Admissions Blog

College Counseling: The Year in Review

Posted on December 17, 2019 by Patrick O'Connor

There are many years in the college counseling world that come and go without a lot of fanfare, but this certainly wasn’t one of them. Thanks to America’s ever-growing fascination with the college application process, counseling received more than its share of the limelight in 2019. Here are the highlights:

The Scandal Known as Varsity Blues Leave it to a small group of parents with way more dollars than sense, and a con man feigning to be an independent college counselor, to create even more angst over selective college selection than ever before. Since this story involved Hollywood, money, and some of the three schools the New York Times considers representative of the world of college admissions, way too much time and energy was devoted to understanding what this kerfuffle meant to college admissions as a whole. The average high school senior takes the SAT once and goes to college within 150 miles of home. Varsity Blues meant nothing to them. The same should have been true for the rest of us; instead, this issue is now running neck and neck with Popeye’s Spicy Chicken Sandwich for the year’s Story That Wasn’t Award.

Change to NACAC Ethics Code It made fewer headlines, but the Justice Department’s investigation into NACAC’s Code of Ethics could prove to have far more implications to the college plans of seniors than Varsity Blues could hope to. With colleges now allowed to offer incentives for students to apply early, and with colleges able to continue to pursue students who have committed to another college, the May 1 deposit date is still in effect, but may prove to have significantly less effect.

College Testing and the University of California The value of the SAT and ACT popped up in the headlines all year, as even more colleges decided test scores no longer had to be part of their application process. At year’s end, the test optional movement got a big media splash, as the University of California announced it was reviewing its testing policy. Combined with a lawsuit filed against the UCs claiming the tests are discriminatory, it’s clear that business as usual in the college application process is on its way out. Will more changes ensue?

The Harvard Case and Race Affirmative action advocates celebrated a legal victory this fall when a court ruled Harvard’s admissions procedures do, and may, use race as a factor in reviewing college applications. The case drew national attention in part because it was initiated by a group claiming Harvard didn’t admit enough students of Asian descent. It’s likely to stay in the headlines when the decision is ultimately appealed to the US Supreme Court, a group that, as it currently stands, has been known to be highly skeptical of race-based programs—meaning this year’s lower court victory could be pyrrhic at best.

Improved Research on College Counseling Academic research has never gotten its due in the world of school counseling, and that’s certainly true in the more specific field of college counseling. That trend may be changing, as a report from Harvard lays the groundwork for a more data-based approach to measure the difference counselors make in their work. The findings include an indication that counselors tend to be more effective in college counseling if the counselor was raised in the same area where they work, and, as a rule, are more helpful providing information to the student about the college the counselor attended. The report suggests this may be due to undertraining in college admissions as part of counselor education programs– to which most of the counseling world replied, no kidding. Look for more to come here.

Billions More for More Counselors, But Who Cares It’s hard to remember the need for more counselors was one of the favorite topics of the media just two years ago. A sign of American’s true indifference—or short attention span—rests with a congressional bill that provides up to $5 billion for new school counselor positions, a bill that is currently languishing in committee. Is this bill a victim of an absence of school shootings, impeachment, or both? Given what it can do, is there really any reason this bill can’t be a focus of action in 2020? That’s really up to us.

How to Recover from Early Decision or Early Action Rejection

Posted on December 3, 2019 by Craig Meister

Depending on when you are reading this, you may be just days away from learning whether or not you have earned early action or early decision admission to your top choice college or university. Or you may have just gotten the news you dreaded most.

If you get in, celebrate and congratulate yourself (and all those who have supported you) for such a terrific achievement.

If you don’t get in, don’t flip out! It is human nature to become quite sad when one does not get what one wants. We all handle disappointment differently, so some of you who are rejected may scream, cry, or stay in bed all day, while others may simply go for a run, workout at the gym, or eat a lot of ice cream.

While you can react in any of the above ways in the moments and hours immediately following bad news, I suggest that you reengage with the college admissions process quickly in order to increase your chances of getting acceptance letters from colleges that you have applied to (or will apply to) regular decision.

Make sure to finish up your applications strong before your regular decision college application deadlines. Make sure to request on that your transcripts be sent to regular decision colleges if you have not already done so. And make sure to have CollegeBoard and/or ACT, Inc. send your test scores promptly to all colleges still pending on your list.

