Admissions Blog

Picture this: A lone figure suffering silently under the crushing weight of pre-test stress. Now answer the following question: Who is it? Most people guess that this individual is a scholarly student, taking yet another SAT practice test or reading through an ACT prep book. In many cases, it probably is.

But in this case? It's not a student; it's a parent.

It's nothing new, but the fact that the SAT and ACT tests are stressful for moms and dads, too, is largely ignored. After all, it's their sons and daughters who are taking the actual tests. As it turns out, though, parents' stress levels can have a hugely negative impact on high school students who are already under a ton of pressure to perform academically, in school and in a test setting, and in their personal lives, where they feel pushed by society at large to get into a "good school." Parental stress doesn't motivate, but rather interferes with students' ability to concentrate on things like SAT practice testing or ACT prep.

Last year, millions of students took the SAT and ACT exams, and in 2012 millions more - probably including your own - will do the same. The good news is that you can choose not to become one of the anxious parents whose own pre-test stress rubs off on their children. Children, we'd add, that have enough stress of their own at this point in their lives.

We know you can't turn off all of the conflicting feelings you have about the importance of the SAT and ACT exams, your child entering a new phase of her or his life, and the difficult college admissions process. But you CAN take steps to curb pre-test stress so your child can focus on SAT practice, ACT prep, and schoolwork.

Here are the five tips we share with parents who are experiencing pre-test stress:

1. Put Yourself in Their Shoes: Take a Practice Test - It has probably been a long time since you sat down in front of a standardized test, and today's exams may be a lot different from the ones you remember. Knowing what it is your child is facing can help you support them as they prepare, congratulate them on their successes… and reduce your overall anxiety levels.

2. Focus On One Thing at a Time - The SAT and ACT exams can get all wrapped up in the college admissions process. Yes, these tests can be a big part of applying to different schools, but worrying about whether scores will be high enough for this or that university is not a productive way to spend pre-test time. Focus on supporting your child in the here and now so they can get the best score possible.

3. Don't Turn the Test into the End-All, Be-All - Remember, there are plenty of schools that don't require students to take the SAT or ACT exams as part of applications. A lower than expected score does not mean that college is a no-go. And don't forget that re-testing is an option that a lot of people take!

4. Be the Calm in the Storm - As noted above, your stress can rub off on your student, and so if you are relaxed about the SATs and ACTs, your child will be, too. One way you can foster calm within yourself is to be an active- but not overwhelming - part of your child's test prep by discussing healthy test prep strategies, relaxation techniques, and study tips. Can't let go of your own stress? Then we recommended the classic "fake it till you make it" maneuver.

5. Above All, Listen to Your Child - Your son or daughter will feel more confident on test day if they know they can share their feelings about the SAT or ACT with a parent who will listen without reacting. Your student may have questions about whether they need to take these exams or they may be worrying about choking during the test itself. Offering a non-judgmental listening ear will give you an opportunity to hear these questions and apprehensions, and to address them before test day.

Happy testing!

Don't forget: If you need help with SAT or ACT tutoring, essay editing or college advising, Serge Consulting can help. We can't take all of the stress out of standardized testing or the college admissions process, but we can give students the confidence they need to succeed on their own merits, now and in the future! Email us at info@sergeconsulting.com to learn more.

Hopefully you've started to receive some of your acceptance letters by now! Schools with rolling admission started mailing out acceptances weeks ago, but schools with January and February deadlines should be sending them out soon. If you have applied to a school and not received any communication from them you should call the admissions office to check on your application status. Schools wait until they receive all required materials before they send out admissions decisions, so if you haven't heard anything yet there may be required materials missing (references, fees, etc.). Most colleges and universities automatically send out letters every 2-3 weeks updating you on your admissions status, so even though you're getting lots of mail these days it is really important to open and read everything carefully.

