Veridianprep

By Spencer Pevsner & Valerie Erde Before you decide how to apply to college, you need to decide where.  With thousands of colleges and universities across the U.S. and overseas, building a college application list can be a daunting task.

There’s More Than One Way to Organize Rankings Many parents have only heard of one set of rankings: U.S. News and World Report’s Best Colleges. While this is by far the best-known list, it is by no means the only set of rankings out there.

For the record, U.S. News and World Report rankings try to encompass a pretty complete picture of what a college or university’s quality is like overall. That means their rankings are based on a board set of criteria, including, but not limited to:

SAT/ACT scores of admitted students

Graduation rates

Faculty quality

Financial resources

Rankings Based on Return on Investment (ROI) Georgetown University’s Centers on Education and the Workforce has put out its own rankings based on ROI – namely, how much money graduates make on average, both immediately after graduating as well as five, 10, 20, 30, and 40 years down the line. Their report, A First Try at ROI: Ranking 4,500 Colleges, finds that on average bachelor’s degrees from private colleges have a higher ROI than degrees from public colleges 40 years after enrollment. Community colleges and many certificate programs have the highest returns in the short term, though returns from bachelor’s degrees eventually overtake those of most two-year credentials.

Rankings Based on Institutional Financial Health Forbes has graded and ranked hundreds of colleges based on their financial health. Criteria include endowment size, liquidity, tuition, expenses and more. Note that the list is not comprehensive, as it’s much harder to gauge the finances of public institutions whose funding can vary based on both economic and political changes.

How Colleges Game the Rankings System College admissions professionals know that people look at rankings for guidance, so they have taken to “rankings management” — that is, artificially inflating certain factors that will move them up in the rankings. For instance, many colleges want to report a low acceptance rate so they can be ranked among the rarified “most selective” schools. Officials have said to themselves, “Hey, why don’t we advertise more to get more students to apply, and then maintain or lower the number of students we accept?”

Rankings Have Their Place, But Use Them Wisely In short, rankings should never be the sole or even primary factor in deciding what schools to apply to — and you should take them with a huge grain of salt. Rankings are most useful in narrowing down the range of schools you’re considering, but at the end of the day, personal preferences about school size, region, majors, and educational philosophy are far more important. So consider college rankings as just one of many tools at your disposal — and a subjective one at that.

Don’t we all wish we could be a flies on the wall in those college admissions committee rooms? Jeff Selingo’s insightful and detailed book, Who Gets In And Why, A Year Inside College Admissions is the next best thing to being there, giving readers a behind-the-scenes look into the opaque “holistic” college admissions process.

In case you don’t want to read the whole book…I’ve provided my own takeaways, divided into four categories with main points and quotes for each: Big Picture Takeways, The High School Side, The College Admissions Business, and Your College Research & Application.

The High School Side Course Rigor & Grades Are The Most Important Criteria To Ad Coms

Take the most rigorous courses your school offers and that you can handle.

Grades should either remain consistently excellent or go up, including Senior year.

AP & IB courses are generally considered the most rigorous, but not all APs considered equal.

ACT/SAT/AP Scores Still Matter, Sometimes A Lot

Test scores are considered an important metric when coupled with courses and grades.

When test scores are significantly higher than grades, Ad Coms question a student’s effort; when they’re significantly lower, they question the high school’s rigor (grade inflation).

Testing is one element you actually have some control over as late as mid-junior year (unlike your courses taken and grades by that point).

Test Prep works for increasing scores, but private tutoring is the more effective than classes. (I read the research and wrote a blog post on this.)

The College Admissions Business Admissions Departments Are Marketing Departments (that lure you with slick branding and increasingly sophisticated data analytics). “Sellers are the ‘haves’ of admissions.” (typically a brand name that signals [prestige in the job market and in social circles.”  Buyers are the “have nots.”  They may even provide an equal or better education, but their admissions people actually have to work to “fill classroom seats and beds in dorm rooms”

Your College Research & Application Craft Your College List Thoughtfully:  Try To Avoid “Peer Effects,” and Slick Branding (per above).

Do the due diligence that an $80K – $240K investment merits.

Try to avoid getting caught up in rankings and prestige and focus on what matters to you.

Ask a lot of questions from undergrads who attend schools that interest you as well as adults.

If Demonstrated Interest Is Important, Demonstrate Yours “Many colleges track how many emails you open and how quickly, if you’re following them on social media, whether or not you go when rep visits your school, if you’ve toured the campus (assuming you can afford that).

College Essays Matter, But Not As Much As You Think Average total application read is 5-10 minutes, so essays are usually scanned.

…Not in the book, but if you read my posts about writing the main Common App. Personal Essay & the one on writing supplements, you’ll be well on your way to writing great essays without spending a dime.

I was recently asked what it takes for a high school student to become a successful college applicant. What’s the secret to getting in — especially to highly competitive schools?

I get asked this a lot, but this time I found myself thinking about the question not in the abstract, but in relation to specific kids with whom I’ve worked. I’ve spent time teaching them, but what could they teach me about getting into college?

1. They Are Proactive About Their High School Years  

All of my most successful students had one big thing in common: They took the reins and created their own learning and extra curricular experiences in high school. Success didn’t just happen to them; they went out and took charge of working toward their goals. They relied far less on extrinsic motivation provided by their parents and much more on their own intrinsic motivation.  Additionally, they learned that being proactive means knowing when and how to “lean in” for opportunities (especially true for young women and introverts) and/or to ask for help if after trying on their own for some time, they’re still struggling.

