How Juniors Can Make Senior Year Easier- Starting Now!

There are just a few weeks left in the school year, and that means juniors can start to breathe sighs of relief. AP exams are winding down, and end-of-year festivities are kicking off. But before you get swept up in prom and summer break, we’ve got a few more assignments for you.

Fall semester can be extremely hectic for twelfth graders. However, there are things you can do now (and over the summer) to help make senior year easier and the college admissions process much more organized and efficient.

Secure your teacher recommendations

Many college applications require two or three teacher recommendations. For teachers, this can be a nightmare in the fall when they are inundated with dozens of requests… and you don’t want that nightmare to be reflected in the quality of your letter! Help your teachers – and yourself – by asking for recommendations now. This way they’ll have plenty of time to write you a quality letter, and you will have one less worry in the fall. 

When you’re ready to ask, make sure to speak to your teachers in person. A good way to make sure you don’t end up with a so-so letter is to use the following language: ”Do you think you know me well enough to write me a very supportive letter of recommendation?” In other words, you’re telling them that it needs to be a great letter, and you’re providing an easy out if they can’t make that happen.

We highly suggest providing them with a ‘highlight reel’ of your personal strengths, achievements, and academic interests relating to your performance in their class. If you’re not sure who to ask or what to include in your highlight reel, take a look at our previous blog post where we discuss the best ways to secure a strong recommendation letter.

Confirm your fall schedule

We can’t say it enough: avoid the senioritis schedule! Colleges want to see that you’re pursuing a rigorous curriculum, so it’s important to continue challenging yourself rather than opting for that extra study hall or the “easy” elective.

Now is the time to organize your course load and address any scheduling conflicts. We especially encourage you to talk with your teachers or counselors if you’re considering an honors section or an AP class. Depending upon the school and their policies, you may have to take some extra steps to enroll in an advanced course, whether it’s submitting a petition or taking a placement test. 

If your ideal fall schedule isn’t turning into a reality, don’t get discouraged. Consult with your parents and advisors to brainstorm alternatives. For example, if you’ve already taken the most advanced foreign language class at your school, you might want to look into a dual enrollment program in your area. If there’s no marketing elective offered, consider an online course. There are a growing number of options, both virtually and at local colleges. To take advantage of these options, though, you’ll need to plan now.

Finalize your college list

If you haven’t started already, get to work on your college list. Do some research to get a better sense of what you’re looking for in a school, from size to location to academic offerings. With literally thousands of colleges and universities to choose from, you’ll need to identify what’s most important to you. The College Board offers a comprehensive search tool, and for data lovers out there, College Data provides plenty of school statistics. 

To stay organized, we recommend keeping track of your research with a spreadsheet. Not sure how to make one? We love this free template that you can easily download and customize to fit your needs.

Prepare application materials

College applications require you to submit many different materials: test scores, transcripts, teacher recommendations, essays, and more. You won’t be able to complete some pieces until the fall, but right now you can begin to prepare several materials.

• Make a list of the activities you’ve participated in throughout high school: sports, clubs, volunteer opportunities, jobs, internships, etc. You can even input them directly into the Common Application and roll them over to the new 2022-2023 Common Application in August!

• Work on your resume, which should include any work experience, extracurricular involvements, and awards/achievements.

• The Common Application released their essay prompts several months ago. Take a look at your options, so you can start brainstorming, drafting, or even finishing your essay over the summer. Since we like to start early, some of the juniors we work with are already done with it!

Visit schools, even through your computer screen

Although campus tours always feel a bit different during the summer months when undergrads aren’t filling up the quads and walkways, these visits can still help you with your college list. If possible, sign up for some campus tours. It’s always good to see the school in person, get a feel for the environment, and check out the surrounding community. Take a look at our expert tips on how to prepare for and get the most of your tour here.

If you can’t travel, don’t worry! You can still use this time to take virtual tours, sign up for Zoom information sessions, and/or attend a local college fair. Colleges like to see demonstrated interest, so take advantage of these convenient ways to formally show your engagement with a school.

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Does your junior need help with the college application process? If so, book a no-obligation meet and greet with us today to learn more about our services.

5 Tips for Securing Strong Teacher Recommendations

There are over 1,700 reasons why it’s important to secure strong teacher recommendations for your college application. How did we come up with such a large figure? Well, that’s the current number of colleges and universities that are test-optional or test blind. 

Teacher recommendations have always been an important element of a college application, but with so many schools changing their testing policies in response to the pandemic and seeing record numbers of applications as a result, recommendation letters are more important than ever! Yes, even for students who plan to submit test scores! Letters provide admissions committees with important insights into your academic performance, as well as your personal qualities and overall attitude. A well-written recommendation will tell a story that your GPA (and scores) cannot.

So how do you secure a strong teacher recommendation? After all, you can’t control what a teacher writes about you. Or can you? There are actually specific steps a student can take to ensure two (sometimes three) quality recommendation letters, even in the age of online learning and hybrid classes. 

1. Be Present

Be present. Sounds easy, right? But we’re not just talking about being physically present in the classroom or via Zoom. One of the best ways to ensure strong recommendations is to be an active and engaged student. Participate in discussions and ask questions. This will show your teacher that you’re curious, you take initiative, and you do your work. Pitch in when it comes time for group projects, and don’t be afraid to take the lead when there’s an opportunity. If you’re struggling, reach out for help. And if you’re doing well, reach out anyway. You can strike up a conversation about the topics that interest you most in the class.

Being present is a habit you’ll want to establish early in your high school career. However, if you haven’t been as engaged as you’d like–perhaps because of the pandemic or shyness or a lack of confidence–you can start now. Make one conscious effort per day to engage, whether it’s raising your hand or staying after class to ask a question.