March is also the month when financial aid packages start being mailed. If you applied for financial aid by mid-February, you should receive your aid package by the end of March. Submit your FAFSA asap if you haven't done so yet, because the earlier you apply the sooner you hear about your aid package. Once the package is received, look it over carefully to determine what your net cost will be. Don't forget- grant money is money you do not need to pay back and loan money is money you do need to pay back. It's always best to look at your bottom line cost, and compare grants vs. loans, before deciding which school is the best financial option for you.

Now that the weather is starting to get a little nicer, you may want to think about making a visit to your top 3-5 schools. Even if you may have toured them before, it's a good idea to go a second time. During the application process there's so much going on it's easy for schools to blend together. Chances are if you know what you want to major in and the size school that you want to attend, they all look very similar. Sign up to take another campus tour, or just go walk around yourself. Where ever you decide to go needs to have more than just your major- it also needs to be a place you can call home for the next 4-5 years.

Hopefully at this point in the year you have submitted all your college applications (or are almost done submitting them) so that you can move on to completing your FAFSA. FAFSA stands for Free Application for Federal Student Aid and it is an online form that you fill out with your guardian(s) and send to the institutions you are applying to. Visit http://www.fafsa.ed.gov for more information, and beware of scams! If you type "FAFSA" into a search engine you will get several different websites, and some charge you a fee. Make sure the website you use has the .ed.gov at the end.

Colleges use the FAFSA to estimate your "EFC," or estimated family contribution. The estimated family contribution tells the school what you can afford to annually pay towards your education. Once they know how much you can afford, they can award federal grants and loans as well as internal grants and scholarships to assist with the "gap," which is the difference between what you can afford to pay and what the college actually costs. This year, you will fill out the FAFSA and send it to every school that you are applying to. For your remaining college years you will need to fill it out every year, but will only need to send it to the school you are attending.

To complete the FAFSA your taxes must be completed, so make sure to file them as early as possible. The FAFSA can take a while to fill out, so try and clear some free time on a weekend to sit and take care of it all at once. Many colleges and universities host "FAFSA weekends," and they are happy to assist you in filling out the form for free. Some schools even permit you to bring in your tax information and they will fill out the entire form with you. Additionally, some high schools host a FAFSA weekend in February (the weekend before the Superbowl so there's no game on and no excuses not to attend). Check with your guidance counselor to see if your school is a host, or to find a school near you that is.

The earlier you submit the FAFSA the better, as many schools award aid on a first come first serve basis. If you submit your FAFSA in February, you should receive your financial aid package by the end of March. The financial aid award will allow you to make an apples to apples cost comparison for all the schools you wish to attend. Because each school has a different price tag, using the bottom line price, or "net cost," you receive with your financial aid package is the best plan to determine which school is a reasonable cost efficient option for you.

Once you submit your FAFSA, the website will also provide you with statistics on the schools you are sending it to. Schools are required by law to provide "retention statistics," which tells the percentage of students that return after their first year and the percentage of students that stay for all 4 years of their education. The national average for freshman to senior year retention is in the mid-60s, so if the schools you are applying to fall below that it is always a good idea to call the school to see if they can explain why their number may be lower.

As you know, colleges ask for a lot more then just high school transcripts when you apply for admission. For the most part, they will all tell you that they look at each student as a whole rather then make decisions based on just one aspect of a high school career- and that's true. While your GPA will usually weigh most heavily in the admissions decision you receive things like test scores, essays, references, and involvement help to balance you out or fill in any gaps that may show in your transcripts.

Students have the option of taking either the SAT or ACT exam, and it is up to you which one you take. The SAT tends to be more popular in the New England states, while the
ACT is more popular elsewhere. Additionally, students with attention disorders (ADD and ADHD) often score higher on the ACT because of the structure of the exam and the breaks that are allowed between sections. Test scores should be sent directly to the institutions you are applying to, as official results are required. Even if your high school posts your test results on your transcript, most schools will still want to receive an official score sheet directly from Collegeboard.

