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A ‘must-have’ guide to public university honors programs

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After five years of writing about public university honors colleges and programs, John Willingham has learned that excellence in honors education is far from limited to the nation’s most prominent flagship universities.

“Many well-known state universities do have outstanding honors programs, Willingham explains, “but increasingly one can find equal value in the growing number of honors colleges in non-flagship institutions.”

To prove the point, Willingham recently published the third in a series of guides titled, INSIDE HONORS: Ratings and Reviews of Sixty Public Honors Programs. And if you’re considering honors programs housed within top public universities, this 400-page guide (also available in digital format) is an invaluable resource for evaluating different aspects of the “honors” experience.

The original idea for the honors project grew out of a series of articles Willingham authored that compared various public university honors programs.  In fact, the first edition of his guide attempted to “rank” programs.

The ranking was dropped in the second edition in favor of a “mortarboard” rating (similar to five-star rating systems) and is based on data obtained on honors graduation rates, class sizes, course range and type, honors dorms, and other honors benefits, including merit scholarships.

For the new third edition, Willingham was able to upgrade his data by obtaining detailed spreadsheets of course sections by academic subject, honors enrollment in each section, and critical data about the types of honors classes.

“I had to know how many honors classes were only for honors students and how many were mixed—honors and non-honors students,” said Willingham. “Finally, I needed information about honors ‘contract’ sections, regular classes where honors students have agreements with instructors to do extra work for honors credit.”

The resulting guide, together with an extremely useful website, provides a very comprehensive picture of what resources and benefits may be available through various honors programs. For the newest edition, a total of 50 programs were rated, while ten received unrated summary reviews.

Beyond the ratings, INSIDE HONORS offers lengthy narrative profiles of all sixty honors programs.  And each profile contains data on the average and minimum admission requirements, including old and new SAT scores, ACT scores, high school GPA and class ranks as well as honors application deadlines and a list of other programs with similar admission requirements.

In other words, INSIDE HONORS is a must-have guide for anyone interested in exploring public university honors programs.

Here’s a sneak preview—the following 11 honors colleges and programs received an overall rating of 5.0 mortarboards (listed in alphabetical order):

  • Arizona State, Barrett Honors College
  • Clemson, Calhoun Honors College
  • CUNY, Macaulay Honors College
  • Georgia Honors Program
  • Houston Honors College
  • Kansas Honors Program
  • New Jersey Inst of Technology (NJIT), Albert Dorman Honors College
  • Oregon, Clark Honors College
  • Penn State, Schreyer Honors College
  • South Carolina Honors College
  • UT Austin Plan II Honors Program

Honors colleges and programs that received 4.5 mortarboards include the University of Central Florida Burnett Honors College, New Mexico Honors College, the Oklahoma State Honors College, Temple Honors Program, Ole Miss SMB Honors College, Arkansas Honors College, Delaware Honors Program, UC Irvine Campuswide Honors Program, and Honors Carolina at UNC Chapel Hill.

Note that CUNY Macaulay, Houston, and NJIT were not rated previously. And Oregon’s Clark Honors College and Clemson’s Calhoun Honors College have moved up to a 5 mortarboard rating.

Two honors programs with high ratings in past editions are included but not rated in the 2016 edition. The Michigan LSA Honors Program and the Echols Scholars Program at the University of Virginia are undoubtedly great choices for those who earn acceptance, but the (mostly) public data used in the past two editions to rate these programs is no longer sufficient now that much more information has been provided by other programs. Along the same lines, INSIDE HONORS does not rate UCLA and Wisconsin because internal data were not available from UCLA and the information provided by Wisconsin did not match the revised format.

For admissions professionals
Admissions professionals—members of NACAC, IECA or HECA—are invited to purchase the print edition of  INSIDE HONORS at a discounted price of $14.41 (includes shipping). To order a copy, email Wendy at [email protected] and provide an address and organizational affiliation. She will then send an electronic invoice, payable by PayPal or credit card for fastest shipment.

In addition to both the electronic and print editions of the guide, individual rated programs profiles are now available for $2.99. They may be delivered the same day, usually within a few hours, for quick answers to questions or to do a comparison almost on the spot.

For more information on the publications or the honors project, visit the Public University Honors website.

‘Millions’ spent on lawsuit filed against the Common App might be better spent

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In a recent email to the nearly 700 institutional members of the Common Application, Jenny Rickard, the organization’s executive director, characterized the claims contained in the ongoing lawsuit with CollegeNet as “frivolous.” While seeking to assure members, who are currently being approached to renew contracts for next year, of the Common App’s financial security, she suggested that the “millions” spent on the lawsuit might be better spent in other ways—“to innovate and expand.”

To update the membership, Rickard outlined a timeline of “relevant events” related to the case:

  • May 2014: CollegeNET files lawsuit against the Common Application alleging antitrust violations.
  • November 2014: District court dismisses original 103-page complaint for failure to comply with the federal rules. The court allows CollegeNET to re-file.
  • May 2015: District Court dismisses CollegeNET’s complaint on the merits. The court finds that CollegeNET failed to allege antitrust injury.
  • September 2015: The Coalition for Access, Affordability and Sccess announces its choice to work with CollegeNET to develop an online undergraduate application for admission for its member schools.
  • December 2015: CollegeNET files its opening brief to Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals
  • April 2015: CollegeNET rsponds to the Common Application’s opposition brief (briefing cycle complete).
  • 2016-2017: appellate court to determine date for oral argument and list of judges to preside over hearing.
  • 2017-2018: Appellate Court to issue ruling.

In the meantime, both the Common App and CollegeNET are continuing to make serious financial investments in their respective application platforms to earn what has grown to be a multi-million dollar online college application business increasingly dependent on innovation and customer service.

