Private Colleges: Myth vs Reality Senior Parent Event Moreau Catholic High School Hayward, CA September 9, 2015 Sandra Hayes

Examples of Private College Options  Santa Clara University  University of San Francisco  Loyola Marymount University  Stanford University  Harvard University  Boston University

Common Threads  Unique Mission  More individual attention (small class size, fac/student ratio, holistic application review, etc)  Time to graduation (tend to graduate students in a timely fashion)  Cost and aid factor

What’s really most important to your student? —Finding the perfect college!  Location  Size  Student demographics  Academics  Extracurricular opportunities  Facilities

Myths about private colleges…..  The higher the ranking, the better the college  There are surefire ways to game the system  If I can just figure out the formula…  There is a perfect college for my son/daughter  College admission is a status competition  This is a “We” process

Reality: What makes a private college selective?  Brand image and reputation for quality outcomes  More applications from students with great grades, rigorous courses and extremely high test scores than there are available spaces  Holistic review that allows for “fit” assessment  Institutional priorities matter in final decisions  Willingness of families to invest in assumed connection between prestige of college and future success

Through the lens of a former Admission Dean at a private university whose charge is to craft a class student by student, we look at: 1. Overall quality and challenge level of high school courses 2. Academic performance as reflected in cumulative freshman through junior year GPA (may include grades through 1 st term of senior year) 3. Standardized test score results 4. Letters of Recommendation 5. Essay 6. Involvement in school and community/demonstrated potential for contribution to the campus community

Reality: We must also attend to……  Diversity  Geography  Gender balance  Legacy relationships  Class size  Budget

So how do we go about drilling down during the process of reading an application? The two cut process:  First cut—Admission officers must determine who is admissible  Second Cut—Admission officers must determine who will go from the ‘admissible’ group to the “admitted” group

In our admission evaluation of 15,000 applications for a class of 1290, we focus on 5 Power Points : 1. Program 2. Performance 3. Potential 4. Participation 5. Personality

What YOU can do to assist:  Encourage your students to bounce things off you as they approach the college selection process and stay focused throughout senior year  Encourage students to consult other adults about their college experiences and keep options open  Encourage your students to talk to current college students about what it’s really like to attend a particular college  Insist that your students take full advantage of the wonderful counseling resources here  Visit campuses whenever you can  Stay calm and carry on!