Watch below for some more tips on how to recover from ED/EA rejection.

How to Respond to an Early Decision or Early Action Deferral

Posted on December 2, 2019 by Craig Meister

Don’t become devastated by an Early Decision or Early Action admissions deferral. Fight back and earn your spot at the college of your dreams.

If the college or university that defers you remains one of your top choice colleges, there are a number of steps you can take to give yourself a fighting chance for regular decision. Watch the video below or read on to find out how.

-Write directly to the admissions office informing it that this college or university is still your number one choice, that you appreciate the fact that you will be up for consideration for admission again in the regular admissions cycle, and that you would definitely attend if accepted.

-Make sure that you keep the admissions office updated with any and all new developments since your initial application. Any new honors, grades, scores, activities, and awards are worth mentioning in this letter. Make sure that your high school counselor sends out your new transcript promptly at the end of the first semester ( or 2nd Trimester). This means that you want to keep earning very high grades for the duration of your senior year.

-Depending on the school, sometimes deferred candidates can interview again or for the first time. Find out if this is an option by contacting the admissions office. The very act of calling to ask shows that you are still eager to attend.

-Remain positive in all communications with this college or university and with your school counselor and communicate to your school counselor how much you still want the opportunity to attend this college or university.

-Contact all contacts that you have talked with through the college admissions process that are in any way related to this college or university. Remind them that you are still dedicated to this college or university and ask them if they have any recommendations as to how you can demonstrate your continued commitment to this college or university.

Finally, make sure to complete your remaining applications (and interviews) to a very high standard. Make sure that you have safety schools on your list that excite you. This will give you more college options come March/April.

University of Georgia Releases Early Action Decisions and Stats

Posted on November 23, 2019 by Admissions.Blog

University of Georgia released its Early Action admissions decisions for the class of 2024 on Friday, November 22, 2019. UGA received 16,511 paid applications for Early Action this year, and the university will offer admission to 7,025 of these applicants.

In addition, according to Davide Graves, University of Georgia’s Senior Associate Director of Admissions Operations and Evaluation, here are some more interesting facts about students accepted in fall 2019 under University of Georgia’s Early Action plan:

Mid 50% Admitted Average GPA: 4.00-4.29 GPA
Graves’ comments: “Please remember this is not the GPA students see on their high school transcript, but rather the GPA that UGA recalculates for everyone based on the core academic courses taken in high school and looking at the actual grades posted on the transcripts.”

Mid 50% Admitted Average SAT (EBRW+M): 1360-1500
Graves’ comments: “This is data for students who were admitted with the SAT being the highest or only test score in their review.”

Mid 50% Admitted Average ACT (Composite): 31-34
Graves’ comments: “This is data for students who were admitted with the ACT being the highest or only test score in their review. Remember, UGA focuses on the ACT English and Math scores, but we report the Composite data as that is the official/accepted data for national publications.”

Mid 50% Admitted AP/IB/DE courses over 4 years of HS: 7-12 courses
Graves’ comments: “We determine academic rigor based on all core classes a student has taken (CP, Honors, Advanced, AP, IB, DE, etc.) as compared to what is offered in the school/community, but this information is the most specific data we can give on it. This does not mean a student needed 7 AP/IB/DE courses to be admitted, as we do not base rigor on the number of these courses taken.”

So, all in, there were 7,025 admits, approximately 6,800 deferred, roughly 2,100 denied, and slightly over 300 incomplete.

Graves adds, “As a reminder, UGA looks at in-state and out-of-state applicants using the same process. In addition, we do not have any limits on the number of students we can admit based on school, neighborhood, county or state, and we do not use major, gender, race, demonstrated interest or legacy status in our review process. We are looking at each individual applicant in the context of the overall applicant pool, and making decisions based on both the EA applicant group and what we expect the applicant pool (EA and RD) will be like overall. I suggest you look at the Admissions Tips, Hints & Myths page for more details about what we do and do not look at in our review.”

UMass changes EA decision options

Posted on October 8, 2019 by Craig Meister

University of Massachusetts Amherst has announced a significant change in what types of responses applicants could receive when applying Early Action (EA).