Toward this end, the Common App recently announced the launch of a “strategic planning process” to outline a “long-term roadmap” for the organization. While asking for input on topics such as gender identity, criminal history and school discipline, the Common App has indicated that plans are taking shape to make adjustments for the coming year, including the “limited release” of a new feature allowing “students to self-report transcript information.”

At the same time, the Coalition for Access, Affordability and Success, which uses CollegeNET as its technology developer, has loosened membership requirements and plans to grow by as much as 30% over the coming year. And through ongoing improvements and enhancements to its technology, the Coalition pledges to continue supporting the “individual and unique admissions processes” of member institutions.

With limited budgets and increased reliance on enrollment management technology, colleges are looking for application platforms that are reliable, responsive, and state-of-the-art. And whichever product can help colleges craft incoming classes in the most efficient and least expensive way possible is likely to earn the business, regardless of how the lawsuit comes out.

Top 5 Ways Applying to US Colleges is Different than Applying to UK Universities

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While we have previously discussed some of the biggest differences between the undergraduate student experiences in the United States and United Kingdom, today we are going to elaborate on the top five major differences between applying to colleges and universities in the United States and applying to universities in the United Kingdom.

5. Focus on Course, Not College/University Rankings

Students and parents applying for American colleges and universities are obsessed with particular college names and perceived prestige. College and university rankings proliferate. Some students and parents are smart enough to focus in on niche rankings such as best undergraduate engineering programs or undergraduate business programs; yet, most are intent to focus on only overall college and university rankings.

When building your UK uni list, it’s imperative that you focus not on overall university rankings as much as on course rankings. Courses are what they call majors in the UK, and course rankings are where it’s at when it comes to determining best fits for you. Why? Unlike the the undergraduate experience in the US, which most often demands students take required general education and distribution courses in addition to those in a student’s major in order to graduate, in the UK, students dive headfirst into their courses (majors) and never look back. Most UK undergrads won’t take any classes in subjects beyond their courses; thus, you must ensure that the course you study for three years (undergrad is only a three-year experience in England) or four years (Scotland still goes four years and is a big reason undergrad is four years in the US) is one of the highest quality and best fit for you, as your educational experience at that university will be synonymous with your educational experience in that course.

To find course rankings, you must search for “league tables” or “subject tables.” Some of the best are the Guardian‘s league tables, The Times‘ subject tables, and the Complete University Guide‘s university league tables.

4. If an IB Diploma Student, Forget about SAT and ACT; if an AP Student, AP Test Scores, ACT Scores, and SAT Scores Really Matter

IB Predicted Scores are your silver bullet! If respectable (36+) to great (40+) they will save you from having to ever think about taking those pesky American standardized tests known as the SAT or ACT. Yet, in reality, if you are hedging your bets and also applying to colleges in America at the same time as you are applying to colleges in the UK, you probably won’t be skipping the SAT or ACT all together. If you do take those two tests and/or SAT Subject Tests, and do well on them, by all means report your scores to UK universities, but do realize that as an IB Diploma candidate, you really don’t need to. It is highly recommended you spend as much time earning strong IB predicted scores by no later than October of your final year in high school in order to most impress UK admissions committee about your academic wherewithal. Beyond reporting grades on your official high school transcript, the only other academic numbers UK universities will want to see from you before they make a decision on your application will be your IB predicted scores (both individually and in total).

If, on the other hand, you are in AP courses, you really do need to run the table on testing: you need to not only take a good number of AP courses in order to be a competitive candidate for top UK undergraduate programs, you also need to be able to present to the UK universities strong scores on AP tests and the ACT or SAT (and for top programs/universities, scores from the SAT Subject Tests).

If you have not taken any AP courses, your only chance of getting into to top UK undergraduate programs is if you are capable of taking and doing very well on the SAT or ACT and SAT Subject Tests and/or AP tests. This is not an easy task if you are not in a very rigorous high school curriculum.

3. UCAS Application Limits You to Only 5 Universities

The American higher education industry – and yes, it is absolutely an industry – encourages students and families to shell out hundreds of dollars applying to an obscene number of colleges. Students applying to America’s most selective colleges and universities are now routinely applying to no fewer than nine colleges, and many students are applying to fifteen or more. This is madness if for no other reason than there is no way that a student applying to fifteen colleges is going to have much idea why college four is so much different or better than college twelve on the list. It’s ironic, then, that many of nine or more colleges a strong student will apply to will ask questions like, “why do you want to come to our college?” on their applications when most students don’t have the time or ability properly answer that question, as they are serial appliers.

The relatively new American custom of applying to so many colleges is propagated by the colleges themselves in a transparent attempt to drive up application numbers in order to drive down acceptance rates and thus look more selective than they really are. The Common App, which is notorious for collecting millions of dollars and then blowing it quickly and wastefully, “limits” the number of colleges a student can apply to using its site to a ridiculous twenty! Yet, even that limit can be exceeded by industrious and neurotic students who find a way to apply to more Common App schools if they try hard enough. This is not even counting the number of colleges one can apply to beyond those colleges that are members of the Common App. The sky’s the limit and this creates an application arms race that all American college admissions officers will tell you to your face is just dreadful but their enrollment management overlords celebrate all the way to the bank!

Compare that mess to the relative tranquility of applying to universities in the UK, which has the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS), an independent charity funded by advertising and fees charged to applicants and to universities, to thank for preventing such an application arms race from occurring in the UK. The UCAS doesn’t allow prospective student to apply to any more than five (yes glorious 5!) universities in any given year-long admissions cycle.

As an added stake in the heart of those students and families obsessed with prestige of practicality, UCAS also does not allow any applicant to apply to both Oxbridge and Cambridge in the same year. This is the equivalent of the Common App declaring that no applicant can apply to Yale and Harvard in the same year. Not going to happen in the money-drenched US higher education industry. Imagine the cries of horror from the Upper West Side to Studio City if such a policy made it across the Atlantic. Don’t hold your breath.

