Weekly Update: September 30

BIGGEST COLLEGE-RELATED NEWS OF THE WEEK

TRACKING HURRICANE IAN

Our thoughts are with everyone who has been affected by Hurricane Ian this week. Several schools, including the University of Florida, have been closed for several days and are expected to resume normal operations next week. The storm is making its way up the East Coast this weekend, so stay safe!

THE FAFSA OPENS TOMORROW

The FAFSA will open on October 1, and if you intend to complete the form, we encourage you to do it as soon as possible. If you are unsure whether or not you should complete the FAFSA, you can check out our earlier posts here and here to help make the best decision for you and your family. There are a lot of myths about the FAFSA that circle around every year, so if any of our current clients have questions about the process, make sure to reach out to us so we can help you make this decision.

NEW EXCELENCIA SEALS AWARDED

Since 2019, Excelencia in Education has given the Seal of Excelencia to schools that serve Latino students. The organization is dedicated to Latino college completion, and this year honored six institutions including UC Santa Cruz and UT Arlington. Nine schools were also recertified this year, including Arizona State, the University of Arizona, and Florida International University. 

COLLEGE FOOTBALL WEEK FIVE

Lots of college football news this week, including a potential breakthrough for NC State and the challenges that UGA will face in the SEC. Are you following the college football season? Let us know your team in the comments!

BEST ARTICLES OF THE WEEK

This article explores the (somewhat bleak) reality of declining in-state students at flagship state universities. According to a report from the Brookings Institute, Alabama now has 34% in-state students to 66% out of state - a big flip from its 2002 ratio of 75-25. Clemson (though not the flagship) has about 50% out of state students. These numbers stand in contrast to some other states, like North Carolina, which limit the percentage of out-of-state students to 18% at all public colleges and universities. But for many of these schools, taking more (high-paying) students from out of state is a financial necessity - Alabama, for instance, receives only 10% of its funding from the state, and needs to make up a shortfall with out of state tuition dollars. 

If you are looking for statistics on price, admission, or really anything else to help you get a sense of the college landscape, our clients know that your best bet is generally a school’s Common Data Set. These can often be buried on a school’s website, but you can usually find them by Googling the school’s name and “Common Data Set.” For more about the type of data you’ll be able to find on the CDS, check out this New York Times article. 

This is not an article per se, but I have been REALLY enjoying the Gatecrashers podcast and would highly recommend it. It’s about the history of anti-semitism at Ivy League schools (I’m still on Episode #1 about Columbia) and it’s just amazing how much I’m learning.

I had no clue that routine aspects of the process as we know it today are actually a result of anti-semitic practices from long ago- for example, questions about parent occupations on college applications were originally included to try to identify Jewish students and keep them out. Anyway, this is definitely worth a listen!

OFFICE HAPPENINGS

It has been a flurry of submissions for us this week, especially for students applying to UGA, U of SC, Clemson, UNC, and other schools with 10/15 deadlines! A huge congratulations to those students who finished up their submissions this week. 

This is also the time of year when we hear from our students how happy they are that they finished up most, if not all, of their essay work over the summer. Every July, students and parents wonder why they need so much time for essay work, and every September they are thrilled to be done and able to focus on schoolwork and enjoying senior year! If you’re a junior and want to be the first one of your friends to finish up applications next fall, don’t forget to book a Meet & Greet - now is the perfect time to start working on your applications.

Stay safe and dry this weekend! My daughter is supposed to cheer at the Madison homecoming game tonight with her VYI team and we are all crossing our fingers it doesn’t get rained out!

---

Missed a Notification? Check Out Our Recent Posts!

How to Make the Most of Your Winter Break

It may be hard to believe, but winter break is just around the corner! While we know most students are looking forward to taking some time to rest and relax, you may also be wondering how to maximize this time when it comes to the college process. If that’s you, read on!

---

Research colleges

We encourage all of our juniors to do the bulk of their college research over winter break. This allows them to get a head start on building their lists, and usually means they’ll have more time to look at schools than if they saved all of their trips for spring break. But even for sophomores and younger students looking to get a jump on the college process, winter break is a great time!

In addition to visiting schools in person (if possible), students can also use the break to complete virtual visits without using valuable homework or extracurricular time. If you are planning to do some visits over the break, jump back to our posts about in-person and virtual visits so you’re prepared and can make the most of your visits. 

And don’t forget - if you’re traveling to see relatives for the holidays, you may as well swing by any school nearby, even if you aren’t able to schedule an official visit or don’t have any interest in that particular school in the first place! The more schools you visit, the more you’ll learn about your preferences… and can come back and share them with us! For example, maybe you thought you wanted an urban environment, but after walking through Emory while visiting Grandma in Atlanta, you realized you’re open to schools on the outskirts of cities after all!

I got to swing by Wash U last weekend while in St. Louis - yay! More on that in the weekly update, but it was super easy to just walk around. At one point we even tagged on to a tour group!

Do an enrichment activity

Many colleges offer summer programs and courses that allow students to take classes over the summer, but there are opportunities to do so in the winter as well. Cornell’s really fantastic pre-college program offers winter courses from January 3-21 - check those out! Students can also use the time to complete asynchronous, free courses through EdX or Coursera - check out our list of courses for some ideas!

This also may be a great time to complete a volunteer project or other independent work that will help you show colleges your skills and give you some experience in a field you may want to study! Polygence helps match students with university researchers to complete independent research projects, and students who sign up using our link receive 10% off their program (Note: DC College Counseling does not receive compensation from Polygence for referrals - all of the benefits here are just for students!). 

Take some time to plan and reflect

For younger students in eighth or ninth grade, it may feel premature to complete college visits or work on applications. And ALL students could use some time to reflect and plan for their next steps. Check out our Four-Year Plan Template for some questions to consider every year, to help you plan for the college application process and beyond! 

Search for summer internships

Summer may feel far away, but many opportunities and internships have deadlines as early as late January! Winter break is a great time to plan for these opportunities and fill out applications while you don’t have as much schoolwork on your plate. 

If you are a student interested in STEM-related summer opportunities, check out our newly updated Summer Opportunities Database for 2022 (students who are interested in the humanities or business should keep checking back - those pages will be updated soon!).  

And if you do identify a great summer opportunity and would like to apply, winter break is a great time to book a coaching session to work on your resume, cover letter, and application essays - whether you are working with us through a traditional package or not!

Any plans for your family over winter break? Let us know in the comments!

Best of the Blog: Post-Submission Emails and Grade Updates

Now that first quarter grades have been released, we are receiving a ton of questions from seniors who want to know if they should be sending those grades to colleges - and if so, how do they do it?

We decided to share our post from last fall on this topic to provide some insight! Keep reading to learn more about whether you should send grades, how to follow up with colleges, and what a sample email would say!

---

We are so excited to be DONE with submitting all of our early applications! But as our clients know by now, the work does not stop when you click “submit!” Not only is the post-submission portal tracking extremely important, as we have mentioned before, but some students may also want to consider sending follow-up communication to the various admissions representatives to share first quarter grade updates.

Let me start by mentioning that this is not a one-size fits all approach. Some schools specifically indicate that they do not want follow-up emails with grades.

