Money for College, part I, in preparation for the snowpocalypse

Posted on February 5, 2010 by deanflagel

As I sit here preparing to wage war on the snowy elements, another skirmish comes to mind. Following closely behind the frenzied battle arena that we lovingly call the admissions process is the every-bit-as-stressful and, if possible, even less well understood challenge of seeking funding for college.

I’m by no means a financial expert (really – ask anyone) and will make no attempt to guide you on investment strategies, fiscal positioning, or appropriate debt loads (which, since we’re in the D.C. area, appear to be fine as long as your within one or two trillion dollars of your target). Since even the basic terms we use in the funding for college process can be confusing, however, I’ll use this and the next couple of posts to provide a broad overview of the college funding process (unless, as usual, I get distracted along the way).

Although we call them by LOTS of confusing names, there are really just two basic types for funding support for college that doesn’t come out of your family’s pocket: merit-based and need-based aid.

Merit-based aid is awarded for something you are, have done, or might yet do. It includes, for the most part, what we typically call “scholarships.” Scholarships can be awarded for being a great student, a great athlete, or a great artist. They could also, as I’ll explain further, be awarded for being the only one-eyed, red-haired, tuba playing engineering student at some particular school, although that’s obviously less likely.

The vast majority of merit-based aid is used, to put it bluntly, to buy students. A nicer take is that colleges have goals for our incoming students. We want them to be smart, talented, popular, and, preferably, incredibly successful with a tendency toward long-term donations. As a result, we offer discounts to those students we want most. Calling them discounts, however, would conjure up unfortunate images of clipping coupons and/or car sales, so we use the far more civilized “scholarship” term to make everyone feel better.

It’s important to understand that, in general, admissions officers try really hard to be fair in our admission decisions. Fairness, however, can take a pretty good smackdown when it comes to scholarships. That’s because institutional goals often have more to do with perception – building institutional reputation – than student achievement/quality. Many schools, for instance, never ADMIT that they grant scholarships based on just test scores, and yet offer merit-based aid for national merit semi-finalist status, an award based on…wait for it…just a test score. In general, test scores tend to be WAY more important in scholarships than in the general admission decisions, as is rank-in-class and grade point average (often of the weighted variety). While not universally true, these measures gain more traction in most scholarship award processes as colleges seek to improve measures that raise their rankings profile and/or reputation.

Shameless plug: Speaking of reputation, one of my favorite recent graduates sent me a Facebook message early this week letting me know she had TURNED DOWN the FBI position she was offered (and for which I had recommended her) because the job she took with the company where she interned is SO AMAZING that she’s decided to stay with them. Yes, there are THAT many opportunities in the Mason/D.C. area!!

Most academic scholarships are awarded based on documents you complete when you apply for admission. Some schools have no additional paperwork and just use the admission application. Others (like Mason) add additional essays while others have a completely distinct scholarship application. These differences don’t necessarily have anything to do with how hard or easy it is to get awards – the processes just differ from school to school, so be sure to check carefully for any supplemental questions or documents you might need to complete.

Next up, the answer to the burning question, “How in the heck did THAT kid get a scholarship!!!??!!!” to be followed soon after by, “Is it possible that need-based aid could be ANY more complicated!?!”. Be seeing you.

Filed under: Financial Aid, Scholarships | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a Comment »

Zhu Zhu Pets and their nefarious influence on college admissions

Posted on January 27, 2010 by deanflagel

Since the general public really doesn’t understand the admissions process, and since it’s a topic that stirs a frenzy of anxiety, it shouldn’t surprise me that the popular media (i.e. the outlet for all the news that’s fit for bottom feeding) tend to feed a broad range of misconceptions. Chief among these is the annual (actually it’s becoming more like weekly) series of articles saying that admissions is MUCH more competitive this year, will be even more competitive next year, and that the year after that you will need to either own a magic lamp or perform ritual sacrifice to stand a CHANCE of getting into the school of your choice. Cue dramatic music and scenes of devastated students sobbing over their deny letters.

I’ve so come to expect these doom and gloom articles that I was shocked (SHOCKED!) to find a few reports this year that the admissions process may NOT actually be more competitive. Of course, the articles were pretty short and still tended to start with implications that the competition could still be increasing. Take the one below from Inside Higher Education, for instance:

“Applications Increase/Hype Season in Full Swing
Applications are up! It’s that time of year; the press is full of reports about colleges — mostly the elites but others too — reporting surges in applications, and there is detailed analysis of the relative size of the increases at Princeton vs. Harvard and so forth. A few words of caution: Most of the colleges capturing headlines were very difficult to get into last year, and the year before, and the year before that too, so the shift is less dramatic than it might seem. At the many colleges a notch or three below in competitiveness, college presidents will freely admit when not being quoted by name that they have more applications because lots of families are shopping for the best aid packages possible, and that applying doesn’t necessarily mean serious interest. At many of these colleges, in fact, the number of applicants admitted may actually go up in anticipation of lower yields (the percentage of admitted students who actually enroll).”

