Your friends are lovely. Please ignore them.
If you’re a junior, and especially if you’re a senior, it’s hard to get away from discussions about the college application process. This can be reassuring, right? You’re all in it together: you, your friends, your parents, your friends’ parents, your grandparents, your parents’ friends, friends of friends…
You get it. Everyone has something to say about the process, and each one of those very well-intentioned people has the potential to stress you out. But remember, this time is about you. It’s about exploring and applying to colleges that are the right fit for you and that make sense for your family. So guess what? You have permission to tune those voices out.
Here’s how to identify and manage your reactions to the voices that aren’t helping you to stay calm and focused:
The Deadline Announcer. You know this person. She is your friend. She’s smart and keeps a paper calendar and is always on top of things. So unsurprisingly, every time you see her in the cafeteria, she’s listing deadlines like a walking, talking Common App. “SAT registration is September 10...Early Decision is November 1st...Regular decision for Boston College is January 1st…” And it can send you into a tailspin of worry if you’re not careful.
How to deal: Set reminders on your calendar for important due dates, but keep in mind that there are really only a few important ones: early decision, early action, and regular decision. If you’re planning on taking the SAT, the College Board has all the information you need about when to take it and where. So when the Deadline Announcer gets going, just let her go. It’s making her feel better. The dates don’t change, and you already know what they are.
The Snooper. The Snooper has two motivations: to find out where everyone is applying to college and to announce the top schools that he is applying to. “I’m applying early decision to Brown, but if I don’t get in, I’m applying to Bowdoin and Middlebury. William and Mary is my safety school. Where are you applying?”
How to deal: remember, students can apply anywhere they choose, and even the best high school students in the country will get rejected from some schools. The Snooper might get rejected from William and Mary and get into Brown. But here’s the other thing: he may not be applying to any of these schools. He might just be feeling pressure from his parents, or he may not have done much research on great schools that aren’t those brand names we’ve all heard of. Give him a “that’s great for you” followed by, “I’m still deciding.” Because even if he’s your best friend, you don’t have to tell him or anyone where you apply to college. Part of becoming an adult is learning what you should share and what’s just for you. The college decision? That’s all yours.
The Personal Essay Expert: This friend is trying to help. Truly. They’ve worked with a tutor or obsessively Googled successful college essays (don’t do this!). “It shouldn’t be about your dog, your sports career, or your grandmother… It can’t mention Covid...It can’t be about personal trauma....It has to be about personal hardship...It has to have a metaphor...It cannot have any grammar mistakes…”
How to deal: This is a hard one. Everyone has something to say about the personal essay, including parents, coaches, and other people who know you well and want you to get into the college of your dreams. But keep this in mind: the personal essay is called “personal” for a reason. It’s supposed to reveal who you are to admissions readers. You, the person with a good sense of humor. You, who drove your little brother to school every day this year. You, who raises chickens in your yard. You, who taught yourself to knit. You, who will be an amazing member of the college community.
Your personal essay is personal to you. Keep it that way.
The Enthusiastic Alumni: this might be a cousin, parent, or family friend. This person loved their college so much they cannot even conceive of why you’d want to go anywhere else. “Northeastern was the best four years of my life. You really should apply. No place can give you that kind of career prep, and in the middle of Boston! You can’t beat it!”
How to deal: Nod. Smile. Say, “I haven’t checked it out (even if you have) but I will.” The best thing you can do is appreciate that kind of enthusiasm and try to find a school that makes you feel that same way.
The Freelance College Counselor: This final one is difficult because everyone wants to help you find a college once they find out you’re in the search process. And these people can sometimes be helpful early on when you’re exploring potential schools. But once you’ve narrowed your list down, these are the voices that can make you second guess yourself, leaving you to wonder if there’s some stone you forgot to turn over, some perfect school you haven’t explored.
How to deal: Take a deep breath and have some confidence in yourself. If you began the process of exploring colleges during junior year, have been working with your guidance counselor or professional counselor, and have narrowed down your list according to region, size, culture, and likelihood to be accepted, your list is just right. For each of the 4,000 colleges in the U.S, there is someone who knows someone who had a good experience there. You cannot climb down every rabbit hole. By the time you reach September of senior year, you need the confidence to say, “I’ve done the research and I have the right list.”
At May First, we’re not just here to help you build your list and write your personal essay. We’re here to give you the confidence to say, “I’ve got this!” Send an email to info@yourmayfirst.com or call (617.851.9975) and let’s get started.
