College Rejections - Please Be Kind

Not so many years ago, high school seniors spent the last weeks of March anxiously checking the mailbox for the "fat envelope" to arrive, signaling acceptance to one of the 3-4 colleges to which they'd applied. Those with cars might dash home during lunch period to check the mail mid-day, while students with a mom at home called to see if there was any news.

Colleges still send those acceptance envelopes; sometimes they even arrive by FedEx. Some aren't even envelopes but parcels with tee shirts, posters, or car decals. But by the time the acceptance letter arrives in most households, the student already knows the admissions decision. They've checked it online. Entire chat rooms and Facebook pages spread the news virally that First Choice College has emailed its responses. Servers occasionally are overloaded by applicants flooding the college system with logins, searching for the earliest answer. The wait ends earlier, instantly, while looking at a computer screen or smartphone, maybe while surrounded by friends, maybe while standing alone in a corner of the high school parking lot.

Part of what can get missed in the email correspondence is the student reply to the college. Students, and parents, are eager to respond to the college the student plans to attend, ready to send the deposit, excited to learn about housing and orientation. But what about those other colleges? Their admissions staffs are now waiting to hear from you, checking the mailbox daily, hoping the countless hours that they spent reviewing essays and transcripts, trying to build a great first year entering class, will result in acceptances from the college's top choice - you!

There are many reasons that colleges want you to let them know if you are enrolling elsewhere. They need to manage their budgets, including their financial aid budgets. They need to plan for housing and first year seminars. There are students on the waitlist, eager to hear if there is room for them. Many schools track overlap schools, learning more about future applicants through information about which schools accepted applicants opted to attend.

Are you going to leave them wondering, like a date that seemed to go well but then is never heard from again? There's really only one reason why you need to take the time to say thank you, but no, to the schools you are rejecting. It's just rude not to respond. Slow down for a few minutes; think about the care and energy that was invested by each college in determining that you were indeed a good match for their school. Then email a note, fill out the response card, or handwrite a thank you. Be direct but be kind; let them down easy. It's the right thing to do.

Admissions Letters begin to appear in Minneapolis mailboxes!

Early letters from schools like Muhlenberg, St. Olaf, Wash U and Vandy have arrived in the mailboxes of our Minneapolis families. Congratulations to all! Once you have all of your acceptances and financial aid/scholarship offers, it will be DECISION time. Here are some other thoughts. It's certainly appropriate to grieve your denials and celebrate your acceptances. We advise waiting until the despair/euphoria die down before making your final decision.

Does a social media presence affect college admissions decisions?

Thanks to the movie, The Social Network, now even most 50-somethings and older know about Facebook. We're often asked how a student's facebook presence and activity, appropriate or inappropriate photos and posts, and friends' posts might affect a student's chances for college admissions.

Claims that questionable Facebook posts and photos can ruin a student's college chances are highly over rated. As you'll learn in this video, most college admissions officers are so swamped with work, they have no time to even think about checking applicants' Facebook pages.

However, there are cases when a the social media presence of a student can influence college decisions. If you're a recruited athlete, in the running for a selective scholarship, have been suspended from school, or if you are applying for admission to a program where there are lots more applicants than seats, you might get 'googled'.

Here's the link to an interview on KARE 11 discussing this issue.

College Admissions Statistics - What do they mean for you?

84% of students apply to fewer than 7 colleges. What should your number be?

21% of students are denied admission to their first choice college. What good is a first choice college?

Of those admitted to their first choice school, 40% didn't end up attending. Why?

About half of all students go to college within 100 miles of their home. What about you?

These issues were discussed the morning on the KARE 11 Sunrise show. Here's Kim Insley's interview with Valerie Broughton, College Connectors.

Rigor Matters

Students are getting the message that the rigor of their high school courses matters.

The College Board administers Advanced Placement tests each spring to high school students. most all of whom enrolled in the corresponding Advanced Placement course in their high school during the school year.

Students who study subjects with the AP curriculum enjoy several benefits. First of all, when admissions personnel review their transcripts, the admissions staff are assured that students have taken the most challenging coursework their high school has to offer. Success in rigorous high school curriculum is the #1 item selective colleges consider in selecting their freshmen class.

Another advantage accrues to students who earn a score of 3 or higher on their AP exam. Many colleges award college credit to students who score a 3, 4, or 5 on an AP test. The range of exam scores is 1-5.

Lastly, a recent report found that success on these AP exams predicts college success, especially freshman to sophomore retention.

Nationally, there's been a 6% increase in the number of public school students who "pass" AP exams and in the state of Minnesota, that increase is 8%. Currently, 16.8% of high school seniors in Minnesota take and score at least a 3 on at least one AP exam.

We're thrilled that students are getting the message that there's value in challenging themselves by taking rigorous courses in high school.

How far would you go to take your ACT?

I read an interesting brief the other day in this week's issue of Bloomberg Businessweek. Not typical reading for an Independent Educational Consultant, I know. Never know where you're going to stumble on a bit of helpful information.

The story describes the path Chinese students take to reaching acceptance into American colleges and universities. You see, the SAT isn't offered in mainland China. I suspect the ACT isn't either. So, Chinese students need to fly to Hong Kong or South Korea or somewhere it is offered in order to meet the testing requirements for U.S. Colleges and Universities. That made me wonder, how far would a typical American teenager would go to prepare himself for his college applications?

The point of this post is that U. S. students should know who they're competing with during the college admissions season. A student would need to be pretty determined to be willing to hop on a plane to take a college entrance exam. Or they'd need to be pushed pretty hard(can you say Tiger Mom?) and/or they'd have to have the cash to fund the trip.

Fact is, the number of Chinese undergraduates in the U.S. is 400 % higher than it was 5 years ago. Bloomberg Businessweek reports that U.S. college admissions personnel are working hard to recruit China's best-qualified, full-paying applicants. Did you know that Chinese families with high school aged children are limited to only one-child? Thus, middle class families In China might be able to afford tuition that exceed what an average American family can afford.

Colleges and testing companies see students living on mainland China as a huge untapped market. The number of high school graduates in the U. S. is declining. Know your competition!

Application Progress Update

December's a busy month for everyone: students, families and educational consultants. College Connectors is happy to reveal that 90% of the seniors we're working with have already submitted all or some of their college applications. We took a break today to decorate for Christmas. Over the past few years we've collected 60 college themed Christmas tree ornament.