It all depends, I suppose, on what you consider “competition”. Yes, there are far more students applying to college, and each student on average completes more applications. There are, however more spaces in college than ever before. The standards at the most competitive institutions haven’t really changed all that much – it’s still REALLY hard to get admitted. There are also lots of ups and downs – individual schools that for whatever reason get hot, or not. (Shameless plug – yes, Mason is in that “hot” list so yes we are more competitive – but don’t hate just because we’re popular!). Many schools, for instance, found that the shift in the economy left them scrambling to admit students – in fact some schools that were our direct competitors for students just a few years ago were offering scholarships last admission season to students we denied!

What does that mean for you? As usual, the admission process remains terribly opaque. As in the article above, presidents and deans only admit to lower competition or that students might be less interested when they are off the record since we all realize that you want a school more if everybody else wants it too. It’s that kind of mentality that leads parents to search frantically for fake hamsters that, as far as I can tell, cost far more but do even less than real hamsters…but they must be good if EVERYBODY WANTS THEM. Be seeing you.

Filed under: Admissions | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment »

A belated 2009 Year in Review

Posted on January 18, 2010 by deanflagel

A belated Happy New Year, or, for those of you who are high school seniors, happy nearing final application deadlines and waiting for colleges to send you their decisions!

As we close out 2009 and head into a bright and shiny new decade, there’s a veritable avalanche of best events, songs, movies, and Michael Jackson tributes of the year. Not wanting to be left out, and based on exacting and exhaustive study and research conducted largely this morning in my recliner, in no particular order here are my favorite admission stories of the year:

1. Score choice – The CollegeBoard reintroduced “score choice” to their system, meaning that test takers and decide which test scores to send out to colleges and universities. This caused great anxiety, although the ACT has had this policy in place for some time. Mostly it caused mayhem and confusion since most students either a) had no idea it was going on or b) if they did, were freaking out over which scores to pick. Add to the mix that many colleges and universities required that you send ALL scores and ignore score choice, and you have a great atmosphere – if you like chaos. This largely fell on overworked high school counselors trying to explain conflicting and often poorly explained policies to very anxious students and parents. For all this fun, the data continues to indicate that score choice has no impact on admission – that schools will continue to use your best scores no matter how many they receive, so the chaos has virtually no purpose at all!

2. Illinois sells admissions – at least, that’s what the headlines indicated. The reality is that some legislators and administrators in Illinois clearly felt, from the tone of their emails, that admission decisions should overlook standards if there was potential to gain money, either from donors or state legislators. On the other hand, the idea that donors or legislators DON’T have ANY influence on the admission process is just silly. The reality is that admissions officers will usually only admit applicants that have qualifications indicating they can likely succeed at our institutions, but at competitive institutions we receive far more qualified applicants than we have admission slots, and institutional self interest does become a factor. How big a factor donor potential (or past giving) or legislative influence…or singing, dancing, or basketball talent…should have in the process is a source of ongoing discussion. From the articles, however, you would think that Illinois invented this idea. And not a single article referenced the college movie classic, “Back to School” with Rodney Dangerfield.

3. Admissions Uncertainty!!! In other news, the media found out – much to their shock and dismay – that admission is unpredictable. They were so blown away by this insight that they continually blamed it on the economy, as if this was some kind of new occurrence. They interviewed students who didn’t know where they would get in and admissions directors agonizing over not knowing who would enroll…which, for some reason they failed to mention this, would have likely been the same responses they would have gotten BEFORE the economic downturn.

4. Colleges offering late discounts – Although the economy didn’t create as much uncertainty as the media hype suggests, many colleges noticed that students were considering less expensive options. Several of the REALLY expensive schools took aggressive steps to respond. My guess is that the discussion among leaders at these expensive schools was something like, “Hey! If we just sit back and let students start picking less expensive schools, the public might realize that there is no rational justification for our incredibly inflated prices, so we’d better get busy and make any offers necessary to hold onto our market position – now pass the caviar and prep my limo.” Or something like that. In any event, many institutions made offers WAY after student commitment deadlines in May, calling students with messages like, “We suddenly realized that we’d really like you to enroll so even though we only offered you two dollars in financial aid before now we can offer you twenty five thousand dollars if you’ll just dump that other school and come here.” Strangely, these offers actually worked pretty well – watch for new stories in 2010 about students who took these offers and now, in their sophomore year, find their financial aid packages back at two dollars.