2. Build Connections

Investing in your classes is important, but so is creating connections and relationships within your school community. It’s much easier for you to request a recommendation if you feel comfortable with the teacher, and it’s much easier for them to write the letter if they have a connection with you.

We know that it can be challenging for some students to get to know their teachers, but there are plenty of small actions you can take. Say hello when you pass by teachers, and don’t be afraid to ask how they are doing. Visit teachers during their office hours or study halls, and consider coming to class a few minutes early. This is a great opportunity to strike up conversation and discover shared interests, like sports or music.  You can also join an extracurricular activity they are leading (but only if you’re actually interested in the activity). If you’re in an online or hybrid setting that limits your interactions with teachers, make use of Zoom chat boxes, email, and other forms of digital connection. Trust us, they will be thrilled to see you making the effort to become more than just a face behind the screen. 

3. Choose Recommenders Wisely

Before you start asking for recommendations, take some time to strategize. It’s not as simple as choosing your favorite teacher or the one who gave you the best grade. Think about teachers who can speak to your strengths, as well as your growth over time. It’s also important to pick recommenders who will offer different perspectives about your performance and qualities. Otherwise, you’ll end up with two repetitive letters. 

Subject matter is also a consideration. Ideally, one of your recommenders should connect to your area of interest. For example, if you’re applying as a business major, consider asking your math teacher to write one of your letters. 

Finally, do your best to pick current teachers who can reflect on who you are right now. As much as you might have loved your ninth grade history teacher, you’ve matured a lot (both academically and personally) since then.  We highly recommend trying to secure letters from junior year teachers. If this is truly not possible, it is okay to have a letter of recommendation from a sophomore year teacher that you will also have as a senior. Remember: sophomore year seems recent now, when it’s February of junior year, but the colleges will be reading these letters an entire year later! At that point, sophomore year is ancient history and your choice will raise a red flag about your relationships with junior year teachers.

4. Ask early…and politely give an out. Back off at the first sign of hesitation!

Be sure to secure your recommenders early, so your teacher has plenty of time to write a quality letter. We highly suggest asking for recommendations before the end of your junior year - after spring break is a great time. Many teachers limit the number of letters they write, so you want to make sure you secure a spot before the crowd rushes in during the fall semester of your senior year. 

Don’t just assume that a teacher will agree to write you a recommendation. Formally ask them, and in person if possible. We recommend using the wording: “Do you think you know me well enough to write me a supportive letter of recommendation?” This gives the teacher an out. If the teacher is in any way hesitant, they can decline with the excuse that they don’t know you well enough, and everyone can save face.

If there is any sign of hesitation at all, immediately abort the mission and find a new teacher! And certainly, never, ever argue with a teacher about this. Honestly, the kindest thing a teacher can do for a student is to show hesitation or decline to write a letter. This person is telling you in so many words that they are unable to write you a great letter … listen to that feedback! No letter is much better than a mediocre letter, which is basically the kiss of death to any college application.

5. Create a highlight reel

Regardless of how well your teacher knows you, they don’t know EVERYTHING. That’s why it’s extremely helpful to create a ‘highlight reel.’ Provide your recommender with information about your personal strengths, achievements, and interests. Of course you’ll  want to share highlights about your performance in their class, and the more specific you can be, the better!

Jog their memory about the cool project you spent months researching; the really challenging science labs you mastered; or the improvements you made to your study habits. And if the subject relates to your career interests or intended major, let your teacher know! It’s also a good idea to share your related involvements outside of the classroom, so your teacher has the ‘full picture’ and can speak to your contributions in other areas of school life that may relate to their subject matter.

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HOW WE HELP STUDENTS SECURE STRONG TEACHER RECOMMENDATIONS

As part of our college counseling services, we work closely with students to develop a strategy for teacher recommendations and set specific goals well before it’s time to actually ask the teachers. We check in on the teacher recommendation strategy throughout the year, and ultimately help students create ‘highlight reel’ narratives for each teacher through a multi-step process that begins with our customized questionnaires.

If you would like to learn more about our services or schedule a session, please visit our website.

Social Media, College, & Careers

This week, we have our promised guest blog post! Recruiting and hiring guru Jayana Garvey is here with us today to share some great tips for cleaning up your social media.

While Jayana’s primary focus in this post is on the hiring process for a student’s first job or internship, everything she says is applicable to the college application process as well!

Think we’re exaggerating? Check out this timely article from this week’s Washington Post about the impact that the use of social media can have on your college applications.

And for other potential red flags for admitted students (yes, even after you have been admitted!), don’t miss last week’s post on staying out of trouble.

Now, here’s Jayana!

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Do my social channels matter while I’m in high school and college? Can they impact my career search? 💯yes.

Studies show that 70% of employers are using social media to screen candidates during the hiring process. Some companies and organizations certainly will and others follow strict protocols and only look at a candidate’s application in their system. You’ll never know for sure because every organization has different policies and processes related to their recruiting.

I would encourage today’s high school and college students to look at ALL their social media accounts as fair game for ANY recruiter or hiring manager (or admissions counselor!) to potentially come across.

In my campus recruiting days, I could tell you about several college students who were in the running for prestigious leadership programs and were denied due to questionable content on their social media. It came up in many discussions with career services at universities.

It came down to this: recruiters were simply not confident that the individual could have a professional presence at work with an unprofessional, public, social profile. That immediately made the candidate lose credibility. Right or wrong about your character, it clouded a hiring manager’s view of you immediately and made them question their decision.

