College admissions in the United States refers to the process of applying for entrance to institutions of higher education for undergraduate study at one of the nation's 2,675 schools. Generally, the college search begins in the student's eleventh grade of high school with most activity taking place during the twelfth grade, although students at top high schools often begin the process during their tenth grade or earlier. In addition, there are considerable numbers of students who transfer from one college to another, as well as adults older than high school age who apply to college.
Video College admissions in the United States
Overview
Millions of high school students apply to college each year. While the number of graduates from high school peaked temporarily at 3.3 million in 2008, then to 3.4 million in 2014, numbers have been forecast to decline through 2015 and then rebound thereafter. Still, the number of students enrolled in college is expected to increase through 2020 when there will be approximately 23 million students in college. About a quarter of twelfth graders apply to seven or more schools, paying an average of $40 per application. Fewer than half of all students entering college graduate in four years and slightly over half graduate from college during their lifetimes.
The application process takes considerable time and planning since it involves multiple steps, with choices to be made and deadlines to be met. Students file separate applications to each school, although the Common Application expedites the process in many instances. Most undergraduate institutions admit students to the entire college and not to a particular department or major, unlike many European universities and American graduate schools, although some undergraduate programs such as architecture or engineering may require a separate application at some universities. As a general rule, applying to two-year county and community colleges is much easier than to a four-year school, often requiring only a high school transcript or minimum test score.
New developments in college admissions include increased numbers of applications, increased interest by students in foreign countries in applying to American universities, more students applying by an early method, applications submitted by Internet-based methods including the Common Application, increased use of consultants, guidebooks, and rankings, and increased use by colleges of waitlists. One estimate was that 80 percent of applications were submitted online in 2009.
Maps College admissions in the United States
Participants
Students
Applying to colleges can be stressful. The outcome of the admission process may affect a student's future career trajectory considerably. Entrance into top colleges is increasingly competitive, and many students feel pressure during their high school years.
Private and affluent public primary education, test-prep courses, 'enrichment' programmes, volunteer service projects, international travel, music lessons, sports activities - all the high-cost building blocks of the perfect college application - put crushing pressure on the upper middle class and their offspring.
Parents
The college applications process can be stressful for parents of teenagers, according to journalist Andrew Ferguson, since it exposes "our vanities, our social ambitions and class insecurities, and most profoundly our love and hopes for our children".
High school counselors
Some high schools have one or more teachers experienced in offering counseling to college-bound eleventh and twelfth graders. They usually work in conjunction with the guidance department who assist students in planning their high school academic path. Counselors handle many students and schools and generally do not have a role of overseeing or managing a student's college applications. Advisors recommend that students get to know their school counselor. Counselors do not complete interviews, write essays, or arrange college visits. Parents often meet with the school counselor during the eleventh grade. Most counselors have responsibility for helping many students and, as a result, it is difficult for them to provide individual help to a particular student; one estimate was that the average ratio for all high schools of counselors to students was 460 to 1. Only about a quarter of public high schools have a counselor devoted to college counseling issues full-time, while almost three quarters of private schools have a dedicated college counselor. A report suggested that private school counselors have substantially more contact with university admissions staff than public school counselors.
Consultants
Fee-based consultants, some available entirely online, can be hired to help a student gain admission to the so-called right schools, although there are some free programs to help underprivileged youth learn how to fill out applications, write essays, get ready for tests, and work on interviews. Consultants can help a student select schools to apply to, counsel them on test taking strategies, review scores, help with essay preparation (but not writing), review applications, conduct mock interviews, provide logistical planning, and collaborate with others such as athletic coaches. Consultants try to keep a low profile; however, one admissions dean explained that she can "sniff out when there has been some adult involved in the process". Assistance by consultants or other adults can go to extremes, particularly with hard-to-check variables such as the college essays; according to one view, plagiarism on admissions essays has been a "serious problem", particularly on applications to private universities and colleges. There is the possibility that hiring a professional admissions consultant can make an application appear artificial; for example, admissions personnel may suspect adult coaching when one part of an application is polished, while other parts aren't, such as varying quality regarding writing samples. Another risk in hiring a consultant, which can happen if parents become too involved in the process, is what Mamlet and VanDeVelde term overpackaging: the applicant appears so smooth and perfect that admissions officers suspect the person is not real but a marketing creation. Generally, when hiring a college admissions counselor, parents and students try to understand the counselor's philosophy, learn what services are provided, and whether any help will be offered regarding advice about financial aid or scholarships. Mamlet and VanDeVelde suggest that it is improper for an admissions counselor to tamper with a student's "authentic self". According to their view, ideal counselors have experience with college admissions, meet regularly with college admissions officers, visit campuses regularly, and belong to professional affiliations.
College admissions staff
A typical admission staff at a college includes a dean or vice president for admission or enrollment management, middle-level managers or assistant directors, admission officers, and administrative support staff. The chief enrollment management officer is sometimes the highest-paid position in the department, earning $121,000 on average in 2010, while admissions officers average only $35,000, according to one estimate. Admissions officers tend to be in the 30-to-40 age demographic. They are chosen for their experience in admissions, aptitude for statistics and data analysis, experience in administration and marketing and public relations. They serve dual roles as counselors and recruiters, and do not see themselves as marketers or salespeople, according to one view. They are evaluated on how well they "represent their college, manage their office, recruit staff members, and work with other administrators". Michele Hernandez suggested there were basically two types of officers: a first group of personable, sharp, people-oriented go-getter types who were often recent college grads; a second group was somewhat out-of-touch "lifers" who often did not graduate from a highly selective college. Officers are generally paid an annual salary, although there have been reports of some recruiters paid on the basis of how many students they bring to a college, such as recruiters working abroad to recruit foreign students to U.S. universities.