Previously, UMass EA applicants were either admitted, denied, or given the option of being moved to the regular decision applicant pool. Beginning this year, EA applicants will be given the opportunity to opt onto UMass’ waitlist instead of being moved into the regular decision pool. In making the announcement to high school counselors, UMass shared the following:

“We believe this will give the applicant a better understanding of where they stand earlier in the process. Because you have previously supported your school’s students throughout their UMass Amherst application process, we write to thank you and to let you know how much we appreciate your help. Our holistic review process depends on input from high school counselors, faculty, and staff such as yourself.”

UMass is also encouraging students to include all required materials when they submit their applications. As always, UMass will review every application that is submitted, but priority will be given to applications that are complete by the deadline. This is especially important because of the compressed timeframe for making decisions. For example, if Early Action applicants submit materials after November 5, UMass will still evaluate their application, but only after UMass has evaluated the applications that were complete when the application was submitted by November 5. The same is true for UMass’ January 15 Regular Decision deadline. Information on materials that are required with the UMass application is available on our Admissions web site.

UMass also shares that transcripts submitted with the application that do not include first-term senior grades do not lessen the overall importance of senior grades. Students admitted to UMass are still required to provide senior grades via their final transcript, and if there is a significant drop in an applicant’s performance during his or her senior year, UMass Amherst reserves the right to rescind admission based on this information.

Finally, UMass We encourages students not to use their high school email address as the email address for their application. On the Common Application UMass states that “UMass Amherst has moved to an electronic notification system. This means we use the student email address provided on the Common Application for all official communications by the Admissions Office. This includes notification of any admissions decision.” UMass has apparently found that some high schools restrict emails from outside the high school or school district and this has disrupted applicants using their school email addresses from receiving important emails from UMass.

You CAN apply Restrictive Early Action and Early Action under the right conditions

Posted on October 1, 2019 by Craig Meister

Restrictive Early Action and Single-Choice Early Action policies used by hyper-selective colleges such as Stanford, Yale, Harvard, and Princeton aren’t as restrictive as you may think. These colleges still allow you to apply to two classes of colleges at the same time as applying REA or S-CEA. There is no reason why you can’t receive admissions decisions from multiple colleges by no later than January of your senior year in high school. Don’t use REA or S-CEA as an excuse to apply to most colleges Regular Decision.

When to Demonstrate Interest to Colleges and Universities

Posted on September 8, 2019 by Craig Meister

To get into America’s top colleges, you need to demonstrate interest, which is a fancy way of saying, you need to flirt with colleges. Yet, when is just as important as how.

College Application Completion Playlist: Top 20+ Tracks to Get Inspiration to Get Into College

Posted on August 27, 2019 by Craig Meister

Picture it. You are all alone in your bedroom at 11:47 p.m. on a Tuesday night.

By day you are an overloaded high school senior year who feels dominated by IB or AP course assignments, juggling the responsibilities that come with leading four time-sucking extracurricular activities, and cramming to get an 800 on your fourth SAT Subject Test.

Unlike your classmates who could best be described as one or more of the following —

Ivy League legacies
Recruitable athletes
Paying unscrupulous New York, LA, or Palm Beach consultants to write their applications for them
Paying dastardly ‘doctors’ to write faux concussion, migraine, or Crohn’s Disease sick notes for them in order to secure very real SAT or ACT extended time testing accommodations
Underrepresented minorities who, ironically, also happen to be children of doctors, lawyers, bankers, bureaucrats, or other assorted white collar professionals
Full-pay international students
Completely disinterested in college (and, as a result, probably far smarter than you give them credit for)

— you are going to have to actually earn your way into an Ivy on your own! So, you find yourself staring at your computer screen at nearly midnight and into the abyss that is the Common Application filled with various application supplements that you have yet to complete.

By night, you must shift into truly high gear. You need inspiration. You are tapped out from doing summersaults throughout high school but you can’t afford to get tired now when there are so few spots at America’s ‘top’ colleges for students who actually have to earn their way into them on their own – with their own wits and moxie. Your fate will depend on your wisdom and your will – and whether or not a lot of legacies et al. are applying to your first choice college this year.

You have to work for at least two more hours to draft essays if your final essay drafts will ever be of the quality that they need to be to get you in. You turn to YouTube for a song or a soundtrack to pump you up; yet, most of the tracks that pop up aren’t capable of taking you to the level that you need to be at in order to pump out what you need to pump out tonight – and every night – between now and November 1, the date when you aim to submit all of your college applications to your one Early Decision, five Early Action, two Priority, and two Rolling admission colleges.