When evaluating test scores, the majority of schools will create a "superscore." This means they will take the highest scores from each section of the exam and combine them to make the highest possible total score. It is always recommended that you send each school the results from every exam you take, even if you did poorly. In addition to making a superscore, schools like to see that even if your test scores are low you put in the effort and took the exam more then once. In general, most admissions counselors agree that the "score choice" option (only sending the scores you want to each school) is not an option worth spending money on, because most schools are just going to take the highest results anyway.

Many schools are now becoming test optional, which means you can take either the SAT or ACT or you can submit an essay. For students with test anxiety, a tradition of low test scores, or financial restrictions, using the option to submit an essay over a test score is perfectly fine. However, note that without test scores the only academics a school has to judge you on is your GPA- if your GPA is on the low side, and you opt out of taking the SAT or ACT as well you should call your admissions counselor and thoroughly explain your reasons. Additionally, if you choose to write an essay make sure it has been proofread either by an admissions counselor or college advisor to make sure it reflects your ability accurately and correctly.

Each school you apply to will consider your GPA (grade point average) a different way, so it is important to ask all of them what their method is. Some schools will accept your GPA as it is, but most will recalculate it to their own scale. The reason schools recalculate GPA's is so that they are evaluating every student on an even plane.

High schools throughout the country have different methods of calculating grade point averages for their students. Some use a 0-100 scale, some use a 4.0 scale, some even use a 7.0 scale. Colleges recalculate GPA's as a way of making sure each student they consider is being considered on the playing field. Admissions counselors review thousands of applications, so the more mainstream they can be the better.

There are two main ways GPA's are recalculated: A weighted recalculated GPA means that Honors and AP courses will carry more credit then a regular College Prep level course. An un-weighted, or non-weighted, recalculated GPA means that all courses carry the same weight. Overall, most schools want each of their students to be on a 4.0 GPA scale that consists only of college prep level courses.

When recalculating GPA's most schools will also remove coursework they do not feel is offered at the college prep level or higher, or courses that do not carry weight at their own institution. Usually classes like physical education, nutrition, and computer applications will be removed. Depending on the institution, courses such as chorus, orchestra, art, and band will be removed as well. In general, schools usually only accept credit for courses they themselves offer. So, for example, a small private liberal arts institution may not use courses such as Engineering when recalculating a GPA because they do not offer that program and have no way of telling if your high school offers it at a college prep level or higher.

Finding out how the schools you are interested in look at your GPA is important because it allows you to know whether or not you are a viable candidate for admission. If you're scraping by because of "A" grades in gym, cooking, and ceramics your GPA may be drastically reduced when it is redone. Many schools have information on what classes they accept on their website, but if they don't feel free to call and ask.

There are three main ways to apply to a college: the common application, an institution specific online application, and a paper application. Always ask the schools you are applying to if they accept the common application and if they have a preference for which application type you choose. Many schools upload applications to their own application system, so the method doesn’t matter, but it’s best to check just in case.

The common application is used by over 400 schools throughout the country. It requires users to create a log in name and password and is free to use. The application is divided in to sections and you have the ability to save and go back and fill it out in whatever order you prefer. This application also permits your guidance office to upload transcripts, test scores, and recommendations so that everything is stored in one place. Some schools require you to submit a supplement if you choose to use the common application instead of their institution specific app, so make sure to double check on whether or not you will need to do this.

Institution specific online applications are usually set up very similarly to the common application, but have different and more questions. Most schools that have their own online application also have a feature that allows you to log in at any time to check on your application status. This gives you the ability to know what you still need to send in to complete your application without having to make a call or wait for a letter.

Paper applications are slowly becoming more obsolete, as most students prefer to use an online form and most schools are conscious about the amount of materials they print. If you do prefer to use a paper application you can request the institution mail you one or download one off of the “apply” section on their website.