Many colleges and universities work hard to market themselves, trying to attract the best students and maintain a reputation for academic quality. Colleges spent an average of $585 to recruit each applicant during the 2010 year. There are efforts to make increased use of social media sites such as Facebook to promote their colleges. Marketing brochures and other promotional mailings often arrive daily in the hope of persuading high school students to apply to a college. According to Joanne Levy-Prewitt, colleges send "view books" not because they intend to admit them, but "because they want multitudes of students to apply" to improve the college's selectivity ranking and to make sure that they have as many well-qualified applicants as possible from whom to choose the strongest class. Colleges get access to names and addresses after students give permission to them after taking the PSAT or SAT exams.
Information sources
US News compiles a directory of colleges and universities and has made a ranking of them, although the rankings are controversial, some colleges refuse to cooperate, and high school guidance counselors sometimes have major problems with the rankings. Other sources rank colleges according to various measures, sell guidebooks, and use their rankings as an entry into college admissions consulting services. College Board launched a website called BigFuture in 2012 with tools to help the admissions process. There are services to help expedite the college admissions process, including a web-based service that sells copies of applications that gained the applicant admission to Ivy League colleges.
Test preparation firms
Companies such as the College Board have offered services to help students prepare for their tests and provide other services, usually web-based, to help students compare schools. Some firms work with schools to provide test preparation advisors who teach students how to take the SAT and ACT entrance exams.
Planning
Timing
The admissions process usually begins during a student's eleventh grade when a student meets with a guidance counselor, selects some colleges, and perhaps visits a few campuses. The summer before twelfth grade is a time when many students finalize application plans and perhaps begin writing essays. Further, they decide whether to apply by early or regular decision. International students may need to take tests showing English-language proficiency such as the TOEFL, IELTS, or PTE Academic. The twelfth grade is when applications are submitted. The CSS can be submitted by October first of the student's twelfth grade, while the FAFSA becomes available on the web after January first.
Selection of colleges
Rankings
There are several college and university rankings guides published, and they include the U.S. News and World Report, Business Insider, Money Magazine, The Washington Monthly's "College Rankings" issue, and Forbes "America's Top Colleges" ranking, as well as a variety of other groups and organizations that publish rankings based on different factors and using different methodology. For a more comprehensive and detailed look at U.S. university rankings, with top-ranked schools identified, see Rankings of universities in the United States.
Rankings have been the subject of much criticism. Since much of the data is provided by colleges themselves, there are opportunities for schools to manipulate the rankings to enhance prestige. There have been instances in which school officials deliberately misreported statistics, such as an admissions dean at Claremont McKenna who falsified average SAT statistics, and a report that Emory University falsely reported student data for "more than a decade," as well as reports of false data from the United States Naval Academy and Baylor University. Writer Andrew Ferguson noted considerable hypocrisy surrounding rankings: some colleges pretend to loathe the guidebooks that rank them, yet if they get a good write-up, they "wave it around like a bride's garter belt." Lynn O'Shaughnessy criticized the "mindless pursuit of better numbers" by colleges to boost their college rankings as destructive and wrote that families place too much emphasis on the rankings as a way to select colleges. Further, she criticized the US News rankings for failing to take a college's affordability into account or factor in the average student indebtedness after college as well as failing to measure how well colleges actually educated their students. She noted how the US News algorithm "favors schools that spurn more students." College admissions counselors criticized rankings as misleading, and criticized the rankings inputs of peer assessments, student selectivity and alumni giving as being poor predictors of a college's overall quality. The rankings title "America's Best Colleges", prompted counselors to ask "best for whom"?
In 2007, members of the Annapolis Group discussed a letter to college presidents asking them not to participate in the US News "reputation survey". A majority of the approximately 80 presidents at the meeting agreed not to participate, although the statements were not binding. Members pledged to develop alternative web-based information formats in conjunction with several collegiate associations. US News responded that their peer assessment survey helps them measure a college's "intangibles" such as the ability of a college's reputation to help a graduate win a first job or entrance into graduate school. An article by Nicholas Thompson in Washington Monthly criticized the U.S. News rankings as "confirming the prejudices of the meritocracy" by tuning their statistical algorithms to entrench the reputations of a handful of schools, while failing to measure how much students learn. Thompson described the algorithms as being "opaque enough that no one outside the magazine can figure out exactly how they work, yet clear enough to imply legitimacy."
Choosing schools by selectivity
Advisors typically ask students to begin to see potential colleges in terms of four types:
- Reach schools provide a slim chance of acceptance, such as a 5% or slimmer chance.
- Possibles (or high matches) have greater chance of rejection than acceptance.
- Probables (or low matches) have greater chance of acceptance than rejection.
- Solid or safety schools seldom reject candidates with similar academic credentials. High school counselors recommend that a safety school be one that a student would like to attend if rejected everywhere else. Mark Kantrowitz advised having at least one financial aid safety school that is affordable even without financial aid. Another classification is "unlikelies" (5% chance of acceptance), "reach schools" (25% chance), "possibles" (50% chance), and "likelies" (80% chance).