Remember, they are generally only going by one page about you and an hour spent with you. Employers are looking for a variety of competencies when interviewing you and assessing your candidacy. These could range from leadership skills, teamwork, your ability to collaborate, handling change, technical expertise, and so on.

You want an employer to stay focused on your application and interview - not to get distracted with a poor decision online that may jeopardize the stellar resume you’ve worked so hard to develop!

So how do you know what is OK and what’s not?

A good rule of thumb is to not post updates or share content on social media that you would not feel comfortable having a future boss see.

Use that as your litmus test. It’s an easy way to think before you share, comment, upload a photo, or like content. 

There will likely also come a time where colleagues at work may become friends with you on social channels and have a deeper view into your personal life.

Of course, you don’t have to accept everyone, but I’ve been on teams where it’s common and others where you would never be connected on personal social accounts with a boss.

Every single company culture and team culture is different. It’s best to begin preparing now. And if you’re reading right now and thinking about certain posts, TikTok videos, or Insta photos in your head that you might not be so proud of, it’s never too late to clean up your online presence and prepare for your future job search (Note from DCCC: This is also true about preparing for your college applications!).

Sure, you may be thinking some of this sounds overkill, and I get that! Our work and personal lives are becoming very blurred nowadays and are continuing in this direction. If you think about years ago when people went to work and didn’t have a laptop to bring home - work stayed at work. We now have remote work, colleagues as friends, and social media mixed in. This creates an entirely different environment - something your parents didn’t experience when they were applying to their first jobs out of school. 

Of course you can never control the social media trolls on your pages or crazy Aunt Sally’s comments on your photos, but how you interact with them and respond is key.

You may want to lock down certain profiles to keep them more controlled while being more discerning about who you accept as a friend. You may even want to take it a step further and approve tagged photos/timeline posts for example (if you’re on Facebook). Again, some organizations will look at things and some will not. You’d rather err on the side of caution. 

I’d also recommend being mindful of what you post on your personal social pages vs. what you post on LinkedIn. As you begin creating your professional presence on LinkedIn, you’ll want to keep it just that - professional. It’s not the page for a long vacation reel, tons of political posts, or controversial topics. People go to LinkedIn for work related topics, idea sharing, job searches, and business connections.

The few people who are sharing content not aligned with the general purpose and intention of LinkedIn always stand out on the newsfeed - and not in a good way. 😀 Yes, it’s OK to share some personal stories and information on LinkedIn too, but there should be a thoughtful connection to your professional life (generally). 

So we talked a lot about mitigating your social media working against you. It is absolutely a powerful tool to work for you in maintaining personal and professional connections and showcasing your “brand” as a prospective employee. If a recruiter or hiring manager goes to channels you choose to keep public and sees insightful content, industry articles, and friendly conversations with followers, they may feel even better about your candidacy by seeing you interact with others with varying viewpoints in a professional manner.

Now let’s contrast that with someone having a Twitter war with poor tone and dropping f-bombs with their followers. That may be an indication of how you would interact with your team members who might challenge your ideas or not share the same perspectives. Your creativity, professionalism, and intelligent conversations can boost your candidacy. 

In the end, you want social media to accelerate your applications, your job search, your candidacy, and your eventual career - not put opportunities to a halt! Think about what you have today and whether you need to tune things up now to help make that happen. You got this! 

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Looking for more information on Admissions Strategy? Check out these posts!

Staying Out of Trouble

Yes - it was still below freezing when I woke up this morning, but the first week of March means spring is just around the corner! The warmer temperatures and exciting news in the mail can always induce some senioritis, and this year we expect that the loosening coronavirus restrictions and increased vaccine availability will make it even more tempting for students to relax. 

And for the most part, that is great! In fact, we hope our seniors are able to relax a bit in the classroom and enjoy the end of the year safely.

But students should still be making good decisions throughout the spring and summer to ensure that years of hard work toward those college acceptances do not go to waste. 

This includes monitoring your social media posts carefully - keep an eye out for our guest blog next week from recruiting and hiring guru Jayana Garvey for more about making good decisions on social media.

Before you post or message, ask yourself, “Would I be okay with explaining this to my college of choice?” If the answer is no, don’t put it online!

Last year, more than a dozen colleges, including Clemson, the University of Richmond, and the University of Florida rescinded offers of admission to students based on their social media posts. And in 2017, Harvard rescinded offers to ten students who wrote offensive posts in a private Facebook group (yes, even in a closed group, this can happen!). In the last three years, 14% of private schools and 4% of public schools have rescinded admissions offers based on social media activity from incoming students. Whether schools should have the right to do so is up for debate, but as things stand now, it is much better to never find yourself having to make the argument. 

Remember, perception is reality, so try to avoid situations where others are behaving inappropriately or breaking the law. Yes, even if you are not doing it with them. Ask yourself, “If a video of this was posted on social media, would I be okay with that?” If not, do your best to get out of the situation before it becomes a larger issue. 

Of course, the most common reasons that offers of admissions are revoked are academic in nature.

As a general rule of thumb, if your grades slip in one or two classes, it shouldn’t pose a problem - especially if the classes aren’t related to your major. If you are typically an A student, a grade of C or below may raise red flags, and you will likely be asked to explain your downwards trend in academic performance to the colleges.

You don’t want to change your senior year schedule, either. Dropping some AP classes may seem like an easy way to relax a bit during senior year, but colleges will notice. If you have a true conflict and need to make an adjustment, contact the schools on your list in advance of making the change. This is not the type of situation where you should act now and beg forgiveness later - far from it.

More serious academic issues include plagiarism or cheating - don’t do this! Violations of academic integrity are likely to result in revoked admission. 

