A college you apply to may be trying to grow a particular major. That is going to influence their admission decisions. Another school is looking to enroll more students (or less) from your region of the country or nation. That will have an impact. The truth is you are not always going to know these things. What you do know is institutional mission – not your particular test, GPA, number of APs, or selected essay topic- drives admission. What does all of this mean for you?  1- Apply to a balanced list of colleges. If your current college list only includes schools with admit rates under 20%, you need to re-think. Applying to more schools with single digit admit rates does not increase your odds of being admitted. That's just not how math works. 2- Celebrate your wins. Every time you receive an offer of admission, you need to pause, celebrate, reflect on your hard work, and thank the people around you who've made that possible, ie. friends, family, teachers, counselors, coaches, and so on. As always, hug your mama! 3- Control what you can control. Admission is not fair. And mission drives admission. You cannot control where you get in or how much money they offer you in financial aid. You can control how you receive and process admission decisions. These are not value judgments or predictions of future success. Don't over index. You can control how  you treat people around you. You cannot control the decisions made in admissions offices you'll never enter, but you can control the decisions you make in the rooms you enter everyday-- your living room, classroom, etc. I hope you'll make that your mission. Fair?