Typically counselors will suggest an applicant apply to a mix of the different types of schools, usually having at least one safety school, but the numbers of the others are up to students and families. Andover's counseling director recommends that a student apply to a minimum of two "solid" schools and two "probable" schools. Many high schools subscribe to an online service called Naviance, which, among other things, can help a student gauge the likelihood of admission to a particular college. It is based on a student's grades and test scores in comparison to the admissions results from students from previous years applying to that particular college (see diagram). Naviance uses a scattergram to graphically illustrate the chances for a student from a particular high school being admitted into a particular college or university. In addition, counselors can help a student consider different types of colleges, such as liberal arts colleges, research universities, and specialty schools. A report in Time magazine in 2013 suggested that it was almost impossible for poor students to gain admission to elite universities, and that the percentage of students at 28 elite colleges coming from less affluent households was relatively constant at around 10% from 2001 to 2009, based on a study that included all eight Ivy League schools. The difficulty of admissions to elite universities has sometimes prompted accusations:
The admissions system of the so-called best schools is rigged against you. If you are a middle-class youth or minority from poor circumstances, you have little chance of getting in to one of those schools. Indeed, the system exists not to provide social mobility but to prevent it and to perpetuate the prevailing social order.
Return on investment
Former US Education Secretary William Bennett suggested college should be seen as a long-term purchase with the return on investment (ROI) being the future earnings potential of a graduate. Schools have been compared financially by examining average costs, student debt, and lifelong earnings, to yield an effective average ROI. Bennett suggested that only 150 out of the nation's 3500 colleges provided positive returns.
Better fit or prestige
Prestige of colleges correlates with age, such that the oldest east-coast schools tend to have accumulated the most prestige by virtue of their longevity. There is widespread consensus that the fit between a student and a school is an important factor. Several reports suggest that "fit should trump prestige every single time," and that it is better for a school to match a student in terms of social, cultural, and academic qualities and not be chosen simply because of a school's prestige. Others see college admissions as essentially a choice between "price and prestige". Elite colleges have been compared to designer labels, a valuable credential in the job market, and an entryway into top graduate schools. Some advisors specialize in helping students find a good fit--a suitable list of colleges--which helps students in the long run. They help students to explore their values and needs, and provide counseling to help both students and parents find a college or university program that helps students meet long-term goals. Questions include thinking about life goals, which activities a person likes best, and what style of learning works best for the student. Evaluating personal preferences is important and can take time. One advisor suggests it is important for a student to think through what is best, and choose on this basis, and "do not listen to your friends" since they have different needs and wants. "One of the worst ways to make a decision about where to go to college is to follow a friend because he or she is having a good time at that school," wrote one advisor. Since "barely half" of students entering college as first-year students ever graduate from college later in their lives, getting the right fit is important for parents and students to avoid wasting money. What is a good fit:
The college that fits you best is one that will: (1) Offer a program of study to match your interests and needs (2) Provide a style of instruction to match the way you like to learn (3) Provide a level of academic rigor to match your aptitude and preparation (4) Offer a community that feels like home to you and (5) Value you for what you do well.
A private admissions counselor elaborates:
A school has to fit - academically, socially, and economically ... Ask whether a college feels right ... rather than is it best ...
One admissions dean likens "fit" to a friendship:
I draw the analogy of friends to explain why fit is so important in considering a college. You like your good friends for some reason. It may not be an objective reason. It's often subjective. There's some sense of compatibility, a kind of intuition, a match, a common sense of values, what you like to do, how you think - those are the things that really bind people together. It's similar with college. You don't want to spend four years with a college who isn't really your friend.
In addition, counselors can help less academically astute students find good colleges to help them pursue careers, and can point out colleges that are "gems" but relatively unknown. In some cases, choosing a college in a different part of the country can improve chances for admission, particularly if the college is seeking "geographical diversity." One study suggests that the overall prestige of a person's college is less important, overall, in predicting how they would fare in later life, and that personal characteristics, such as aptitude, are more important.
Costs
Sticker versus net price
The general pattern is that most colleges and universities, particularly private ones, have an artificially high and unreliable sticker price while charging most students, by awarding grant and scholarship money, a "discounted price" that varies considerably. Writer Lynn O'Shaughnessy in US News compared college prices with "airline tickets" since "everybody pays a different fare". Another report agreed:
Sticker price is the full price colleges list in their brochures and on their websites. Net price is the price students actually pay. Net price accounts for the fact that many students receive grants or scholarships. So it can be considerably lower than sticker price.
Discounting began in the 1970s and was dramatically expanded in the 1990s, according to one report. Discrepancy between sticker and average net prices can vary substantially. Estimates vary, but show a consistent pattern of sticker prices being much greater than real costs, sometimes more than double, sometimes only one and a half times as high. Estimates are that 88% or 67% get some form of discount. One estimate in 2015 was that at private nonprofit four-year colleges, the average first-year student pays 48% less than the sticker price. Generally, the sticker-to-net price discrepancy is greater at private colleges than public universities. For example, in 2011-2012, the average sticker price for tuition, fees and living expenses at private colleges, was $38,590 while the average actual cost was $23,060; at public colleges, the average sticker price was $17,130 and the average actual cost was $11,380. Another estimate was that the average full-time undergraduate gets $6,500 in grant aid along with $1,000 in tax-based aid to offset tuition and fees. There is widespread consensus that the most cost-effective college option is community colleges, which charge on average only $3,000 for full-time tuition.
