6 Things Students Need to Know About College Admissions

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The first things colleges look for on your transcript is your grades. The second thing is rigor. Have you taken the hardest classes offered that you could do well in? Do you meet their course work requirements? All this information can be found on Big Future (under “Applying”) or on the website of the college itself. AP, IB and community/junior college classes are all looked on similarly. The actual college classes come with credit that may or may not be transferable to your new school. AP test scores are generally used for placement rather than credit, unless you get the top grade of 5. Interestingly, you don’t have to take an AP class to take the AP test. Also, taking an AP class counts as rigor whether or not you take the AP test.

So we know AP classes and tests are more about rigor than they are about earning college credit (obviously this depends on where you go). International Baccalaureate classes and test are similarly good for showing rigor if that program is available in your school. The choice of ACT or SAT depends on where you are and when you will take it. ACT is a better bet this year because the SAT is undergoing a significant revision and we just don’t know what will be on it yet. In general, ACT is a better fit for students who want to just take a section and be done with it, but it poses a greater timing challenge. SAT intersperses reading and math sections throughout the testing session. Plan to take these tests a couple of times. Student scores increase most significantly between the first and second sittings, just because you are more familiar with the exam format. The PSAT was originally a practice for the SAT, but has come to be most important as the National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test. You should take this for practice in the fall of your sophomore year. The NMSQT doesn’t kick in until junior year. SAT II subject tests evaluate your learning as compared with other students in that subject. These are not required all but the most selective schools (unless you are a homeschooler, then more require them). You should plan to take these exams as soon as you finish the class. If you take Chemistry in your sophomore year, for example, don’t wait until senior year to take the SAT II Chem test because you will have forgotten most of it. Not efficient to have to restudy all that info! SAT II exams are given at the same time and place as the SAT. CLEP exams, also produced by the College Board, give college credit for specific subjects, but not all colleges accept CLEP credits.

Even if you have a spectacular first semester of senior year, it won’t make up for three years of average or less than average grades. Colleges do want to see an upward trend in your grades, though, so if you’re going to slack off, do it freshman year. Try to hit your stride in junior year. If you apply early decision, the colleges won’t have your senior year grades for comparison.

Once things are on the internet, they are there forever. Just ask Trevor Noah, the new host of the Daily Show. Within hours of his announcement as Jon Stewart’s replacement, he was being criticized for a Tweet from 2009—six years ago!—that some thought was anti-Semitic. Even Snapchat doesn’t “disappear after 10 seconds” if your friend thinks it’s funny and decides to take a screen cap. Just yesterday I saw a list of “The funniest snapchats sent from school.” YikYak hasn’t come back to bite anyone yet, but that’s because it’s relatively new. The best way to clean up your social media accounts for college admissions is to not post stupid stuff in the first place.

For example, this cute 80’s party pic! See the empty liquor bottles on the table? The Admissions officers do. If one of these girls was up for an athletic scholarship, she just lost it. NCAA rules about underaged drinking are strict, and even if she wasn’t actually drinking, there is no way to prove that. Not an athlete? This kind of stuff can still get an offer of admission recinded.

One of the first things you can do to get ready for college is to keep track of your extracurricular activities. The Activities Resume (sometimes called a Brag Sheet) is a great way to collect information that will be needed when you fill out your applications, and to provide to your recommenders so they have something to say about you. This form from College Match is based on what is required for the Common App. Schools want to know not only what you did but how many hours a day and weeks/year you did it. Seems crazy, but it’s their way to judge how dedicated you were and how important the activity was to you. The hardcopy of this form can be downloaded from this website. There are also some higher tech ways to accomplish the same thing.

Choose your activities wisely. It’s better to be part of one team or club or volunteer activity that really speaks to you and inspires you to lead than to be a member of every club on campus. Don’t be that “club member” who only shows up for the yearbook photo! Pick activities where you can make a difference. Does your school’s student council really have any power? Then maybe you need to find another way to get involved in government. Think outside the lines. Can you create a volunteer or work position where none existed before? Nick’s game review column Do you see something in your school or community that no one else is doing? Lily’s texting lane project.

Colleges really love stories about intellectual curiosity. If you get an idea about something that you’re learning in class, speak up. If you think you’ll interrupt the class discussion, make a note and then share it with the teacher before or after class. Be the student who gets really excited about the material—even if it’s just one class or one unit of one class. Maybe you really like Shakespeare or unit circles or Napoleon’s battle tactics. Do some outside reading or research and share it with your teacher. Not in a brown-nosing kind of way but in a excited about mutual interests way. You’ll make a favorable impression, and it will reward you when you need letters of recommendation for college.

Most college searching these days is done online, not surprisingly. Some of the best resources are Big Future, from the College Board (the SAT people), Cappex and College Green Light, whose URLs are in your handout. Many other websites offer advice like rankings and top ten lists, etc. Be aware that any rankings you see have nothing to do with the quality of education you will receive at the school. Rankings like the USN&WR lists are designed to sell magazines, not provide any really useful information.

You’ll want to keep track of all your notes and thoughts about why you’ve picked each college, because they will make writing the “Why us?” essay much easier.

There are three important tips to make your essay work for you.

Your transcript shows all the quantitative date about you: your gpa, your classes, your extracurriculars. Your essay is where you let your personality shine. Give them a reason to pick you over all the other oboe-playing track stars who’ve applied. Colleges want to know: will you be a good roommate? Will the professors be happy to have you in their class? What will you contribute to the campus community?

Things not to write about: how I won the big game, how I vacationed in a poor country and had an epiphany, how hard it is to be you, your bedroom. Humor generally doesn’t work. And please don’t choose a subject because you think it’s what the Admissions people want to hear.

