College Admissions

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College List Tip: What Are Your Chances?

Note: I will be conducting a college admissions workshop titled, “Navigating The College Admissions Journey” in several towns this fall. Please scroll to the bottom of this post to learn more.

When you are looking at colleges and trying to decide where you will apply, how you will apply and whether or not you will even get in, one of the first things you will want to do is to try to get a handle on your chances of getting in.

To figure this out, head over to the College Board website and pull up schools you are looking at. Go to the Applying tab and then look at the SAT & ACT score averages. These are good numbers to understand because they represent the score ranges for the most recently admitted and enrolled class. When you are on this page, enter your own scores and you will see whether you fall in the top 25% (very strong candidate), the middle 50% (a likely candidate) or the lowest 25% (chances aren’t so hot). For example, let’s look at Trinity College. Trinity is a great liberal arts college here in Hartford which admits about 30% of applicants. You will see that applicants really need to score 700 or better on all three sections of the SAT in order to be considered a top candidate while scores in the 600’s would place an applicant in the middle of the pack. Now, Trinity is also a test-optional school which does not require SAT or ACT scores if you submit two SAT Subject Tests.

However, on their website Trinity says very clearly that submitting one of the SAT, ACT or two SAT Subject Tests satisfies the minimum requirement. If you want to be a top candidate, don’t hem and haw over it. Go beyond the minimum requirements. In this case, SAT scores and two SAT Subject Tests may enhance your chances.

This is just one way (out of so many) to research schools on your college list so that you can make an informed decision about your applications. Take the time to understand the information that is out there so that you feel good about where you are applying and increase your odds of receiving an acceptance.

If you have any questions about college lists and how to gauge your chances of admission, please use the comment box below. You can also email me directly at eric@doblercollegeconsulting.com – I would love to hear from you!

Learn More at Dobler College Consulting’s College Admissions Workshops

For parents who can make it, I will be holding a workshop titled, “Navigating The College Admissions Journey” on the following dates through each towns’ Adult & Continuing Education Program:

Sept 27: Newtown 6:30-8:30PM 
Oct 1: Wolcott 7-9PM
Oct 10: Cheshire 7-9PM
Oct 16: Meriden 6-8PM
Oct 23: Wallingford 6-8PM
Nov 5: North Haven 6-8PM

The workshop shares strategies to help your son or daughter navigate the college admissions process while eliminating mistakes that tend to reduce their chances of admission. Topics include college lists, online resources, essays, interviews, campus visits and what you need to know about making college more affordable.

All workshop participants will receive information handouts and will be eligible for discounts off of any of my college counseling services.

To register for a class, contact the Adult Education Office for the town you reside in.

Don’t live in one of these towns? You can easily get in touch with me to set up a free 60-minute consultation to help address your pressing college admissions-related questions and issues.

 

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Eric Sep 23, 2012 , , , , No Comments
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The U.S. News Rankings Are Here Again

Dobler College ConsultingNote: I will be conducting a college admissions workshop titled, “Navigating The College Admissions Journey” in several towns this fall. Please scroll to the bottom of this post to learn more.
This week the US News put out its Best Colleges for 2013. Every college counselor in the country, private or not, is aware of the new rankings – just go on Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn and you will find scores of conversations discussing the lists, their lack of validity and the utter damnation of the US News. So, while I won’t jump in the pool and go into a long, drawn out rant about the rankings, I will toe the water and offer a simple perspective.
If you want to spend your time obsessing over schools in the top 25, go for it. If you want to approach your college applications as if this was a popularity contest, be my guest. If it’s more important for you to attend a school that has a name which you think will open doors for you in life, then you just keep marching to the beat of your drum. In fact, while you’re at it, go ahead and become a regular reader over at College Confidential. Folks over there LOVE rankings, lists and name-dropping.But, if you would rather conduct your college application process with intention, if you would like to apply to schools that will offer you what you are looking for, if you want to work your way through this process paying attention to the things that truly matter to you and not some random statistics that have no personal connection to you whatsoever, then read on my friend.Because it’s not the name of the school that’s going to provide you with a happy and successful life.Rather, it’s what you put into your college experience that gets you there. Really get deep into the material you are learning so that you not only do well on tests, but so that you become truly awesome at what you want to do. Network with your professors so that they can introduce you to people and opportunities in your field – because your degree doesn’t win you a job, your experiences and contacts do. Join clubs and organizations that matter to you and learn what it takes to balance a budget and lead others. Make friends with people from around the country and around the world so that you better understand how culture, geography and prejudice shape our perspectives in life. Intern, intern and intern some more. And most of all, fail at something.If you haven’t failed at something while you are in college, you haven’t tried hard enough.I know, I know. This will take work and effort on your part. It means you will have to get out of your comfort zone. You will have to take some risks. You will have to say, “hello” first. You will have to ask for help.