Colleges use high sticker prices because it allows them wide latitude in how to use funds to attract the best students, as well as entice students with special skills or increase its overall racial or ethnic diversity. The most sought-after students can be enticed by high discounts while marginal students can be charged full freight. Further, the high sticker price is a marketing tool to suggest the overall worth of a college education, along the lines of encouraging people to think that "schools that cost more must provide a better education." A report by the Pew Research Center found that while there was growing concern about escalating college prices, most Americans believed that their personal investment in higher education was sound. But discounting adds complexity to decision-making, deterring some students from applying in some instances based on a false sense of unaffordability. In recent years, there has been attention to the problem of bright students from low-income backgrounds not applying to top colleges, and attending less challenging colleges instead or skipping college entirely; this phenomenon has been called undermatching in the sense that these students are not properly paired or "matched" with academically challenging colleges; there have been efforts at some colleges such as Williams to actively seek out bright low-income students. According to NBC reporter Nona Willis-Aronowitz, the financial makeup of the student body at elite colleges tends to be mostly affluent students, with some low-income students if the college actively seeks out bright low-income applicants, but few students from middle-class backgrounds. As a result, middle-class applicants are increasingly faced with a tough choice: to either attend an elite school, paying close to the sticker price, and graduate with substantial debt, or to attend a publicly supported state school with less debt; Aronowitz described this as the "middle class squeeze". In 2015, however, there were several instances of private colleges reducing their tuition by more than 40%.
Net price calculators
In the fall of 2011, colleges were required by federal law to post a net price calculator on their websites to give prospective students and families a rough estimate of likely college costs for their particular institution, and to "demystify pricing." A student or family could go online, find the calculator at a college's website, and enter the required financial and academic information, and the calculator should tell them an estimate of the likely cost of attending that college. The first online calculators were started by Williams College. The online calculators look at financial need and academic merit to try to estimate the likely discounted price offered to a particular student from a particular college, using information including details from tax returns, household income, grade point averages and test scores. Schools vary in terms of their pricing formulas; some consider home equity as a factor while others disregard it. Lynn O'Shaughnessy recommends that families shopping for colleges go to a college's website and use the net price calculator to get a personalized estimate of cost.
There are numerous potential problems with the calculators. Some are difficult to find on a college's website; others require specific financial numbers, possibly leading to errors by parents or students; some are difficult to understand and use; some may be manipulated by schools to increase applications or to make it seem as if a college is "more affordable" than it is. Accuracy of calculator estimates may vary considerably from college to college. Ultimately aid decisions will not be made by calculators, but by humans in the admissions offices.
Types of financial aid
- Need-based aid is offered according to the financial need of a student. Generally colleges at the "top of the pecking order" dispense aid solely in terms of need using "fairly predictable formulas", according to one source. The Chronicle of Higher Education reported that elite colleges had made little progress in helping poor students get need-based aid, and that less than 15% of undergraduates at the nation's 50 wealthiest colleges received Pell Grants in 2008-2009, which are offered on the basis of need to promising yet less affluent students. According to one source, about 30 elite universities have "coffers deep enough to meet all student need" and consequently only offer need-based aid.
- Merit-based aid is scholarships and grants awarded to top academic performers or others with special talents. One report suggested that academic scholarships tended to be few, and were usually awarded by the admissions office and are "highly competitive". Another report suggested that most colleges use merit scholarships, based on high scores or grades or other accomplishments, to lure students away from a competing college.
One view is that most colleges award aid using a mix of both. Further, student loans can lessen the immediate difficulty of large tuition bills but can saddle a student with debt after graduation; in contrast, grants and scholarships do not have to be paid back.
According to Lynn O'Shaughnessy, schools trying to climb the prestige ladder use merit-based scholarships to attract top students to boost their rankings in the US News guidebook. She elaborated that as a school's "stock" rises, high-performing students start attending in greater numbers, and consequently the college can "ratchet back on the merit aid to wealthy students" and shift funds towards "need-based financial aid". Elite schools such as the Ivies don't give merit scholarships, according to two reports. Another tool is to use the College Board's expected family contribution calculator that can give families an idea of how much college will cost, but not for any particular college. According to US News, 62 out of 1,137 colleges, which responded to a survey, claimed to meet 100% of the demonstrated financial need of students. "Demonstrated financial need" is the gap between the "expected family contribution" (based on tax information, family size and assets) and the cost of attendance (tuition and fees, dormitory, food expenses, and so forth.)
Applying for financial aid
There are many reports that many applicants fail to apply for financial aid when they are qualified for it; one estimate was that 1.8 million students in 2006 who would have qualified for aid did not apply for it. Applying for financial aid is recommended by almost all college admissions advisers, even for middle- and upper-class families applying to private colleges. Each college has its own criteria for determining financial need and loans. One advisor counseled against letting the sticker price of a college dissuade a student from applying, since many of the top colleges have strong endowments allowing them to subsidize expenses, such that the colleges are less expensive than so-called "second tier" or state colleges.