If that’s the case, don’t send them! While schools that track demonstrated interest are generally the ones to whom these emails should be directed, it’s important to note that there’s a fine line between an enthusiastic update and over-the-top bombarding.

We do not recommend sending repeated emails. Down the line in a deferral or waitlist situation, depending on the school - possibly. But definitely not at this point in the admissions cycle. You do not want to annoy anyone, and repeated emails will be annoying - no two ways about it.

With that warning out of the way, we suggest that if you do have new grades to report that reflect positively on your candidacy, you take the initiative to reach out to the admissions office and let your assigned admissions officer know.

A handful of high schools will send out first-quarter grades as a matter of course, but most will not do so unless asked - especially this year, when school counselors are already overburdened. So if you believe your first-quarter grades will improve your application, it is up to you to take on the responsibility of sharing them with the admissions office!

One more note of caution: while I would not recommend proactively sharing poor first-quarter grades (or even ones that are relatively strong, but do show a downwards trend), it’s also important to recognize that it’s not necessarily possible to hide them, either.

I think that many applicants believe that admissions offices are too busy to follow up on particular aspects of a single application - but this is not necessarily the case! For a student who has had a shaky math score in 11th grade, the admissions officer is definitely going to want to see how that student is doing in math at the beginning of 12th grade. 

So, now that you know why to send a post-submission email, here’s how:

1. If you can, address your email to your regional admissions officer. At many schools, you can find this information on the website with just a bit of research. Your email is more likely to be read by the right person if you address it directly. You can also ask your school counselor if you’re not sure.

2. Identify yourself by name and indicate that you have applied to the school already.

3. Show that you have done your homework. This is a place to address any questions that you have that were not answered by the school’s website. You can also ask if the representative is planning a virtual visit to your school this semester, or reference a previous visit if you have met them before. 

4. Report your grades. Tell the admissions officer that you want to update your application with your first-quarter grades, and provide them in a clear way that is easy to read. 

5. Close your email by thanking the admissions officer for their time and reiterating your interest in attending their school. If this is your top-choice school, make sure to let them know!

Remember: keep it concise and simple. Here is a sample:

Congratulations to all of the students who have submitted their remaining early applications this week! Comment to let us know if you will be following up with your first-quarter grades! 

Post-Submission Emails and Grade Updates

We are so excited to be nearly DONE with submitting all of our early applications! But as our clients know by now, the work does not stop when you click “submit!” Not only is the post-submission portal tracking extremely important, as we have mentioned before, but some students may also want to consider sending follow-up communication to the various admissions representatives to share first quarter grade updates.

Let me start by mentioning that this is not a one-size fits all approach. Some schools specifically indicate that they do not want follow-up emails with grades. If that’s the case, don’t send them! While schools that track demonstrated interest are generally the ones to whom these emails should be directed, it’s important to note that there’s a fine line between an enthusiastic update and over-the-top bombarding.

We do not recommend sending repeated emails. Down the line in a deferral or waitlist situation, depending on the school - possibly. But definitely not at this point in the admissions cycle. You do not want to annoy anyone, and repeated emails will be annoying - no two ways about it.

With that warning out of the way, we suggest that if you do have new grades to report that reflect positively on your candidacy, you take the initiative to reach out to the admissions office and let your assigned admissions officer know. A handful of high schools will send out first-quarter grades as a matter of course, but most will not do so unless asked - especially this year, when school counselors are already overburdened. So if you believe your first-quarter grades will improve your application, it is up to you to take on the responsibility of sharing them with the admissions office!

One more note of caution: while I would not recommend proactively sharing poor first-quarter grades, it’s also important to recognize that it’s not necessarily possible to hide them, either. I think that many applicants believe that admissions offices are too busy to follow up on particular aspects of a single application - but this is not necessarily the case! For a student who has had a shaky math score in 11th grade, the admissions officer is definitely going to want to see how that student is doing in math at the beginning of 12th grade. 

So, now that you know why to send a post-submission email, here’s how:

1. If you can, address your email to your regional admissions officer. At many schools, you can find this information on the website with just a bit of research. Your email is more likely to be read by the right person if you address it directly. You can also ask your school counselor if you’re not sure.

2. Identify yourself by name and indicate that you have applied to the school already.

3. Show that you have done your homework. This is a place to address any questions that you have that were not answered by the school’s website. You can also ask if the representative is planning a virtual visit to your school this semester, or reference a previous visit if you have met them before. 

4. Report your grades. Tell the admissions officer that you want to update your application with your first-quarter grades, and provide them in a clear way that is easy to read. 

5. Close your email by thanking the admissions officer for their time and reiterating your interest in attending their school. If this is your top-choice school, make sure to let them know!

Remember: keep it concise and simple. Here is a sample:

Congratulations to all of the students who have submitted their remaining early applications this week! Comment to let us know if you will be following up with your first-quarter grades! 

Weekly Update: October 16

As more and more of our traditional seniors submit, we’ve been able to accept additional late start seniors! We had so many begin this past week. I’ve written about this before - that even though the work is condensed and it can be rushed (not my ideal timeline for sure), it’s very gratifying to work with these families. They come in so stressed and pulling their hair out, and we are able to basically restore calm and order to their lives within a few days :)

We’re now full for early November deadlines but still have a few spots left for December, January, and possibly mid-November deadlines. Late start families should start the process by signing up for a Meet & Greet here.

BIGGEST COLLEGE-RELATED NEWS OF THE WEEK

SAT RESULTS RETURNED

The results of the September 23 School Day SAT came back yesterday (October 15), and the results from the October 3 SAT came back this morning. Anecdotally, we have seen many students disappointed with their scores. Now everyone is waiting on ACT scores, and there is still a lot of uncertainty about whether they will be released before the November 1 early deadline, as conflicting information has been released. These close-call score reports have definitely been stressing me out and making it difficult for students to submit applications early! I literally helped people submit applications on the day of the deadline yesterday, which I don’t think I’ve ever done in my whole career.

SWARTHMORE DISCONTINUES COUNSELOR ADVOCACY CALLS

Swarthmore sent out an email to counselors this week stating that they are discontinuing their practice of holding school counselor calls before decisions are released. The email stated, “After conducting internal analysis, we found that counselor calls were requested disproportionately by private and independent school counselors and rarely by public school counselors and college access advisors."

The point that they are making here is completely correct, and there is certainly room for improvement in the equity of who receives the opportunity to advocate for their students. But this is still a hard pill to swallow for those families at independent schools during a year in which additional context and advocacy would have been particularly useful. While I recognize that it would require more work from staff, I wish that Swarthmore had offered to reach out to more public school counselors as well, rather than discontinuing the calls entirely. This is a year when our students need more context shared with admissions officers, not less. We will be watching closely to see if other schools follow suit after this announcement. 

SPRING CALENDAR CHANGES AT COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES

Many schools have already begun to shift their Spring 2021 academic calendars to provide a safer experience for students during the pandemic. Lehigh and Fordham are among the colleges pushing back the start of classes and eliminating spring break to try to limit student travel and, hopefully, coronavirus spread. Texas A&M is also eliminating spring break, starting the semester on time and ending early, with a single-day break in March. Davidson gave students a surprise, single-day break last Friday, and plans to replace Spring Break with two shorter breaks, during which students are encouraged not to travel away from campus.  