That said, this might be the most important thing we say in this post: don’t lie! If you do have a major disciplinary or legal issue, report it to your colleges.

For current clients, we can help you do this, and you may also want to consult a lawyer - especially for cases involving criminal misconduct. On the other hand, if colleges find out that you lied or withheld information, they will not be willing to work with you. It is much better to get any issues out in the open and control how they are presented instead of having your college find out through the grapevine from someone else.

(And don’t think that doesn’t happen - your classmate Johnny down the street was waitlisted at your school of choice, and his mom could not have been more excited to learn about your suspension. She’s going to place an anonymous call to the admissions office first thing tomorrow morning to make sure they know!)

We don’t say any of this to scare you - we want our students to enjoy their senior year! But make sure to stay safe, stay productive, and stay out of trouble. If you have questions about anything we’ve covered here, please let us know and we are happy to help! 

What is a Legacy?

In the college admissions world, the word “legacy” gets thrown around a lot, and you may have heard that one kid at your school talking about how he’ll be going to Harvard because he’s a legacy - as if being a legacy gives you a secret password for admissions at a top school! 

Spoiler alert: legacy status is not a golden ticket for admission at any school. That said, the concept of “legacy” can mean very different things to different institutions, and admissions committees handle legacy applicants in different ways.

In general, know that the vast majority of schools will not consider applicants to be legacies if their connections are through extended family members (aunts and uncles, cousins, so forth). Most schools do not even extend legacy preference for siblings! While every school will consider an applicant to be a legacy if their mother or father received an undergraduate degree, that legacy status does not always mean that the student will receive any kind of preferential treatment in the admissions process.

Want to know where you can get more legacy bang for your buck? Keep reading to learn more about the various types of policies that exist and examples of schools in each category.

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1. Schools that only consider “primary legacy status”

These schools limit legacy preference to only those applicants with parents who graduated from the institution. It’s also important to note that elite schools will also grant more weight to a parent who attended the undergraduate school, rather than a graduate program. And the more involved a parent has been since graduation, the more likely it is for their legacy status to help out their child as an applicant.

Schools that use this definition include:

• UVA - “A legacy student is defined by the Office of Admission as a child of a degree-holder. Step-children are also considered legacy applicants if they reside with a step-parent who has earned a UVA diploma.”

• Stanford - “At Stanford, “legacy” applicants are defined as the children of Stanford graduates at either the undergraduate or graduate level.”

• UNC (only for out-of state applicants) - “For non-resident children of alumni (those whose mother, father, step-father, or step-mother attended Carolina), family ties to the University may be used in our final admission decision. Please note that legacy status cannot be derived from siblings, grandparents, or other extended family. There is no formal preference for resident applicants who are children or step-children of alumni.”

• Columbia - “Applicants are considered to be "legacies" of Columbia only if they are the children of Columbia College or Columbia Engineering graduates.”

2. Schools that consider children and grandchildren to be full legacies

A number of schools consider applicants to be legacies if their parents or grandparents are alumni. Make sure that you think about where your grandparents went to school, and look into whether any of the schools to which you are applying use this definition. Penn, for instance, admits around one-third of legacy applicants - more than double the overall admissions rate!

Schools that use this definition include:

• Cornell - A legacy applicant is “a student whose parents or grandparents — or great-, or great-great, etc. — hold a degree from Cornell University.”

• Duke - Legacy applicants are “the children and grandchildren of alumni."

• Penn - “Legacy applicants are defined as those whose parents or grandparents graduated from any affiliated school or graduate program.”

3. Schools that extend legacy consideration to siblings of current students and alumni

Do you have an older sibling applying to college anytime soon? Pay attention to this category, because some schools sweep siblings into the definition of legacies, right along with grandparents and parents. Yes - that mean’s that your brother or sister’s college choice could give you a real leg up in the process when it comes to your own chances!

Schools that use this definition include:

• Emory - “In the admission-review process, “legacy” status is for applicants whose immediate relatives have graduated or are currently enrolled in an academic division of Emory University. This includes grandparents, parents, and siblings.”

• Northwestern - A legacy applicant “has a sibling, parent, or grandparent that graduated from Northwestern.”

• Georgia Tech - “We define legacy as having a parent, sibling or grandparent who attended Tech.”

• University of Southern California - “Those applicants with a parent, grandparent, or sibling who graduated from USC (or is currently enrolled) are considered a legacy for admission purposes.”

4. Schools where legacy matters a lot

At certain schools, legacy status can make an enormous difference in your chances of admission, because of the very strong preference extended to these legacy applicants. Georgetown, for example, had a 30% admit rate for legacy students in the class of 2021 - significantly higher than the 15% overall admit rate. It’s important to note that for schools without early decision programs, legacy status can be seen as an indication of demonstrated interest - legacy students typically already have stronger emotional ties to a school, and so colleges may admit more legacies in order to increase yield overall. There is also a higher likelihood of alumni giving down the line when it comes to a candidate with a well-established family ties.

Schools that show substantial legacy preference include:

• Baylor- 32% of the freshman class

• Notre Dame - 22% of the freshman class

• Georgetown - 10% of the freshman class

5. Schools where legacy does not matter at all

At the opposite end of the spectrum, some schools do not consider legacy status at all when it comes to admissions. At certain schools, your legacy status (or lack thereof) won’t make one bit of a difference when it comes to the manner in which your application is reviewed.

