Chappaqua Learning Center

From College Data News letter, Jan. 2011:

The Worst Application Mistakes You Can Make
BACKGROUND
After all the studying, testing, and stress, the final thing standing between you and the realization of your college dreams is the application. Each one you complete gives you a chance to show that you are just what the college is looking for. But even with a great GPA and outstanding test scores and extracurriculars, you can still blow it when you apply. And once you hit “submit,” you can’t always repair the situation. So what should you watch out for? We asked our experts about the most serious missteps that students make on applications, and how to prevent them.

THE QUESTION
What are the most serious mistakes students can make in their college applications?

WORD FROM THE EXPERTS

Many students rush through individual school supplements and supplemental essays at the last minute. This can be a mistake, leading to careless mistakes and missed opportunities to help admissions officers learn more about you. So, treat the supplements and supplemental essays — even those that are very short — with the same attention, thought, and careful proofreading as you do the Common Application or Universal College Application. Every piece of your application deserves your full effort.

Carolyn Lawrence
Independent College Counselor
AdmissionsAdvice
San Diego, CA

Serious mistakes can reduce the likelihood of admission. Here are the most common ones:

• Not sharing your authentic voice but rather sharing what you think we want to hear. Get help from your counselors, parents, and teachers, but in the end make sure your application represents you.
• Not giving strong consideration to your letters of recommendation. These letters are critical, especially at highly selective institutions. Do not let your recommendations be a waste by restating what we already know. Help your recommender understand why you want to attend a particular college and why it would be a good match for you.
• Not answering everything as directly and as completely as possible. For example, students who do not communicate their level of involvement in extracurricular activities may be at a disadvantage. When a student or parent calls to find out why the student was denied, often we discover the applicant told us the facts but not the entire story. Bottom line? Be upfront and honest. We want to know you as a result of your application. Tell us who you are!

Douglas Christiansen
Vice Provost for Enrollment
Vanderbilt University
Nashville, TN

One of the most damaging mistakes is not being honest about, or fully explaining, discipline issues from high school. We understand that all people have flaws, and it is possible to make bad decisions, particularly during adolescence. Having a transgression on your file does not automatically mean you won’t be admitted. However, not disclosing a disciplinary action is dishonest, and will cause us to question the student’s character. Students who don’t fully explain the situation can appear to lack remorse and the ability to recover from difficult situations.

Erin Hays
Associate Dean of Admission
Gonzaga University
Spokane, WA

Speak with your own voice. There’s only one “you,” and that’s who the college wants to hear. There’s a temptation to think you have to say something “important,” so you might want to quote someone famous. But unless you know the quote by heart, that isn’t who you are. Having said that, check grammar and spelling; admissions officers want to hear you, but they want to hear you at your best. And that’s “you,” not “U.” Using texting abbreviations in an essay does not make admissions officers “LOL.”

Speak with your own voice. There’s only one “you,” and that’s who the college wants to hear. There’s a temptation to think you have to say something “important,” so you might want to quote someone famous. But unless you know the quote by heart, that isn’t who you are. Having said that, check grammar and spelling; admissions officers want to hear you, but they want to hear you at your best. And that’s “you,” not “U.” Using texting abbreviations in an essay does not make admissions officers “LOL.”

Don’t overlook the short answer question “Why us?” Many college admissions officers tell me this is the question that shapes their opinion of a candidate. This question is difficult to answer because you have to be brief, specific, thoughtful, and to the point. Think back on your campus visit, or dig deeply into the college’s website, and really think about this question. Superficial answers suggest the college doesn’t mean that much to you.

Patrick O’Connor
Director of College Counseling
Roeper School
Birmingham, MI

One of the most common serious mistakes is not considering how all the pieces of an application paint a single picture of who you are as an individual. Students should review each completed application and reflect on the overall message it communicates. Discrepancies can raise questions. For example, if you took only the minimum number of science courses your school requires and all the advanced classes in humanities, saying you are interested in majoring in biology can sound hollow. Submitting a strong writing score on the ACT or SAT but not bothering to improve a haphazard application essay can raise concern. On the other hand, many applications provide space for students to add information that is not requested elsewhere. Few students take full advantage of this opportunity to show how they are more than simply their transcripts and resumes. Making this extra effort can be the difference between a good application and a great one.

Julia Surtshin
Certified Educational Planner
Surtshin College Counseling
Portland, OR

I think the biggest mistake students make is not fully explaining when there’s an “issue.” For example, a student’s GPA may show a significant dip in tenth grade, but neither the student nor the counselor explains that it was due to a serious illness or family problem. Many admission officers will ask for an explanation of what happened, since those lower grades will pull down the cumulative GPA, but some will base the evaluation only on what is provided. Explaining the circumstances in the application shows that the student is proactive, has moved on, and is ready to go to college.