UVA RELEASES CLASS OF 2024 DATA

UVa has finally released more information about its most recent incoming class. The Class of 2024 is the smallest class UVa has seen since the Class of 2016, and it is also the most diverse in the institution’s history. Though the class is smaller, it is still over the University’s enrollment target. This article also states that the return of the early decision option is not the reason for the decline in the acceptance rate last cycle, according to the university, as only 10% of the class was admitted early decision. The stats also show some COVID impact - twice the usual amount of UVa applicants chose to take a gap year rather than enroll in the Class of 2024. 

ENROLLMENT DOWN NATIONALLY DURING COVID-19

UVA is not the only school that is seeing an enrollment decline during the pandemic. This study out of the National Student Clearinghouse in Herndon, reveals that first-year enrollment is down by 14% at public four-year universities and down by 12% at private institutions. Graduate enrollment, however, is up throughout most of the country (see our post from earlier in the week for more about the pros and cons of applying to graduate school this cycle). 

BEST ARTICLES OF THE WEEK

This New York Times interview with Jeff Selingo contains so many great tips for students and parents, and I really encourage you to read the whole thing! But if you take anything away, I want to emphasize his answer to a question about whether students should apply early decision this year:

Selective colleges with already robust early decision pools are likely to accept more students that way. As I point out in my book, that’s exactly what they did in the wake of the 2008 recession. They didn’t want to take a chance that they’d struggle to fill seats in the spring. Schools that traditionally filled maybe a quarter to one-third of their classes through early decision boosted that proportion to upward of half in the fall of 2008.

I expect the same this year. They don’t have much room to grow that part of the incoming class — after all, they likely won’t admit 75 percent early — but they’ll up the numbers where they can.

While I know it can be difficult to choose to commit to a school in a year when students may have been unable to tour the campus, this reinforces my advice that early decision can be a great choice for students who do know where they want to go to school - and more so this year than ever!

I always tell students who are waffling about making a binding commitment that they need to reframe their thought process. The question should not be “Binding commitment or not?” because they have to make a binding commitment at some point regardless of where and how they enroll. Instead, the question should be “Is it worth making the commitment a few months early to increase the chances of admission at my top-choice school?” The answer is usually yes.

The New York Times has published a lot on the admissions process this week, and I also recommend this article that contains advice from a range of college admissions officers. I particularly want to point out the answers from Seth Allen at Pomona and Zaire McCoy at Rollins about the impact of deferrals on this cycle’s applicants. I have fielded so many questions about how deferrals will affect applicants (I wrote a detailed post about this back in July), so I was glad to see that Allen and McCoy also felt that deferrals would not have a huge impact on this year’s class. Shannon has been attending a lot of counselor information sessions that emphasize the same thing - colleges are working to mitigate the effects of deferred enrollment, so this shouldn’t be something that has current seniors overly concerned, at least for right now.   

I don’t know if this is quite as simple as it sounds, but it is worth reading this study out of Georgetown, which found that Joe Biden’s free public college plan would pay for itself within ten years. The study results indicate that even though Biden’s plan would cost $73 billion a year, it would be offset by a $186.8 billion increase in tax revenue from workers who would earn more money because of their advanced education. I always approach these “free college” plans with a little bit of skepticism from the taxpayer standpoint, but if it really is that simple it sounds good to me!

Finally, if you are a podcast lover like me, check out this NPR podcast episode which explores the coronavirus testing protocol at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. The campus has seventeen testing centers and tests all students and staff on campus every few days. Students are required to have a negative result in order to enter campus buildings and attend classes.

Because the school does its own testing in-house, there are days when 2% of all coronavirus testing in the U.S. is done on that particular campus! It was interesting to hear about the impact of this aggressive testing model, especially considering that Illinois still saw coronavirus spikes from students socializing even after knowing they had received a positive test result.

OFFICE HAPPENINGS

Submitting is most seniors’ favorite part of this process (at least until the acceptances roll in!), but as we keep repeating and over and over and over again….submitting an application DOES NOT mean that the work is done.

After submitting, students need to continue checking email daily and keep track of the status portal login information for each school. These portals are essential because they will show if information or application components are missing. Applicants can then take care of any missing pieces (which often involves following up with recommenders) and can ultimately make sure all materials have been received.

Some schools will also use the portal to request additional information or outline next steps.. and this can come as a surprise! Below is an example of a form that appears on the University of South Carolina portal. All applicants applying to the school have to fill out this form in order to complete their applications. Students must indicate which “one supplemental material” they are providing for review (SAT/ACT scores, three alternative test scores, or a graded paper).

This is a great example of a portal situation that could go wrong quickly if ignored. Interestingly enough, the USC application doesn’t indicate that this form exists on the portal or that the student is required to fill it out.

So if a student didn’t log in to the portal, he would naturally assume that his requirements had been met - particularly if he had already submitted his SAT scores. However, that’s not enough - without the completed form by November 2, USC would consider his application incomplete and would not review it. All of the student’s hard work would go down the drain! And if you’ve had the “pleasure” of writing those USC Honors College essays this fall, you can understand exactly how frustrating that would be!

Finally, some of the emails with portal access can time out quickly (within 24-48 hours), so if students miss these emails, they will have to follow up with the admissions offices to explain why they aren’t checking their email each day as requested - not a great impression to give off!

Have a great weekend and check those portals!

Weekly Update: October 11

Even as we continue to be busy with seniors submitting their applications (so much fun!), we are also starting to work with a lot of juniors on big-picture strategy for the next two years.

The cyclical nature of admissions means there are always new students starting with us, and we love getting to know them! If you are a Class of 2022, Class of 2023 or Class of 2024 student interested in working with us, you can book a Meet & Greet to talk more about your goals.

BIGGEST COLLEGE-RELATED NEWS OF THE WEEK

FAIRFAX COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOLS VIRTUAL COLLEGE WEEK

Fairfax County Public Schools are pivoting to a virtual approach instead of their traditional College Fair and College Night. They will have live virtual sessions from Monday, October 19 - Friday, October 23. There will be two sessions each evening, and students should take a look at the schedule to see which sessions they may be interested in attending, because many of the sessions are for populations with particular interests, including Attending College in Europe, Applying to a Military Academy, and Dual Enrollment. 

NOTRE DAME’S PRESIDENT RETURNS TO CAMPUS WITH COVID-19

As you may have seen on the news this week, Notre Dame’s president Rev. John I. Jenkins was infected with the coronavirus at the White House reception for Judge Amy Coney Barrett, a former Notre Dame Law professor. Students have petitioned for his resignation for violating his own mask mandate at the event, and his infection has sparked faculty debate on campus as well. Father Jenkins is perhaps the most high-profile case of a school president being infected with COVID-19, but I anticipate that as the school year goes on, we will continue to hear debate about the responsibility of administrators and schools officials to set an example for the rules enforced on their campuses. 