Thus, applying to UK universities is for those who have limits, self-control, and enough self-possession and focus to actually research which five UK universities would be the best fit for their interests and goals. Applying to US colleges is for gluttons for punishment.

2. Your Teacher/Counselor Has to Write a Different Type of Recommendation (a.k.a a Reference) 

While the standard advice we give to students applying to US colleges is to pick to write your teacher recommendations two teachers who love you as people and as students – teachers who will be willing to share anecdotes about your character and influence on the community in their letters of recommendation – such advice is not applicable for the type of recommendation letters you should procure for your UK application.

UK universities are all about collecting objective information (this is a theme that shines particularly bright when it comes to point #1 below), and as a result, UK unis don’t want a teacher recommendation that reads like a love letter! In fact, below are the exact areas of focus UCAS asks recommendation, or using British terminology, reference writers to focus on:

  • A student’s post-16 academic performance and their potential for success in higher education.
  • Why they’re suited to their chosen subject and career path, plus their attitude, motivation and commitment.
  • Skills and qualities like aptitude and enthusiasm, plus current or past achievements that will help with their chosen subject area.
  • Achievements, work experience, and extracurricular activities that relate to their chosen course(s).
  • Any commitments (like January AS assessments) that might prevent interview attendance on a particular day.
  • Any factors/personal circumstances that might affect their performance (consent must be gained first to mention health or disabilities).
  • Avoid repeating any of the information they’ve given in their application, unless you want to comment on it, and avoid mentioning any particular university or college.

As a result, make sure that if you are a student applying to both UK and US universities during the same admissions cycle that you discuss with your counselor and teacher referees/recommenders how their reference letter for the UK must be more focused on accomplishments, attitude, and academic potential and their recommendation letters/teacher evaluations for the US must be more focused on story-telling, emotion, and intangibles.

Final word on this topic: by UK law anything a teacher or counselor writes in their recommendations will be accessible to the student if the student seeks it out in the future. FERPA waivers end at the US border, so there is no truly confidential UK letter of reference.

1.  Your Personal Statement Must be Direct and Goal-Focused

What is your favorite word and why? What would you do with a million dollars? What is one thing your future roommate should know about you? What is one community you are a part of and why do you find this important? Reflect on a time when you challenged a belief or idea; what prompted you to act, and would you make the same decision again?

The six questions above are just a sample of the crude psychoanalytical nonsense that US colleges conjure up when developing college application essay questions/prompts. The last one was one of the five options to choose from on the much-used Common Application, which has hundreds of colleges as exclusive members and over 700 college members total, most of which are American colleges and universities. If you are applying to highly selective colleges and universities in the United States you are going to have to answer questions like those asked above.

You thought you were applying to study business or biology and your scholastic merit would determine whether or not you were admitted? Ha! Foolish you! You in fact are applying to an institution that is focused on one thing above all else: your identity! Social engineering is a tame description for what is going on in most American college admissions offices these days; however, the powers that be in higher education call such a focus on identity in college applications “a useful tool to enroll diverse classes capable of demonstrating our commitment to inclusivity.”

As America’s colleges are all about creating “diversity” in their student populations, one tool they use to build an entering class full of “diverse” students is an essay prompt that compels students to share back stories that provide information that the colleges are either unable or unwilling (because of discrimination laws) to ask for directly elsewhere in their applications. You thought college application essays were a way to assess a student’s writing? Nope. If colleges actually wanted an unadulterated view of a student’s actual writing, they would require students to submit their ACT Writing section or SAT Essay section scores. Yet, more and more colleges are doing just the opposite by declaring they don’t want to see such scores.

College application essays are a wonderful way to gather a lot of subjective information about a student and his or her background and not be called out for socio-demographic bias while doing so! As such, the typically successful American college application essay must combine at least a sprinkling of virtue signaling in just the right proportion relative to wearing your heart on your sleeve and doing so in an eloquent enough manner all while ensuring you have a thesis, body, and conclusion and don’t go over 650 words!

If you find that which is described above unsettling, we recommend you seriously consider applying to universities in the UK. Why? In the UK, applying to college is even more streamlined than it is in the United States, and the big player in the application market, as mentioned above, is the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS), a UK-based organization that operates the application process for British universities.

The great news is that the personal statement on the UCAS has a focus that is refreshingly pertinent to your actual reason for applying in the first place: your interest in and goals for your course of study. Specifically, students should answer in 4,000 characters or fewer the following questions (taken directly from the UCAS site preparing you to write your personal statement):

Why are you applying for your chosen course(s)? Why does this subject interest you? Why do you think you’re suitable for the course(s)? Do your current or previous studies relate to the course(s) that you have chosen? Have you taken part in any other activities that demonstrate your interest in the course(s)?

So, basically, you are writing about why you are applying – your ambitions and what interests you about the subject, course providers, and higher education and what makes you suitable – any relevant skills, experience or achievements gained from education, work or other activities. For international students it is also recommend that your personal statement touch on why you want to study in the UK and why you want to be an international student rather than study in your own country.

Unlike the common application experience (and especially the Common Application experience) for students applying to US colleges for which you need to be emotive, reflective, personal, and focused on illustrating personal growth usually by throwing out identity-landen examples of adversity you’ve overcome, on the UCAS you are directly addressing your interest in and reason for pursuing a course of study.

Final words of wisdom

Research, research, research. Education UK is a wonderful place to start (it’s like College Board’s Big Future or Naviance’s College Search function but tailored specifically to schools in the UK). Then, always visit specific university websites for the latest information on deadlines, programming, and policies. Finally, if you can visit universities in the UK before applying, that is a great idea because you want to be sure studying in a foreign land is in fact the right choice for you and even though it may seem great in theory, seeing life in the UK up close may change your perspective greatly.

