1. College Admissions: Myths and Realities

2. Everyone’s Talking about College Admissions

3. So, What Does it Take to “Get In?”

4. Some Facts There are college options for most students
More college have “Open” or “Liberal” admission policies than “Highly Selective”
Selectivity is driven by application numbers
More applications than seats in the class!

5. Some Buzz Words “Holistic Review” “Shaping the Class”
We look at the entire application file – everything is considered
“Shaping the Class”
Institutional Goals determine the number of students, students admitted to various programs, geographic diversity, etc.
“Demonstrated Interest”
Some schools track campus visits, phone calls & s as a part of the application process

6. Personal Information Academic Interests Extra-curricular Activities
Has the student has transferred schools?
Does the student have college credit/ AP scores
Is English the first language/spoken at home?
Is the student the first in the family to enroll in college?
Special circumstances

7. Small things make a difference
Things that have an effect:
Typos and grammatical mistakes
Including the wrong name of the college
Work that is messy, crumpled, hard to read

8. Academic Review
High School transcripts are the heart of the academic review
We look for:
Grades in all classes
Grade Trends
Course selection

9. Academic Review Myths All we look for is the grade point average OR…
Grades aren’t important at all
All we look at is the ACT score OR…
ACT scores shouldn’t be considered

10. Things We Notice Strength of the senior year schedule
If the student is protecting the gpa by avoiding challenging coursework
PSEOP/ Dual Enrollment coursework
Upward (and downward) grade trends

11. Extra-Curricular Activities
Looking for leadership skills, time management
Will the student contribute to our campus?
Will the student be able to balance academics and activities when they are on campus?
Students don’t have to have 20 clubs, or any one specific activity
Activities don’t out-weigh academic performance

12. Special Considerations
First Generation
Low Income
Minority status
These all help us with “Context”
Does the student have help at home in completing application, writing essay, social capital?
Are there barriers the student has over come?
Evidence of resilience and grit

13. Letters of Recommendation
Best ones “paint a picture” of the student
No need to repeat information already in the application packet, i.e. grade point average, activities list
Teacher recommendations best when talking about how the student acts in the classroom

14. The High School Profile
Please send us the profile!
Shows “Context” of the student’s high school experience
What courses the student had available
Grading scale
Special programs
Socio-economic information for your school

15. Tough Choices
In a selective process, colleges are selecting the students who have the most to offer
Students can put together the best application packet possible, and still be denied.
There are always options for students
Community College
Transfer opportunities

16. Case Studies