Reach, Target, Likely
Last week we wrote about decision rounds. This week we’re keeping the vocabulary lesson going by talking about the terms we use in list-building. It’s still a little dry... and still super important.
When we build a list for a student, we break schools into three categories: Reach (2-3 schools), Target (2-3 schools), and Likely (2-3 schools). For some students we add a fourth category: Wild Card. The single most important thing to note for these categories is that the schools in them will be different for every student. What determines this? Mostly academic fit. Translation: a student’s grades, overall GPA, and test scores. (We know, does the SAT still matter?! The short answer is it’s complicated. The longer answer is that it still matters when we’re building a list.)
So how do we define Reach, Target, Likely, and Wild Card? It starts by looking at a school’s statistics and asking, can this student get in? Or as admissions officers put it, is this student viable? And not only does GPA matter for this, but GPA in the specific high school’s curriculum matters… admissions officers know the difference between a 3.4 in all honors and AP classes at your high school and a 3.4 in general.
For a Reach school, we say a student has a chance of getting in, i.e. is viable, if her GPA is at the bottom of the average range for admitted students. The important thing here is that her GPA is still in the range of those of accepted students. Someone with a 3.2 GPA probably won’t be offered admission to a school where the average GPA of accepted students is a 3.89.
A Target school is one where a student’s GPA falls right in range with the average of recently admitted students. That same student with a 3.2 GPA is much more likely to be admitted to a school where the average GPA for accepted students is between 3.1 and 3.3.
A Likely school is one where a student’s GPA is at the very top or above the average of the most recently admitted class. A student with a 3.7 GPA has a high likelihood of admission to a school where the average GPA of admitted students is a 3.0.
The last category, Wild Card, is what we term Ivies and other uber-competitive elite schools; pretty much anything with an acceptance rate of under 15-20%. These are schools that could fill their incoming classes five times over with students boasting 4.0 GPAs, amazing activities, and brilliant personal statements. (Did you know that in 2019 50% of high school students graduated with a 4.0 GPA?!)
So where do test scores come in? Even though most schools are staying test optional for this admissions cycle, it can still be helpful to look at their average test scores when assessing a student’s viability. Again, looking to see where a student’s scores fall within a college’s range will help evaluate viability, even if that student chooses not to submit those scores. If I scored a 1060 on my SAT and the average SAT score for my dream school is 1400, well… that’s an indication that my chances of getting in are on the slimmer end. If my transcript (not just my grades but my grades in a challenging curriculum) and activities are outstanding, my letters of recommendation amazing, and my personal statement is well written, compelling, and tells a great story then admission is possible. And this is where we come in...
We love building lists for our clients and we love helping them put together their strongest applications possible. The best time to get started is in the fall of junior year... Send an email to info@yourmayfirst.com or call (617.447.0186) and let’s chat.
Decision Rounds- huh?
When I took my first biology course in high school, way way back in the ‘90s, my (amazing!) teacher began the course by explaining that learning biology was a lot like learning a foreign language- lots of new vocabulary. At May First, we think this is also true when someone begins exploring colleges and learning about the application process (and it’s way less fun than learning biology!). There are so many terms, things we’ve written about like holistic admissions and LTE factor. Another set of terms that is critical to understand is the different types of applications: Early Decision, Early Action, and Regular Decision. We know, not super exciting… but super important. So let’s jump in.
Early Decision
Between 300-400 colleges in the US (out of nearly 4000 colleges) offer Early Decision (ED), a plan that is binding. Applications are generally due in November (November 1 or 15 depending on the school) and decisions are released a month later, with enrollment deposits usually due within two weeks. Students are only allowed to apply to one school ED and if accepted they are committed to that school and must withdraw applications to all other schools.
The upside of applying ED is that it elevates a student’s chances of admissions significantly-- a school that accepts 20% of its entire application pool might accept closer to 50% of those applying ED. And it can be really awesome to sail into winter break knowing that the entire college application process is done. But there’s a big downside to ED… money. In all cases, ED benefits two groups: colleges and families that don’t need any financial aid. Because the decision is binding, an accepted student isn’t able to compare financial aid offers from multiple schools and doesn’t have any leverage to negotiate for additional aid. Colleges get to meet a lot of their financial goals by accepting students who can pay, and families who can pay have a better shot at getting their students accepted by elite schools.