No end in sight for the lawsuit between Common App and CollegeNET

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One of the more puzzling stories complicating relations between the Common Application and the Coalition for Access, Affordability and Success is the ongoing lawsuit between CollegeNET, the Coalition’s technology developer, and the Common App, the industry’s largest and most powerful online college application provider.

And this isn’t a new development. CollegeNET first filed its antitrust lawsuit against the Common Application in May of 2014—long before the Coalition was organized and launched.  But for whatever reason, the lawsuit only received cursory coverage in in the education press and many in the admissions industry, including decision-makers at the college level, are not particularly aware of its status.

The short version of the story is that CollegeNET alleges that it lost more than 200 customers in the last 10 to 15 years because of “anticompetitive and exclusionary conduct,” on the part of the Common Application, which used to charge far cheaper rates to colleges that used its application exclusively, according to the Chronicle of Higher Education. While the Common Application has discontinued that practice, CollegeNET in its appeals claims the Common App used various tactics to “monopolize the market” and exclude competitors.

In an email to The Chronicle, Jim Wolfston, CollegeNET’s founder and chief executive, outlined changes he hoped would result from the lawsuit. One is the elimination of the Common App’s “equal treatment” requirement, under which members agree to promote all applications equally in communications and on websites, and charge the same fee for each.

“We think admissions officers ought to be able to state their preferences clearly,” Wolfston told The Chronicle, “and that vendors should earn market position on quality and innovation.”

So far, judges have dismissed the case twice but an appeal filed in May of 2015 is currently making its way through the courts.

In an effort to update Common App community on the status of the litigation, Jenny Rickard, executive director of the Common Application, recently sent an email outlining “relevant events” related to the case and shared her perspective on its impact on the organization.

“We view CollegeNET’s claims, and continued appeal, as an attempt to misuse the antitrust laws to override the normal give and take of competition,” writes Rickard. “Complete dismissal of antitrust claims is relatively rare, and the court’s ruling in this case reflects the baselessness of CollegeNET’s claims.”

She goes on to assure members that while the Common App is in a “sound financial position” and has the resources to defend the organization, “we would prefer to spend our members’ fees continuing to innovate and expand our outreach and access programs in support of our mission.”

To date, the nonprofit Common Application has spent “several million dollars” defending against what Rickard characterizes as “frivolous claims by a for-profit, privately-held company”—a company with a deep association with the Coalition.

While the Common App continues to expand and reports growth suggesting increased earnings, the topic of finances and the impact of the lawsuit were addressed at the member conference last spring.  And the most recent publicly-available tax statement shows that the Common App reported a loss of over $2.7 million, in the fiscal year ending June 2014. Since this filing, the Common App has brought a large technical staff in-house (no longer subcontracting with Hobsons) and purchased condo space to house them.

According to Rickard, the lawsuit continues with oral arguments and a final ruling expected sometime between 2017 and 2018. And it appears that expenses related to the lawsuit won’t be going away anytime soon.

Nancy Griesemer is an independent educational consultant and founder of College Explorations LLC. She has written extensively and authoritatively about the college admissions process and related topics since 2009. 

UVa increases early admission offers to 5914 for the Class of 2021

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Early applicants to the University of Virginia’s Class of 2021 received decisions earlier this week—well ahead of the January 31st published release date.  Following the recent announcement from UVa President Teresa Sullivan that she will be leaving at the end of her current contract in 2018, the admissions office decided to give over 5000 prospective ‘Hoos some good news to consider.

And it’s clear that admission to the Commonwealth’s flagship university remains a highly sought-after prize among high school students—both from within the state and across the country.

Even with plans to increase undergraduate enrollment for 2017-18, the competition for admission under UVa’s early action program continues to be intense, as the overall number of applications grew to 20,446—about a 24 percent increase over numbers reported the same time last year.

Predictably, most of the early applicants, 14,968 (or 73 percent) came from out of state. The balance—5,278 applicants—came from within Virginia.

Out of this year’s early action pool, 5,914 students were admitted—about 14 percent more than for the Class of 2020, which experienced a seven percent jump in EA admits from the year before. Of those admitted, 2,575 were from Virginia (47 percent offer rate—down three percentage points), and 3,339 were from out of state (22 percent offer rate).

Among the offers, 4,496 were for the College of Arts & Sciences, 1,180 were for the School of Engineering and Applied Science, 97 were for the School of Architecture, 75 were for the School of Nursing, and 66 were for the Curry School of Education.

Typically, more offers are made to nonresidents because the yield among students faced with out-of-state tuition is significantly lower. But it’s worth noting that offers made to out-of-state students increased by over 13 percent from last year.

According to assistant admissions dean Jeannine Lalonde (Dean J), those offered early admission bids were very well qualified. The middle range of SAT scores of this year’s admitted students fell between 2020 and 2290 (ACT between 31 and 34). And 94.6 percent of the offers went to students in the top ten percent of their high school classes (this number only reflects those who attend schools that report rank).

Although over 9000 students were denied admission during the first round of consideration, another 5458 were thrown a lifeline by being deferred to the regular decision pool, which stands at about 16,250 additional applicants. The entire group will receive decisions before April 1. Note that deferred applicants are specifically encouraged to send new test scores and midyear grades as soon as possible.

All students will have until May 1, to make up their minds. And those early applicants who were lucky enough to be admitted to UVa’s Class of 2021 can expect to receive significant encouragement to commit as soon as possible.

Nancy Griesemer is an independent educational consultant and founder of College Explorations LLC. She has written extensively and authoritatively about the college admissions process and related topics since 2009. 

University of Maryland vs. Penn State

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If you only have one more spot to fill on your college list and it comes down to University of Maryland College Park or Penn State University Park here are the factors you should consider before making the final cut.

