As college commencements end across the country and we head into those sultry summer months, it’s important to note admissions trends and the best strategy for getting into your top choice college. The admissions market is tough for competitive colleges, but families who plan prudently can increase their odds of gaining admission to the best schools.

COLLEGE ADMISSIONS TRENDS

1. 2011 Was the Most Difficult Year on Record for Getting into College.

Even as the absolute number of students of college age begins a gradual decline, applications reached a new high in 2011. It is not unusual for students to now apply to 10, 20, or even 30 colleges. Bulging domestic American applicant pools have been bolstered by a surge of international applicants. Institutions as diverse as Brown, Michigan State, and William and Mary recorded increases of 10 percent, 13 percent, and 23 percent in international applications respectfully. Not surprisingly acceptance rates at the Ivies continue to plunge with Columbia accepting 6.9 percent and Harvard 6.2 percent of applicants in 2011. The daunting odds of getting into the most elite national universities have convinced many families to submit applications to the best state schools, and elite liberal arts colleges as Williams, Amherst, and Swarthmore with commensurate increases in high quality applicants.

2. College waiting lists are expanding more than ever.

Admissions wait lists are expanding rapidly at many institutions, but applicants beware. At some institutions, the wait lists are used to appease legacy families, and high schools with which they have a close relationship. Few students from these lists make it into the freshman class. In 2010, Colby College in Maine, a top twenty-five US News and World Report national liberal arts school, placed 934 on the wait list and only took 21. Moreover, Johns Hopkins University, a national university power-house admitted a grand total of 1 student from its wait list of 3,667 students, and the University of Vermont accepted 218 of the 3,456 students relegated to the wait list.

3. Southern and urban universities are becoming more popular destinations.

Southern or mild climate destinations as Emory (Atlanta), Wake Forest (North Carolina), Vanderbilt (Tennessee), and the University of Southern California have become popular schools for students who want to bask in the sun. Cold weather urban universities as Boston University and Fordham in New York City have also witnessed a surge in applications contributing to a more competitive admissions process.

FIVE STRATEGIES FOR OVERCOMING THE ADMISSIONS ODDS AND GETTING ACCEPTED

As admissions odds for the most elite institutions increasingly resemble the lottery sometimes, what is the concerned family to do? A few basic initiatives beginning early in a student’s high school career will help increase your chances.

Step One: Starting in 9th grade with a focus on achieving a high GPA, students should take selective Advanced Placement and honors courses (or enroll in an IB Program if your school permits). It is also important to display a sustained multi-year commitment to a few extracurricular activities in which students can exhibit leadership.

Step Two: Draw up a list of colleges to research and visit no later than December of a student’s junior year when PSAT scores are available.

Step Three: Get some test prep and begin planning for either or both – the SAT and ACT exams. Contact Top Test Prep to learn more about how you can prepare for these exams.

Step Four: Visit at least 5 colleges in the spring of a student’s junior year and include back-up schools in the itinerary.

Step Five: Finalize the college list and complete any visits by October of the senior year. This will also provide you with the option of applying early decision (binding admissions) or early admissions (non-binding) to a favored institution, thereby increasing your admissions odds. The University of Virginia, Harvard, and Princeton will be reinstituting an early admissions program in the fall of 2011 rejoining the club of competitive institutions who use this strategem to attract their strongest candidates. If a student’s standardized test scores are not stellar, keep in mind that over 830 schools no longer require the submission of SAT’s and ACT’s. They include Wake Forest, a highly regarded national university, as well as Middlebury and Bowdoin, numbers 4 and 6 respectfully among national liberal arts college in the US News 2011 rankings.

CONCLUSIONS

Competition is no longer limited to America’s shores and college admission is no exception to this long-term development. Fatalists would throw up their hands in despair. Proactive families, however, will relish the opportunity and take the concrete steps to ensure that the next generation of students is prepared for a fast moving and dynamic international environment in which a quality college education will be at a premium.
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David Dickson is on the college admissions counseling team for Top Test Prep.

Top Test Prep offers private tutor programs and test prep for students applying to top schools. For more information, call (800) 501-7737.

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How to Get off the College Admissions Waitlist: Tips and Strategies

If you’re waitlisted to your top college and still would like some help getting into your top choice college, there is hope. With these four admissions tips, you can improve your chances of getting off the waitlist and gaining admission to college.

(1) Follow-up with the admissions office. As soon as you receive your waitlist letter, immediately follow-up with the admissions office to indicate your interest. Often wait lists are first-come, first-serve on a rolling basis. If you don’t show interest early, you’re unlikely to gain admission.