5. Loss of Jack Blackburn – Jack was a great mentor to hundreds of admissions professionals and among the best minds in the field. As I wrote then, if heaven is well managed, they will move quickly to put Jack in charge of their admission process.

6. Common app gets less and less common – The common application was joined by a few competitors, while the participating schools added even more supplemental forms, individualizing an application meant to be common. Will one size ever really fit all?

7. In one of the great acts of hypocrisy of the year, an article was published attacking colleges and universities that added score optional admission policies as doing so (gasp) in their own self interest. Of course, the author failed to mention that his company was being paid to do a huge contract for “a major testing company.” Seems like a guy who would be great in the Illinois legislature.

8. Headlines were made that you could predict how much you would make partially based on what school you attend, although if you bother to read the articles, like this one http://online.wsj.com/article_email/SB10001424052748703438404574597952027438622-lMyQjAxMDA5MDEwODExNDgyWj.html they actually say that which college you attend still doesn’t have much, if any, influence on future income – it’s all about your talent and your achievements (and if they studied this as well, how much money your family already has).

9. Privacy was a hot topic again on many fronts. Gossip sites about colleges came and went. High schools gained access to posting a lot more information about who admitted students with what scores and grades through their data systems, creating horrifically misleading information for future applicants since the scores and grades weren’t linked and had no context. Students continued to “friend” admissions officers than post wildly inappropriate content to their Facebook pages, leading some admissions officers to the shocking conclusion that some high school students may, at times, break rules. Some admissions officers claimed to be conducting exhaustive searches of Facebook for negative content on applicants, leading them to be awarded the “creepy adults” of the year award. Better yet, a couple of stories surfaced on applicants and their parents posting false and misleading information about OTHER applicants, believing that they would increase their chances for admission if they could stick it to other students. Isn’t technology wonderful?

10. At the very end of the year a story popped up indicating that women are WAY smarted than men. It didn’t say EXACTLY that, but it did say that there are a far more women than men in higher education, and that this is a source of great anxiety for schools where they are desperately lacking men. A number of colleges boldly spoke up and announced that they were advantaging men over women in their admissions process to counteract this inequity. This led to a civil rights investigation, and I suspect to a new industry. I’m expecting that it won’t be long before I get a message asking, “Is your college having trouble finding a man? We can help…”.

On to 2010, where I’m sure we’ll find new and even more misleading stories for my rants! Be seeing you.

Filed under: Admissions | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a Comment »

Last minute application advice…just in case you need it

Posted on December 23, 2009 by deanflagel

The end of the year (and the decade) always lead to a plethora of top ten lists, and since that terminus falls right in the midst of many application deadlines, my own top ten list of things to keep in mind for your last minute applications follows.

1. Advocate (within reason) – Many applicants have already learned that it’s not all that difficult to contact admissions offices to find out which lucky counselor is reviewing the applications for any particular high school. From there, it’s a short leap to trying to “friend” that same admissions officer in hopes that he or she will look more favorably upon applicants that said admissions officer remembers/knows/enjoys learning about through status updates. There is, however, a reasonable version of this – trying to (briefly!) meet the appropriate admissions counselor when you visit campus or maybe sending a personal note about how much you REALLY want to go that school. Maybe even friend them IF you are very very (very very) careful about your privacy settings and have some confidence that your knuckle-headed friends won’t post something problematic. This week I reached a new level of invasiveness when I received a call from an anxious mother AT HOME. Apparently, and I learn something new every day, I am more accessible than I thought. Bear in mind, there is a fine line between advocacy and stalking – and many of you have already crossed that line and are now flailing in the deep canyon beyond. Yes, I mean you.

2. Quality over quantity – Since you’re already bumping up against the deadline, I’m sure you’ll be happy to be reminded that you are not judged by how MUCH you submit with your application. Actually, in many admissions offices, submitting an over-abundance of support materials is considered a negative. Better one or two really good recommendations, for instance, than a dozen form letters, no matter how impressive the signers.