Plan campus visits but avoid spring break

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No matter how much you think you know about a college, there’s always more to learn. And the best way to add to your knowledge of campus culture, the kinds of students who attend and how they relate to one another, who serves on faculty, how programs and majors are structured, the quality and availability of student services, and the general “feel” of a college is by taking the time to visit.

Colleges know they are more likely to attract students who schedule information sessions and take tours. And they put a great deal of time and thought into considering how they present themselves to the outside world. It’s up to the visitor to look deeper—go off the beaten path and do a little independent investigative work by talking to students and observing campus life.

While colleges may consider the visit as “demonstrating interest,” you need to think of it as doing your due diligence—an opportunity to truly understand why a college deserves to be on your list. In so doing, you’ll be rewarded with a solid foundation for articulating in an essay or during an interview why it is you want to attend a particular college or university.

But it’s hard to get a clear picture beyond basic bricks and mortar if you schedule time on campus during student holidays. For that reason, you might want to take into consideration “spring break” weeks when putting together plans for a college road trip during the coming months. And luckily, there are two really good resources for you to use:

Springbreak.com: Mostly targeted to college students anxious to book flights and hotels, this site provides start dates for an impressive number of colleges listed alphabetically—from Adelphi (March 11) to Yale (March 4).

STS Travel:  Again, this list is designed to help undergrads plan their vacations, and sorts colleges by dates—from Augustana (February 18) to Elmira (April 15). Note that the links STS provides don’t take you to college websites!

Hopefully your spring break won’t coincide with their spring break. But if it does, remember that a campus visit under less-than-perfect circumstances is better than no visit at all. It’s just that important!

Nancy Griesemer is an independent educational consultant and founder of College Explorations LLC. She has written extensively and authoritatively about the college admissions process and related topics since 2009. Never miss one of Nancy’s articles – subscribe to her mailing list below.

Colleges that substitute graded papers for essays or test scores

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Colleges use many different tools for evaluating an applicant’s writing skills.

And considering the number of remedial writing and communications classes offered at even the most prestigious institutions, the need for making an accurate assessment of college-readiness in this key area is becoming increasingly important.

To assess writing ability, colleges may carefully review grades in writing-intensive English, history, and social science classes.  Or they may require one or more essays as part of an application for admission.

Some colleges factor in SAT or ACT writing scores during their evaluations.  Less frequently, they might even download and review an essay written for a standardized test.

And a handful of colleges invite or require the submission of a “graded” paper in lieu of an essay or as part of additional requirements for test-optional/test-flexible admissions.

At last count, over 50 Common Application member colleges, including Agnes Scott, Amherst, Brandeis, and Sarah Lawrence have made provision for uploading or otherwise receiving graded papers. In fact, the Coalition Application has built-in capacity for both storing and adding these kinds of documents to applications.

And it’s not such a bad idea.

Graded papers not only provide insight into a student’s basic writing ability, but they also speak volumes about a high school’s grading system.

For example, an “A” on a paper filled with grammar, spelling or syntax errors obviously diminishes the value of the grade and suggests the possibility of grade inflation at work within a specific class or at the high school in general.  And it may say something about the applicant’s ability to recognize fundamental mistakes in their own work.

On the other hand, a “C” on a beautifully written essay could be indication of a particularly difficult or demanding class or school.

“There were times when I would be reading the essay being awed by the poor level of writing, while the teacher still gave an A to the student,” said former dean of admissions and financial aid Tom Parker, in an interview with the Amherst Student. “[A graded paper] was a great opportunity to have a deeper look into the varying levels of writing education in high schools.”

Unfortunately, it’s not always easy to discover if a college is inviting a graded paper or how it should be submitted.  And there are usually no guidelines as to what should accompany the paper, if anything. But it might be helpful to include a cover sheet with basic identifying information such as the student’s name and birthdate; the name of the course for which the paper was written noting honors, AP or IB; the specific assignment or essay prompt; and possibly the final grade for the class.

Once the decision has been made about what to send, students sometimes need to figure out how to send it, as colleges vary enormously on how they prefer to receive graded papers—upload, U.S. mail, fax, or email.

Although the Common App offers easy-to-use tools for uploading graded papers, a number of colleges have mysteriously chosen to make the process more complicated. For these members, the Common App may only provide an easily missed link on the “My Colleges” page under “First-Year Test Policy.”  If you follow the link, you may be given instructions for submitting the paper.  Or not.

To make things even more challenging, a note might appear under the “Instructions & Help Center” column to the right of the college-specific preferred testing question usually after you mark your intention to go test-optional.

And sometimes, the Common Application provides no information relative to paper submissions.  In this case, you’re on your own to find instructions on a school’s website or wait until the college sends you an email outlining the process.

This might be where the Coalition Application’s Student Locker comes in handy. As part of its package of application tools, the Coalition Application makes the Locker available as an easy-to-use repository for graded papers and other documents related to a student’s high school career. Using the Coalition platform, a student can very easily attach papers to applications requesting them.

So how does an applicant find out if a college requires or invites the submission of a graded paper or will accept a paper in lieu of test scores?

This is where it’s to a student’s benefit to research and compare different application formats accepted by individual colleges. The best place to start is the school website, where allowable applications will be listed. And don’t be surprised to find multiple applications used by a single college, including the Common App, the Universal College Application (UCA), the Coalition Application, the Cappex Application, a school-based online application and/or a paper version of the same.

Although it may take a little time, it’s often worth the effort to investigate the requirements of each application because they may differ significantly. And you should pick the application that is easiest to use and best represents your credentials.

For example, many Common Application member colleges list on their websites other application forms, which allow students to substitute graded papers for essays—even when the Common Application doesn’t.  This year, the University of Chicago allowed a graded paper to be substituted for an essay only for those students using the Coalition Application.