Once your application is received, no matter what the type, it is entered into the school’s computer system and a letter will be automatically mailed to you. Schools tend to send application updates via postal mail every 2-3 weeks until the application is complete. Once an application is complete, meaning all required materials have arrived, your file will go to a designated Admissions Counselor to have a decision made. Schools with rolling admission decisions have a 4-6 week turnaround time for reviewing completed applications, depending on the time of year. Schools with application deadlines will have their own varied timeline for mailing decisions.

For any school, the earlier you apply and start to send in materials the better. It is always best to be done with applications by January 1 ^st so that you can switch gears into financial aid. Applying to schools at the same time you are applying for financial aid is overwhelming and confusing, so separating the processes will allow you more leeway and decision times. A good rule of thumb is to piggy back your admission with important dates and holidays: apply between Thanksgiving and New Years, fill our your FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) between New Years and Valentine’s Day.

How to review college recruitment materials:

Colleges recruit students in a variety of ways with an abundance of different materials. At college fairs you’ll pick up booklets from their tables, if you fill out a car or an online form you’ll receive packages in the mail, and emails are sent weekly with updates and information. But how do you sort through it all and figure out what you really need to know?

Every school is going to print materials that show smiling students reading on a lawn, hanging out in a dorm room, or watching a sporting event. The campus will be sunny, spotless, and inviting. Take a closer look at these pictures though, most schools update their photos every 2-3 years: Is there a lot of open space or are buildings very close together? Do dorm pictures show just part of a room or the entire quarters? What types of activities are the students performing? Is there an aerial view of campus? Picking up on the little details gives you a good idea of the layout of the campus, whether it is suburban or urban, what type of clubs and activities are offered, and how updated the buildings are.

Materials you pick up off a table at a fair and materials that are mailed to you will most likely contain a list of majors, ways to visit, and general statistics on the school. Internally, we call the most commonly listed information “fast facts” and they include campus size, population size, faculty to student ratio, and male to female ratio. This is information you need to know to make an informed decision on which school is the best fit for you.

When making a college decision it is important not only to find a school that offers the major you want, but also a school that is the size you are looking for and in a location you like. When deciding what materials to keep and what you can throw away, sort the facts into lists or a spreadsheet to help make it less overwhelming and easier to compare. Make a columned comparison sheet that includes information on location, population, average class size, cost, and any other information you think is important, for your top 3-5 schools.

Over the past few years many colleges and universities have started email and phone campaigns in an effort to recruit students and invite families to visit their campus. If you are receiving emails from a school they will most likely contain general information on majors, activities, and involvement- things that relate specifically to the campus community and not to the admissions process. If you receive a phone call from a school, it is generally to check in on any paperwork you may not have submitted yet or to invite you to an upcoming event. If either of these methods feel intrusive it is perfectly fine to ask the school not to contact you in that manor again, it doesn’t mean you aren’t interested it just means you wish to conduct your college search on your own.

All in all, it is important to browse through everything you receive. After a while all of the schools start to blend together and having materials to assist in sorting out the differences is very helpful. Keep in mind you can always call schools to ask you be added to or taken off their mailing list, and they’ll be happy to answer any additional questions you have.

Colleges and universities offer several different types of admission: rolling, early decision, and early action. Once you’ve narrowed down your college search it is important to contact each school to find out what their admission deadlines are, if there are any majors that tend to cap early, and the earliest acceptable time to apply. Being mindful of these deadlines is important so you do not miss the opportunity to attend a school you’re interested in, so it may be helpful to put together a calendar of dates and deadlines for applications, financial aid, and additional paperwork.

Schools that practice a rolling admission policy offer admission at all points throughout the year. Generally, you can apply as soon as your first quarter senior year grades are available (around Thanksgiving time) and you will receive an admissions decision within 4-6 weeks of completing your application. Students are admitted right up until the day classes begin, permitting there is still space available. This policy prevents students from being compared to one another during the admission process, so the earlier you apply the better because if a stronger student comes along you already have your admission decision and it is not retractable unless your final grades alter drastically. Basically, rolling admission means acceptance is offered until programs fill up, or cap. Popular majors like nursing, education, business, and communication fill up quickly so even though technically you can apply at any time it is best to apply early to ensure a spot in the major you’ve selected.