But these are all good things because it means you are growing up, maturing, and realizing the awesome person you are in the process of becoming. This is what you should be doing at college, whether the school is ranked #1 or #4,000.

If you have any questions about college rankings or how to make the most of your college experience, please use the comment box below. You can also email me directly at eric@doblercollegeconsulting.com – I would love to hear from you!

Learn More at Dobler College Consulting’s College Admissions Workshops

For parents who can make it, I will be holding a workshop titled, “Navigating The College Admissions Journey” on the following dates through each towns’ Adult & Continuing Education Program:

Sept 27: Newtown 6:30-8:30PM  
Oct 1: Wolcott 7-9PM
Oct 10: Cheshire 7-9PM
Oct 16: Meriden 6-8PM
Oct 23: Wallingford 6-8PM
Nov 5: North Haven 6-8PM

The workshop shares strategies to help your son or daughter navigate the college admissions process while eliminating mistakes that tend to reduce their chances of admission. Topics include college lists, online resources, essays, interviews, campus visits and what you need to know about making college more affordable.

All workshop participants will receive informational handouts and will be eligible for discounts off college counseling services.

To register for a class, contact the Adult Education Office for the town you reside in. Don’t live in one of these towns? You can easily get in touch with me to set up a free 60-minute consultation to help address your pressing college admissions-related questions and issues.

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Eric Sep 16, 2012 , , , 1 Comment
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SAT and ACT Prep

I’m sure I don’t need to tell you this by now, but your SAT or ACT scores will play an important role in your college applications. They are just one piece of the admissions puzzle, but they can very often be an important one.If you haven’t registered for your SAT or ACT yet, you will want to do so shortly. Registering for the test is the easy part. Being prepared for it so that you do well is the hard part. So, just how do you go about preparing for the test that everyone dreads? I’m glad you asked.

For the SAT, buy yourself a copy of The Official SAT Study Guide. You can buy it for about $12 and it’s money well spent. The guide contains 10 practice tests and while you may not have the time or intestinal fortitude to complete all 10, the more you do complete, the better off you will be. The key here is to go through and answer all the questions and then go back and figure out the answers to the ones you got wrong. Actually invest the time in figuring out where you went wrong and then work at it until you understand it completely and could arrive at the correct answer the next time.

For the ACT, you can purchase The Real ACT Prep Guide. For about $15 you get 5 practice tests and your goal here is the same with the SAT guide. Use the practice tests to practice your abilities. What do you know and what do you struggle with? If you can identify some weaknesses and then work on them, you will find greater success when you take the real test.

There are also some great online resources. In this case, great also means free! Check out PWN The SAT, Craig Gonzalez Tutoring, the Perfect Score Project, and FreeTestPrep.com. Each one is chock full of tips, drills, resources and strategies you can put to use right away. You just have to be willing to spend the time.

Of course, if you’re like me and standardized testing just isn’t your thing, you should also know that nearly 800 colleges are test-optional. Some don’t use standardized tests at all while others may waive them due to your awesome grades. Either way, be aware of all your options, the resources available to you and use them to your advantage!

If you have any questions about standardized test prep, the SAT or the ACT, please use the comment box below.

You can also email me directly at eric@doblercollegeconsulting.com – I would love to hear from you!

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Eric Sep 09, 2012 , , , , , No Comments
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The Common Application Essay Prompts

The Common Application went live a month ago and while some of you have already begun your essays, there are a lot of you who haven’t. If you are in the latter group and are stressed about where to start and what to write about, here’s a breakdown of the essay prompts and how you should approach them:

1. Evaluate a significant experience, achievement, risk you have taken, or ethical dilemma you have faced and its impact on you.

The key to this question is the word, “evaluate”. Don’t just tell a story, but get to the meaning of it and the impact it has had on you. You want to show self-awareness and an ability to reflect on your life; what do you think, how do you think it and why does it matter?

2. Discuss some issue of personal, local, national, or international concern and its importance to you.

This question asks you to wax poetic on why this issue is important to you – not why it should be important to me or anyone else. This is very relevant to your character and your ability to think critically, to take a stance on something and to show a college why you might make their campus a better place. Keep in mind that sometimes discussing a small or local issue can be more powerful than trying to discuss the national debt.

3. Indicate a person who has had a significant influence on you, and describe that influence.

Be willing to go beyond the introduction of someone and actually analyze why they are an influence on you, positively or negatively. Think about what “influence” means and consider that it doesn’t have to relate to a “role model.” At all costs, avoid the generic, “My mom is my hero” response unless there is a significant reason why – it’s just been done too many times.