Schools that do not extend preferential treatment to legacy applicants include:

• Johns Hopkins

• MIT

• Caltech

• Texas A&M

• University of California system institutions (UCLA, UC Berkeley, etc)

• University of Georgia

6. Schools where legacy only matters if you apply early

We have always been fans of applying early decision for the strategic advantage that it gives an applicant, but for legacy applicants, this may be even more important. Some schools only consider legacy status for early round applicants. This is just one example where legacy status in and of itself will not help a student who doesn’t take advantage of other strategic choices in the admissions process. And if you are not in the middle 50% for test scores and GPA for a college, legacy status is unlikely to give you a huge boost. But that combination of legacy + ED can seal the deal for an otherwise-qualified applicant.

While many schools operate this way behind the scenes and only provide maximum legacy consideration in the early round, those who come right out and state this policy include:

• Penn

• Cornell

If my daughter was applying to college today and was dead set on an Ivy League school, I’d encourage her to think about ED’ing to Cornell - because of their legacy policies, she could leverage her great-grandfather’s degree with their legacy ED preference for a much better shot!

7. Schools that have expanded legacy status in the interest of social justice

Georgetown most notably expanded legacy status to include the descendants of enslaved people who were sold by the Jesuits who founded the school. It is not the only school who has made a similar move to make the legacy factor in college admissions more equal across race and socioeconomic status, and we may see continued shifts like this change the definition of “legacy” further as more schools reckon with systemic issues.  

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Whether you are a legacy or not, having the background knowledge about how a school will view legacy status will be helpful as you make strategic decisions about college admissions!

Should I Apply Early?

We have been so busy that it feels like the admissions cycle is flying by, and early deadlines are right around the corner. While some schools had their deadlines as early as October 15, the big date to watch out for is November 1, and we have been submitting applications with our students all week long.

For us, it is really important that applications are submitted well before the deadlines to give students peace of mind and to make sure that there is plenty of time to deal with any last-minute requirements, especially this cycle when schools are adding them left and right! We actually prefer to submit in late August or early September, but this year presented challenges upon challenges upon challenges relating to standardized testing delays.

Our original cohort or seniors finished up a little while ago and many of our late start seniors are done too! However, we’re still hearing from a lot of panicked senior parents whose students haven’t really started the process in earnest yet. They almost always reach out with the same first question:

How important are early applications?

Families who feel rushed by the November deadline start to wonder if it would be better to apply early at all costs, or to spend some more time on the application and submit a polished product by the regular decision deadline.

If you are a bit on the late side and find yourself asking these same questions too, read on for some considerations.

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1. Know that applying early decision - yes, the binding one - does have a measurable strategic impact. This is especially the case during the current admissions cycle.

Understanding the reason for the advantage might help you decide whether ED is right for you. Colleges are concerned about a factor called yield, or the percentage of accepted students that enroll. Since ED forces students to accept admissions offers, colleges favor ED applicants because the large number of students bound to attend will inflate their yield numbers. This, in turn, will improve the institutions’ reputations and boost their rankings. Slick, right?

Early decision can provide a major competitive advantage in the application process in exchange for the binding commitment; however, applying ED only really increases your chances of acceptance at schools where you are “admissible.” You can get away with having qualifications that are slightly below-average for that school, but you can’t be much further off than that. 

If you’re in the sweet spot, though? You’re golden. In some cases, early decision applicants are two or three times as likely to be admitted than a regular decision applicant. As we’ve said before, these factors present a strong case for applying in the early decision pool.

Some students are initially scared off by the so-called “binding commitment,” but you will make a binding commitment to any school when you choose to attend. Early decision is simply a case of making that commitment sooner rather than later, so you can spend the rest of your senior year focused on school, extracurriculars, and planning your dorm room décor. 

And yes - you’ve heard all of this from us before. But this year, early decision may have an even greater impact for applicants. Colleges are all dealing with new uncertainties due to the pandemic, and the certainty that an applicant will attend if admitted is extremely valuable to institutions concerned about enrollment. 

So if you’re on the fence between submitting an early decision application vs. regular decision application to your top choice school, it’s worth putting your social life on hold for a little bit to maximize the rest of October.

2. Early action requires some more thought.

The truth is that it’s very school dependent, and we can see an example of the different institutional approaches right here in Virginia with our state universities! At UVa, there is no question that applicants are better off waiting to apply in the regular decision round if they will be more qualified at that point. So if you’re on the fence between an EA or RD app at UVa but could an extra few weeks or months to perfect your essays, RD is a no-brainer.

At Virginia Tech, however, that’s not the case at all. In fact, VT encourages all students to apply early decision or early action, and clearly states on their website that regular decision “will have less open spots available” because of the “large population” of EA applicants.

Make sure to do your research and know which kind of school you’re dealing with while making this decision. And if you aren’t sure? Pick up the phone and call the admissions office to ask! You don’t even have to give your name.

3. Be strategic (and realistic!) about your plans to improve your test scores and grades.

In previous years there may have been a case for holding off on an early application for a student who was hoping to retake a standardized test and submit a higher score, or a student who expected that their GPA from the first semester of senior year would elevate their overall transcript. 

This year, though, that gamble is very different. As our friends over at McLean High School are learning the hard way, there is no guarantee that students will even be able to retest as planned. Even if testing occurs smoothly, you can’t bank on a markedly higher score without a markedly higher level of commitment to test preparation.

We are also seeing that students have reported more challenges with virtual learning this year in terms of course difficulty. Last spring’s “Easy As” are no longer happening at most schools. And BC Calc over Zoom is a challenge!

4. Traditional campus visits may simply not be possible this cycle.

Yes, we know it is difficult to tell if you are willing to commit to a school without the chance to visit campus. But will this really improve in the short term? While we wouldn’t necessarily recommend a binding application to a school far away in a city with which you are completely unfamiliar, a few more months in the middle of cold and flu season isn’t going to open up too many doors for you in terms of campus visits. It might be time to accept that your postponed April 2020 spring break college tour is not going to happen anytime soon after all.