College advisers suggest that parents keep financial records, including tax forms, business records, to use when applying for financial aid, and complete the FAFSA online, using income and tax estimates (usually based on previous years), early in January of their college-bound student's twelfth grade. Admissions officers can see the names of up to nine other colleges a student has applied to. According to several reports, some colleges may deny admission or reduce aid based on their interpretation of the order of colleges on the FAFSA; accordingly, several sources recommend that colleges be listed alphabetically on the FAFSA to obscure any preferences. The earliest that the FAFSA form can be filled out is January first of twelfth grade; in contrast, the CSS Profile can be filled out earlier during the preceding fall. There are reports that many parents make mistakes when filling out the FAFSA information, and mistakes include failing to hit the "submit" button, visiting an incorrect FAFSA website, such as the deceptively-named fafsa.com, leaving some fields blank instead of properly entering a zero, spelling names or entering social security numbers or estimating tax data incorrectly. Since FAFSA formulas assume 20% of a student's assets can be used for college expenses as opposed to 6% of a parent's assets, advisors recommend moving funds from student to parent accounts before filing the FAFSA, including moving funds to a parent-controlled 529 plan tax-advantaged account. Filing taxes early is recommended, but using estimates for FAFSA from previous years is possible provided the numbers are updated later after taxes are filed. There are no fees for applying on the FAFSA site. According to one source, the best time to begin searching for scholarships is before the twelfth grade, to guarantee meeting deadlines. Several reports confirm that it is important to file aid forms such as the CSS Profile early in the school year.
In addition to cost factors, increasingly colleges are being compared on the basis of the average student debt of their graduates, and US News has developed rankings based on average student indebtedness. A report in the Utne Reader chronicled substantial student indebtedness, and suggested that 37 million Americans in 2009 held student debt, and that nine in ten students used an average of 4.6 credit cards to pay for some educational expenses. The report chronicled an increase in average indebtedness from an average of $2,000 in 1980-81 to over $25,000 in 2009, as well as substantial decreases in Federal aid and Pell grants during that time period.
US News and others suggest another factor overlooked in terms of financing college, which is the length of time it takes to earn a degree. Finishing a year early (in three years) lops off a substantial portion of the overall bill, while taking five years compounds the expense and delays entry into the workforce. Jacques Steinberg suggested that many college-bound students calculate how much debt they were likely to incur each year, and he suggested that debt for all four years of college should total less than the graduate's expected first year's salary after college, and preferably under $40,000. A handful of schools have "free tuition" policies for low income students, so that they graduate loan-free.
Selecting colleges by type
Most educational institutions in the U.S. are non-profit; for-profit colleges and universities are usually more expensive and academically inferior, with many cases of scams. Colleges and universities in the U.S. vary in terms of goals: some may emphasize a vocational, business, engineering or technical curriculum while others may emphasize a liberal arts curriculum. Many combine some or all of the above. Another consideration is the male-female ratio; overall, 56% of enrolled college students are women, but the male-female ratio varies by college and year and program. Admissions guidance counselors can offer views about whether a public or private school is best, and give a sense of the tradeoffs.
Two-year colleges are often county- or community-oriented schools funded by state or local governments, and typically offer the Associates degree (A.A.). They are generally inexpensive, particularly for in-state residents, and are focused on teaching, and accept most applicants meeting minimum grade and SAT score levels. Students commute to school and rarely live in dorms on campus. These schools often have articulation arrangements with four-year state public schools to permit students to transfer. Consultants suggest that community colleges are reasonably priced, and after two years with solid grades and academic performance, many colleges are willing to accept transfers.
Four-year colleges offer Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) or Bachelor of Science (B.S.) degrees. These are primarily undergraduate institutions, although some might have limited programs at the graduate level. Graduates of the tuition-free United States service academies receive both a Bachelor of Science degree and a commission.
Universities have both undergraduate and graduate students. Graduate programs grant a variety of Master's degrees including M.B.A.s or M.F.A.s. The highest academic degree is the Doctor of Philosophy or Ph.D. Medical schools award either the M.D. or D.O. degrees while law schools award the J.D. degree. Public and private universities are generally research-oriented institutions that teach both an undergraduate and graduate students.
Liberal arts colleges are four-year institutions that emphasize interactive instruction, although research is still a component of these institutions. They are usually residential colleges with most students living on campus in dorms. They tend to have smaller enrollments, class sizes, and lower student-teacher ratios than universities, and encourage teacher-student interaction with classes taught by full-time faculty members rather than graduate students known as teaching assistants. There are further distinctions within the category of liberal arts colleges: some are coeducational, women's colleges, or men's colleges. There are historically black colleges; in addition, while most schools are secular, some stress a particular religious orientation. Most are private colleges but there are some public ones.
State colleges and universities. Since they are usually subsidized with state funds, tuitions tend to be lower than private schools. They tend to be large, sometimes with student bodies numbering in the tens of thousands, and offer a variety of programs. They are generally less selective in terms of admissions than elite competitive private schools, and are usually less expensive, sometimes half or a third as much as a private institution for in-state residents; the affordability may be leading more students in recent years to choose public or state-subsidized or community colleges. There are reports that in budget shortfalls in the past few years, many state schools are selectively trying to attract higher-paying out-of-state residents. In the past few years, competition for spots in public institutions has become more intense, with some state schools such as the State University of New York reporting record numbers of students saying "yes" to their offers of admission, unlike years previously. There are reports that tuitions at state universities are rising faster than private universities. Flagship state universities are usually the most prominent public schools in a state, and are often the oldest, have the most funding, and are often the least expensive public college.
