The
Future of College
Admissions, by Beth
Cassie
I
attended a panel discussion hosted at Monmouth
University entitled "The Future of College
Admissions". Participating were admissions
directors from Marist College, Monmouth
University, Quinnipiac University, Rutgers
University, and Villanova University.
The most significant overall observation is that
everything is happening earlier in admissions and
this trend is likely to continue. Some specific
details are below.
Quinnipiac
- Significant growth
and innovation
- Increasing their
freshman class by 200 students
- Adding Engineering
- Starting a Medical
School in 2013
Villanova
- Huge growth in early
applicants - over 7000 EA applicants last year,
possibly over 8000 this year
- Campus renovations
going strong including making center of campus
car free
- Plans for a new
Performing Arts center
Rutgers
- Over capacity at New
Brunswick, so shrinking incoming class
- SAT scores of the
applicant pool higher than past, making
admissions more selective
- Economy fueling
their growth as families are questioning value
of more expensive options
Marist
- Hancock Technology
Center just opened
- Selected by NBC to
the exclusive polling organization for 2012
primaries
- Increased admissions
selectivity due to broadened applicant pool
- Recently went test
optional
Monmouth
University
- New arts building
opening next year, fully funded by a donor
- New residence halls
allowing them to guarantee housing for first
year students
- New student activity
center recently opened
- Affordable, private
university one mile from the beach in
NJ.
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College Spotlight:
Five College
Consortium
  
 
Lisa
Bleich
Last
month I had the opportunity to visit the 5
colleges in the Amherst area, known as Pioneer
Valley, with other counselors and independent
educational consultants. The five colleges
include Amherst, UMass Amherst, Smith, Mt.
Holyoke and Hampshire. They form the Five
College consortium and genuinely share
resources, classes, and extracurricular
activities. Students can take up to two
classes per semester at any of the other
colleges, students can attend any activity or
event at another college and all students
receive a Five College student discount.
There are buses that take students between the
colleges every 30 minutes.
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she has been
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today!
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| Amherst
Dorm |
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Hap py Thanksgiving.
We are
truly thankful for the wonderful students and
families we have had the pleasure of getting to
know over the past several years.
We
wish you a fabulous Thanksgiving.
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Become an
Application Stalker: Follow
Up
After you submit your application, you
should receive a student ID from the schools to
which you applied or an e-mail confirming your
submission. Be sure to follow up and make
sure that all of the pieces of your application
have been received. The most common things
missing are:
1. Letters of
recommendation
2. Transcripts
3. SAT/ACT
scores
Unfortunately, things get lost or sometimes
there is a glitch in the system, so just make
sure that you are on top of everything.
The first step if one of these items is missing
is to speak with teachers or guidance counselor
about items 1 and 2. Make sure that they
have sent them out before calling the
school. Once you have the information,
call the school if you know they have been sent
out on time.
If your "official test scores" have not
been received, you will need to call the College
Board for SATs or Educational Testing for the
ACTs to see why they have not been sent. The
College Board made their site very confusing
this year and I spoke with several colleges who
said that they would not penalize students for a
problem with sending the SAT scores.
However not all schools are as
forgiving.
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Application
Followup : Common Application
schools
You
should see a chart like this when you click on
the school to show you that you have completed
all the pieces. If everything is not
green or marked as complete, you have not
completed your application.
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Application
Followup: Noncommon Application
schools
When you
log into the individual school sites, you will
be able to see what has been completed and
received.
If you know that you have
done everything correctly, call the school in
question and wait for them to confirm that they
have everything. Remember, they have
thousands of pieces of information coming from
different sources and they are human and do make
mistakes. It also takes time to process
all of the pieces of the application.
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Off
the Wall Application Admission Question: What
They Uncover
Here
is a link to a very interesting article that
helps you understand why certain schools ask
seemingly off the wall questions. The
questions are designed to get at the four things
that this author believes predict college
success best: Creativity,
Analytical Skills, Practical Skills,
and Wisdom.
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Post
Submission: Now
What?
I
made a short video about what to do after you
have submitted your applications. If you
want to watch click below.
Enjoy
the
movie!
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When and How to Disclose a Learning
Difference
The
admissions process can be stressful for even the
most gifted, organized students. But to
applicants with attention deficit hyperactivity
disorder or learning disabilities, the path to
college can feel like a maze. The Choice
addresses some of the issues such students
face.
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Smarter
Studying
This
article from the Wall Street Journal outlines
key tips on how retrieval, sleep, distraction
free-environments, and food can make a
difference in studying results.
Article: Toughest Exam Question:
What is the Best Way to
Study?
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We are eager to hear about your
visits, so if you haven't already, please let us
know how they went.
Seniors:
Let's finalize any outstanding applications by
the end of the month or before Christmas at the
latest.
Juniors: Please contact us
to schedule a needs assessment to begin working
on your preliminary lists after you receive your
first marking period
grades.
Sophomores: Let's
meet after January to begin planning for the
summer and junior year.
Sincerely,
Lisa,
Diane, and Beth
College Bound Mentor,
LLC
Lisa@collegeboundmentor.com
908-789-8566
www.collegeboundmentor.com
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