To give you an idea of how complicated these questions can be, here are some Common App member colleges that provide for paper (graded or otherwise) submissions:

  • Agnes Scott (Member Question upload—Preferred testing plan)
  • Albright College  (homeschooled students/optional for others)
  • Amherst College (Writing Supplement)
  • Augustana, IL (Link on My Colleges)
  • Austin College (Member Question—Preferred testing plan)
  • Baldwin-Wallace (Member Question upload—Preferred testing plan)
  • Bennington College (Dimensional Application)
  • Bloomfield College (Writing Supplement)
  • Brandeis (Writing Supplement—test flexible)
  • Butler University (option for international applicants)
  • Caldwell University (Website)
  • Catholic University (homeschooled students)
  • Cedar Crest College (online application)
  • Chatham University (Writing Supplement)
  • College of Saint Rose (Website)
  • Daemen College (Website)
  • Elizabethtown College (Website)
  • Emerson College (option for students deferred from early action)
  • Fairfield University (Member Question upload)
  • Franklin and Marshall (link on My Colleges)
  • Franklin Pierce University (Website)
  • Gettysburg College (homeschooled applicants)
  • Green Mountain College (Writing Supplement)
  • Guilford College (Test optional instructions provided in tool bar)
  • Hiram College (Website)
  • Hood College (option for international applicants)
  • Hampshire College (Writing Supplement)
  • Kings College (Website)
  • Lake Erie College (Website)
  • Lewis and Clark (Member Question upload—Preferred testing plan)
  • Lynchburg College (Website)
  • Marietta College (Website)
  • Marlboro College (Writing Supplement—writing sample)
  • Muhlenberg (Instructions provided under Preferred testing plan)
  • Niagara University (Website)
  • Oberlin College (Writing Supplement: homeschooled applicants)
  • Providence College (homeschooled applicants)
  • Roanoke College (Member Questions—test optional consideration)
  • Saint Leo University (Instructions provided in tool bar and on website)
  • Sarah Lawrence (Member Question upload)
  • Siena College (Website)
  • SUNY Plattsburgh (Website)
  • Stetson (Writing Supplement)
  • St. John Fisher College (Website)
  • St. Olaf College (Coalition Application)
  • Union College (Coalition Application)
  • University of Chicago (Coalition Application)
  • University of Evansville (Website)
  • University of Scranton (Website)
  • University of the Sciences (Website)
  • Ursinus College (international applicants)
  • Washington College (Website)
  • Wheaton College MA (Website)
  • William Jewell College (Website)
  • Yale University (Coalition Application)

Other colleges offering the graded paper option include Catawba College, Hellenic College, Point Park University, the University of Baltimore, and the University of Oregon (alternate admission process).

And here’s a tip for underclassmen:  begin saving or setting aside good examples of graded papers.  You never know when they might come in handy.

The Coalition announces 2017-18 essay prompts and plans for next year

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In a newsletter circulated late last week, Annie Reznik, executive director of the Coalition for Access, Affordability and Success, described some of the progress the Coalition has made since she joined the organization last April and announced expansion plans for the coming year.

“…my first week with the Coalition coincided with the launch of the Platform; at that time we had 900 users which grew to 119,000 users at the year’s end.”

While only 47 out of 95 Coalition members finally launched applications during 2016-17, it is expected that all will be online by next summer. In fact, with new membership guidelines in place effective January 1, the Coalition expects to add more colleges for 2017-18. So far, new  members include Arizona State University, Drew University, Loyola University Maryland, Rutgers University—Newark, University of Arizona and University of New Mexico. By May 1, the Coalition plans to make a final announcement of all members for the upcoming cycle.

But most important, according to Reznik, during this time Coalition member colleges and universities completed 554 visits to 270 high schools where students are most likely to benefit from college information and resources. In preparation for these visits, several members collaborated to create a series of communications to connect students with First Lady Michelle Obama’s Up Next mobile text messaging campaign, which is designed to introduce students to the FAFSA toolkit and College Scorecard.

This project, together with the free tools available as part of the Coalition platform, form a foundation for achieving the Coalition’s mission to “improve the college admission application process for all students.”

And for juniors on deck for 2017-18, Reznik announced that the Coalition essay questions will remain the same for next year for those members requiring a personal statement—not all do. They are:

  • Tell a story from your life, describing an experience that either demonstrates your character or helped to shape it.
  • Describe a time when you made a meaningful contribution to others in which the greater good was your focus. Discuss the challenges and rewards of making your contribution.
  • Has there been a time when you’ve had a long-cherished or accepted belief challenged? How did you respond? How did the challenge affect your beliefs?
  • What is the hardest part of being a teenager now? What’s the best part? What advice would you give a younger sibling or friend (assuming they would listen to you)?
  • Submit an essay on a topic of your choice.

To learn more about the Coalition for Access Affordability and Success or to create an account, visit the Coalition website.

Nancy Griesemer is an independent educational consultant and founder of College Explorations LLC. She has written extensively and authoritatively about the college admissions process and related topics since 2009. 

Colleges offer advice on deferral

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Too many applicants who applied early this fall are finding they’ve been neither accepted nor rejected, but deferred to a much larger regular admissions pool. And this is not a particularly happy place to be, especially if you were counting on having the college admissions thing totally wrapped up by winter break.

But there’s really not much sense in dwelling on the negative. Think of the deferral as an opportunity to explore other options. And although there are no guarantees, continuing the campaign for admission to the college that deferred you will sometimes work in your favor.

After the initial shock is past, take stock of the situation and make a plan, preferably in consultation with your school counselor or an independent educational consultant with whom you’ve been working. Once you decide to press your case, it’s usually advisable to provide new information in the way of grades, scores and accomplishments.  Note that it’s very important to follow directions, which should be clearly outlined on the school website or in the notice of deferral.