3. Timing can be everything – Don’t miss the deadline! Get your application in even if other materials are on the way. Admissions offices are used to mail delays, and you may be at some disadvantage if materials are delayed too long, but you can most significantly decrease your admission potential by missing the deadline (Shameless plug: don’t forget – Mason’s deadline is January 15!)

4. Make your list and check it twice (or even three times) – No matter how silly the questions may seem, answer all of them. Every bit as important, EDIT your responses. If the system will let you save an application in process, save it before you submit and get a really good proofreader to look over your work. (Shameless plug – a holiday shout out to Brydin, my tireless, chipper elf who is saddled with editing my musings for this blog – thanks B!).

5. Explanations and not excuses – If your record shows some period of weak performance, explain what happened, but take responsibility for your actions and let the admissions office know why they should believe you will do better. By the way, the worst excuse possible is that the teacher hated you. It leads, even if only in the back of our minds, to the suspicion that the teacher may be right.

6. Still time to show improvement – The best way to show that you can do better is…to do better! If you think you are on an upward trajectory, whether you think your next quarter/semester grades will be much better or your next take of the SAT/ACT is far improved, mention those issues in your application. Ask them to wait for updated records. Many schools do so routinely in any event – so now is the time to REALLY shine.

7. When to stand out and when to sit down – Some of the more bizarre advice I find in other (clearly less honest/accurate) blogs and web sites is that applicants should try to make themselves “stand out.” Have we learned nothing from the geniuses that brought us “High School Musical?” Of course, anyone in high school can tell you that the only safe reason to stand out is some kind of incredible sports or arts success. Standing out for anything else is likely to get your stuffed in a locker, or worse. The same can be said for the admissions process. If you have to TRY to be funny, get noticed, do something outrageously different with your application, you are just as likely to hurt your chances of admission as you are to help. There’s just no way to know if the person reviewing your application has any sense of humor at all (or taste, good judgment, fashion sense…you get the idea). Unless you’re trying to get into a school you consider a total long shot, I’d consider whether standing out is as outstanding as it sounds.

8. Make it personal – Don’t forget to mention how much you want to enroll at the school to which you apply. If that college or university is your first choice, by all means make sure you let them know. Even better, personalize your essay/supplemental statement to tell them (briefly!) why you think you would be a great match at that institution. Be careful, however, when cutting and pasting. As in previous years I have already gotten a couple of applicants with essays detailing how very much they want to go to Cornell University – you can imagine my reaction to such information.

9. But don’t take it personally – Even as I advise you to personalize your reasons for wanted to enroll, try to keep your perspective on the process. The people reading your application probably never met you, and if they did, they barely know you. Their evaluation will largely be based on the materials you submit but mostly your academic record. Once you realize that it’s not about YOU, that the process is designed to focus on a bunch of materials, you may, I hope, be able to take some of the stress out of waiting for the results.

10. Oh the places you’ll go – Most importantly is that the admissions process does NOT, no matter what may hear from admissions officers emails, letters, texts and Facebook pages, determine your success. There are over 4,000 colleges and universities in the country, and the evidence says which one you attend has very little to do with how successful you will be. Wherever you are admitted and eventually enroll, it is your talent and effort that will determine your future success.

Finally, my New Years/holiday wish for all of you: I hope you get in everywhere you apply, I hope you get every scholarship you want…and I hope you come to Mason (Shameless plug – application deadline still January 15!!!). Be seeing you!

Filed under: Admissions, Applications, College, College Admissions, College Search Process, Deadlines, Education, Essays, GPA, George Mason University, Grades, High School, Life, Parents, Recommendations, University | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment »

More humbug – admit letters CAUSE stress

Posted on December 16, 2009 by deanflagel

Most of you probably assume that getting your applications submitted and receiving your admission letters will relieve all that overwhelming stress you’ve been feeling. That’s definitely the way it should be (and I’m sure is, if you were lucky enough to be admitted to Mason). Unfortunately an increasing number of colleges have found new and inventive ways to screw that up. To explain, a holiday parable:

Once upon a time, college and university admissions officers had a great idea. These wonderful caring individuals thought students should have the crucial information they need to make up their minds about which college or university to attend before any decision deadline. These fine, upstanding admissions leaders felt that those students should have a reasonable amount of time to do so, and should be able to do so without risking losing money or the best dorm room or being threatened by letters that sound like they were drafted by former mafia goons who have gone to work for creditor services.

And so, in a fit of compassion and reason, the colleges and universities agreed on the May 1 deadline – an agreement that, no matter when colleges and univeristies admitted freshmen, the students would have until May 1 to make up their minds. This was particularly important since most colleges and universities can’t get out financial aid information until late March or early April, and a month seemed fair.