CANCELLATION OF DIVERSITY, EQUITY, AND INCLUSION PROGRAMMING

The White House’s recent executive order against “divisive concepts” in federally-funded programs has some schools scrambling to cancel diversity, equity, and inclusion programming or risk losing federal funding. The University of Iowa has paused DEI programming entirely for two weeks, and some military academies are cancelling or postponing a planned showing of the film Malcolm X. Other schools, like the University of Michigan, are reaffirming their commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion work. 

DEADLINE SHIFTS KEEP COMING

Colleges have been changing deadlines and requirements nonstop. We've posted about this before, but it continues to happen left and right. Some of the recent deadline shifts have included Penn State, Michigan, and Duke. This past week, Tufts and Villanova joined the group. I anticipate we will see more of this over the next week. We will be keeping a close eye on deadlines for our students, and we recommend that everyone watch closely for continued changes during this tumultuous year. 

BEST ARTICLES OF THE WEEK

TJ has been in the news again recently for its latest attempt at diversifying the student body. At this nationally-renowned public high school, only 1.7% of the student body is low-income, and only 5% is made up of students of color. TJ has previously tried other strategies to increase the diversity of the student body, including revisions to admissions essays and tests and the hiring of a full-time outreach specialist, but the school was largely unsuccessful. Now, it plans to raise the GPA necessary for admission to a 3.5, and then admit students based on a random lottery system.

I found this Washington Post article in support of the lottery plan to be really interesting, particularly because of the implications for college admissions. It is actually more difficult to be admitted to a highly selective college from a magnet school like TJ than it is from other Nova high schools. This is one reason, as the article says, why many smart students from Northern Virginia may not be interested in attending TJ - and why, for the lottery, students who sign up are clearly motivated to take on a challenging STEM education in high school. 

Jeff Selingo, who wrote my top college admissions article of the year, has written another Washington Post article about “feeder” schools for top colleges. The term always makes me think of an old-fashioned idea of New England prep schools, but even in 2020, 18% of the nation’s high schools are responsible for a full 79% of admitted students! This happens in part because admissions readers who are familiar with the rigor of certain high schools can be confident that students from those schools are prepared to succeed in college coursework. 

Because COVID-19 means that some students won’t have test scores or spring semester grades to measure academic ability, admissions officers may lean harder than ever on high schools that are familiar to them. In our area, this applies particularly to our nationally-recognized Fairfax County and Montgomery County schools. The reputation of our local schools could be a plus in the admissions process more than ever this cycle! 

This New York Times article really speaks to the feelings of loneliness that we’ve been hearing about from our Class of 2020 students. Even for the students who are happy to be on campus for (at least partial) in-person instruction, coronavirus precautions have completely transformed their college experience. Students are telling us that it is hard to get a break from school work, with all the social activities that they would normally use to unwind being cancelled or put on hold. This serves as a good reminder to our students (and to all of us!) that while focusing on work is important, we need to be conscious of making time for ourselves right now too.

I love the idea from two students in this article to shut down computers by 10:00 or 11:00 pm and focus on some face-to-face time with the people around you! 

OFFICE HAPPENINGS

I snuck out of the office on Friday to head to Annapolis! I’ve mentioned a few times that we are working on a lot of service academy nomination applications this year and I am thrilled to say that every last one of those nomination applications is DONE! Now we are working on the actual academy applications, but those are a breeze compared to the nomination apps. The process was always complex pre-COVID, but this year has just been a complete nightmare from a logistical standpoint.

If you aren’t familiar, students seeking appointments to service academies need to not only be admitted to the academy itself but also receive a nomination. These nominations are incredibly, incredibly competitive. For example, Tim Kaine receives 500-600 per year and picks 10! The goal is to pursue as many nominations as possible to increase the chances of getting one - but every nomination application is different. The one commonality is that each senator and/or representative typically wants the student to mail every single component together in a packet, which makes it a little tougher from a logistical standpoint in terms of tracking everything and collecting the materials from the various recommenders - of which there are MANY!

In COVID times, all of the different senators and representatives have made different modifications to their process. Some want scores, some don’t. Some want certain evidence of attempted testing registration, some don’t. Some want everything in the packets, some don’t. I won’t even get into the situation that occurred when one of the offices was closed during the week of the deadline and hundreds of nomination packets were stuck in FedEx tracking limbo. It’s no one’s fault, and we are masters of organization with this stuff, but it’s a LOT. Shannon has been a total rockstar in managing all of it!

Anyway, with all of this going on over the past couple of weeks, I couldn’t help looking at all the midshipmen I saw in Annapolis and wondering to myself about where their nominations came from and what their secret sauce was! There is no question that a USNA appointment would be such an amazing opportunity for the right student. However, it’s really important to know what you’re getting into. If you’re in the Class of 2022 and think you may be interested, we highly recommend applying to Summer Seminar! Not only will this give you a taste of USNA life, but attending will also improve your chances of nomination and admission. Applications are due January 4, but you really need to get them in by mid-December at the latest.

—

Changing gears entirely - I have been a big fan of Dr. Dan Shapiro for many years and recently saw that he put some of his courses online for parents to follow at their own pace. I am personally really excited to take this course, as soon as I have a free minute, and I thought I would share it here as well because I know that it would be useful to a number of our parents.

As an aside, I would also highly recommend his most recent book, Parent Child Excursions: ADHD, Anxiety, and Autism, which is enormously helpful for anyone whose child struggles with any of the three or a combination.

—

One last thought from the past week - as our rising seniors have been learning the results of their recent SAT and ACT exams, we've continued to field questions left and right about applying test-optional. I have started suggesting that students email the admissions reps directly to ask their advice - nothing beats going right to the source, after all!

I have to say, the results of these emails have exceeded my expectations. While most of them quote a party line about not being able to advise students one way or the other, nearly all of them still add some commentary that makes it pretty darn clear what they think the student should do. So if you have questions - don’t hesitate to reach out!

Enjoy the weekend!

Weekly Update: October 2

And.. October it is! With our first deadlines less than two weeks away, everyone has been very busy! It’s kind of killing me that the results of the 9/23 school-based SAT are released THE SAME DAY as the first round of deadlines (10/15). Yet in order to submit an application to at least one of those schools, students have to answer a question about whether or not they are submitting test scores for consideration. So stressful on everyone involved. The idea of submitting an application the day it is due literally gives me heart palpitations, yet at the same time it’s unavoidable if students are waiting on that round of scores to decide!

BIGGEST COLLEGE-RELATED NEWS OF THE WEEK

THE FAFSA IS OPEN

Finally, the moment some of you have been waiting for… the FAFSA opened yesterday, and if you intend to complete the form, I encourage you to do it as soon as possible. It is more important than ever this year to complete this form promptly!

If you are unsure whether or not you should complete the FAFSA, you can check out my earlier posts here and here to help make the best decision for you and your family. There are a lot of myths about the FAFSA that circle around every year, so if any of our current clients have questions about the process, make sure to reach out to us! We will help you decide how to proceed.

MORE VIRTUAL VISITS

We are working hard to keep our list of virtual college fairs, tours, and information sessions updated, as more and more schools open up registration for virtual events. Some upcoming events that we’re excited about are the Virtual College Exploration fair for Atlanta-area colleges, the Six Colleges events hosted by Amherst, Bowdoin, Carleton, Pomona, Swarthmore, and Williams, and the NWHE special topics sessions that Notre Dame, Wash U, Johns Hopkins, and Emory have put together. 

