Making It into a Top College

Howard Greene, Matthew W. Greene

• Publisher: Collins Reference
• Year: 2010
• ISBN:
  9780062011664
• Topic: Study Aids
• Subtopic: Study Guides

Let America's premier college consultants take the mystery out of admissions.

As seen on PBS, this proven, ten-step program offers a comprehensive inside view of the state of college admissions today. Educational consultants Howard and Matthew Greene have mastered the science and art of college admissions, helping tens of thousands of students get into their schools of choice. This highly effective program is now available to all students who want to attend an outstanding college or university. The Greenes' cutting-edge approach will teach you to:

• Think like an admissions officer
• Plan a comprehensive admissions campaign
• Understand and take advantage of current trends
• Implement the best strategies for standing out

Whether it's choosing the best college for you, writing a winning personal statement, or planning your college financing, this fully updated new edition gives you the latest in admissions secrets, statistics, tactics, and facts.

STEP ONE

Know the Selective Colleges and Their Admissions Requirements and Procedures

A Strategic Start

Over the years, the selective admissions process has evolved to distribute thousands of outstanding high school graduates among a hundred or so of the country’s top colleges. You can establish a strategic position in this process by learning how a number of selective colleges expect you to prepare yourself academically for their demanding work, and by knowing how particular colleges select their first-year classes from among many qualified applicants.

HISTORIC HIGH LEVELS OF U.S. HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATES AND COLLEGE APPLICANTS

The total number of U.S. high school graduates is expected to remain near 3,330,000 in 2008, a record high, during the coming decade. College enrollment is expected to grow from 15,659,000 to 17,354,000 between 2008 and 2016.

(Chronicle of Higher Education)

To begin with, you will familiarize yourself with the admissions requirements of a number of selective colleges. Why so many when your chief interest may be in only two? A key feature of the Ten-Step Plan is that you will increase your chances of admission to a selective college of your choice by applying to a collection of schools where you believe your particular strengths give you a unique advantage. To do this, you will need to learn about a variety of selective colleges and their particular programs.

Begin with College Catalogues and Web Sites

You can acquaint yourself initially with a variety of colleges by looking over catalogues, viewbooks, Web sites, and other material available at your school, public library, or on the Internet. Send away or e-mail for information you cannot get otherwise. Selective colleges receive tens of thousands of inquiries each year! Colleges are anxious to help you learn about their institutions. As we will discuss, one of the major changes we have seen in the last two decades is the shift on the part of the colleges toward Internet-based marketing, information provision, communication with students and high schools, and even submission of applications. College Web sites and the Internet offer an easy, fast, and valuable means of gaining a great deal of insight on particular colleges and their admissions requirements.

The Class Profile

Every college publishes a profile of its freshman class, distributes this to alumni and guidance counselors, and, often, makes it available on their Web site. Useful data such as the number of applicants admitted by class rank, their GPA, advanced courses taken, test scores, extracurricular interests, and regions of the country can help you position yourself as a candidate for the colleges you are considering, and may lead you to add new schools to your list. Your guidance counselor should have such profiles, but if not, check the college’s Web site, e-mail them to ask for a profile, or contact the local alumni representative.

INFORMATION SOURCES

If you cannot find a specific college catalogue or viewbook, visit the college’s Web site, or write to the college to ask for one, by regular mail or by e-mail. Most often a college’s Web site is “www.thecollegename.edu.” Most colleges make their catalogues (or “bulletins”) available in some form electronically. Your counselor is another source for this kind of information, but remember how busy counselors are, and do not be surprised if the counselor suggests you get this information on your own.

One of the effects of the increased interest in selective colleges is the occasional inability to keep up with the demand for costly printed materials. Viewbooks and brochures are cheaper to produce than thick course catalogues, but their information is often a summary, an overview, and they do not provide the kind of specifics you must have. Software programs or Web-based counseling resources in your school’s resource room may or may not provide a thorough statement of requirements. When they do, print them out and add them to your notebook. DVDs and online videos often reveal institutional priorities in the most attractive light possible. Again, we have learned that the greatest and most comprehensive set of information on the colleges can be found on the Internet, where students can find not only admissions-related information, but also student-run newspapers, links to college clubs and organizations, e-mail addresses of professors and departments, virtual campus tours, and much more. Some of these come from independent sources, while other resources are offered by the colleges themselves.

The College’s Requirements

As you read through the material, take particular note of the admissions requirements of colleges that interest you, and record the information in the notebook you should be keeping on your admissions procedures (this notebook can be a three-ring binder or a computer file). Or use our College Requirements Worksheet, a copy of which appears later in this chapter and in the Appendix.