Ah, the good old days. Then…or so the story goes…a few admissions officers had an idea. They had an awful idea. (With respect to Dr. Seuss) They had a wonderful, awful idea. The colleges and universities would SAY that students could use the May 1 deadline, but at the same time send very threatening letters. These sneaky admissions officers would claim that they just MIGHT not have ENOUGH space so that they just HAVE to force students to choose sooner. Sure, they know that this is especially unfair to the students inexperienced with the process, with the lowest income and overcoming the most challenges – but hey, they have budgets to meet. So off they went, asking students to commit earlier and earlier, and then refusing to refund deposits when they were sent in haste in response to their threats.

They’d even, I suspect, keep the last can of Who Hash.

Yes, I’m calling them Grinches. Too subtle?

Here’s where I send out a challenge. I’m sticking to the May 1 deadline. I’m so convinced that Mason is the right place for a lot of you and that you can make a good decision given time and good information that I’m willing to take that risk. Some colleges will send you an admit letter that reads like a chain letter, “you’d better send us money RIGHT NOW or else bad things will happen…Elmira Jones of Paducah, Kentucky failed to send in her deposit. She ended up with no room on campus, early Friday morning classes, and her cat died the next day. Don’t let this happen to you.” If you follow my logic, institutions that put on this pressure probably, while I can’t be one hundred percent sure, suck. They suck the life right out of you. That’s right – colleges that break the May 1 deadline could, just possibly, be entirely populated by soulless vampires. I realize that will be incredibly appealing to the Twi-hards in the audience.

For the rest of you, however, I encourage you to stand up for yourselves. If and when a college puts on this kind of pressure, push back. Tell them you want to be guaranteed you won’t lose a good spot if you wait for May 1 to get a chance to compare your options and see your aid packages. And if they won’t, tell them their hearts must be, at least, two sizes too small. And then come to Mason. Be seeing you.

Filed under: Admissions, College, College Admissions, Deadlines, Family, Financial Aid, High School, Life, Parents, University | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments »

Urgent deadlines and other holiday humbug

Posted on December 3, 2009 by deanflagel

I realize that the holiday time should be filled with good cheer, but somehow marketing efforts during this period always manage to Grinch up my mood. I’m already, for instance, completely sick of the Best Buy ad with holiday carolers singing some wretched holiday ditty with the words replaced by excruciatingly cheery descriptions of the wonderful bargains available.

College and university recruitment are sadly not immune to this vandalization of holiday sentiment. Most of you will likely receive scads (a technical term meaning, “lots”) of holiday cards, postcards, emails, text, voicemails, and, possibly, carrier pigeons letting you know how very very deeply XYZ college and ABC University feel about you having a merry outlook.

Bah.

Of course, to make sure you know just where our thoughts REALLY are, nearly all of these lovely missives (technical term meaning, “junk mail”) will remind you of an UPCOMING APPLICATION DEADLINE that YOU SHOULD NOT MISS. Also, BE VERY AFRAID of missing THIS URGENT DEADLINE because all of your friends, enemies, frenemies, and acquaintances have already applied because everyone (EVERYONE) wants to come to OUR school and you may be missing your ONLY CHANCE if you don’t ACT NOW.

Humbug.

Not that deadlines aren’t important…they are. And yes, I’ll insert the requisite shameless plug here that Mason’s final application deadline is January 15th. It’s not the deadline reminders that snuff my menorah – it’s the constant effort to elicit some level of panic in a process already chock full (technical term for, “very full”) of stress.

This is supported by media stories with bizarre statements like, “the admissions landscape is more unsure than ever before,” or, “competition for space will be tougher than ever this year.” In twenty years in admissions I have yet to get through this season without seeing these phrases used over and over again. I have no idea what the “admissions landscape” is (I picture a nice pastoral print), but I can tell you that competition is pretty much what it is every year – competition at many schools, less so others, and really easy at a bunch. Of course, you may not know which one is which, but why spoil all of the surprises?

In the spirit of the season, I’m going to try to forgive all my colleagues in admissions and the media who feed this frenzy, even the ones that send out really annoying holiday cards. In the meantime, I’m headed to Best Buy – I hear they have a great deal on Festivus poles, and I NEED to air my grievances…possibly while I’m in the store, and potentially in the form of a rewritten holiday carol. I’m sure they’ll appreciate it. Be seeing you.