Early action decisions are non-binding admissions decisions. Most schools that practice early action have deadlines between November 1'st and January 1'st and permit students to wait until late spring before deciding if they want to attend or not. This non-binding decision policy allows you to apply to other schools that have either early action or rolling admission practices.

Early decision admission policies are for students who have one school in mind that they are positive they will attend if accepted. Early decisions are binding, meaning if you are admitted you must withdraw all of your other college applications and attend that school. Schools that practice this policy usually have exceptions in place that allow a student to retract their application if financial aid is not adequate or an emergency presents itself, so make sure you contact any school you are applying to with this policy to see what their exceptions are.

Many students believe that they have a better chance of being admitted if they apply early action or early decision, and that is not often the case. Most schools with these policies have much more selective GPA and SAT/ACT requirements for students that apply early, but then permit students to enter their rolling application pool if they are not accepted early.

So, if at this point in time you’ve selected your top schools it is appropriate to start looking into their deadlines and getting applications in. Start filling out the common application if you are using it, or downloading web applications for school that provide one. Finalize your essay and double check with your references that they are on the ball and getting things done. Call your schools to find out who your admissions counselor will be, let them know your application materials are on the way and ask them any remaining questions you may have!

Right now, colleges and universities are in the middle of what they call “travel season,” which means there are dozens of representatives in and about your town attending mini fairs, college nights, and information sessions. Colleges and universities travel to high schools from mid-September until Thanksgiving recruiting seniors for their fall semester and Juniors for the following year. This is a great chance to see what types of schools are out there, and what types of schools are best suited for you. Some schools send admission counselors to college events and others send alumni, but no matter what the case the person you speak with will be able to provide valuable information and advice on the institution they represent.

Mini fairs are fairs your high school provides during school hours that showcase about 20 colleges/universities at a time, college nights are fairs your school offers in the evening that showcases anywhere from 20 to 200 college/universities depending on your schools’ needs, and information sessions occur when one college/university at a time visits your guidance office to provide information. You are not expected to be able to pick out your number one school at any of these events, but rather to browse what’s out there and start to narrow down your choices.

During mini fairs and college nights you will only be able to get about 5 minutes of face time with the admissions representative. Chances are, the representative will be meeting hundreds (maybe thousands) of students at college fairs, so while a good first impression is always important this is not a high pressure situation. Make sure you listen to the information they provide you when you approach their table and ask any questions you may have.

If your high school allows information sessions you will be given the opportunity to meet with college representatives throughout the fall semester. Information sessions generally last about 30-45 minutes and vary from school to school. You may end up being the only person who signs up to speak with the rep, or there may be a dozen other students at your school interested in attending the same place as you. The job of the representative you speak with at any event is to answer any and all questions you have, so don’t be shy!

Here are some recommendations on what to ask:

- Size of the school and weekend population

- Location of the school and environment of the setting (rural, suburban, urban, etc)

- Types of majors offered

- Retention rate (how many students stay from freshman to sophomore year)

- What clubs/activities/sports are available

Make sure to take a brochure from each school’s table, and feel free to make notes on the brochures so you remember the information. Sometimes fairs can get extremely overwhelming- each representative is going to tell you the program you want is great, everyone loves it there, it’s definitely the place for you- so taking brochures home is a good way to make sure you can sit down later and sort through everything without accidentally forgetting about a school.

Not every high school provides these types of events for students, so if your high school does not make sure to stop by your guidance office and see what assistance they can provide. Most guidance offices, whether they offer fairs or not, have an area with college brochures, viewbooks, and catalogs. Additionally, www.collegeboard.com provides a search engine of colleges and universities that allows you to enter criteria like size, location, and major and see what schools across the country meet what you’re looking for.

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