COMMON APP REMOVES DISCIPLINARY DISCLOSURE FOR CLASS OF 2022

After finding that the disclosure of disciplinary history disproportionately impacts low-income students and students of color, the Common App has decided to remove the question beginning with the Class of 2022. Students who recorded a disciplinary incident were also nearly twice as likely as others to leave their applications incomplete, choosing not to apply to college at all. The Common App will no longer ask students or their counselors to disclose disciplinary information.

But before we get too excited, I should also note that schools will still be able to ask about disciplinary history on their supplements, and it is likely that many will continue to do so.

It was through pressure from schools that the Common App chose to add this question in the first place in 2006, and Common App schools can continue to require it going forward. So while this is definitely a step in the right direction, it is not a guarantee that Class of 2022 students will not have to report disciplinary action. The right choice is always to avoid disciplinary incidents, but in the event that you do have to report, check out my recent video for some tips!

BEST ARTICLES OF THE WEEK

As my current clients know, I find transparency in college admissions to be incredibly important! So I really enjoyed this article about econometric modeling as it relates to the admissions process. We always emphasize the necessity of demonstrating interest in your school of choice by attending information sessions and (virtual) tours, but this article highlights additional ways to engage without the ability to see a college in person. Some tips I want to emphasize are:

1. Visit the college’s website and click “request more information” - this will enter you into the college’s enrollment management system. 

2. Once you are on that list, you will likely receive a lot of emails, but if you can, click on the links within the email and explore more about the college. Many colleges track this type of engagement, so taking the time to read and learn more is a great way to demonstrate interest. 

3. Like, share, and comment on the college’s social media posts. This kind of engagement may also be tracked. 

The key to any of this engagement is to make sure you have ONE email address that you use for all interactions with colleges (including social media accounts linked to this address). We encourage many of our clients to set up a gmail account just for this purpose. And of course, if you interact with any college on social media, be very careful of what they will see if they click on your profile! 

This Forbes Investigation into the SAT is long, but a worthwhile read. There has been a long-running conversation about the value of the SAT in college admissions, but the change in testing policies due to COVID-19 has sparked a renewal of that conversation. In my opinion, many of the schools who are going test-optional this cycle are likely to remain so, even after the pandemic has passed. That said, I do have my doubts as to whether that will be the case for the most highly selective schools - I’m just not sure how they would be able to assess academic performance without that data point - but it will be interesting to see how it plays out.

Either way, I’m very interested to see how next cycle will look, and I hope that we will see more and more schools focus on students’ academic progress over the course of four years, rather than their preparation for a single test day. What do you think of the potential shift toward test-blind admissions? Has your student been impacted by SAT difficulties this cycle? Comment and let us know! 

We have continued to field a ton of questions this year about how deferrals and changes in class size relating to COVID-19 will impact that Class of 2021. But this article also shows that the pandemic will have a positive impact for transfer applicants, at least in the short term. Over three-quarters of colleges anticipate having a higher admit rate for transfers this year! However, this may be short-lived; I expect that transferring will become more difficult in the long term. COVID-related deferrals mean that many schools may welcome a larger-than-usual first year class in 2021, and be less likely to admit transfer applicants in future cycles. We are already well underway in our work with prospective transfer applicants, and if you are considering transferring, now is the time to book a transfer strategy session!   

It seems like every time I post this Friday blog post, I see something come out right afterwards that I wish I had been able to include. This New York Times article from last Friday notes that one of the major reasons students are still putting in so much effort to take standardized tests in a year when most schools are test-optional is because they hope to receive merit aid. Merit aid can be one of the most opaque parts of the college admissions process, so I was excited to see this article shed some light.

The article also points out that some schools, like the College of Wooster in Ohio and Whitman College in Walla Walla, Washington, are offering pre-application financial estimates so that prospective students can assess how much college will cost before they apply. If anyone hears of other schools offering this service, let us know in the comments - we’ll be keeping an eye on how this impacts the admissions process. 

We have worked with so many students this year who care deeply about the commitment to “going green” that college and universities demonstrate, and I think this trend will only continue as high schoolers become more and more environmentally-conscious. The Sierra Club’s “Cool Schools” list ranks colleges based on their environmental commitments, and it is a “cool” alternative to more traditional college rankings.

OFFICE HAPPENINGS

We’ve begun to spend a lot of time helping our students with post-submission follow-up, and I had a question from a student this week that I thought would be helpful to share as I did not find the answer to be intuitive. Hopefully this will clear things up for anyone else in the same boat!

Many schools require students to submit their self-reported grades and test scores after their applications are submitted. The form through which this takes place is known as a Self-Reported Academic Record, or SRAR. Virginia Tech is one of those schools, and has introduced a test-optional question this year that allows students to decide whether or not they want the SAT and/or ACT to be considered.

Our student wasn't sure how to indicate that she wanted to share her AP scores, but not her SAT/ACT scores. On the Common App, this is very straightforward and easy to do. However, the language that VT used in their question confused both of us.

As you can see, it reads "To allow Virginia Tech access to your self-reported test scores, select Yes below."

However, it turns out that students who want to self-report their AP scores only should actually go ahead and answer NO to this question but should enter their AP scores anyway through the drop-down box under "Add New Exams." The same goes for students who want to share IB or CLEP scores. I honestly would not have thought to do it that way! Thankfully, our VT rep is very helpful and emailed me back to explain, and I was able to pass the information on to our student.

—

I’ve gotten a lot of questions about how it works to submit over Zoom, so one of my seniors yesterday allowed me to share a screen shot of our submission session with all of you (she’s blocked out, obviously). It really does feel just like the real thing! Ignore my goofy smile - I get really excited to click submit and she was equally excited too!

I love each and every one of our seniors but have to brag for a minute about the particular girl - it occurred to me during our session that I literally have not seen or spoken to either one of her parents since I met her mom at our consultation, which took place probably 15 months ago. I mean not ONCE! How cool is that? I truly would not know these people if I saw them on the street :) We have emailed back and forth a few times and my team and I always CC them on everything, so they are always informed, but she’s worked with us independently the entire way. We helped advise her on every single detail - from college tours, to standardized test approaches, to writing amazing essays, to perfecting and submitting every application! And she was so on the ball that she actually finished her testing and most of her college visits pre-COVID!

While that example is a little extreme, and some parents prefer to be actively involved in each step (don’t worry, we love you guys too and welcome as much or as little involvement as each family wants!), on average we probably have less parent contact than most would guess. When families choose to hand us the reins, they always end up to really appreciate the outcome - not only because it reduces stress in the home and they are able to focus on their own lives knowing that their kids are in good hands, but also because of the life skills that their children gain through the process.

SOME OF OUR FAVORITE BOOKS ON THE SUBJECT!

It’s important to be able to know how to communicate and interact with adults without using parents as intermediaries. It’s also important to be able to take ownership over tasks - we try as much as possible to use careful scaffolding and constant reminders to help our students step out of their comfort zones and truly become ready for college - not just to get in, but also to succeed when they get there!

Have a great weekend!