2. They (Mostly) Put Academics First  

Attend a live or virtual info session for pretty much any college, and one thing immediately becomes clear: The Transcript Is King™. It’s the most important thing admissions officers look at when making decisions.

3. They Develop Good Study Habits and Organizational Skills

Successful students also spend the bulk of their study and revision time on effective learning and study techniques. In particular, they use retrieval practice to bring information to mind (think active quizzing yourself vs. passive re-reading or highlighting).

4. They Commit to Something And Deepen Their Involvement

Colleges aren’t looking for a Jack- or Jill-of-All-Trades because (as the saying goes) they are masters of none. Instead, colleges want students who are truly interested in something specific and demonstrate that interest by striving for excellence.

5. They Are Curious, Insatiable Learners

Successful students — and, by extension, successful college applicants — really want to learn more about the world around them. They know that learning isn’t confined to the classroom, but happens everywhere.

6. They Are Leaders Who Forge Their Own Paths

You don’t want to choose your extra-curricular activities with the sole purpose of trying to figure out what admissions people will want to see. Be unique!

7. They Build Personal Relationships  

Teacher and counselor recommendations are crucial parts of the college application. The difference between a good recommendation letter and a great one often comes down to you getting to know your teachers and/or counselor outside of the classroom — especially if you are an introvert or don’t participate much in class.

8. They Strive to Be Good Citizens

According to research conducted by the National Association for College Admission Counseling (NACAC), over 70% of respondents — which included 447 college admissions officers — say that positive character attributes are of moderate or considerable importance in the admissions process.

9. They Take Care of Themselves

Successful students take time to look after themselves, so they can continue to be effective, day after day, year after year.

10. When the Going Gets Tough, They Persevere

Finally, successful students are resilient and deploy deliberate, sustained effort to work through frustration when things seem too hard. It’s easy to give up on something when it’s not easy, but that path doesn’t lead to happiness — and it certainly doesn’t impress a college admissions office.

The most successful students know there is always room for growth, so they aren’t daunted by failure. They maintain a growth mindset by retiring the phrase, “I can’t do it” and embracing the phrase, “I can’t do it yet.“

I’m Only In High School. Do I Really Need A Resume?

It depends. Some colleges require resumes; others forbid them. But with a crazy pandemic school year of partial grades, limited extracurriculars, and no standardized test scores, a resume may be “more valuable than ever” for this year’s college applicants according to independent educational consultant Nancy Greisemer.

Wait, I Have To Do Even More Work For My Application?

Not really. Creating a resume is not really extra work; many of my students find that the resume not only provides a useful framework completing other aspects of the college application process, but it is also valuable in and of itself because a resume…..

Still not sure how/what to do? If you’d like individual help for on your resume, just get in touch I’ve worked with many students on both general and music-specific resumes (required for by some colleges.

As the author B.J. Neblett once said, “We are the sum total of our experiences.”

Whether you have teamed up with fellow classmates to sell locally sourced gift bundles, started a club to break down language barriers, spent countless hours building scenery for your school’s annual musical, designed an app to teach kids math, or created a personal needs pantry for your peers, your experiences matter.

1. Avoid a Superficial Responses: Go at Least 3 Clicks into a College’s Website

The most common supplemental essay prompt is some version of “Why do you want to go to our school?” The most common mistake I see in initial drafts from students is that the response is too generic.

2. Avoid the One-Perspective Reply: Connect Ideas

A University of Texas team reviewed thousands of college application essays to determine if they could predict academic success based on candidate submissions. Professor David Beaver concluded that “Even when a college sets an essay title that seems to be asking for the applicants’ personal story, it’s a safe bet that the admissions officers (whether consciously or not) are looking for people who can put their own history in a broader context.” The study showed that writings that categorized things alongside connecting concepts and ideas predicted the most academic success.

3. Answer the Question

With a limited word count, supplemental essays don’t provide the luxury for applicants to provide every detail in a long narrative. The three ingredients of a winning response include a sentence that clearly addresses the question, evidence that supports its conclusion, and a bit of self-observation.

Reach Out for Help

Are you experiencing writer’s block on your supplemental essays? Do you need an extra pair of eyes to review what you have already written? Veridian Prep has multiple readers on hand to evaluate every essay. We work with candidates to incorporate the correct tone in their responses and help students manage the timeline of their submissions. You can reach us here any time!  And I encourage you to read our post on tips for writing your main Common App Personal essay here.

by Vickie Barone and guest blogger Spencer Pevsner

SAT math can be intimidating for students who have never taken the exam, because it’s a bit different than a math test you take in school. Though the SAT doesn’t include advanced concepts — there’s nothing beyond Algebra II and Geometry — the questions may seem harder at first because they are designed to assess your problem-solving skills in a different way. The way SAT math questions are phrased can confuse and slow down inexperienced students. However, if you understand a few essential points, SAT math is much more manageable. The keys are to understand how to navigate the SAT and to know what the test is looking for.

Our top 6 tips for conquering SAT Test Tutoring & SAT math.

Conclusion

These six tips should help with your overall understanding of the SAT math exam, and help you prepare to take the test. But remember: tips and tricks are no substitute for real practice! The simple reality is that more practice problems and full practice tests will help you get a better score on the SAT.

If you’re feeling stuck on an aspect of your math SAT, we can help. From building a solid skill foundation to helping you pick apart your specific weaknesses on the exam, we’re here for you. Get in touch here today.

I’m going to show you how you can improve your ACT English or SAT Writing score in just a few weeks’ time with 6 straightforward steps, 1 book — and no tutor.