But not every college specifically states what it is they want in the way of follow-up. Some are coy and general about the kinds of information they’d like to see, preferring to leave it to the imagination of applicants wishing to demonstrate continued interest or improve their odds for admission. Others specifically list the materials they’d like to see and the process by which they should be submitted. Most colleges encourage continued communication, especially with regional representatives.

Still others, like the University of Virginia, warn against sending additional information or making contact with the admissions office. This approach is more the exception than the rule and may be subject to some flexibility—even for UVa.

There are some consistent ‘themes’ in the advice provided by different colleges to students they deferred. One that often surprises applicants is how much they are encouraged to retake standardized tests in January or February. This is usually not welcome news for students who thought they were finished with all that!

In any event, the following is a sample of the many ways colleges and universities want to hear from students deferred:

Brown University
You may certainly let us know if there is a significant accomplishment or a noteworthy change in your circumstances, but it is not necessary to amend your application as a matter of course. Remember that a deferral does not mean that an applicant has fallen short in terms of qualification for admission. Make sure that your counselor has the Mid-Year Report form so we can receive your fall term grades and any updates your school would like to provide.   http://www.brown.edu/admission/undergraduate/ask?faq_category=All

College of William and Mary
As a deferred student, your application will automatically be reviewed again, in its entirety, during our Regular Decision review process in the spring….Over the coming weeks, you are welcome to send us any new academic information (first-semester grades, updated standardized test scores) as well as any high-level awards or significant accomplishments not included in your original application. You can also send us a letter/email/statement of continued interest. If you elect to send us such a statement, this does not have to be anything overly elaborate. This should simply be a few paragraph explanation of why you feel like William & Mary is the best fit for you. Whenever we receive such materials (academic information, awards accomplishments, statements of continued interest, etc.) we make sure to file everything appropriately with your application.     http://wmblogs.wm.edu/admiss/decisions-decisions-early-decision-2016-edition/

Elon University
When Early Decision and Early Action applicants are deferred, the admissions committee is requesting new information to be used in reconsidering your application in the Regular Deadline program. While receiving a deferred decision may be disappointing, receipt of new information in the form of mid-year grades or updated standardized test scores provides you the opportunity to be considered for admission in the final pool.  https://www.elon.edu/e/admissions/undergraduate/apply/path-of-a-first-year-application.html

Emory University
Students who are deferred to Regular Decision should send first semester senior grades from their high school and any new application information.      http://apply.emory.edu/apply/ed.php

Georgetown University
Early Action admission is offered to a limited number of students, those whom the Admissions Committee is certain they would offer admission based on information from freshman, sophomore and junior years only. Deferred students are strongly encouraged to maintain high senior year grades and submit any new information, such as standardized test scores, new honors or awards.   https://uadmissions.georgetown.edu/firstyear/early-action#10

Gettysburg College
Some Early Decision applicants who are not offered acceptance at that time will be deferred to the Regular Decision admission pool and their application will be reviewed again. Additional semester grades or new test scores may be submitted for students deferred to Regular Decision.
https://www.gettysburg.edu/academics/catalog/policies/policy-details.dot?id=6a3fce7c-50d8-4742-bc78-74b426739bef

Johns Hopkins University
You are not required to submit any additional materials. However, if you would like to, you may submit supplemental materials to your application file for review during the RD selection process. This information could be additional standardized test results, your senior year semester grades, additional letters of recommendation, an updated rèsumè, or an additional written statement of your interest in Johns Hopkins.  https://apply.jhu.edu/apply/faq/early-decision/

MIT
The only “new” thing you need to send in is the February Updates & Notes form. You’ll use the FUN form to tell us your midyear grades and anything new that has happened or will happen. As always, you can send us stuff via fax (617-687-9184) or mail, but the FUN form is the best way to update us. The FUN form is due by February 15th.

You may still submit a supplemental portfolio, but you do not need to; I would only consider this if you were planning to do so during EA but ran out of time. If you are retaking tests in December or January, you may also designate MIT as a score recipient, and we’ll add them to your application.

You may not rewrite your essays, redo your interview, redo your entire application…anything like that. We deferred you because we want to reconsider your application (the one you have already sent) in RA.   http://mitadmissions.org/blogs/entry/tips-for-the-ea-deferred

Rice University
The best thing you can do after being deferred is to keep the Admission Office updated with new information since the original submission of your application. We must have your senior mid-year grade report sent from your high school to Rice. We invite you to tell us about your continued interest in Rice along with details of any new awards, accolades, or accomplishments. Additions to your file should be directly from you, the student. Please do not send additional letters of recommendation from school officials, Rice alumni, or others. Send any updates via your Rice Admission Student Portal (preferred) or email to [email protected] by March 1, 2017.   http://futureowls.rice.edu/futureowls/defer_faq.asp

Tulane University
DO: Contact your admission counselor and let him or her know you are interested in Tulane. You can reach out to your admission counselor here. You’ll want to shoot him or her an e-mail in the coming weeks (not necessarily today… let the dust settle and your emotions subside) letting them know that you have been deferred and that you remain strongly interested in Tulane. Let your counselor know that you’ll send your first semester grades and also feel free to let him or her know that Tulane is very high on your list. It will be nearly impossible to be admitted to Tulane if you do not, in some form, reach out to us. We’d like to only take those students who we know want to enroll here.

DO: Send us an essay about why you are interested in enrolling at Tulane, if you have not already done so. See the prompt on the application for admission. Tell us why you would be a great fit here, and why Tulane is a great fit for you. Do some research. Many times, we defer students who are academically qualified to be admitted, but we are unsure of their interest level. So reach out and let us know.