Early Action
Early Action (EA) follows a similar timeline as Early Decision, but it’s not binding and in most cases students are not restricted in the number of schools they can apply to EA. Applications are due in November anddecisions come out a month later in December, but enrollment deposits aren’t due until the general May 1 deadline. Students can also apply to as many schools as they want in the regular decision round, and can then compare financial aid offers and negotiate with financial aid offices.
With both ED and EA there are three potential outcomes: acceptance, rejection, and deferral. To be deferred simply means that the applicant is put into the regular decision pool and will receive a final decision during that time frame.
Regular Decision
Regular Decision (RD) is exactly what it sounds like, the regular process and timeline of college admissions. Applications are generally due between January 1 and February 1 (unless it’s a school that utilizes rolling admissions) and decisions are released by April 1, with enrollment deposits due by May 1. Some schools offer multiple rounds of regular decision, but the general mechanics and commitments of the process are the same.
There is so much to consider when deciding whether to apply ED, EA, or RD. At May First we’re here to help. Give us a call (617.447.0186) or drop a line to info@yourmayfirst.com and let’s chat.
What is the Common App?
If your parents applied to college way back in the ‘80s or early ‘90s, they probably filled out a few paper-based applications and sent them through the actual mail, with a stamp and everything. They also applied to fewer colleges than you’ll be applying to. Even so, filling out three or four different paper applications was a pain.
Enter the Common App.
The Common App is a college application platform used by about 950 participating colleges and universities. It’s designed to make the application process more equitable and accessible to a wide range of applicants. It’s free and easy, you can use it on your laptop or your phone (the app is actually pretty good), and the Common App website offers great resources to help you get started.
If you’re a sophomore or junior in high school, you may not be familiar with the Common App, so here are the answers to some frequently asked questions:
Do I need a Common App account? Yes. Though there are some exceptions (Georgetown and MIT, for example), most, if not all, of the colleges you apply to will accept the Common App.
How do I register? You can create an account at any time, but you’ll want to think about registering by spring of junior year. Common App makes the process easy, and as soon as you enter your information, you’re ready to start.
What can I expect? Once you’ve created your account, you’ll see that it’s organized into five sections: Dashboard, My Colleges, Common App, College Search, and Financial Aid Resources. The Dashboard helps you to get from one place to the next; My Colleges helps you manage your college list; Common App is where you enter common application details; College Search helps you explore schools; Financial Aid Resources helps students and families understand the financial aid process and opportunities.
What does the application look like? The Common App is great because (unlike in your parents’ day!) you only fill out the information once. The application includes the following sections:
Profile (address, demographic information)
Family (parents/guardian/sibling information)
Education (high schools/other colleges you’ve attended, grades, GPA, class rank, courses, achievements)
Tests (SAT, ACT, TOEFL, IB, etc)
Activities (all the things you do outside of classes, ranked and including a 150 word explanation for each: clubs, jobs, hobbies, volunteer work, etc)
Writing (here is where you’ll write the important 650 word Personal Statement either in response to one of several prompts or on a subject of your choosing; many schools ask for supplemental essays as well)
What if my high school uses Naviance? Naviance is a third-party vendor that links right to the Common App, so if your school uses it, no problem. If it’s too much to manage two different platforms at once, you can always opt out of Naviance as long as you haven’t already begun synching up your applications.
The Common App will also help you manage your deadlines and recommendation letters, among many other things. The sooner you create your account the sooner you can familiarize yourself with how it works, and we promise, it’s organized and easy to use!
We’re ready for you, juniors! Give us a call (617.851.9975) or send an email to info@yourmayfirst.com and let’s get started building those application materials!
Tips for Considering Division III Sports
At some point in their high school careers, many serious student athletes focus on one basic question: should I play in college?
For me, there was only one answer: YES. I loved basketball and I needed any financial help I could get to pay for college. I was incredibly fortunate to earn a full scholarship to a DII program. I was a first generation college student, and that scholarship opened up opportunities I’d never even considered, eventually leading me to a career as a college professor.
But as I noted in a previous blog, athletic scholarships are nearly impossible to come by, making DIII sports -- which don’t offer scholarships -- the most viable pathway to a college athletic career. In a way, this makes the decision of whether or not to play more complicated. If you don’t have to play as a condition of keeping a scholarship, you can really take the time to consider if you should.
The Basics
Playing college sports is a big commitment, so think about the obvious stuff first:
Do you have strong time-management skills? Will you be able to balance the demands of college sports along with your coursework?
You may be counting on an off-campus or work study job -- will you be able to manage that on top of practice, games, and school?
Will you be comfortable missing social activities for games or matches?