Engineering or technical schools specialize in technical and scientific subjects. Some programs can be more competitive and applicants are often evaluated on the basis of grades in subjects such as mathematics (particularly calculus), physics, chemistry, mathematics, and science courses.
Visiting colleges
The consensus view among guidance advisors is that it is a good idea to visit colleges, preferably when college is in session and not during a summer break, with a chance to meet an actual student in the form of a tour guide, and taking notes for reference later when applying. Sometimes a college will waive the application fee based on the college visit. A benefit is seeing a school as it really is--not just glossy pictures from a brochure or a promotional video from a website. Another suggested that students should ask themselves, when visiting a particular college: "can I see myself here"? Reporter Jenna Johnson in the Washington Post suggested that students contact a professor in an area of interest at the college before visiting, and try to meet with them briefly or sit in on one of their classes. Reporter Brennan Barnard in the New York Times recommended that student visitors should ask good questions (by avoiding factual questions better answered by the college's website), and ask for complimentary passes for dining or free food. Barnard recommends going beyond the usual tour to ask random strangers about life on campus and reading the student newspaper. He recommends arranging to speak with a professor in the department of interest as well as athletic coaches and music directors, possibly by emailing them in advance of the visit, to try to meet them even briefly. A follow-up "thank you" note to the host is a good idea (avoid texting abbreviations.)
Counselor Michael Szarek commented on the importance of campus visits in dispelling false impressions:
Half of all college classes are not outdoors. Half of all college classes are not gathered around an electron microscope. Sometimes the leaves are brown, or even fall to the ground. So, use the viewbook to get a sense of the institution and what the college thinks are its strengths. But always rely on the campus visit.
However, one account suggested colleges structured the campus visit with the same boring format, which rarely includes a faculty member:
First there is an "informational session," conducted by an admissions officer. This is followed by an hour-long campus tour, which is led by a student with a talent for walking backwards .... On the campus tour, we are always shown a dorm room and a dining hall. We are always taken to a library and told how many volumes it contains. We are informed how many students study abroad (a lot), how many student clubs there are (ditto), and how small the classes are (very small.)
Applications considerations
Extracurricular activities
There are conflicting views about student participation in extracurricular activities. A predominant position is that colleges were after "well-rounded bodies of individual specialists", suggesting that it is better for a student to be deeply involved in one or two activities rather than nine or ten superficially, such as a "violin-playing quarterback" or a "math-medalist poet," and that students should not "overdo it" and that parents should not become overconcerned about their child's extracurricular activities. Applicants who achieve a leadership position in an extracurricular activity are regarded more highly than applicants who merely participate in a bunch of activities. Advisors recommend that a student should choose which extracurricular activities they genuinely care about, pursue them with "gusto" and "joyful commitment" that demonstrates integrity and commitment. And, consistent with this view, is that too many extracurricular activities may look suspect to admissions officers, particularly if it seems unreasonable that any person could be as active and succeed scholastically at the same time. Jobs are generally viewed favorably by admissions committees, including even part-time service jobs such as flipping hamburgers, since it suggests that a student has learned to handle time management, to accept responsibility, and develop people skills. A less dominant position was that it is helpful to be involved in a "variety of activities", including jobs, internships, and community service. Some universities, such as the University of California, have formal programs for spot-checking applications for accuracy, such as sending a follow-up letter to the student asking for proof about an extracurricular activity or summer job. Advisors recommend that extracurricular activities should never interfere with a student's overall academic performance. A student with many extracurricular activities in twelfth grade, but few in preceding years, particularly when the essays focus on the extracurricular activities, is suspect; this suggests an applicant is being coached, and may reflect negatively on an application. Advisors warn against "overscheduling" students with too many activities or courses.
Number of applications
There are differing views on how many schools a student should apply to. Several reports suggest that applying to too many schools caused unnecessary stress and expense, and hampers a student from targeting applications to a few select schools. But other advisors suggest that applying to more schools increases overall chances for acceptance. Mamlet and VanDeVelde suggest applying to eight to ten schools is best, and that applying to too many schools is counterproductive. There are reports that the average number of schools that students are applying to has been increasing, perhaps because of greater use of the Common Application. In 2008, applications to Harvard University had increased to a record number at 27,278, a 19% increase from the year before. One effect of these numerous applications is to lower the average yield of colleges, which dropped from 46% to 38% in 2001 according to one account.
Online identity
There are reports that some college admissions departments scrutinize applicants' personalities online, such as Facebook or MySpace profiles, and as a result, they urge students to remove "sarcastic jokes, bad pictures, or political cartoons," and be wary about what their friends post on their pages as well. A concurring report suggested that some offices have people tasked with "checking out applicants' Facebook pages", although there is a contrasting report from one college recruiter who said that their policy is not to examine Facebook profiles and that "Facebook is reserved for students on a recreational basis." The same caution applies to email addresses; one advisor cautions against having jazzed-up email addresses such as "Spicychick@gmail.com", but rather that users should stick with their name, if possible, since it can help colleges find a student's records.