Weekly Update: September 25

I can’t believe this is already my last weekly update of the month. Time is speeding by and it feels like every day now we have another student clicking “submit” - so exciting!

BIGGEST COLLEGE-RELATED NEWS OF THE WEEK

SAT UPDATES: CHECK WITH YOUR TESTING CENTER

It sounds like everyone was able to get through this past week’s school-based SAT administration relatively unscathed (although I have heard a lot of complaints about the reading passages). However, there might be some issues ahead. Out of the nearly 700,000 students registered to take the test on September 26 and October 3, almost half will be unable to take it due to test center closures. In a perfect world, students should have heard from College Board already if their test was impacted; however, we know it doesn’t always pan out like that in reality! If you have a test scheduled for tomorrow or for October 3, please call your test center directly to confirm that you will be able to take the test as scheduled.

SOME UNDERGRADUATE COLLEGES AT CORNELL WILL BE TEST-BLIND FOR THE 2020-2021 CYCLE

Cornell’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences; College of Architecture, Art, and Planning; and the SC Johnson School of Business (which includes both Dyson and the Hotel School) will be test-blind this cycle, meaning that scores will not be considered for any applicant. If you haven’t already, you can read more about the difference between test-optional and test-blind admissions in my blog post from April. 

PAC-12 FOOTBALL UPDATE

Now that we’re well into fall, I’m seeing college sports updates every week! The Pac-12 announced yesterday that it will play a seven-game season beginning on November 6. This follows the news that I shared last week from the Big 10, which has also reversed its original decision to suspend play this fall. If you are following along, that means that only one top conference, the Mid-American Conference, has no plans to play a fall football season.

NETFLIX REALITY SHOW ABOUT GALLAUDET PREMIERES OCTOBER 9

Netflix has just released the trailer for its new reality series, Deaf U, about life at Gallaudet University right here in DC. One of the producers for the show is Nyle DiMarco, who is from Frederick and attended Gallaudet (he also won America’s Next Top Model in 2015). The trailer definitely made me excited to check out the first episode on October 9!

UC IMPROPERLY ADMITTED AT LEAST 64 STUDENTS

A California state audit recently found that the University of California admitted at least 55 students who were under-qualified as a result of family connections or donations. The audit was conducted in response to last year’s Varsity Blues scandal, which had previously identified at least three students at UCLA and UC Berkeley who were improperly admitted. Auditors found that UC admitted 22 students falsely designated as student-athlete recruits, and an additional 42 applicants were admitted to Berkeley based on connections to staff, leadership, and donors.

Perhaps even more discouraging, the audit also found that admissions staff were insufficiently trained and supervised, leading to inconsistent application reviews. Hopefully, the UC system and other institutions will learn from this and pay a little more attention to their oversight processes. They have already pledged to follow the auditors’ recommendation of verifying athletic ability and donor records before admitting students. 

One silver lining of the shift to test-optional admissions at many schools is that admissions officers are receiving additional training to read and review applications without test scores. I am optimistic that training will help keep admissions practices consistent in these offices that are re-training for this cycle. 

BEST ARTICLES OF THE WEEK

This article from the Washington Post does a nice job of providing a big-picture look at the manner in which college campuses opened this past fall. The ability to control COVID-19 in a university setting depends on so many factors, including whether the school is public or private, whether the surrounding area is urban or rural, and the number of students on campus. It was helpful to understand the issues at play during a year in which colleges are making really tough calls when it comes to on-campus instruction.

This profile of Washington State cross-country runner Andrew Cooper gave me a lot to think about when it comes to college athletics. Cooper was a strong voice in the Pac-12 players’ initiative, which made demands of administrators related to health and safety, racial justice, and economic rights, and is dedicated to making these types of athletic reforms. He ultimately hopes to provide a collective bargaining agreement for student-athletes, among other changes to the NCAA. Players’ rights are particularly important right now, when COVID-19 is spreading and illuminating health risks for student-athletes. 

I love being able to promote free programs from colleges and universities, and I’m really excited about these sessions on Activism & Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion from Pomona College. We’ve seen our students including activism experience in the activities sections of their applications more and more frequently, as they have taken advantage of more opportunities for civic engagement during their high school years than past cohorts. This article does a great job of discussing the nuances of including student activism during the application process. Just as there is no single way to be an activist, there is no one-size-fits-all advice for representing student activism in the application - for our clients, we can help you put your best foot forward in the application process while remaining true to yourself and your beliefs. 

You may remember my post from earlier this month, where I revealed my college admissions “article of the year” from Jeff Selingo. If you missed that post, I encourage you to go back and take a look - I break down the three pieces of advice that I hope you take away. The article made me so excited to read Jeff’s new book, which he discusses in this recent interview (along with his views on how admissions has changed during the coronavirus pandemic). I am plugging away at the book bit by bit every night, and it’s great so far!

I also provided a FAFSA update in that same September 5 post, and shared that it opens for Class of 2021 students on October 1 (this coming Thursday). I mentioned that if you experienced a dramatic shift in finances as a result of COVID-19, the FAFSA will not pick that up. If that is the case for your family, you will need to complete the FAFSA as early as possible with 2019 tax information and then reach out to financial aid offices directly to request a “professional judgment” review, for which you can submit new material like layoff notices, unemployment checks, or medical bills. This article from the New York Times expands on my guidance and provides an excellent overview of the steps that students and families will need to take to qualify for financial aid in that type of scenario.

OFFICE HAPPENINGS

We can’t engage in the same level of travel to college campuses this year, but that does not mean our research stops! In fact, we take it more seriously than ever, because our families can’t visit either - and they are relying on us to provide them with up-to-date insider information that is not always obvious from their online research.

Shannon has been attending a ton of counselor-only virtual visits and presentations in order to write up individual profiles to help our students with their decision making and school-specific essays. Ultimately, these profiles will go up on our Membership Vault for current clients and subscribers, but in the meantime, here are just a couple of examples for anyone hoping for a preview!

This time of year is definitely bittersweet as we begin the active stages of the process with juniors and finish up with seniors. Usually I think “it feels like yesterday that the seniors were having their own junior year meetings,” but NOT THIS YEAR! Haha, September 2019 feels like a century ago! We received an email a few days ago from a student who started out as one of our most reluctant writers last year but ended up with absolutely amazing work:

We get a lot of feedback like this about how students’ writing skills improve throughout the process - so once they matriculate at the college they choose, they already have a leg up on college writing! My favorite part of my job is hearing about how we were able to help students feel more confident in themselves during what can be a (very!) challenging process.

I have another video to share - this time about submitting test scores. I have been fielding questions about this topic over and over again during the current application cycle, and I hope my advice will help students make the tough decision about whether or not to share their test scores with schools.  As you can see, it’s not as straightforward as we’d hope!

Have a great weekend and good luck to those taking the SAT tomorrow! Don’t forget to call your test center this afternoon to double-check that the test is on as planned!

Weekly Update: September 18

Now that our students have headed back to school, they are juggling classes and extracurriculars along with finishing up their applications. We’re so proud of their work ethic!