Will it be difficult to study abroad or engage in coop while you’re on the team?
But there are some less obvious questions to consider too, and they can be just as important to your college experience:
Do the current players like the coach? If you choose to play a sport in college, your coach will be the primary adult in your life. If you don’t like them, it’s going to be a rough ride. If you have an opportunity to meet the team prior to the start of the season or academic year, pay attention to how the players talk about the coach. Do they respect her? Do they express frustration or anger about her policies or strategies? Players who respect their coaches are more likely to have a positive experience. When players relentlessly make fun of or complain about a coach, it’s a red flag. Be sure to notice.
Do the current players like each other? Again, if you can meet the players ahead of time, pay attention to how they interact with one another. Are they having fun? Do they seem like they respect and support one another? These are the people you will spend most of your time with; make sure you want to. A college team is like a family, and it should feel like one.
How many players on the current team play your position, what years are they, and do they get a lot of playing time? Let’s say you’re a lacrosse goalie and you’ve been talking to a coach who’s really interested in you. If that team had only two losses the season prior behind a freshman goalie who played every minute of every game, it’s likely you won’t be getting time for quite a while. It’s important to ask the coach what he thinks your role will be.
Can you handle being a bench player? If you were a strong high school player, chances are you don’t have a lot of experience sitting on the bench. But neither does anyone else on a college team. Your college teammates will be former high school MVPs and all-conference and all-state players. In other words, everybody’s pretty good, but somebody isn’t playing. It’s hard to sit on the bench. Think about how you might handle it.
The decision to play college sports at any level is a big one, and those are just a handful of things to consider. As questions come up during the decision-making process, ask the coach, the current players, or the athletic director for answers. Don’t leave anything on the table.
At May First, we want your college experience to be challenging, transformative, and fun. Playing a sport can be a meaningful part of that experience. We’d love to help you explore and apply to colleges that are your best fit both on and off the field. Give us a call (617.851.9975) or send an email to info@yourmayfirst.com and let’s chat.
Does the SAT Still Matter?
I hate taking tests, always have. It didn’t matter how well prepared I was-- when the teacher handed out the blue test booklet or the multiple choice answer sheet, my heart would drop and my body would flood with panic. I had friends who loved tests, would sit up a little straighter with their sharpened pencils --that just wasn’t me. The panic would always dissipate a minute or two into the test, but I never could figure out how to skip that panic altogether.
There are few tests that are as hyped, as panic-inducing, as written about as the SAT. It is a billion dollar industry (in 2017 The College Board--the “non-profit” administrator of the SAT -- generated over $1.1 billion in revenue. And that’s not counting all the private courses and test prep tutors that affluent families engage to improve scores). And for decades, The College Board and the elite schools that use the SAT to justify their admissions practices have argued that it is an essential part of assessing an applicant's potential for success. Their claim is that SAT scores are a better predictor of who will graduate from college than other factors. The truth is that there is a very minor correlation between SAT score and GPA and graduation rate, but the SAT on its own doesn’t actually predict much.
A much bigger truth is that the SAT is fundamentally flawed and biased. Just Google “SAT” and you’ll find article after article examining its inherent bias and racism against black and brown students and its inherent favor for affluent kids. Go a little further and you’ll find that the data of The College Board shows these issues in clear black and white numbers. This has led to an ongoing movement to do away with the SAT and standardized testing in general.
In the midst of the pandemic, almost all US colleges and universities went test-optional. Test date cancellations and testing center closings all but necessitated this. Most of these schools are staying test-optional for the 2021-2022 application cycle, in recognition that this year’s rising seniors faced immense disruption in their high school careers. And there’s also the not inconsequential truth that applications at competitive schools that normally require standardized tests went through the roof in last year’s admissions cycle (Colgate’s applications went up by 104%!). These record application numbers help out in the… you guessed it, rankings. (Though this is a bit of a catch-22 because rankings also love SAT scores.)
So when our clients ask us, “does the SAT still matter?,” we would really love to say no. Sadly, the answer, like standardized tests themselves, is murky.
If you’re a rising senior, the SAT is likely to be optional anywhere you apply in the coming admissions cycle. We wish we could say that means don’t worry about it! But as we said above, it’s murky: most schools that were not test-optional prior to 2020 used the SAT for two purposes-- admissions and merit aid. They have secret formulas that they use to award merit aid, and SAT scores are almost always a factor. The murkiness comes from the fact that while they went test-optional for admissions, not all of them went test-optional for merit aid… and this information wasn’t shared. So there are lots of students who didn’t submit scores, got admitted to great schools, but were only considered for aid based on their FAFSA and other financial information, not their academic achievements and potential.