Maria Furtado
Director of Admission
Eckerd College
St. Petersburg, FL

One serious mistake is missing deadlines for admissions and financial aid. Miss an admissions deadline and you may lose out on consideration for honors programs or scholarships. Worse case scenario, your application may not get reviewed at all. On the financial aid side, parents sometimes mistakenly wait to complete financial aid forms until after they have completed their taxes, which can be too late. They should submit the forms as early as possible using estimated information and make corrections on the Student Aid Report.

This is not universally accepted, but I believe it is a serious mistake when students do not waive their right of access to their recommendations. I fully understand students’ desire to see recommendation letters written on their behalf, but colleges view a recommendation letter that is not confidential differently than one that is.

Scott White
Director of Guidance
Montclair High School
Montclair, NJ

THE LAST WORD
As several of our panelists point out, one of the biggest application missteps is simply the sin of omission — leaving yourself out of the picture. Seize every opportunity to paint a full picture of who you are and why you are right for the college. On the other hand, details matter. Check, check, and re-check your application. Make certain that you followed all instructions and that your responses are complete and error-free. Don’t submit your applications until you are sure that you have shown yourself at your very best.

May 3rd, 2011

Ironically, several trends in high school English composition work against one another when a student confronts the college application essay. Often, high school students have experienced three years during which their teachers usually told them to write analytically, in the third person, about literature, science, and history. In practically every instance, students assume that it’s important to leave egos behind in order to find an objectifying voice for their writing. Then, just when you thought it was safe to wade into the water of essay writing…a student comes face to face with the college essay prompt, which in one way or another asks that student to toot his or her own horn with clarity and precision, all the while maintaining a balance between bragging on the one hand, and honest portrayal of facts on the other. No wonder students eschew college application essay trials! Coming from a peer-group society where standing out from the crowd can elicit the ire of others, students find it hard to swim upstream against the flow, so to speak. That spells trouble for college application completion.
According to a 2009 survey by the National Association for College Admission Counseling, 26 percent of admissions offices deemed the essay to be of “considerable importance” in deciding who is admitted. By contrast, in 1993, only 14 percent gave the essay such priority. We can only assume that this percentage has inched upward over the past two admissions cycles, and that the glut of applications from otherwise “comparable,” statistically similar students more than every before makes the well-written essay an essential piece of the application. What’s a kid to do?
Adult admonitions to the teen writer, like “Be yourself!” or “Let it all out” are of minimal help. In the end, the high school writer learns that the most effective essay tells a personal story that conveys sense and sensibility, engagement in life and ideas, and a developing maturity which recognizes how the boundaries of learning can and will expand almost exponentially. The famous “hook” that is meant to intrigue the admissions officer who is reading your application comes in the form of an easy-to-read narrative, one that may flow as smoothly as a personal conversation in which the student comfortably conveys personal engagement and passion.
In the years that I have been assisting college-bound students with their essays, my principal tool is an interview-style dialogue with the applicant. From it we both glean the very facts, details, and emotion that will make that essay read well–a cut above the rest. Are you ready?

May 11th, 2011 Score At The Top Learning Centers and Schools

Throughout your junior year you have been receiving fan mail from colleges and universities, many of whose names were completely new to you—and your parents. So, sooner than later (hopefully) you begin to ease yourself around the net, checking out the websites for these and other schools.
Urban environment. Exurbs. Cornfields. No matter what the location, college websites naturally paint the best possible pixel pictures of campus facilities. Be careful. All that glitters is not gold. Students over the years have been disappointed by the “final product” when they drive up to campus on that first day to unload at the gates of a freshman dorm.
To some observers, it appears that students glut the wires with a dozen applications or more, and accept admission to a school that they have never actually visited. How do you like the idea of a blind date that could last four years? No thanks.
Don’t procrastinate. As soon as you are down to your short list of undergraduate institutions that you’re considering, make plans to visit. A trip through a freshman dorm, combined with a visit to the student union, is worth its weight in gold.
While you can descend on a campus sight unseen and nose around to your heart’s content, expect neither to leave any lasting impression on the Admissions office nor gather specific information about the school (unless you are a real data miner in a hard hat!). Plan Ahead!
Call ahead. Get the schedule and sign up for an info session and campus tour. Try your hardest to visit classes during the academic year. On larger campuses, there are sessions in progress year round, but summer has a different feel from the traditional school year.
When you get there:

• 1. Sign in!
• 2. Attend that information session; take that tour… and take notes & photos!
• 3. Ask an intelligent question at the info session. Get the name of the admissions officer presenting. Send her or him a thank-you note when you return home.
• 4. Chow down in the student union or wherever students hang out (ask your tour guide). Mix with students there, and ask about the pro’s and con’s of academic and non-academic life. You’ll find that undergrads love to share their insights.
• 5. Attend a class, meet a professor, ask intelligent questions.
• 6. Check out the extracurricular possibilities. Are they what you want?
• 7. Hand out your “business card” (prepared before your visit) to every admissions person with whom you come into contact.
• 8. Check out the course catalogue with a view toward your possible major (if you know what that will be). Don’t have a major in mind? Ask about the core or distribution requirements (but look that up in advance so you can ask a specific question!)
• 9. Where’s the school located? No rolling campus, only busses and tall, anonymous looking buildings? Or are you surrounded in every direction by wheat and sorghum? Do you (and your parents) feel safe?
• 10. Take digital pictures and notes the whole time you’re in the area (campus and city or town). When it comes time to respond in your application to the question of “Why have you chosen to apply to Oberlin College?” you can respond with first-hand aplomb! “When I walked across Tappan Square toward Finney Chapel…”. Nothing beats this kind of immediacy in your short essays!