4. Describe a character in fiction, a historical figure, or a creative work (as in art, music, science, etc.) that has had an influence on you, and explain that influence.

Keep your description to a minimum but really get into your analysis of the influence. The explanation is what reveals your passions, interests and personality. It’s this part of the essay that has the most value for the college admissions folks. Try to avoid the predictable cast of former presidents, movie stars and Harry Potter.

5. A range of academic interests, personal perspectives, and life experiences adds much to the educational mix. Given your personal background, describe an experience that illustrates what you would bring to the diversity in a college community, or an encounter that demonstrated the importance of diversity to you.

What will you contribute to your future campus community – that’s the message you are trying to convey here by talking about the things you have already done. Quality versus quantity, just like with your activity list and resume. When getting into diversity, be mindful that diversity is not just about race. Additionally, if you are going to write about a racial topic, be mindful of the fact that you do not know who your reader(s) will be. Be wary of which direction you take this question if you are applying to schools where the mindset and atmosphere is more conservative. This is a topic you can take some risks with, but not with these schools.

6. Topic of your choice.

This question is for the very few of you who just don’t have something to write about that fulfills the previous five questions. However, just about anything can fit into one of them so try to exhaust those possibilities first. Because while it is tempting to go with this question due to the perceived freedom it allows you, it’s also a risky proposition for the same reason. You have to make sure you are making a point of significance, that you are getting your voice across and giving the reader a sense of your character, values and beliefs. In short, you have to make sure your essay matters.

Right now we’re doing a lot of work with essays, so if you would like some help with yours give me a ring or email me directly at eric@doblercollegeconsulting.com – I would love to hear from you!

 

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Eric Aug 31, 2012 , , , , No Comments
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Finding The Right College

The other day I visited Fairfield University in Fairfield, CT and went on a tour with a really great tour guide, Luis. Luis, a junior double majoring in international studies and economics, is from Mexico and when he was in high school his dream was to attend Arizona State University. As he told us, Arizona State appealed to him because it was close to home, was a big school where there were lots of things to do, and it was located in a hot climate where he wouldn’t have to worry about cold, snowy winters. However, his school counselor suggested he also apply to Fairfield. She thought it would be a good fit for him and she also didn’t want him just applying to one school. So, in an effort to appease her, Luis did as she suggested and didn’t think too much about it until he was up against the May 1st national commitment deadline.

Interestingly enough, Luis became disenchanted with Arizona State during the tail end of the application process.

When he called to check on the status of his application, he was first put on hold for long periods of time (more than 20 minutes on at least one occasion), then transferred from person to person, each one unable to help him with what was a very simple inquiry. By the time he was able to finally get an answer, he learned that the admissions office was unable to locate documents that Luis’ counselor had mailed in. Needless to say, he was frustrated and feeling like Arizona State was not all he thought it was.

Fairfield, on the other hand, actually reached out to Luis to see if he had any questions and to find out what his plans were after he missed the deadline. Luis made a quick visit to Fairfield and instantly fell in love. Why? Because every encounter he had with someone from the school was a positive one. Fairfield reached out to him and asked him to join their family. He felt welcome and he felt like he mattered to the school.

These feelings were important to Luis and ultimately outweighed the facts that he would be further from home and would have to deal with New England winters.

While I am proud of Luis for figuring out what was most important to him what I really like is that, three years later, he is still in love with Fairfield and is doing very well there. The size of the school, the Jesuit tradition of self-reflection, serving others and exploring the life around you and the interactions he has had with professors have all contributed to the school being a great fit for him. At Arizona State, he wouldn’t have had the benefit of class sizes that average in the mid 20’s and are capped at 30. He wouldn’t have had the opportunity to form relationships with professors let alone expect one professor to reach out and invite him to come and talk about internships and experiential opportunities whenever he wanted. In fact, most of his classes for the first two years would have been taught by graduate assistants.  At Arizona State, he would have had a completely different experience from the one he is having at Fairfield and from what I learned about Luis on our tour, I just don’t think it would have fit him well.

This isn’t about bashing Arizona State or promoting Fairfield University. Fairfield is quite expensive and while its Jesuit tradition is a rich one, a student body where 75% identify as Catholic and less than 9% identify as students of color will not appeal to everyone. But this story is an example of what can happen when you apply to a large school (Arizona State has an undergraduate enrollment of 58,400) versus a small one (Fairfield is only 3,300). You will be treated differently simply due to the volume of students applying. It’s also a demonstration of just how important it is to have options. If Luis had put all his eggs in the Arizona State basket, I’m pretty sure that he would not be as happy as he is today.

If you have any questions or comments about finding the right college, you can also email me directly at eric@doblercollegeconsulting.com. I would love to hear from you!

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Eric Aug 19, 2012 , , , No Comments