Did you visit the campus a few years ago, but remember that you had a good feeling about it? Do you have friends or family in the city who could drive over and walk around for you and share their feedback? Can you take a virtual tour of the campus and the surrounding area? Keep an eye out for our future blog post about how to get to know a campus virtually - it is not impossible! 

5. There’s rushing and then there’s rushing. Make sure you can still realistically put together a strong application.

So you’re convinced that an early application may be the right choice for you. This doesn’t mean that you should scramble to put together your application the day before the deadline. It does mean, however, that the hard work begins NOW!

If you have already filled out the Common Application and made some progress on your main essay, you want to focus on your supplemental essays and make sure you have a chance to ask your parents and school counselor for edits before you submit.

Reviewing Staci’s post-meeting essays at the Galleria on Black Friday 2019!

A sloppy, rushed application with noticeable errors or missing components will not help you get into the school of your dreams, and there’s a big difference between starting a week in advance vs. starting a night in advance. If you do not have time to focus on your application over the course of the next two weeks, this is a case where it is best to wait and apply before the regular decision deadline. 

If you do bypass the early deadlines and want some guidance on getting your application in “17-year-old perfect” shape by December, I heard a rumor that one of our favorite essay coaches is willing to pitch in again over Thanksgiving week if needed!

Go ahead and book a Meet & Greet now to learn about how we can help!

Gap Years, our Friends to the North, and a Double Cohort

I mentioned in my last weekly update post that there’s a lot to consider about the impact of gap years.

Here’s why this is a big deal: each class of students is known as a cohort, and if we have a situation where two cohorts of students enter college at the same time, that’s called a double cohort. And it’s a total cluster.

We’ve actually seen this before, in Canada.

Until 2003, students in Ontario went to high school for five years. Since that was the last year of a five-year high school program, two classes of students graduated at the exact same time (the students who started in 1999 and spent four years in high school as well as the students who started in 1998 and spent five years in high school).

Check out this article. Here’s a relevant snippet:

This year, all across the country, high-school students played the largest and most dramatic game of musical chairs in Canadian history. Ontario's infamous double cohort, of course, was a major factor. The province, home to roughly 40 per cent of Canadian students, finally eliminated the fifth year of high school - producing a blockbuster double class of high-school seniors.

When it came to elite programs, the competition was beyond brutal. Five thousand battled over 270 seats in Queen's commerce; 3,000 for 160 spots in McMaster's bachelor of health sciences. At Waterloo, 1,827 students were jockeying for 100 places in accounting and financial management. And so on.

Which is why many students hedged their bets, applying out of province as well. Montreal's McGill University, a top choice for many, saw a 67-per-cent increase in applications from Ontario: 6,911 in total. But was McGill their first choice or their "safety school"? There was no way of knowing. To avoid being oversubscribed with acceptances, the admissions office decided to set the bar high for Ontario students in the early round of offers. By May, when the phone was ringing off the hook, McGill posted an open letter on the Web, aimed at frantic Ontario families: the university, it said, had "agonized over many of the refusals" issued in recent weeks. "Refusal," it said, "can be a deeply disappointing experience. The disappointment is even more profound when an applicant possesses a strong academic record."

That type of “beyond brutal” competition is exactly what I’m hoping we can avoid for kids in the 2021 entering cohort (HS class of 2021).

And let’s be honest - our baseline level of difficulty today in the United States is very different from that of some of the schools mentioned above today, not to mention the baseline level almost twenty years earlier. So this could get ugly. I know that a lot of parents and students are worried about that happening.

I’ll be honest: I was really worried about this at first. Like really, really worried. But the more I think about it, we may not have as big of an issue as I had originally anticipated. We don’t actually have to end up with a double cohort situation. We aren’t going to have an imminent crisis if all the extra kids join the (college) Class of 2025, because the (college) Class of 2024 would be much smaller.

Those two classes would theoretically even out, which puts us in a much better position than the Canadians. The total number of students on campus will be the same during academic years 2021-2022, 2022-2023, and 2023-2024.

The problem will instead occur during the 2024-2025 academic year, when the entering cohort of 2020-2021 would already have graduated. In this case, there will simply be too many students on campus.

I think that we might be looking at one of the following scenarios instead (or a combination):

• A proportionally less # of students will be admitted from the HS Classes of 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024 in the hopes of evening everything out by 2024-2025.

• The same number of students will be admitted each year as always, with hopes that the numbers will normalize through attrition - meaning very few transfer students will be accepted.

• The same number of students will be admitted each year as always, with impacts to the campus experience: overflowing classes, less housing capacity, and so on.

If I had to put money on it, I think the most selective schools will go with the first scenario or a combination of the first two. I think schools that aren’t as selective and/or have lower endowments will gravitate towards the last option.

Anyway, time will tell but the bottom line is that if recently graduated seniors take gap years, this will certainly have an impact on the numbers ahead - but maybe it’s not the total doom and gloom situation for the Class of 2021 that we’ve been worried about.. and just moderately gloomy for the next few classes?

Differentiation in College Admissions

I haven’t really discussed this much, or at all, but over the past year I have started providing coaching services to other independent educational consultants. To be honest, it’s been really fun for me- like a “brain break” of sorts from working with teenagers all day (obviously, I love working with my students but sometimes it’s nice to interact with adults too). I didn’t intend to go down this path at all, but other educational consultants kept coming to me for advice and the opportunity just sort of just fell into my lap.