Arrange your trips so that you can visit a number of schools within reasonable travel distance. Do NOT visit more than two schools on any one day.
Don’t be surprised. Plan now to get well acquainted soon with the schools of your dreams.

May 13th, 2011   Score At The Top Learning Centers and Schools


We’ll bet that someone has shown you this strange paper-and-scissors phenomenon: a long, adhesive-taped strip that has only one edge and one surface. It’s “non-oriented” as a mathematician might say. And we think if we were specks navigating that paper, we’d get nowhere fast. Could produce a sinking feeling.
You might get a hint of the same sort of vertigo if you were to watch the film “The Race to Nowhere.”
In it students are stressed out, physically and mentally exhausted from homework and from the high expectation that they present themselves as teenage idols of academia. Every voice in the movie expresses the tension, the overload, the breaking-point strain of the high school balancing act between academics and everything else.
In the movie you’d hear students use the word “perfection” time and time again. Pressures come from any and every direction: school, family, peers, and the inner voice. A grade of “B” might as well stand for BAD, BUM, BEATEN. These kids think that only top schools could do. Sure enough, most high schoolers (yes, most, a majority) cheat to achieve the ideal. And the beat(-ing) goes on: eating disorders, depression—suicide. It’s not an easy screening, this movie.
The problem: “Prestigious school or nothing.” Only the name brands will secure a life worth living. Anything less would be…what? Let’s see.
Educational consultants like us confront this mindset almost daily. We work best at breaking down barriers of miscomprehension. With about 4,000 colleges and universities to select from, a knowledgeable, experienced and well-traveled consultant opens up the world to students and their families. There’s so much to consider when providing a student with appropriate choices. Our individualized guidance can’t be matched in most school settings. Check us out. Get off the Möbius strip and move into a comforting, 3-dimensional future teeming with choice and satisfaction.

April 22nd, 2011 Score At The Top Learning Centers and Schools

Essays/Personal Statements:

Although there are some universities that do not require essays, colleges on the Common Application as well as UF, UCF, and FSU require essays. NOW is the time to start thinking about potential topics. Seek your parents’ advice on essay topics since no one has known you better or longer than they have. The questions for this year’s Common Application are exactly the same as last year. Even though UF, UCF, and FSU have not yet announced their essay questions for this year, look at last year’s questions as they will likely be somewhat similar. Note that some colleges on the Common App have supplemental (additional) essays which will not become available until much later in the summer.

Applications – all done online!:
Common App (www.commonapp.org): If you are applying to any of the 460 colleges on the Common Application, USE IT rather than the colleges’ own applications. In fact, some Common App colleges don’t even have their own applications. A list of these 460 colleges can be found at the end of the attached file: Common App & SUS Questions & Common App College List.PDF. (A few of these colleges may opt out of the Common App by the fall.)
Until July 1, you can play with the existing Common App Online to get a better feeling for it and to get the answers to application questions that you may not know (e.g., in what years did your parents graduate from college?). To get a jump-start on any required supplemental essay questions, review each of your college’s current Supplement to get the current essay questions as they may be the same next year. (Remember, next year’s Supplements may not be available until late summer.) Any data you enter into this year’s Common App will be destroyed on July 1 when the Common App website comes down and their staff builds the new application. But you can print it out to save the info you have entered.

State University System of Florida: The website www.facts.org contains a link to the applications for all the state universities in Florida (click on Applying for College, then College Applications, then Continue). The new applications for the state universities should be available by mid-summer. Note that New College is the only state school in Florida that uses the Common Application.

Other Colleges: Their applications become available on their websites throughout the summer. You should periodically check their websites for availability.
Regardless of which applications you’re using, please begin to work on them online as soon as they become available. You can work on your application over time as  almost all electronic applications allow you to return again and again to website to work on the application and save your work. Then, once an application is complete, do this: email the link to the application along with your username and password to your parents, or someone you trust so they can review same. NEVER SUBMIT AN APPLICATION WITHOUT HAVING IT REVIEWED!

Keeping track of your work: Create an EXCEL spreadsheet for keeping track of college application websites, usernames and passwords, deadlines, essay questions, etc. We recommending using two worksheets in the spreadsheet: one for colleges on the Common App and the other for all other applications. Add additional columns to the spreadsheet if you’d like to track other steps in the process (e.g., portfolio or audition requirements, SAT/ACT requirements).

Sites like Scholarships.com and ScholarshipExperts.com will automatically find scholarships you could be eligible for. Simply fill out a free profile and discover new scholarship opportunities.