Choosing how to apply
Applying in the fall
Many schools have implemented a system through which students can apply at a time other than the most common usual deadline of January first of the twelfth grade, to lighten the load on students and admissions officers. Several reports suggest an increase in early admissions.
Many open slots for students at many private universities begin to fill up early in the last year of school. In 2001 it was estimated that a third of slots for next year's first-year class were filled by December, which was an increase from one-fifth a decade earlier. Estimates made around 2011 suggested that 45% of positions were taken by December. There are reports for specific schools filling up by December 2011 for the 2012-2013 first-year class. For example, American University filled 31% of its class; Columbia 45%, Davidson 40%, Emory 32%, Hamilton 38%, Kenyon 29%, Middlebury 45%, Sarah Lawrence 21%, Smith 20%, and others.
Numerous reports suggest that more students are applying using early decision or early action approaches. Schools such as Duke University, Haverford College, and the University of Chicago reported increases in early applications in 2011. While early applications had been used by many students in elite prep schools and top high schools primarily in the northeastern United States, they are being used by a more diverse group of students including foreigners and minority applicants to apply to more colleges. A downside of applying early is an inability to compare competing aid packages from different schools, but to an extent this can be mitigated if parents and students ask the college for a fairly firm estimate of expected costs before applying by an early method. Several sources suggested that early admissions programs favor students from wealthier families since there was no need to compare financial aid offers. Adviser Michele Hernandez suggested that the early decision and early action candidate pools were "much more homogeneous" with most applicants being affluent white students. High-end academic applicants tended to want to have a choice, while minority applicants needed to compare scholarship offers from different colleges; accordingly, these latter two groups tended to avoid early applications. According to Hernandez, Ivy League financial aid packages were similar whether one applied early admission or regular admission, since the Ivies are 100% need blind meaning that they do not take into account an applicant's ability to pay. Early applicants are urged to submit applications in September and October, and not wait until November, so staff more time to consider the application. There has been controversy surrounding early admissions programs, since there have been reports that most of those accepted in early admissions tended to be white, from good high schools and having upscale family incomes. A report in US News suggested that early admissions approaches were not advised for students who were obviously under or over qualified, dependent on financial aid, undecided, behind in their college search plans, or late bloomers.
Early decision
- Binding commitment. Early decision is a binding decision, meaning that students must withdraw applications to other schools if accepted. It is not legally binding, but there is a commitment involved with penalties for withdrawing for spurious reasons. Advisers suggest that this method is only for students who are absolutely certain about wanting to attend a specific school. If financial aid is a concern or if a family is "shopping for the best deal", then it is usually advised to apply early action or regular decision instead. The one stipulated situation under which a student may back out of the agreement is if the financial aid offer is insufficient. A student who backs out for other reasons may be "blacklisted" by the early decision college, which may contact the student's high school guidance office, and prevent it from sending transcripts to other colleges, and high schools generally comply with such requests. In addition, the jilted college may contact other colleges about the withdrawal, and the other colleges would likely break off their offers of acceptance as well. And by the time that an early decision aid package is offered it may be March or April of twelfth grade, and then if a student backs out at that point for financial reasons, valuable time may be lost.
- November application. It is made early in the academic year, typically the first week in November, although deadlines vary somewhat, so a student who applies for early decision and is accepted, typically by mid-December, must attend that college. One report maintains that some colleges defer decisions on some early applicants until the next year, past their own deadlines for notifying early applicants.
- Benefits for universities. Admitting early decision applicants benefits schools because there is an almost certain probability that the admitted applicants will attend and, as a result, colleges can increase their yield by admitting them, and this can help a college improve its ranking. In addition, it helps admissions departments spread the work of sifting through applications throughout more of the school year. Generally counselors suggest this option is only for students who know with certainty that one particular college is their first choice.
- Greater chance of acceptance. There is strong consensus that applying early decision brings a greater statistical chance of being accepted, possibly doubling or tripling the chances of an acceptance letter. In 2009, the average early acceptance rate according to one estimate was 15 percentage points greater than regular decision applicants. There is less agreement, however, whether it will help a borderline student win acceptance to a competitive college. There are numerous reports that early decision candidates tend to have stronger educational credentials than regular decision candidates, and as a result, these candidates would have been admitted whether they applied by early or regular methods, and therefore the greater statistical likelihood of acceptance may have been explained by membership in the stronger applicant pool. But a more widely held view is that early decision method boosts the chances of a borderline student; as Robert J. Massa of Lafayette College explained, "colleges really want qualified students who want them" and are more likely to offer acceptances to students ready to make a full commitment. There was a report that the "acceptance rate gap" between early and regular decision--currently an average of 57% accepted if applied early decision versus 50% if applied regular decision--has been narrowing in recent years. Early decision has been criticized for unfairly advantaging students from affluent families.
- Other benefits. Twelfth graders can know sooner where they will attend and can get the hassle and uncertainty of the applications process over sooner. There is less work and expense applying to other colleges.