THE IMPORTANCE OF A STRONG CURRICULUM

We are often asked by students, “How difficult a courseload should I take? Do those AP classes really matter?” We hear every day from college admissions officers that the number one factor they identify in making admissions decisions is the quality of a student’s academic record. This includes both courses chosen and grades in them over time. So the answer to this question is that you should take the most challenging courseload you can manage without being overwhelmed or losing the ability to do the other major school and outside activities you enjoy. Try to challenge yourself in those areas in which you have innate strengths and the most interest. It is better to receive a B, for example, in an Advanced Placement (AP) or honors class than a straight A in a regular-level class, but avoid dropping into the C range. AP classes in particular show colleges that you are succeeding in rigorous courses that are standardized from school to school. And if you do well on AP tests in the spring, you can place out of introductory-level college classes and gain college course credits. So push yourself, particularly in your junior and senior years, but remember that you will have “AP college applications” as an additional hidden class on your schedule as a senior. Talk with your teachers and guidance counselor about particular classes you are interested in, and compare your curriculum and potential college major choices with the requirements and recommendations of colleges you are considering.

Relative Selectivity

Selective colleges’ requirements can be rated in three broad categories: Exceedingly Demanding, Very Demanding, and Demanding. The table in the “Let’s Get Started” chapter lists the selective colleges and their classifications. Be sure your research includes colleges in at least two and preferably three categories. Even though you may believe yourself highly qualified and a good candidate for Swarthmore, Stanford, Williams, Duke, or others that are Exceedingly Demanding, you can never be certain of admission to such colleges and should consider some Very Demanding and Demanding ones you would be happy to attend.

Or if you think that only a Demanding college will take you, you may be selling yourself short by not considering Very Demanding institutions as a possibility. You could be surprised to discover that a college you thought was beyond your reach would like to admit you for reasons you hadn’t considered.

Preliminary Self-Classification

By going through various colleges’ requirements in your notebook and comparing them with your curriculum and your performance to date, you can arrive at a preliminary classification of where you are in the selective college pool. You may already have had such a classification in mind, but now you are in a position to evaluate it realistically. This self-classification will help you establish admissions goals and work toward them systematically.

Let us look at the way two different students went about their preliminary self-classification.

Laura

Laura came to us in the spring of her junior year at a competitive mid-Atlantic boarding school. She had received PSAT scores of 63 verbal, 59 math, and 66 writing, scores that put her between the 81st and 94th percentile, and similar SAT-level scores. She was a varsity field hockey player with a strong curriculum that already included calculus, physics, and French 5. Her grades were good, but put her only in about the third decile of her class. Laura was looking for a highly selective college with a good field hockey program, but she was not sure she could compete on the Division I level. While she was initially set on Dartmouth, she needed to figure out if that goal was realistic. We walked her through this competitive Ivy’s current statistics: median SATs in the 700 range on each section, 90% of the entering class in the top 5% to 10% of their high school class, students with a strong particular talent, and students with usually a few AP courses by senior fall. It became clear to Laura that Dartmouth, Princeton, and some other Exceedingly Demanding colleges would be too unrealistic a stretch for her. We encouraged her to set her goals for SATs in the mid-650s in October, to bring her grades up to a point where she was in about the top 15% of her class, and to stay with and a challenging curriculum in the fall of her senior year, including French 6, AP statistics, and advanced English. Laura would continue her discussions with field hockey coaches at the Division III level, and would be a prefect (leader) in her dorm the next year. She might continue to strive for a few Exceedingly Demanding colleges, but would see mostly Very Demanding schools as her targets, with one or two Demanding colleges as backups.

Laura was able to bring her grade average up almost ten points over the year, to receive “most improved” awards for varsity squash and varsity lacrosse, to generate interest from Division III coaches, to bring up her SATs modestly, but, more importantly, to score fours on the English Literature and French Language AP exams. She applied early decision to Middlebury, which had been recruiting her for hockey, and was deferred. She decided to continue to pursue this first-choice college, and to send out applications in the pattern she had initially identified. Eventually, she was rejected by two Exceedingly Demanding colleges, Dartmouth and Georgetown, and accepted at Middlebury (where she enrolled), Vanderbilt, Trinity, and Colby. She had classified herself almost perfectly, and had played to her strengths in athletics and academics (Middlebury liked her language skills and interest in foreign study). Had she applied early to Dartmouth and continued to focus on this unrealistic choice, she could have missed the opportunity to identify and gain admission to Middlebury.

COLLEGE REQUIREMENTS WORKSHEET

Name of College ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___

Level of selectivity
(Demanding,
Very Demanding,
Exceedingly
Demanding) ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___

Units of high school
courses required
(1 unit = 1 year):

English___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___

Mathematics___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___

Science___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___

Languages___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___

History or Social Studies___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___

Electives advised___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___

Total units required___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___

Is SAT or ACT
required? ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___

How many SAT
Subject Tests
required? ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___

Tests recommended___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___

Early Decision or
Early Action policy? ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___

ED or EA deadlines___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___

Notification dates___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___

Regular admission
deadline___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___

Notification dates___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___

Frank

Frank was in the winter of his junior year at a highly competitive private day school. Enrolled in a very strong curriculum, including fourth-year Spanish, AP U.S. history, physics, and advanced math, he was near the top of his class, with A/A—grades across the board. With PSATs of 63 verbal, 69 math, and 73 writing (all in the 90th percentile range), he had a good chance of going far in the National Merit Scholarship competition. He also had a chemistry SAT Subject Test score of 730. Frank wanted a highly challenging college where he could pursue math, science, and history, and he had an early interest in Dartmouth because of its combination of lib...