Through these conversations, I’ve been thinking a lot about a lesson I actually learned back during my own freshman year in college. (Little known fact: even though I graduated as an English major, I entered Wash U as an accounting major despite the fact that I hate math and I’m terrible at it. My mom thought accounting would be practical. I mean, she was right, it is practical, but not for someone who is terrible at math!).

I learned in Management 100 that the most successful businesses don’t just do things better than other businesses - they do things differently.

Case Study #1 on Differentiation: Southwest Airlines

If you really think about it, this sort of goes against our natural inclinations - or at least mine. I am a little (ok a lot!) Type A and competitive, and I want to be the best. At everything. If I’m going to be a college counselor, you better believe I’m going to be the best one out there!

That’s not going to result in a successful business, though. The reality, we learned, was that there’s always going to be someone else who can do things faster, better, cheaper. And if there’s not someone better today, there will be tomorrow. The companies thinking outside the box and really differentiating themselves are the ones that win in the long term.

From a business perspective, I’ve always done that with DC College Counseling. Obviously, like I said, I do want to be the best and I think I am :) but I also do things very differently than others. I provide an unparalleled level of project management support that I’ve discussed before. I honestly think I’m the only college counselor in the country that operates this way and it makes a difference in my bottom line. People trust my team to get things done. Or, I should say, people trust us to make sure their kids get things done!

I had a dad call me from his vacation in the South of France last week in a panic. He asked me to call his daughter, a former client, to make sure she took care of something important because she wasn’t listening to him and he didn’t know what else to do. We laughed about it together because it was funny, but at the same time it warmed my heart that to know that he would think to call me of all people. He was right, though: I was able to resolve the whole situation in five minutes. Vacation saved! And that’s why people hire me.

Teenagers can learn from this too. I see so many students trying to be the “best,” but in a really generic way. And again, I can understand and identify with this mentality. But sometimes you have to ask yourself - to what end? Recently I had a student in my office who earned a 1580 on the SAT on the first try (I know, right! Smart kid). I told him not to worry about retaking it. His mom looked at me like I had three heads. I’m sorry, but there is zero reason why that kid should be forced to retake the SAT. He might get in to his top choice school and he might not, but his admissions decisions will have absolutely nothing to do with whether he applies with a 1580, 1590 or a 1600.

Don’t get me wrong - I’m not saying that test scores don’t matter. Not even a little bit. They matter A LOT. You can differentiate yourself all day long and it won’t matter to a highly selective school if your test scores and grades aren’t strong.

It’s just that once you get to the point where you’re already excelling, you don’t need to make yourself crazy by attempting to achieve the tippy-top level of mainstream perfection. Sure, you can take six APs during senior year but there’s always going to be that girl who took seven. Or who self-studied for AP Music Theory on the side. It’s so much better to put that effort into differentiating yourself from the masses.

Here are a few examples of memorable ways that some of my students have differentiated themselves:

• An absolutely BRILLIANT student whose resume would put a grown adult’s to shame wrote his college essay about how the best part of his ultra-impressive internship was eating lunch with his coworkers. It was such a funny, amazing essay. I still think about it. 99% of the other kids in his position would have written something really boring about programming to try to look smart.

• A current student studied abroad during high school - not just a summer program but actually took it upon herself to enroll at a high school in a foreign country. This isn’t typical at her school at all - she just did it on her own for the experience. How cool is that!

• I’ve told this story a million times, but a student with whom I worked a few years back set up this really interesting neighborhood website to connect elderly people needing snow removal with high school students looking to make money. Ultimately it expanded to include babysitters too. It ended up being a HUGE success and he became a local celebrity of sorts, no kidding! I think it took him something like three hours to set up while he was watching tv on a snow day, but now he’s at an Ivy League school.

• One of my favorite graduating seniors was actually NOT a perfect straight-A student but was probably the most interesting person I’ve ever met. She has a very unusual interest (so unusual I can’t even really write about it without outing her) and she was able to monetize by turning it into a profitable local business.

• Another favorite graduating senior wrote her essay about her favorite reality tv show. IT WAS SO GOOD. It started out with her mom yelling at her for watching “that trashy show” (lol) and led into the unexpected lessons she learned from it. Wow, I loved that essay!

I could go on and on.. but the point is, differentiate! And pay attention in class because you may just remember snippets of useful information fifteen years down the line :)

Common App® vs. Coalition vs. Institutional: How to Choose?

With so many choices, it can be hard to know which application to submit for which school, so I thought I would provide some guidance to help families navigate the various application options.

Always choose the Common App®

If a school accepts The Common Application® and ANY other application, always go with The Common App®. Always. Regardless of the other factors involved (the only exception to this rule would be for a “priority” application that waives the application fee, IF AND ONLY IF the application fee represents a financial hardship or concern). This will save you a lot of time!

Coalition App vs. Institutional/Systemwide Apps

Unfortunately, this decision isn’t as clear-cut because there’s more to consider. This became lengthy as I typed it out, so I decided to put together the infographic below to make it easier to understand.

Don’t Forget: Not every school offers a choice!

There are still plenty of schools out there that do not offer an alternative to their institutional and systemwide applications. When you’re considering the infographic below, make sure that you only include the ones that offer a choice when asked to do so.

Examples of Schools in Various Categories

Schools requiring institutional or systemwide applications:

The University of California system-wide application, College of Charleston

Schools requiring the Coalition Application (a.k.a. Coalition-Exclusive):

Virginia Tech, University of Maryland

Schools with abnormally difficult institutional or systemwide applications that offer the Coalition Application as an alternative:

ApplyTexas (the University of Texas systemwide application)

Schools with typical institutional or systemwide applications that offer the Coalition Application as an alternative:

JMU, Clemson

Note: All requirements are accurate as of June 11, 2019

Reader Questions: Setting Yourself Apart

Today, we are back to our “Reader Questions” series! Have a burning question about school, college, or graduate admissions, or even high school in general? Please shoot us an email and we will make sure to address it in a future post!