- How early decision affects financial aid. There are conflicting reports about how early decision affects aid offers. The more widely held view is that a student's bargaining position is weaker because the student cannot compare offers from different colleges. Since the applicant is declaring an intention to attend if accepted, then the school can "pinpoint the smallest amount of financial aid it will take for the student to attend." There have been reports of problems with early Decision aid offers falling below levels that had been expected prior to applying. A report in the Chicago Tribune suggested that applying early decision could cost "thousands more than necessary." A report in US News pointed to a research study concluding that regular decision applicants get more financial aid than early ones. Lynn O'Shaughnessy described early decision as "essentially applying blind" because a student has agreed to attend before seeing the financial aid package; and this practice "favors rich students." Several reports confirm that early decision applicants tend to come from wealthier families. However, a contrasting view is that students who apply early have an advantage getting aid because they are applying earlier in the year when that aid is being doled out, and the early decision kids have "first crack at the money," particularly at competitive schools without extra-large endowments. Two reports suggested that while a student's bargaining position is somewhat weaker, it is not totally diminished, and that if a college thinks an early decision admittee may withdraw because of financial concerns, the college "may pull out all the stops" to prevent this, and that the possibility of backing out for financial reasons gives an applicant some form of negotiating leverage. Ivy League universities and other universities with large endowments may be somewhat different, in the sense that all aid offers are likely to be based solely on financial need, and that whether an applicant applied by early or regular methods would have no impact on the resulting financial aid package, according to one report.
Early action
Generally early action is similar to early decision except the decision is not binding, so a student could apply to multiple colleges. The time frame is similar: apply by early November, get a decision by mid-December, although specific deadlines vary by school. It allows a student to compare competing offers. The exception is that there are four colleges - Harvard, Princeton, Stanford, and Yale--which have a single-choice early action program, meaning that an applicant can only apply early action to one school. Early action can be the best choice for students who know they prefer one particular school and have done everything possible to secure admission since a student will know the result of the application sooner, and to varying extents allows a student to compare aid offers from different schools. One report suggested that non-binding early action programs continued to be highly popular, and noticed that three schools--Harvard, Princeton, and the University of Virginia--which had abandoned early admissions programs in 2006, reestablished them in 2011 after other colleges failed to follow their lead. Generally fewer schools offer the early action program but ones that do include Georgetown University, MIT, and Boston College. One account suggested that early action did not give as much of an "admissions edge" as early decision because it was non-binding.
Regular admission
Regular admission is a good choice for students who are unsure where they would like to go. One advantage is that it can help students who have improved their grades substantially in the fall of twelfth grade, since decisions are not made until March of that year. In addition, it offers students more time to make their decision about a college under somewhat less pressure than an early method. The fairly dominant view is that regular admission is more likely to result in higher offers of financial aid, particularly if students are admitted to several institutions that present different aid offers. Accordingly, one offer can be used as leverage to try to get a better offer at another institution, particularly if there are competing multiple acceptances. Several reports suggested that a "growing number of colleges" including Harvard, Cornell, and Carnegie-Mellon have stated publicly that they will consider matching offers from competing colleges. Kim Clark explained:
If you want to go to Cornell ... and you don't think your family can afford the full sticker prices ... you are likely to get bigger scholarships if you also apply--and get in--to wealthy and more competitive schools. ... Cornell will now adopt Harvard's definition of "need," which, in many cases, will mean bigger scholarships.
However, a dissenting view in the New York Times suggested that only one to two percent of colleges adjust aid packages based on offers from competing colleges, and that most colleges do not get into bidding wars over specific students.
Rolling admissions
Some colleges offer this type of admission, typically used by schools with large numbers of applicants, which means that colleges are continually receiving applications and making decisions, typically within four to six weeks after application. It allows prospective students to apply at any time between the fall and spring and to receive their result a few weeks later. One benefit is that if a student is accepted early in the school year, there is less anxiety about acceptance for the rest of the year. Rolling admission schools are also beneficial to students who are rejected from all the schools they applied regularly to, yet still wish to enroll without taking a gap year. Guidance counselors suggest that rolling admissions should not be used late in twelfth grade since financial aid money may have already been distributed, and few slots may be left for September. One advisor suggests that if a college offers rolling admissions and is on a student's list, then it should be applied to as soon as rolling admissions becomes available for that year. Another report suggested that rolling admissions was more characteristic of noncompetitive colleges.
Testing options
Test preparation courses
There are conflicting reports about the usefulness of test preparation courses. Mamlet and VanDeVelde suggest that "most students don't need a coach or a class" and that the single largest factor was "familiarity with the test". Another report agreed that SAT/ACT prep courses were a waste of money and that taking a few practice exams, and understanding how each test works, was all that was needed. According to NBC News, the multibillion-dollar private test prep industry, including coaching and tutoring as well as software and clinics, is a source of "inequality and injustice" in higher education since it enables the offspring of well-to-do families to improve their test scores by means of learning "tips and tricks"; there is a report in March 2014 that the College Board is planning to redesign the SAT to make it less susceptible to gaming. Test prep courses can cost $1,000 per course; tutors can cost $15,000 per year, according to one estimate.
Standardized admissions tests
In 2003, according to one estimate, 1.4 million students took the SAT and 1.4 million also took the ACT test, paying about $50 per test. Generally counselors suggest that students should plan on taking the SAT or ACT test twice, so that a low score can possibly be improved. One advisor suggested that students with weak SAT or ACT scores could consider applying to colleges where these measures were optional. One suggested retaking the tests if there are "subpar test scores" in September and October (if applying early admission) or November and December (if applying regular admission.) Generally over half of eleventh graders retaking the SAT or ACT tests during the twelfth grade saw improvements in their scores. Colleges vary in terms of how much emphasis they place on these scores.
A cons
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