Filed under: Admissions, Applications, College, College Admissions, Deadlines, Education, Life, University | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment »

Thanks and the SAT Rap

Posted on November 27, 2009 by deanflagel

Happy Thanksgiving! You know what this holiday means, of course…that’s right, college application deadlines. Most of the country is busy trying to re-create the quality intellectual experience of Big Brother by gathering numerous family members into the same small space for extended periods, offering endless opportunities for nerve fraying drama. High school seniors, however, know that the emotional impact of these interactions pales compared to the stress of trying to get your essays drafted and your applications submitted in between answering endless questions from grandma about, “what you’re going to do with your life.”

Shameless plug: As your stress levels mount, don’t forget that December 1 is Mason’s deadline for application submission if you want to be considered for our Honors program and/or scholarships!

Before I give in to a turkey induced semi-comatose state, from which I plan to awaken only to eat pie and grumble about some sports team, I wanted to pass along my annual reminders for the season to try to keep the stress in check, and to give thanks to the people helping you through this process.

High school guidance and college counselors, take very little time to enjoy the holiday. They are busy making lists and checking the twice – for transcript submission, for letters of recommendation, and for dozens and dozens of forms that must be submitted, all with various deadlines. No matter their caseload or their school, they work long hours, generally with little recognition from the school or students as to how crucial their role is in the process. Please – let them know how much you appreciate what they are doing for you…and, of course, there’s no better time to suck up to the people who are writing your recommendations…

My other holiday wish for all of you is to keep this process in perspective. Don’t let the cranky deans of admission grinch up your holiday season. Just keep reminding yourself that there are LOTS of wonderful colleges and universities, and LOTS of paths to success. This process, despite the messages often conveyed by our marketing, does NOT decide the rest of your life – you do.

A post to the national admissions e-list reminded me of both why I so appreciate my colleagues on the high school side, and that this process works best when not taken TOO seriously. The students of Williamsburg Charter High School in Brookyln, NY have produced their own rap video about the SAT…among my least favorite parts of the process, and the one that unreasonably causes the most stress. Give it a listen, let them know what you think of it…then go back in, tell grandma you’re going to be a huge success, and have another helping of family, friends, and food. Be seeing you.

Filed under: Admissions, Applications, College, College Admissions, Deadlines, Education, Family, Life, Parents, University | Tagged: , , , , , , , , | 7 Comments »

2012: predicting the end of the world or admissions: whichever comes first

Posted on November 24, 2009 by deanflagel

The web (and even Southpark) seems abuzz with “news”, based very scientifically on the promotional efforts of the movie, 2012, that the Mayans predicted the end of the world. I realize this seems rather gloomy news for Thanksgiving week, but fortunately I don’t believe that it’s all that easy to predict the future. I get reminded of this every year when I hear from educators and families convinced that they KNOW who will get into particular colleges.

Horse. Hockey.

The belief that admissions is predictable is just one of the three great myths of the college admissions process (I covered the other two, that admissions is fair and that admissions is simple a while back), but it may be the most persistent.

One of the main sources of this confusion is that there is a ton of data you can find that LOOKS like it will help you predict admission. This is true to some degree – it’s unlikely you’ll be getting into the most competitive school with failing grades and lousy scores. The data, however, is often misleading, suggesting that you can make very specific correlations between particular grades and/or scores and admission decisions. Unfortunately, you won’t ever have all of the information you need. Colleges don’t explain, in any useful way for predictive purposes, how they weigh grades, compare scores with grades, weigh essays and recommendations, etc. If you just see a range of grades, for instance, you don’t know how those compare to scores (did the one low score correspond with a valedictorian level GPA; was the low GPA tied to a perfect score?). And then, of course, there are different schools, different courses, different grading scales…and colleges just don’t tell you how they handle any of that.

Of course even if you did have all of that data on how any institution handled those matters in prior years, you still wouldn’t have everything you need to predict admission. You don’t know which of their applicants were children of alumni, had their family name on a building, or were athletes, class leaders, or world class dancers.

Speaking of dance, shameless plug time. Despite my tremendous lack of artistic talent I periodically get invited to parties with our arts faculty, who I presume invite me largely out of pity (I’ll take it). As a result, on Saturday I went to a fabulous party hosted by Mason faculty member Susan Shields, one of my all time favorite dance/choreographers. Her husband is now one of my all time favorite cooks, but that’s beside the point. At the event I met another Mason faculty member, Boris Willis. Boris teaches in the dance department AND our program in computer Game Design (what a combination!) and blogged a dance a day last year. I think he and I could be friends if it wasn’t for this blinding jealousy that threatens to consume my soul…

So where was I?
Even if you did know all the ways colleges use admissions data AND knew which applicants were special cases, you also have to bear in mind that the needs of institutions change from year-to-year. I might really need more players of double-reeded instruments, more women in my engineering program, or more students from the west coast. Those issues aren’t published anywhere, but are critical aspects of how colleges shape their classes.

