It’s August, which means the Common Application is now online and ready for a new class of students! In this blog, we will outline the new changes to the Common App for the 2018-2019 year, let you know how to “roll over” your account if you had already started one, and share some basic tips for how to make your Common Application stand out during the admission process.
By now you have likely heard of a “safety school” and have some understanding of what that means. (Read more here) In that sense, we are talking about changes of being admitted to a particular school. But there is a newer phrase in the world of college counseling that you may want to understand better, and it is, “financial safety.” In this blog we will go over what it is, and why it makes sense to have one on your list.
The college application process is complicated, and it’s understandable that families would want to seek as much information as they possibly can. But, we have learned over many years of doing this work that too much advice can actually work against you. Here are a few examples when it makes sense to cut down the outside advice and maybe even trust your own gut.
As part of our Advice From Inside series, where I ask our amazing staff of college counselors and former college admission counselors to share their knowledge with student and parents, this time I asked…
“What can rising seniors do over the summer to make their fall less stressful?”
We are hearing from colleges that their admissions decisions have been sent, or are coming out soon. In previous blogs, we’ve discussed how to deal with bad or uncertain news (here) but this is also the time of year of good news and students will have to decide among the college acceptances where they will ultimately attend.
Seniors have, at this point, sent in applications to many, if not all, of their colleges. They may have applied Early Decision, Early Action, Rolling or Regular Decision and are awaiting the news to come back. However, if there is new good news to share with their colleges, there is a smart way to do so. It could perhaps tip the scales in their favor.
As Seniors head back to school and their final year of high school is underway, the reality of college may start to hit. Many students are now stressing about impending application deadlines, completing college essays and making sure they have a well-balanced college list. Sometimes, fear sets in and students begin to think about the worst-case scenario: “What happens if I don’t get into any colleges?”
Although the college admission process isn’t an exact science, Campus Bound counselors give each student a good sense of their chances of admission to the colleges they intend to apply to. Using data published by colleges and our accessibility to previous admissions decisions and trends, we sit down with each student and give him or her a clear sense of what to expect. Of course, nothing is a sure thing, but when students have a balanced list, the odds are in their favor!
So what makes a balanced list? Campus Bound recommends that students apply to roughly 8 colleges. Of those 8 colleges, at least two should be “Likely.” It’s also a good idea to apply to two or so “Reach” schools, and the rest should be in the “Target” zone. A description of each category is below.
A “Reach” school is a school where a student’s chance of admittance, based usually on GPA and standardized testing scores alone, is low. Typically a “Reach” school denies students with a profile comparable to yours.
A “Target” school is a school where the student’s chance of admittance, based on GPA and standardized testing scores, is 50%. This means that a “Target” school sometimes admits and sometimes denies students with a profile comparable to yours.
A “Likely” school is a school where the student’s chance of admittance, based on GPA and standardized testing scores, is high. This means that a “Likely” school typically admits students with a profile comparable to yours.
Deciding which category a school falls into for youcan be tricky, and that’s where a trusted college counselor comes in. We have the experience and knowledge to make informed recommendations and take guessing (nearly) out of the equation. Of course, college admission is not an exact science, but students who adopt the 2-4-2 recommendation will ultimately end up at a colleges that they are happy and excited to attend.