(2) Create a new admissions portfolio. Yes, the admissions office undoubtedly received your common application with personal statement, but sometimes this isn’t enough. Write 250 to 500 words on one great thing you’ve done or accomplished in school, or an award you won that wasn’t mentioned on the college application.

(3) Arrange an informal interview with a regional college alum. You might not know this, but most elite colleges have alumni interviewers in most parts of the world who are ready, willing and able to meet with applicants. You should see if it’s possible to set-up a meeting with a local or regional representative. Be sure to be as informal as possible here and don’t be too pushy. Kindly request this meeting, and see if the admissions office goes for it.

(4) Consider re-taking the SAT or ACT. There are a couple more SAT and ACT exams open before the fall. If you’re feeling ambitious (which you should!) consider re-taking these exams and submitting your new SAT and/or ACT scores. This initiative will go a long way in proving your interest in that particular college.
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If you need help with college admissions counseling or test prep, don’t hesitate to contact Top Test Prep’s team. We’re open 7 days a week, and you can reach us by calling (800) 501-Prep.

This article was written by college admissions expert, Ross Blankenship.

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By Ross Blankenship
Founder of Top Test Prep
& Education Expert

So you’ve been put on the waitlist for your top school? Well, it might not be the most ideal situation, but I’ll try to help you get off the admissions waitlist with a few easy admissions tips.

Whether you’re on the admissions waitlist for a top college, medical school, graduate school, business school, these steps will help you get accepted.

Tips for Getting Accepted off the Waitlist:

(1) Reply immediately.

When you get your letter (or email) from the admissions office indicating you’ve been placed on the waitlist, don’t wait until the last minute to send in your reply letter. The sooner you indicate your interest in being accepted off of the waitlist, the more likely you’ll get into this school. I would recommend waiting no more than 48 hours. Also consider writing a certified letter, instead of an email, directly to the admissions office. Consider doing something extraordinary like writing a handwritten letter. There’s no harm in trying a different approach.

(2) Notice who wrote your waitlist letter.

With today’s technology, you can do basic research on any University’s admissions officers. If you received a letter from the Dean of Admissions or their assistant, do a little background check to find things out such as their age, how long they’ve been at the school, and what sorts of things they’re interested in at their current school. You’d be surprised about how much information you can find by doing a Google Search or researching social networks such as LinkedIn. Now, take this information and use it to your advantage.
Write a rapid response letter whose tone is as formal as you know that person to be. For example, if you’ve found that the admissions officer is younger, be less formal in your response. Note: this does not mean writing a casual response! Instead, try to be a little less wordy and more to the point. Your salutations and greetings also can be less formal, depending on your audience.

(3) Be specific.

Instead of writing a general letter or calling to say how interested you are in their school because it’s [simply] such a great school –  write instead about how you’ve followed Professor X academic research and how you want to be part of the school so you can contribute to their academic work. The more specific, the better! Don’t be so general in terms of how or why you think the school is a good fit for you. Do simple research to display how much you know about their school and every department in which you are interested.

(4) It’s not always about you!

This applies to pretty much every setting, whether in your letters or correspondences to an admissions office, or in your admissions interviews. Too often students think these two situations are opportunities for you to go on about how smart or great you are personally. Think about turning the table and making it less about you and more about what you can do for their school, college or university.

(5) Re-take that test.

If you’re applying to college and you’re on the admissions office’s waitlist specifically because of your low SAT or ACT scores, re-take the test! If you’re applying to graduate school – perhaps to medical school or some graduate program- and your MCAT score is low or your GRE score is too low, re-take the test. Admissions officers are people too (yes, hard to believe) and they know how stressful tests can be for students. If your scores are outside of their median whether for the SAT, ACT, MCAT, GRE, and so on, taking the test again will show the school how dedicated you are to getting into their program. This doesn’t mean that you have to continue re-taking an exam over and over again, but instead you should give the test one more try. When you get your improved scores, send these scores directly to the admissions office. Also, write a letter to the admissions office indicating you’ve re-taken the exam and that you are still committed to attending their program if accepted.

I hope these tips for getting accepted off the waitlist help you. There’s no need to panic if you’re placed on the waitlist. In fact, you can use it as an opportunity to showcase other talents that didn’t necessarily come out in the first round of admissions.

Ross Blankenship is an education and admissions expert who helps students get into colleges and graduate schools. He is also the Founder and Chairman of Top Test Prep.

Top Test Prep provides admissions counseling, test prep, and private tutoring for students applying to prep schools, colleges and graduate schools.

To find out more about Top Test Prep, go to http://TopTestPrep.com or call (800) 501-Prep.

Tags: Admissions Advice, Admissions Counselor, Admissions Experts, College Counseling, The Waitlist // View Comments