You turn to Google to find inspiration and you type in, “College Application Completion Playlists” or “Motivational Songs” or “EDM Motivation” or some other search query that gets you to this blessed page where you find yourself right now.

Lucky you.

Without further ado, here they are – the top 20+ tracks to have playing in the background as you complete your college applications, especially the essays, if you are serious about doing all that you can do to get in by virtue of your work ethic alone:

21. T-Pain – Best Love Song ft. Chris Brown

You really do need to consider your college application supplemental essays as individualized ‘love songs’ to each college on your list. If you write a generic love note or song to a potential love interest, he or she is not going to take your seriously, and the same goes with colleges getting a generic supplement from you. This track underscores the point that you are in the love song writing business until you are finished each and every app that has supplemental writing.

20. Johnny Nash – I Can See Clearly Now

That feeling you get either when your writer’s block clears or you realize the sun is rising and school starts in two hours.

19. Alex Gaudino feat. Crystal Waters – Destination Calabria

Because, let’s face it, even if you put in 200% effort over the coming nights, the “destination [is] unknown” and you very well may end up at Michigan or Wisconsin.

18. Ida Corr vs Fedde Le Grand Let Me Think About It (Extended)

What the heck is your favorite word and why? Come on UVA! “Let me think about it.”

17. Better Off Alone

No. You won’t be better off alone. The very thought of a gap year “alone” scares/inspires you to complete a better application during the dead of night. Plus, you can’t afford a gap year to find yourself like Malia or your lax-playing buddies.

16. Gina G Ooh Aah Just A Little Bit

This one’s good because it reminds you that one day this will all be over. You can do it! “Just a little bit” more.

15. Viola Wills – If You Could Read My Mind

Why can’t the admissions officers “just read my mind” instead of forcing me to communicate well in 650 words or fewer? After all, you’ve likely endured an extremely poor education in English throughout your K-12 career due to too many English teachers being focused on serving up critical theory rather than traditional literary analysis, strong writing instruction, or any sort of celebration of the best works of Western Civilization. By the way, there are a lot of versions of this song, but we chose this one because Viola Wills put her soul into it – just like you will need to put your soul into your apps.

14. Lighthouse Family – High

“When you are close to tears remember, someday it will all be over, one day we’re going to get so high!” Enough said, but don’t do drugs, even if it’s legal.

13. Don’t Stop Believin’

Don’t stop believin’ that you will get in…unless you are honest and of Asian heritage, in which case, just stop believing because the Ivies value ‘diversity,’ which is code for ‘they have more Asians than they currently wish to accept.’ Your only hope is the Supreme Court.

12. The Jacksons – Can You Feel It [Audio HQ] HD

Can you feel the acceptance notifications coming your way?

11. Cass Elliot – Make Your Own Kind of Music (HQ)

Because, really, you do need to be true to who you are and utterly unique if you are going to have any chance of getting into Harvard, Princeton, or Yale without any of the characteristics mentioned in that bulleted list above.

10. One Day More! – Les Misérables – 10th Anniversary Concert

Only play this one on October 31 – or the day before you know you will be finished your dastardly applications once and for all.

9. Michael Ball, Alfie Boe – He Lives In You (From “The Lion King” / Lyric Video)

Indeed, you must, “have faith” and “he does live in you!” You need to draw on generations of your ancestors to find strength. After all, if they could get through famines, wars, living without an iPhone, you can complete a few college applications.

8. Avicii – Levels

You need a good feeling or two right about now.

7. Jason Derulo – “Want To Want Me” (Official Video)

“It’s too hard to sleep…” Please, Columbia and Brown, I just “want you to want me”…despite you preferring well-connected social justice activists and loaded legacies…or better yet, those who check both of those boxes. :-/

6. Deorro x Chris Brown – Five More Hours (Official Video)

Whether you are up against the deadline on November 1 with just five more hours to go or “you are just getting started,” this one works.

5. P!nk – So What (Official Music Video)

“So, what?” Even if I have to go to Emory, “I’m still a rockstar!”

4. Bob Seger – Hollywood Nights (Lyrics)

At least you can comfort yourself knowing that you are not Aunt Becky or a Desperate Housewife out in “Hollywood” bribing the powers that be at USC for the honor of living in Compton for four years.

