News

Editorial Response to The Providence Journal article,
Caught in the College Crowd by Jennifer D. Jordan

Jennifer Jordan’s article Caught in the College Crowd provided an excellent reality check of this year’s college admission process. Sadly, students like Emily Arthur and Gerron Scott named in the article have lots of company as many high school seniors received similar letters from colleges announcing that they were not being offered admission status. Ms. Jordan cites the growing number of students applying to colleges and the fact that students are applying to more schools than ever before as causes for these disappointing letters. College administrators are facing unprecedented demand. Despite the growing number of qualified applicants, college admission personnel have challenges of their own as they try to accurately predict which students have true interest in attending their school.

Did you know? As more and more students apply to more and more colleges, there has been a growing trend for students, once accepted, to agree to admission offers for several schools; thus they place multiple deposits reserving their place at two or more schools. They do this as they wait to hear from a first choice school in which they may have been waitlisted or simply as they wait to finalize a decision. Late last summer, thousands of students nationally “didn’t show” for the first day of class and orientation because they had opted to attend another school instead. College officials were left scrambling as they turned to wait lists to fill their classes. As a result, this year, many colleges chose to adopt a new tactic towards managing enrollment. As admission folk tried to best predict student interest, they wait listed more students than ever before. For this reason, students like Emily and Garron were the recipients of unexpectedly disappointing news and some were left in limbo. Not only were they part of the bubble describing the largest application boom, they were also caught in a dynamic of changing admission strategies.

Ms. Jordan focused on an important aspect of this process that requires reiteration: students need to know that the school they ultimately attend most often is the right fit anyway. Students and parents need to remain open minded. Don’t get caught up thinking that a school listed on a national Top 25 list is the only school worth attending. You will be surprised learning that there are many gems out their waiting to be discovered.

For those students and families new to the college process, a word of advice: start early and remain calm. What we are seeing is that people are waiting too long to prepare for college and are often caught off guard when they learn their admissions outcome. You can't wait to start thinking about college until you are a junior or senior in high school. It is important to have a long term plan in place in order to get there.

It’s important that you do your homework upfront before even visiting any college campus. As college selection becomes increasingly more competitive, students must be aware that nothing is assured. However, as a student you can “train” for college. First, it is essential that you check a college’s accepted students’ profile. Next, evaluate your own transcript and see how your experiences match the expectations the college typically sets.

Do an honest assessment of your own academic standing. Are there any gaps that need to be addressed? To this day, many students construct schedules with uneven academic content, particularly in the 12th grade.  According to author David T. Conley, the academic choices high school students make as freshmen or sophomores often constrain their college options. Knowing what will be required for college is important; by taking the right courses and examinations from the beginning of high school, your child may avoid admission problems later on. We all know that standardized test scores, GPA, and rank are all important but what do they really mean to a college admissions committee? If you are unsure, ask your guidance counselor or someone else for help.

Finally, identify a core list of schools that satisfy your academic, social, and financial needs. However, keep it relatively short and simple. Once you do that, go out there and enjoy the search. Yes, this year and next may be uncommon and uncertain; but keep in mind they call it admissions for a reason. Be open to possibilities. With proper planning, hopefully you won’t get caught in the crowd.

Maureen Gillick is the founder of Project-Life, an independent educational consulting firm focused on helping students and families prepare for college. She works in collaboration with Sylvan Learning Center providing monthly educational seminars known as Navigating the Road to College to the local community. For more information about Project-Life please contact Maureen at 860-535-1124. If you would like to attend an informational seminar, contact Lois Rice at Sylvan at 401-782-3663. Sylvan Learning Center is located at 50 S. County Commons Way, Wakefield, RI  02879. www.sylvan1.com