How Many College Applications Are Too Many?
December 10th, 2015High school juniors might be wondering if there’s a magic number of college applications to submit senior year. Rumors fly about seniors who submit a dozen or more, but in reality this doesn’t happen often, nor should it. In this Forbes article, author Dan Edmonds lays out three specific factors to consider when trying to answer this question: time, money and selectivity.
While we at ShropEd believe this article offers great guidelines to follow, there are points we would like to emphasize before reading:
– Editing/whittling the list ahead of applying is indeed important for all of the reasons the author describes, rather than taking a scattershot approach and sending out a huge number of applications to colleges that haven’t been considered carefully.
– We advise students to balance admission selectivity categories as they arrive at the final list of applications, as the author does, including at least two green light (highly likely) colleges and not overweighting red light (small chance of admission) and lottery-like colleges.
And one point of difference with the author:
– We advise students to apply to a maximum of 9 colleges, never as many as 10-15 and certainly not more! In fact, some students will research and make choices so effectively that they’ll only apply to 5 or 6. This is a very healthy approach. We like to say, “Explore broadly, apply narrowly.”
Article published November 20, 2015
Written by: Dan Edmunds
The trends seem clear: The most competitive schools are admitting a lower percentage of students every year, and students are applying to increasing numbers of colleges. Indeed, some students are applying to 30 or 40 or even more schools, a feat made easier by the Common Application. A question on the mind of nearly every college-bound high school junior is: How many colleges should I apply to?
Read more at Forbes >>Tagged: Applications, College
Alumni Interviews
December 1st, 2015College interviews sometimes cause students to quake with nervousness, but that doesn’t have to be the case. Interviews rarely tip the scales for an admission decision; they more often confirm other information in an applicant’s file. Only now and then is an interview so strong or weak that it truly makes a difference. As with so many other things in life, preparation and understanding purpose and intent can be key to feeling prepared and confident.
Colleges with the most stringent competition for admission typically deploy alumni as interviewers, keeping them involved with the institution productively. Yale has very helpfully posted guidelines for alumni interview report-writing, giving us insight into what’s valued. We note two factors as especially important: intellectual depth and a clear understanding of the resources that the University presents. Please click through to the Yale link below and let us know what additional factors you note.
Let us know, too, if you find this link helpful. Good luck with interviews ahead!
Published by: Yale University
Sample Interview Reports
We offer these samples of actual interview reports or excerpts to highlight the kinds of commentaries that help the admissions committee make careful, informed decisions. For contrast, we’ve included examples of write-ups that could have been more influential with the addition of supporting detail. This selection is not fully representative of the many effective reporting styles used by ASC volunteers, but we hope it serves illustrative purposes. We’ve changed names and other identifying characteristics.
Read more at Yale Univeristy >>Tagged: Applications, College, Demonstrated interest, Interviews
7 Ways the SAT Is Changing
November 23rd, 2015Our previous post mentioned that there are several changes to the new SAT – You Took the PSAT. Now What? Now, we want to give you more insight into specific changes.
We think this article from TIME gives a pretty accurate view of changes ahead, and hope it will help students decide whether to take this exam.
Published June 2, 2015
High school students who take the SAT in 2016 will face a very different test than those who came before them. From an increase in curriculum-based questions to a revamped essay section, here are the seven ways the SAT is changing next year:
Read more at TIME >>You Took the PSAT. Now What?
November 17th, 2015The SAT is undergoing a makeover and the revised exam will be offered as of March 2016. There are many positive changes with the new test but there are also some complications to go along with it. This year’s juniors are in the toughest spot, needing to make the decision of taking the old SAT by January, waiting for the new exam this March, or placing most of their focus on the ACT. In the article posted below Adam Ingersoll, whose Compass Education Group has a long and successful track record with test preparation, has some suggestions for juniors this year. While I agree with most of what Adam has written, there is one point on which we differ. I feel that this year’s juniors who do well on the PSAT, which was revised accordingly, should feel comfortable taking the new SAT this March.
That said, for many of this year’s juniors the ACT will indeed be the better test to take. We’re tailoring our advice individually, as always, and in most cases will want to review December’s PSAT report before offering a clear recommendation.
Article Published June 2, 2015
Written by: Charlotte Alter
In February 2013, not many 8th graders would have been paying attention to the initial College Board announcements about overhauls of the PSAT and SAT. Those 8th graders are now juniors, and the College Board certainly earned their attention this month with the debut of the new PSAT. These lucky (?) students had the honor (?) of being the first cohort to experience the test’s extensive redesign.
Reactions were mixed, ranging from abject horror to “I guess it wasn’t that bad” to “What I expected.” Unprepped students were caught off guard by a 60-minute reading comprehension section (more than twice its previous length) and by a math section on which calculator use was disallowed.
Read more at Compass Education Group >>