BIGGEST COLLEGE-RELATED NEWS OF THE WEEK

MATH TUTORING FROM VIRGINIA TECH

I’ve been excited to pass on the information for so many interesting FREE programs lately! This one from Virginia Tech has Department of Mathematics students offering free virtual math tutoring to students in grades K-12. I really encourage kids to take advantage of this service during Fall 2020 and hopefully beyond!

COLLEGE BOARD LAUNCHES AFRICAN DIASPORA CURRICULUM

Between rescheduled SATs and online AP exams this spring, most people I know aren’t interested in hearing more from the College Board. But they remain an influential organization, and they’ve created an ambitious new AP curriculum on the African diaspora. This was developed alongside Columbia’s Teachers College and the non-profit African Diaspora Consortium. 

This program has been tested in select public schools for the past three years, and now it will be available to students across the country. This curriculum is not an AP subject course - instead, it is linked to the Capstone program, which gives teachers more flexibility to cater the course to their student population.

DIVISION I SPORTS UPDATE

The big news in college sports is that the Big Ten conference will start its season on October 24, citing advances in rapid testing that make it possible for student-athletes to play football this fall after all. Big Ten originally announced in August that it was suspending football in the fall and considering a spring season. 

Meanwhile, the NCAA Division I Council released several updates this week. The NCAA college basketball season start date has been pushed to November 25, with the DI Council saying that many schools will have sent general students home by this point, leaving six weeks or so for basketball to begin on mostly-empty campuses. The Division I Council also extended the recruiting “dead period” through the start of the new year. This means that coaches will not be able to recruit prospective student-athletes in person, though they can still do so virtually.

BEST ARTICLES OF THE WEEK

This is not an article, but SUCH a cool webinar series out of Franklin & Marshall College! F&M is teaming up with admissions professionals from other schools to put out really helpful webinars about the admissions process. I can’t emphasize enough what a great resource these will be. If you only have time for one, I particularly recommend the “Selective College Admission: Case Studies” presentation to 9th-11th grade students and families. And remember: you do not have to have any interest in F&M to benefit from this. Case studies run by individual admissions offices are often-times only open to alumni or special friends of the institution - but this is a valuable opportunity for any family to gain insight into the inner workings of a selective admissions office. You can sign up here for a morning or evening session.

Back in the good old days of last February, when we were still doing crazy things like shaking hands with each other, sending kids to public school, and walking around without masks over our faces, I tried to analyze the impact of the return to Early Decision on the overall application landscape at UVA. I was genuinely curious about how it would all pan out in the spring and planned to post a follow up after regular decision results came through. I never did, partially because I did not have access to all of the data I wanted, but mostly because I believed that COVID’s impact on waitlist movement would probably cancel out the increase in selectivity I’d originally envisioned. However! I was wrong.

College Kickstart put out a blog post with all of the notable changes in admissions rates from this year, and even with an incredibly active waitlist, UVA’s admissions rate declined. Same thing happened with Boston College, for the same reason. BC filled 37% of its class with Early Decision applicants, so the admit rate fell by 15%. UVA was not far behind: with the added Early Decision option accounting for 19% of the class, the admit rate fell by 13%. Since both schools are keeping that Early Decision option, we assume that the rates will stay similar this cycle. A good reminder that if you are confident a school is your number one choice (and you know how you will pay for college), Early Decision might be the way to go.

Traditional college sports may be risky during COVID-19, but that doesn’t mean that intramural competitions aren’t taking place. The National Association of Collegiate Esports has seen a major increase in schools looking to esports programs to replace a fraction of the lost school spirit and lost revenue that accompanied the suspension of traditional sports. Almost 200 colleges in the United States already offer scholarships for esports players. I can’t say that I think streaming and esports will ever replace college football or basketball for fans, but it is definitely an interesting trend to watch.

OFFICE HAPPENINGS

We are busy with so many virtual tours and information sessions. It has been exciting to see what schools have been able to put together online to replace in-person campus visits. For a list of upcoming virtual fairs, tours, and information sessions for students and parents, see our latest post. Some of these virtual events begin as early as this weekend - let us know what you think of them!

Speaking of virtual events, this past weekend I gave a long-planned virtual presentation to a community organization to which many of my families have belonged over the years - it was a lot of fun and there were 93 different sets of families in attendance! We were able to survey the moms to tailor the presentation to address their most common topics of interest and fears, and the format worked very well. We also collected a ton of questions in advance so that I could answer them for the benefit of the group at the end of the session.

Shannon was just asked to hold a similar presentation for a different group in D.C., and she’s been busy working on preparations this week. We do these often for various high schools and local parent organizations, especially in the fall, and are always happy to expand our reach. If you have a group that would like one of us to come speak at an event, please reach out and we’ll do our best to fit you into our calendar!

In other exciting news - we finished up with our last service academy nomination packet for the first Virginia deadline next week. Had some COVID-related snafus so I drove the materials to FedEx myself to make sure they got where they needed to be.

Casual Friday :)

It occurred to me that it’s been a LONG time since I’ve personally mailed a student’s application materials anywhere. Between having admin staff here on site during normal times plus the fact that most everything is sent electronically now, I honestly can’t even remember. Years and years. 7-8 at least. But hey, we are a full service operation and I am not above running around if needed!

Happy New Year to our friends who are celebrating Rosh Hashanah this weekend- and Happy Friday to everyone else (although I think most of us could use a fresh new year right about now, am I right?!)!

Weekly Update: September 11

Thinking about 9/11 today along with everyone else, I’m sure. The events of September 11 have been on my mind a lot these past six months, as I mentioned last spring, because I felt like it really defined my high school years. I have thought a lot about the parallels between what that represented for my high school class and what COVID will ultimately represent for the Class of 2021.

BIGGEST COLLEGE-RELATED NEWS OF THE WEEK

TEST-OPTIONAL, BUT ESSAY REQUIRED!

If you read any section of the blog today, I hope it is this one! Some schools have added additional requirements to their applications for students who apply test-optional - and these requirements are going under the radar, because they are often NOT included or mentioned on the application itself. Students will only be instructed to submit additional information upon gaining access to their post-application-submission status portals.

The University of South Carolina has added a requirement for “one required supplemental material” from their applicants. Students who do not send in test scores will need to submit graded writing assignments. And this might be a difficult one for students to catch, because they will be asked to complete Supplemental Materials Forms AFTER submitting their applications, but the forms are still due by the original application deadline! 

Applicants to the University of Delaware under their Test-Optional Admissions Program will not only need to complete additional supplemental essays, but also submit “any additional evidence of academic skills.” If you are a current client, we can help you select the most relevant material to submit for this (vague!) stipulation. 

We will absolutely alert every one of our current clients if we learn about a change that impacts one of their applications, but it is always best for students to take a proactive approach as well. Read and re-read the school’s test-optional policy and to get your application in early, so you have time to monitor your status portal and send in any additional required materials after submitting. Anything else needed should be reflected on your status portal! 

And I have to say - I’m not thrilled about what schools are doing here. Has this year not been hard enough for students? Is it really a great idea to simultaneously add more requirements while failing to publicize them? Incredible.