This is good advice for all writing but vitally important on the “Why us?” essay many colleges require. You need to tell them exactly why you want to attend Whassamatta U. “I was so impressed by the beautiful campus” is not specific enough. Most colleges have beautiful campuses. Dig deeper! Is there a particular major you want to study? Is there a professor whose class you want to take? Maybe they have a special intern program with a company you want to work for. Taking this approach to your essay pays off in two ways: it allows the Admissions committee to really picture you on campus, and it shows you’ve done your homework and really weighed your college decision. This is also why you can’t write a generic essay and just change the names for each application you submit. Even if the Admissions officers can’t tell it’s a recycled essay (and they usually can) the vague language that an all-purpose essay must employ is not good writing.

Okay, collegefession time. I waited so long to write my admissions essay that my mother had to ground me to my room until it was done. I don’t remember how long I was in there. I think it was more than a day. I was petrified and couldn’t get the essay going until I was forced. Even then, I started it with “Call me Ishmael.” To this day, I don’t know if I got in because of my essay (it got quirkier) or in spite of it. The one thing my essay had going for it was an authentic voice. When you write your essays, with plenty of time to get feedback and revise, be sure that the voice that ultimately comes through on the page is yours, and not some adult- or teacher-version of yourself.

Along with the essays and interview (if you choose to do an interview), the letter of recommendation is the only way for Admissions Committees to find out about the flesh-and-blood student they will have on campus.

Many students believe that a letter of recommendations from their AP teacher carries more weight and is more impressive to the Admissions Officer. This is not true. In fact, asking your senior year teachers to write you a recommendation can backfire. A teacher who has never seen you before you stepped into their classroom on the first day of 12th grade has very little information to draw on in a letter of recommendation. Their letter may end up nothing but a re-capitulation of your brag sheet or, even worse, some generic letter that will make a terrible impression on the Admissions committee. Your junior year teachers have known you for at least one year, and are better prepared to talk about who you are and what you can accomplish in the classroom. Foreign language and fine arts teachers are likely to have multiple years’ experience with you as a student and can speak knowledgeably about how much you’ve matured since 9th grade. That’s the kind of story Admissions wants to hear about. Who are you, where did you come from and where are you going?

So you’ve provided a written request letter and your brag sheet, in whatever form you might have it. You also want to give your recommender addressed, stamped envelopes if the letters are going out snail mail. If you’re using the Common App or Naviance, you just need to mention in your letter that they can upload the letter when it’s done. Do not wait until the last minute. You are not assigning homework that has to be due tomorrow. Give your recommenders at least six weeks, so they can find a time to write when they are relaxed and in a good mood. Hint: the beginning of the school year is not a good time. April of your junior year is good. The end of May is also okay as long as you stipulate that the teacher can take all summer to write the letter.

So you considered the possibilities and decided to ask your Spanish teacher for a letter of recommendation. He’s known you for four years, you’ve been a leader in his classroom and he seems like he’s a good writer. How do you ask? 1) In person. Shooting a “Hey would you recommend me?” email” or, worse yet, just putting his name in the Common App form and letting them summon a recommendation is bad form and won’t make his feel kindly disposed. You want him to be glad to help you out, right? 2) Even though you’re asking in person, you will follow up by giving him a written request that states where you are planning to apply, why you want to go there, and what the deadline is.

This next bit might sound pushy, but think of it as doing him a favor: tell him what you’d like to have included in the letter. Seriously. Jr and Sr year teachers are writing hundreds of these letters. You do not want your letter to sound like Joe Student’s letter or Suzy Gunner’s letter. Remind him of the specific reasons you are asking him to write for you: you had a great achievement or honor in his class, you feel personally close to him, whatever it is that makes him the perfect recommender for you. This is actually flattering and will save him from staring at a blank screen wondering what to write. You’ll notice in Joe Student’s second paragraph he mentions what the college is looking for and what Mr. Pennington could write about. He provides his online portfolio and contact information for questions. And he thanks the teacher profusely for agreeing to help.

Send a thank you note two weeks after your request. (Four, if you’ve given all summer.) If your recommender has written the letter already, they deserve your thanks. If they haven’t, this is a subtle reminder.

The letter of recommendation is not the only place in the admissions process that requires organization. Those two-weeks-later thank you notes should go in your master calendar, where you track all of the deadlines you will have for the multiple colleges you will apply to. You can create a master calendar at any point in your process, but spring of junior year or summer before senior year is ideal.

What goes on the master calendar? Admissions deadlines, obviously. Early decision/early action deadlines if you think you’re going to apply that way. Financial aid deadlines. Scholarship deadlines. Housing application deadlines. Exams, projects and papers for your classes (you didn’t forget about your GPA, did you?) Standardized test dates. College visits. Block out time to work on your essays and to search for scholarships. Just an hour a week will stand you in good stead.

A portfolio website gives you much more flexibility to show your target schools who you are and what is important to you. Keep in mind that the Admissions Officers you’ll be working with are most likely in their 20’s and early 30’s. They’re digital natives just like you are. There’s even a spot on the Common App to put in the URL of a virtual portfolio, so I encourage you all to consider creating one. The URL takes you to this sample site, that was created for free at Weebly.com. There is also a company called Zeemee.com that hosts free online portfolios for students.

A home-built website offers more flexibility for unconventionally-schooled students, like homeschoolers and self-directed learners, but a site like ZeeMee is an efficient way to create a quick portfolio page. You can find out more about online portfolios on my website.

6 Things Students Need to Know About College Admissions

Lessa Scherrer

6 Things Students Need to Know About College Admissions