Q: Every college counselor says that teenagers need to “set themselves apart,” but what does that even mean? Why is this important anyway?

A: First of all, you don’t really need to worry about this unless your student is trying to go to a highly competitive school. Less competitive colleges won’t be focused on whether an applicant is unique or not; they have other priorities.

The reason this becomes important for students applying to the most selective colleges and universities has to do with the quality of the applicant pool to those institutions: in other words, most of the applicants are completely qualified for admission! There are so many kids applying to the same programs with the same straight As and the same test scores. When an admissions officer reads a hundred files from excellent students and has to pick five of them, which will she pick? The ones that stand out. The applicants that “set themselves apart” are the ones that stand out from the rest of the pack in positive ways.

Twenty years ago, stellar grades and exceptional SAT/ACT scores were essentially a guarantee that a student would get into a highly selective college. Now that times have changed, we suggest that students hoping to gain acceptance to America’s most selective colleges and universities consider building their own unique brand at the start of ninth grade. The good news? It sounds more complicated than it is. If you do this right, it won’t be difficult at all.

1.  Discover your passions

What do you love?  What gets you out of bed early on a Saturday morning?  You’re more than just a student and you’ll want to show that to colleges.  Are you passionate about community service or a cause?  Can you connect that to your favorite musical instrument or sport?  Have you dreamed of starting your own business and selling your artwork?

Take some time early on in your high school career to reflect and brainstorm how you want to spend your time when your head isn’t in a book.  Don’t just sign up to be a volunteer because you think that will look good down the road to admissions counselors.  Instead, choose activities and organizations that align with your strengths, values and passions.  When you combine what you’re good at with what you love, you’re pretty much destined for success!

2.  Show commitment

How will colleges know that you’ll be a dedicated student and a great ambassador for the university?  They will not simply look at what you do outside of school - they will delve deeper and look at your level of commitment.  The longer you’ve been involved with a team, a program, or a non-profit, the better.

If you’ve been a key contributor to an organization for years, you’re proving to the admissions counselors that you take commitment seriously and are involved for the right reasons.  It also shows that you’re personable, work well with others and understand responsibility.  

Here at DC College Counseling, we always encourage our students to show, rather than tell.

3.  Go above and beyond

Get out of the “good enough” mindset.  Even if you have no clue where you want to go to school or which majors interest you most, you can still lay the foundation for an impressive college application by trying your best and making the right choices - even when you don’t think anyone else is paying attention. In the long run, your hard work will pay off.

Don’t be shy.  Always think: “What could I do to improve the world around me?” If you think of an idea to improve your community, your school, or an organization, don’t keep that information to yourself. If you end up with achievements as a result, reach out to your local media or nominate your work for a coveted award.  A little publicity can always affect and improve the quality of your brand.

Reader Questions: Grades vs. Rigor

Today, we are kicking off our “Reader Questions” series! Have a burning question about school, college, or graduate admissions, or even high school in general? Please shoot us an email and we will make sure to address it in a future post!

Q: We are about to finalize sophomore year course selection and can’t decide what to do. Is it better to make Bs in AP classes or make As in easier classes? With the time involved in X’s soccer commitments and Boy Scouts, there is no way he can make As in AP classes. He’s very intelligent and wants to do well, he just doesn’t have time and we can’t push him to spend five hours each night on homework when he doesn’t get home until 7:00. I told him I would check with you before he decides whether to take AP U.S. History and AP English over regular U.S. History and English 11. He’s hoping to go to Georgetown.

A: If X is still hoping to go to Georgetown, he needs to take the most challenging courses available to him and he needs to make As in those classes. There is simply no way around this. He also needs to continue to have a vibrant extracurricular and leadership profile, so dropping soccer and Boy Scouts is not an option either. Note: I am not suggesting that it is healthy to stay up until midnight every night studying. It’s not healthy and it’s not what I would want my own child to do. But if this is the only way for him to make straight As in rigorous courses, he’s either going to have to do it or he’s going to have to find a new college choice.

Imagine that you are at Thanksgiving dinner and run into your niece, who just graduated from college. She is working as a temp at Facebook (could there be a more perfect place to start your career?!) and is angling for a permanent job offer. Could you take a second to give her some advice, she asks?

She REALLY, REALLY wants this job, but she recently came to the conclusion that she’s simply not able to attend meetings and get all of her work done. If she’s going to finish her work, she just doesn’t have time to go to meetings. There are just not enough hours in the day to do both; she’d have to come in really early and stay really late, and she would barely get any sleep once her commute is factored in. There would be so many ramifications for her work-life balance and she clearly just is not going to be able to do both. Which should she pick, she asks you?

What would you tell her? Is she more likely to get the job she wants if she stops attending the meetings or if she stops making deadlines?

A. Skip the meetings

B. Forget the deadlines

C. Find a less demanding job at a company that prioritizes work-life balance

D. Suck it up, Sally

The bottom line: just as there will always be another eager 22-year-old who is happy to skip hot yoga to prove his worth in the office, there will always be thousands upon thousands of other high school students that are able to manage rigorous courses and straight As alongside a slew of impressive extracurricular activities.

There’s nothing wrong with adjusting priorities. Your niece could find a ton of great jobs that wouldn’t over-work her and would still give her the chance to maintain a healthy work-life balance. But if she wants to work at Facebook, she’s going to need to make these kinds of sacrifices. And if your son wants to go to Georgetown, he’s going to need to make sacrifices too.