Finally, and perhaps most importantly, applications are evaluated by people. This may come as a shock to those of you who assumed that admissions offices were populated by soulless demons intent on your personal misery, but mostly these are people who care a great deal about students. These very caring individuals will each have their own perspectives, ideas, quirks, and, possibly, mental instabilities, so naturally their interpretations of your scholastic record, not to mention your essays, may vary widely.

This lack of predictability is, I suspect, one of the main reasons why students submit so many more applications now then they did just a couple of years ago, which makes admission rates look lower, which makes students apply to more colleges, which lowers admissions rates, which…well, you get the picture.

I realize that this uncertainty causes more stress. The best advice I can give hasn’t changed much in all the time I’ve been writing this blog – don’t take this process personally, and don’t get too focused on one school (unless, of course, it’s Mason). There are lots of great schools out there for you (some almost as great as Mason) and your success will depend much more on how you do in school than which one you attend. Try not to worry about the Mayans’ predictions either – just relax and have another helping of turkey. Be seeing you.

Filed under: Admissions, Applications, College, College Admissions, Education, GPA, Grades, High School, Life, University | Tagged: , , , , , , , | 3 Comments »

Twihards, Gleesters, and Senior Stress

Posted on November 19, 2009 by deanflagel

Thanks to the strange convergence of Glee and Twilight/Vampire Diaries mania, the incredible pressure of high school is clearer than ever (would it KILL Bella to think a little more seriously about college? Well maybe, but even so…). And if the danger of Slushies-in-the-face and the undead aren’t enough, you seniors have the added exasperation of the admissions process.

First, of course, you are all but required to agonize over where you will apply. Unfortunately, getting your applications submitted doesn’t usually ease your burden in the least. Apart from the stress about whether or not you’ll get admitted (more on that soon) you have the awful, gut-wrenching torture of messages from colleges about your applications – messages seemingly designed for the express purpose of driving you into therapy (or possibly a relationship with the undead).

A recent discussion on the e-list of the National Association for College Admissions Counseling focused on one perennial source of this exasperation, commonly referred to as “lack letters.” These are messages, sent through the postal mail along with email, text and, quite possibly, directly into your brain letting you know that materials MIGHT be MISSING from your application.

A good friend, Patrick O’Conner, guidance counselor at the Roeper School in Michigan and former president of the admissions association posted a breakdown of one such message and the explanations he provides to his students. It is so good (and translatable to pretty much any high school) that I asked his permission to include it for your enjoyment. Sample message excerpts from the college/university are in italics, with Pat’s response below:

*******************************
“Our Records Indicate…”

It seems pretty amazing at first. You just sent your application in last week, and the day after you hit “submit”, you gave your counselor the form they need to mail in to complete your application. Now there’s a letter from the admissions office waiting for you at home. Did they say yes? Did they say no? It’s a thin envelope, and people say that’s usually bad news from a college, right?

Yes, but in this case, it’s not the bad news you think it is.

“Thank you for your application. Our records indicate we have not received your high school transcript. Please contact your high school counselor and have them submit a transcript just as soon as possible.”

You’re confused at first-you did that already.

Then you’re really confused-you did that already.

Then you’re angry-you did that already! What’s going on here?

What’s going on is you’re part of a large number of students who are getting these letters needlessly. There are three reasons why:

1. When you submit your application electronically, the admissions computer checks to see if your transcript has been “checked in”-in other words, if the transcript has been sent, opened, and entered in the computer. When does this check happen? About the same time you give the paper form to me-so of course it’s not there. The computer then generates the letter, and it’s nightmare on your street.

2. If you sent your application by snail mail, it’s part of a mountain of letters in the admissions office (remember, everyone tends to apply at the same time) that can take the college up to a month to open. Your transcript is in that mound of mail, as well – it’s just that they happened to open your application first, and it may take another 3 weeks before they happen to open the letter from me.

3. With 49 other seniors applying to between 6-8 colleges per person, you may be number 30 or 35 in line for transcript requests. Since most colleges want me to answer some questions as well as send the transcript, this can take time, along with the other duties I have– like hosting the college reps that visit Roeper, so I can tell them in person how great you are. As the College Counseling Web site states, transcript requests will generally be sent out in 10 school days after they are received. It might be that yours goes out the next day-but at this time of year, it’s more likely to go out on day 9 or 10.