DO: Send us some additional materials. You are welcome to send us a new resume, essay, your first semester grades, an art or music portfolio, a new SAT or ACT score, etc. While some of the smaller things may not make a big difference, an increase on your SATs, or a nice well-written essay all about your Tulane visit can go a long way. Mid year reports are recommended for deferred students. Again, keep in mind, unless its a major change in extracurricular activities, it won’t change too much (same goes for additional teacher recommendations). The biggest changemaker will be new test scores. http://tuadmissionjeff.blogspot.com/2011/12/ive-been-deferred-now-what.html

University of Chicago
If you applied through the Early Action or Early Decision I application plans, your application may be deferred. This means that the admissions committee wants to review it again in the context of the Regular Decision pool. Your application will be automatically rolled over to the Regular Decision round, and you do not need to reapply or submit additional application materials. If you would like, you can reach out to your regional admissions counselor to express your continued interest in attending UChicago.   https://collegeadmissions.uchicago.edu/apply/application/application-plans

U Mass Amherst
Applicants who were deferred from Early Action will receive a second review at the end of March. Make sure that any new academic information (mid-semester grades, higher test scores, etc.) has been sent to us by March 1. Please do not send duplicate information or additional recommendations. Visiting or contacting the Admissions Office will not enhance your chance of being admitted.   https://www.umass.edu/admissions/apply/dates-and-deadlines/early-action-faqs

University of Michigan
We know being deferred isn’t the response you were hoping for. We truly appreciate your interest in the University of Michigan. Right now, you simply need to be patient, and keep striving to do your best in school. We also request that your high school counselor submit an official copy of your 7th semester grades (or 1st trimester grades) through the Common Application so that these courses may be used in the evaluation process.     https://umich.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/2080

University of Notre Dame
1. Our office encourages deferred students to keep us updated with any changes to their application. The most important piece is sending us your first semester senior year grades. Many high school counselors will do this automatically, but if not, this should be a top priority. The Admissions Committee wants to see that students are maintaining a strong academic performance throughout their senior year, particularly if the applicant is taking high level courses. Any changes in GPA or class rank can also be helpful to our evaluation process.

2. You may also update us to any significant extra-curricular accomplishments or awards that you receive in the coming months. The easiest way to do this is to email this information to either your regional Admissions Counselor or to [email protected].

3. You do not need to submit any additional letters of recommendation. We generally do not encourage letters of recommendation beyond the required academic teacher letter and optional counselor letter, which you submitted with your original application. Of course, if any additional letters are submitted on your behalf, they will be added to your file.

4. If Notre Dame is truly one of your first choice schools, you may also write a letter of desire explaining why you believe Notre Dame is the best school for you. You may send this letter directly to your Regional Admissions Counselor and he or she will be sure to add it to your admissions file. This letter of desire is a useful opportunity to tell the Admissions Committee a little bit more about you and to explain why you would like to attend Notre Dame.
http://admissions.nd.edu/connect/news/55792-advice-to-the-deferred/

University of Pennsylvania
…deferred applicants contact the admissions office during the regular decision round with any updates to their applications — new awards, test scores or even additional letters of recommendation — though applicants should not exaggerate their accomplishments in an attempt to impress the admissions office.

“They can demonstrate their interest and update us with only one communication, however they would like to do that….I just don’t want them to feel like they have to create some other persona.”      http://www.thedp.com/article/2015/02/advice-for-deferred-applicants

University of Richmond
There are two main reasons that we defer applications to RD. In the majority of cases, the committee simply wants to see these applications in the context of the entire applicant pool, before we make a final decision. In some cases, however, there may be something specific the committee wants to see – for example, your full first semester grades, if your first quarter grades were of concern or if you had a significant dip in your junior year and the committee wants to see a full semester’s recovery. Deferred students should feel free to contact their regional counselor and ask if there’s anything more they can do to improve their application in Regular Decision; just keep in mind that nine times out of ten, the answer will be no, the committee just wants to review your application in light of the whole applicant pool. Every year there are deferred students who are admitted in Regular Decision (though you are no longer bound by the ED contract, in that event).

Do: Keep up the hard work to maintain a strong academic record in your senior year. Don’t be discouraged by a deferral; it’s not a negative comment on your abilities or potential. Let this add fuel to the fire to motivate you to show the admission committee that you are capable of maintaining the strong record you have already set forth in your initial application. We’d love to see all A’s and B’s in the senior year.

Do: Ask yourself if you are comfortable with your test scores. Scores are certainly not the exclusive deciding factor in any application, but they can influence a decision. If you’re comfortable with your scores, awesome! If not, perhaps consider a January test date. This may be a good opportunity to try your hand at the SAT versus the ACT, or vice versa.   http://admissionblog.richmond.edu/?assetid=e7f692edac1c04197a01ff7e32ce8f28

University of Virginia
If you were deferred from Early Action to Regular Decision it means that we feel your application deserves another review. You possess many of the strengths we expect our admitted students to present in their applications but we cannot offer you admission at this stage. In many cases we want to see how deferred students are doing in the classroom during their senior year.

Please send any updated testing to our admission office as soon as it becomes available. We will review your application again in Regular Decision. Please be sure to forward  new test results immediately.

Other than midyear grade updates or new standardized test results, we will not be able to review any edits to your application or additional information. Please do not send additional information, including recommendations, during this time.       http://admission.virginia.edu/defer

Wellesley
If you are deferred, sending certain additional materials may be helpful to the College during the next round of the decision-making process. You may want to send us your most up-to-date grades, a list of any recent special honors or awards you have received, or any helpful information you may not have provided with your initial application. An additional recommendation may also be helpful. If you have been deferred and you are not sure exactly what to send, just contact us and we’ll help you decide.   https://www.wellesley.edu/admission/faq#defer#bJCiqZOSeCHu6gD4.97

Nancy Griesemer is an independent educational consultant and founder of College Explorations LLC. She has written extensively and authoritatively about the college admissions process and related topics since 2009. Never miss one of Nancy’s articles – subscribe to her mailing list below.