For younger students, it’s even more complicated. While the University of California system is no longer considering the SAT or ACT in its admissions process (this is a really, really big deal and advocates for doing away with the SAT and ACT altogether hope it’s just the tip of the iceberg), it remains to be seen if schools that went test-optional in the pandemic will stay test-optional long term.
So what’s our advice? Well, that depends. Do you have a lot of test anxiety or are they no big deal? Are you likely to qualify for merit aid and is this an important piece of your college-funding plan? Are you planning to apply to schools that may start requiring SAT and ACT scores again?
These are big questions and we would love to help you sort them out. Give us a call (617.851.9975) or send an email to info@yourmayfirst.com and let’s chat.
College Athletics: Where do I fit?
Nearly 8 million high school students in the U.S. participate in athletics, and many of them hope to compete at the college level. You may be one of them, putting in the hard work every day to beat your personal record in the mile or nail the upper 90 on a direct kick.
I was one of them too. In truth, I spent way more time perfecting my jump shot than understanding Algebra. And I was lucky to earn an athletic scholarship to a Division II college that offered me opportunities I might otherwise not have had.
But as you might have guessed, I’m not giving A’ja Wilson any competition for MVP of the WNBA. So, what’s the benefit of participating in competitive athletics as high school kids if under 7% of those students will play in college? And even fewer will earn scholarships to do it?
Leadership, commitment, teamwork
These are skills that aren’t easily learned in a classroom. Sports teach us humility, confidence, dedication, and perhaps most important, the ability to fail and recover from those failures. While I may have the occasional nightmare about losing the 1991 Connecticut Girls Basketball State Championship (no, that never goes away), I still sleep pretty well at night and am content to spend my adult life complaining about the Celtics.
Even if you weren’t the best player on your lacrosse team, the skills you learned and practiced as a dedicated member of a team will make you an attractive prospect for college admissions officers -- as much as they are looking at applicants’ GPAs and AP classes, they are looking to find students who will be good roommates, classmates, and members of the college community. They’re looking for good teammates.
College Athletics: Cutthroat Intramurals
One spring, after my basketball season had officially ended, kids in my dorm asked me to join their coed intramural softball team. I thought it would be a low-pressure, fun way to get outside and hang with friends in the off-season.
I was mistaken.
My team captain had us practicing twice a week, where I was directed to devote more time to fielding ground balls and improving my swing. It was...intense. But it was also really fun. I met new friends, kept in shape, and didn’t have to lift weights or wake up for practice at 5:30am.
College intramural or club sports can be a great way to continue playing the sport you love at a competitive level. When thinking about colleges, investigate their club programs. You’re likely to find traditional options like basketball, soccer, and flag football, but you might find other activities to try out like ultimate frisbee or squash.
Being a part of a team doesn’t have to end with high school.
NCAA Athletics
Division I and II athletes likely have a good sense of what they’re getting into when it comes to playing college sports. There will be 6am practices, long bus rides, weight training, film-watching, games, oh right, and classes. In addition to in-season work, these students can expect pre-, post-, and off-season work as well.
In other words, being a Division I or II college athlete is a job, and it’s a difficult one. Students should talk with current and former Division I and II athletes to help ease the transition from high school to college and to prepare themselves for the responsibility that comes with this opportunity.
And don’t get me wrong, Division III athletics can be highly competitive and time consuming as well. The difference is that Division III programs don’t have athletic scholarships to give, though most Division III athletes receive some need- or merit-based aid. And at some colleges, admissions officers will take recruitment status into consideration when evaluating applicants. However, this generally means that student athletes must meet the college’s admissions standards and submit a strong application, so that work still needs to be done.
What Division III athletes must consider seriously is their commitment to the hard work of being on a team in an environment that puts less emphasis on athletics than their Division I and II counterparts.
Whether you’re wrapping up your athletic career or looking for a best-fit school where you can keep playing, let us help you develop an application that makes the most of your high school athletic experiences. Give us a call (617.851.9975) or send an email to info@yourmayfirst.com and let’s chat. We would love to help you find your place.
https://www.ncaa.org/about/resources/research/probability-competing-beyond-high-school
https://www.ncaa.org/student-athletes/play-division-iii-sports
Likelihood to Enroll
Last week we wrote about admissions terms like test-optional and holistic admissions. Another term we’re running across more and more often is Likelihood to Enroll (or LTE factor). It sounds simple enough, but in reality it’s part of a huge change in the last twenty years in how college admissions work. The catalyst for this change? Predictive analytics.