So what do you do? If it’s been less than a week since you sent in your application, wait a week, then call the college (or check online) to see if your transcript is there. If the letter says “We must have your transcript in the next 3 days”, call the college immediately to see if the transcript was checked in after the letter was mailed. Either way, if it’s still not there when you call, bring the letter to me…

…and don’t go crazy. 95% of the time, the transcript is there in Mount O’Mail waiting to be opened. The rest of the time, the college will gladly wait for a second copy to be mailed or faxed. In any case, I’ve never had a student’s decision impacted by a transcript that wasn’t checked in-so it’s still important to get the information in, but it’s not a deal breaker, no matter what their well-meaning records indicate.
********************

Great advice, and my thanks to Pat (and a shout-out for checking out the website for his book, www.collegeisyours.com). With that in mind you can go back to your regularly scheduled stress – wondering whether Bella will manage to date Finn and whether they’ll win the regional show choir competition or get eaten by werewolves…or both (now THAT’S a show I’d like to see!).

Shameless Plug: Speaking of Glee (sort of…indirectly…not really) I attended one of our phenomenal student dance concerts last week, with some amazing choreography by our own students (way to go Caroline!!), which again confirmed for me that Mason is THE premier dance program in the D.C. region!

Be seeing you.

Filed under: Admissions, Applications, College, College Admissions, Education, Family, Life, University | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments »

Parent involvement: a fowl affair

Posted on November 12, 2009 by deanflagel

I was up late last night dressing a turkey. Unfortunately consumption of said turkey will not be an option, as the fowl in question is on poster-board, a second grade assignment for my son, which we’ve left to the last minute. The task sheet that came home with poster-board specifically asked this to a “family” project, and so there I was debating with a seven-year-old the most appropriate material to accurately approximate a turkey’s wattle. I, by the way, lost.

This intensive involvement in such a trivial school task may help explain the volume of calls admissions offices receive this time of year from parents. We’ve been trained by the schools to BE INVOLVED. Not surpsingly, this leads to repeated questions wondering just how involved parents should be in the admissions process.

Very.

My colleagues in admissions are probably already rolling their eyes, since the conventional wisdom is that parents are already “over-involved” in the admissions process. I hear routinely the complaints about so-called “helicopter” parents – those who hover around their students. Most of you have probably heard the whack-a-doo stories, like the college graduate who brought his mom on job interviews. Along those lines, I’ll admit that my concern gets raised when parents feel the need to speak for their students. One of the more uncomfortable situations are applicant interviews where the parent won’t let the student get a word in edgewise.

Those extreme cases, however, do a real disservice to the vast majority of families trying to work their way through a complex, stressful process with tremendous financial implications. I welcome the shift, still completely bizarre to me, that has prospective students WANTING their parents involved in the process. My colleagues that whine and moan when parents call them asking questions, queries that these admissions officers feel should be left to the applicants, may be (and I say this with a great deal of affection and respect for my peers) ding dongs. Every survey of prospective students I’ve seen finds that the parents have more influence over this process than any other source. No amount of media attention, athletic success, or guidance counselor relations will have the weight in an enrollment decision as mom or dad.

There are, of course, limits. I encourage parents to join students during college visits, edit application essays, and nag about deadlines. [NOTE/shameless plug: Mason’s fall prospective student event is this Saturday, November 14!). I discourage parents from conducting their own tour of campuses without bringing a student along, writing application essays, or submitting applications for the student. This is a vital issue, as the vast majority of complaints I receive each year about problems with the application process are from parents. It appears, for reasons that science so far is at a loss to explain, that being a parent makes the application submission process entirely bewildering. I work with thousands of adult students who have no problems with the process, so I don’t think this is age issue. Instead I’m increasingly convinced that being a parent of a student at a particular time in their educational career (applying to college, for instance) causes a chemical to be released in the body that has a particularly negative impact on the brains neuro-receptors causing the parent to lose the ability to follow basic instructions.

Unfortunately, I suspect that this chemical reaction is not limited to the college application process time period, and may appear first in early elementary school, but that’s just a suspicion. You’ll have to excuse me now – I apparently need to go glue some kind of feathers on a poster-board turkey. Be seeing you.

Filed under: Admissions, College, College Admissions, Family, High School, Life, Parents, University | Tagged: , , , , , , , | 3 Comments »

Next Page »