FLORIDA STATE SYSTEM STILL REQUIRES TESTING

State universities in Florida are still refusing to drop the requirement for ACT or SAT scores as part of their application. This makes Florida the only public university system other than Wyoming with a test score requirement. Applicants, admissions officers, and college counselors are continuing to pressure the state to waive it. If they do hold on to the requirement, there will be many applicants who can’t qualify for admission because they are unable to test.

Fun Fact: The state of Florida has an incredibly generous merit scholarship program for in-state residents. Students with weighted GPAs of 3.5+ and scores of 29/1330 have their tuition 100% covered at public universities (University of Florida, Florida State, etc). Crazy, right? So, the state’s failure to drop the testing requirement is going to have an enormous impact on families that expected their children to go to college tuition-free!

A GREAT (FREE!) RESOURCE FROM DAVIDSON

Davidson College is offering a free admission intensive that runs until early November (though you can also register for individual sessions). These look like great sessions whether you are applying to Davidson or not. And if you are, this is also a great way of demonstrating interest in Davidson! As we know from the WSJ article in last week’s blog, that’s an essential part of the process!

COLLEGE FOOTBALL IS (SORT OF) BACK

Despite threats from the coronavirus, college football is still happening at some Division I schools, prompting apprehension from health experts. But for those schools that have chosen not to play this year, there are also concerns: the suspension of the season has been devastating for towns where college football is an essential part of the community.

BEST ARTICLES OF THE WEEK

There is so much in the news recently about whether or not a traditional four-year college experience is “worth it.” As I’ve mentioned before, I am still all for this route. So I was excited to read this opinion piece from the New York Times that does a great job of articulating why the traditional college experience still can’t be beat by online courses or certificate programs. Like Mr. Iyer, I am constantly amazed by the experience, maturity, and open-mindedness of our students, and I can’t wait to see them go on to be brilliant college students. Being part of a campus community is essential to showing our kids different perspectives and allowing them to think critically and form their own ideas. The college experience is honestly about so much more than just finding a job after graduation! 

CNN has compiled a really interesting list of health experts’ opinions on whether or not it is safe for college students to return to campus. There is a lot of information here, but it is definitely worth taking a look at opinions from the president of the American Medical Association, as well as college stakeholders like the co-chairs of the American College Health Association’s COVID-19 task force. They cover everything from talking to your student about health and safety on campus to what they think college will look like in a post-COVID world.  

This is not exactly an article, but Georgia Tech has put out a very helpful podcast called College Admissions Brief that covers various parts of the college admissions process. The episodes are less than ten minutes long and give actionable advice for students and parents. I’ve been getting so many questions this cycle about testing - their latest episode on standardized tests and test-optional admissions is definitely worth a listen!   

In my post last week about Dr. Fauci’s advice that students who test positive for the coronavirus stay on campus, I commented that most parents I knew would want to have their sick students home. I’m even more convinced of that after reading this article! Schools have been so focused on keeping sick students from infecting others that they have not thought about the care and support that these students will need when they are ill, isolated, and far from home. We are all rooting for colleges to be able to keep students safe, so it is heartbreaking to read about issues like these. 

We’ve talked a lot about the coronavirus response on campus, but a lot of students are still learning from home - including most of our Class of 2021 students! The Washington Post has provided a list of helpful tips for Zoom classes. The tips are geared toward college students, but many of them will also be useful for high schoolers completing their first semester on Zoom. 

OFFICE HAPPENINGS

HUGE congratulations to all of our National Merit Scholarship Semi-Finalists and Commended Students this year! I don’t think we’ve ever had so many of our students on the list before - and this is just the FCPS list! We are so proud of all of you!

Our office calendar is packed with counselor-only webinars and virtual tours of various schools these next few weeks - Shannon is taking most of them on and she is excited to share her tips and impressions with all of you. Keep an eye out for a future post here with a list of virtual info sessions for students to attend as well! 

Her favorite virtual tour of the past week was provided by the United States Air Force Academy - which is timely because we have both been working like crazy all week on service academy nomination applications! Oh my gosh - these are an incredible amount of work. The process is so different from the traditional college application process, but for the right student, a service academy might be a great fit!

If you are applying this year, make sure that you are working to send nomination applications to both of your state’s senators and your representative, as well as the vice president - applying through every possible avenue is the best way to maximize your chances of being nominated. In Virginia, this is especially important, since we have so many students interested in service academies in our state. Mark Warner’s deadline is coming up in about a week and a half!

No matter where you are applying this year, we are in the home stretch of this process! If you are feeling overwhelmed by all of the upcoming deadlines, it’s not too late to set up a Meet & Greet - students who start this week should still be able to have their applications submitted by November 1. 

Good luck to everyone starting school, whether in-person or virtual, this week!

Reader Questions: Resumes

Today, we are continuing 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: When [my son] applied to college, you helped him create a resume. Now it’s my daughter’s turn, and I have heard from some people that resumes are no longer required but others say that we still need to send one. Can you clarify? If she does need to do it, what kind of resume do we send?

A: Students used to be able to include their resume as part of the main Common Application, in the writing section. This option was removed and students were not able to submit them at all for a few years. Some resorted to mailing it into the admissions offices as a work-around. This was not helpful and flooded the admissions offices with extra documents that were not anticipated. Because of this, the Common App changed its policy again to allow colleges to choose whether or not they would like to receive resumes in the college-specific supplement. We recommend that our students keep a resume on file for use in these supplements, summer program applications, scholarship applications or even as a template for their first internship resume in college. At some point, this will be used, and it’s better to have it ready than to scramble down the line.

Perhaps you’re applying for a scholarship and a resume is required, or maybe your colleges of choice allow you to attach yours as an additional document in the supplement section. Regardless of the motivation, it is evident that presenting a well-written resume gives the admissions office - or a future employer - a few more reasons to place your application in the “Yes” pile.

Besides the obvious (proofreading!), let’s outline a few key strategies to use while crafting a strong resume:

1.  KNOW YOUR STRENGTHS

Before you start typing, jot down your greatest accomplishments on a piece of paper. Categorize those achievements under “Education,” “Leadership,” “Professional Experience,” “Extracurricular Activities,” “Skills” and “Honors or Awards.” You may not use every section within your resume, but this is a good place to start.

2.  SHOW, DON’T TELL

Transfer the information you wrote down above into your computer. Under each heading, describe how you actively engaged in the organization, made improvements, sought out challenges, exceeded expectations, etc. Do this using action verbs and quantifiable phrases, such as “under my leadership the club surpassed all years previous in donations, raising $15,000 for our annual giving campaign.”

3.  KEEP IT SIMPLE

Once you’ve populated your resume with the most pertinent information, it’s time to go back and format. At DC College Counseling, we advise our students to keep their resumes to one page, using a legible font without additional frills. The point of this resume isn’t necessarily to show your creative capabilities, but to display everything you bring to the table.

4.  FOLLOW DIRECTIONS

Yes - you now have an amazing resume and it’s natural that you want to share it with everyone! However, it’s important to follow directions. If a college wants your resume, they will offer you the upload option in their supplement or will request it another specific way. Do not mail the resume in as a work-around when a college does not ask for it or offer the option to upload it. It will appear that you are not following directions and do not respect the process.

To receive a full step-by-step resume template, or to schedule a coaching appointment with one of our resume experts, please book a session here.