What is predictive analytics?
It’s pretty much exactly what it sounds like-- the use of data and statistical algorithms to predict future outcomes. Long ago, before US News & World Reports started its rankings and before colleges became insanely expensive, admissions officers were tasked with bringing in a fantastic class of students each September that met the general standards of the institution, kept its budget in the black, and were likely to be positive and successful alumni. But as colleges more and more come to resemble businesses in an effort to move up in the rankings, admissions officers are now most often defined by four metrics of success:
Filling every available seat.
Accepting the fewest number of applicants to achieve the highest selectivity rating.
Maximizing tuition revenue.
Ensuring admitted students graduate within six years, preferably four.
This change has redefined the traditional admissions office; its primary concern is now Enrollment Management. And this is where predictive analytics come in, and specifically Likelihood to Enroll.
So, what is likelihood to enroll?
It sounds straightforward enough-- isn’t it just how likely a particular student is to enroll in a particular school? In reality, it’s based on data-gathering from every possible source.
Put simply, every time you interact with a school-- signing up for emails, requesting a viewbook, attending an information session online or in person, saying hi to an admissions officer at a college fair (and giving them your name and contact information), following the school on social media and liking its posts-- this data gets sent to the school. And the school’s very sophisticated enrollment management software uses an algorithm to calculate your LTE factor-- your likelihood to enroll at the school. This is part of your admissions application file, and when it comes time to make a decision about whether to put you in the admit or reject pile, it counts for a lot. Why? Because admissions offices are focused on those four factors above and the LTE helps them get there.
What does that mean for you?
It means that you can help your chances of being accepted to the schools you’re really interested in by boosting your LTE factor.
How do you do this? All the ways mentioned above. For the schools you’re seriously interested in, demonstrate that interest by:
Signing up for admissions emails;
Requesting admissions materials;
Visiting campus if you can;
Attending an information session in person or online;
Checking in with admissions officers at college fairs and giving them your name and contact information;
Following them on social media and liking their posts and stories;
Sending a personal note after an interview with an admissions officer.
If you’re interested in more ways you can make your application stand out for admissions officers, give us a call (617.447.0186) or send an email to info@yourmayfirst.com and let’s chat.
Holistic Admissions?
Lately we’ve noticed some new terms creeping into the already crowded landscape of admissions jargon. Test-optional is probably the most familiar from the recent admissions cycle. Another term we’re hearing a lot is Holistic Admissions. It’s been around for a while, but this year it started cropping up everywhere.
So, what is holistic admissions?
At its simplest, the concept means that admissions offices using holistic admissions are committed to looking at the entire application instead of filtering out students based on GPAs and test scores. (How many of us imagine admissions officers of elite colleges looking at our GPAs and test scores and putting us in the admit or reject piles without even glancing at the rest of our painstakingly put together application?) While GPAs and curriculum still matter--a lot--now the personal statement, letters of recommendation, and activities both in and out of school play a much stronger role in determining whether a particular applicant will be a successful and engaged member of the school community.
There are a number of colleges that went test-optional long before the pandemic: Bowdoin College made submitting standardized test scores optional in 1969 and its neighbor, Bates College, did the same in 1984. The University of Chicago, another elite institution, decided to stop requiring the SAT or ACT in 2018. With increased scrutiny of the implicit bias and inherent systematic inequality in standardized tests as well as rampant cheating scandals (Is it time to finally get rid of the SAT and ACT college admissions tests), these schools have demonstrated that removing standardized test scores from admissions criteria doesn’t affect a college’s ability to admit outstanding students. Beyond that, diversity of the student body has greatly increased at many test-optional institutions and there has been no statistical decline in graduation rates or student GPAs.
Simply put, holistic admissions is working for these schools.
What does that mean for you?
As a high school student thinking about where to apply to college, it means you should still be making thoughtful and informed decisions about what courses to take and you should still be working hard and doing your best in these courses. It means the personal statement is a great opportunity to catch the attention of admissions readers and show why you would be an excellent addition to their student body. It means that asking teachers who know you well and will speak to your unique strengths and interests to write your letters of recommendations matters now more than ever.
And it means we’re here to help.
Give us a call (617.447.0186) or send an email to info@yourmayfirst.com and let’s chat.
holistic admissions - test optional - personal essay - best-fit