3. Let It Be (Remastered 2009)

Try your best and all, but maybe it’s time to just “let it be” and settle for Barrett Honors College at ASU?

2. Eric Prydz – Call On Me (Official Music Video) [HD]

You can always “call on me,” Craig Meister, the CollegeMeister, the best and most refreshingly honest college admissions consultant on the planet. Cue this EDM classic.

1. Kygo & Whitney Houston – Higher Love (Official Video)

Okay, it’s a complete visual knockoff of Eric Prydz’s song above, but the vocals are pure – early Whitney Houston – and the accompaniment is rock solid and by Kygo. And it’s 2019, so it’s current combined with classic. Not to mention the lyrics are perfect for ascending to the ‘higher’ level that you to need to reach in order to at least get into Cornell or Dartmouth.

P.S.: As you wait for your admissions decisions, or as an alternate to some of the options above, how about playing a one-hour constant loop of “High Hopes” by Panic! At The Disco?

P.P.S.: Do realize that the above list is completely subjective and somewhat satirical – just like the crazy college admissions process at America’s most selective colleges; therefore, I apologize in advance if your favorite songs didn’t make the cut, if you don’t get in where you want, and/or if you are offended. Life’s unfair like that. Just remember that if you don’t get in, you need to sing this one last song out loud whenever your friends – and frienemies – get into their top choices:

You will survive!

In no rush, Case Western and Tulane keep some Early applicants in suspense

Posted on December 18, 2018 by Craig Meister

Slow and steady wins the race?

Once upon a time, refined Early Decision and Early Action etiquette dictated that by December 15 colleges would inform such applicants of their admission, deferral, or rejection. My how times have changed!

While the likes of Penn, Johns Hopkins, Northwestern, Wash U., and Yale got on with it last week, some big names are keeping their powder dry to seemingly the last moment. University of Michigan and Boston College are notorious in recent years for December 18 or later admissions notifications to their Early Action applicants; yet, this year, two more colleges seem to believe the maxim that they should, “save the best for last.”

The two notable stragglers this December are Case Western Reserve University and Tulane University.

In Case’s case, Robert R. McCullough, the university’s Dean of Undergraduate Admissions, announced Monday, “We expect to send applicants an email providing a link to the secure webpage with their admission status on Wednesday, Dec. 19. We will begin sending these email notifications around 8 p.m. EST. Students who have applied for financial aid will also be able to see their financial aid package online at that time.” Just two years ago Case’s Early Action notifications came out a whole week earlier in December. That was before Case Western introduced Early Decision I and II into the mix and with it gone are the days of earlier Early notifications.

UPDATE 12/19/18 @ 7:20 EST: McCullough needs more time! On December 19 in the evening he announced, “Unfortunately, we find that we need a little more time to be absolutely sure applicants’ decisions, scholarships and financial aid packages are correct. We are therefore rescheduling decision release for Early Action and Early Decision admission until 8 p.m. Eastern Thursday, December 20.” He also expressed “regret” for holding students in suspense for another day but wanted to ensure the decisions they receive are accurate.”

Tulane will let Early Action applicants to the New Orleans university know of their admissions decisions on Thursday, December 20, 2018 at 4:30 p.m. Eastern Standard Time. Jeff Schiffman, Tulane’s Director of Admission shared, “I think it is also worth mentioning that Tulane saw a 14% increase in applications this year. Bottom line, we could fill up multiple freshman classes with students who are academically qualified to attend Tulane. We could fill up multiple freshman classes just with students who would be great fits here and genuinely want to be at Tulane. The problem is we can’t admit all of them.”

To Shiffman’s credit – and Tulane’s – the university notified its Early Decision applicants regarding their admissions decisions refreshingly fast. Tulane’s ED admission letters left Tulane’s Office of Admission on November 16 and were made available online at 5:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time on November 19. Talk about a nice Thanksgiving present! More universities should try to turn around admissions decisions in fewer than three weeks (Tulane’s Early Decision application deadline was November 1)!

Tulane, back in the day, released its Early Action notifications in November, but that was before they got into the ED I and ED II business recently.

So, seniors dreaming of a Case Western or Tulane acceptance letter this Christmas, hold on just a bit longer.