AO Advice: Starting Early to Stand Out

Webinar Transcription

2024-01-07 – AO Advice: Starting Early to Stand Out

Hi everyone and welcome to tonight’s webinar. My name is Anesha Grant. I’m a senior advisor at CollegeAdvisor and I will be your moderator today. Tonight’s session is an AO advice, so admissions from advice from an admissions officer on “Starting Early to Stand Out.” Before we get started, just to orient everyone with the webinar timing, we’ll start with the presentation and then we’ll answer your questions in a live Q&A on the sidebar.

You can download our slides under the handouts tab, and you can start sending your questions whenever you get ready in the Q&A tab. Now, let’s meet our panelists Chelsea. Hey, Chelsea. How are you doing? I’m doing well, good evening, everyone and happy New Year. My name is Chelsea Holley, and I serve as an admissions officer here at CollegeAdvisor and my role with CollegeAdvisor.

I have the pleasure of doing these amazing webinars and working closely with students. students. Um, I’ve spent the past 12 years working in selective admissions offices, reviewing applications, recruiting, um, managing pre college programs. Um, so I’m super excited to talk about ways that you can start early in this process that will really pay off in the long run.

Chelsea, it’s great. And so tonight’s session will be an awesome webinar. But before you get started, just want to know what great is everybody in. So let us know if you were 8th, 9th, 10th, 11th, 12th, um, if you are a parent or a teacher, we welcome you. You do not have to put the grade level of the student.

You can just put other. And as we’re waiting, it is New Year’s. Did you do anything exciting over your break? We were just talking about having extended break. Is there anything fun that you did during your break, Chelsea? Um, I saw family. Uh, so I went to Tampa, Florida, so it was warm there. That is fun. Yeah, you’re the second person I know who like went to a beach for Christmas, and I was just like, that is not a beach per se.

Not a beach? Okay. For a beach, yes. Nicer weather than winter. Correct. For, that’s good, that’s nice. I didn’t do anything. I wanted to drive around, and I ended up just kind of painting in my house, but, um, no, yeah, it was very fun. It was very nice just to have the time off, and so I hope you enjoyed your time.

Um, and I know I enjoyed my time. I hope students, I feel like some of y’all are probably already back in school, um, but hope you enjoyed your breaks as well. All right, we’ll go ahead and close our poll, um, so we don’t get too nostalgic over the, the break. Um, and I’ll just let you know that, um, about, so we have an even spread, honestly.

We’re, we only do not have 12th graders, so we have about, um, 8 percent 8th graders, 10 percent 9th graders, 34 percent 10th, 31 percent of 11th and then 10 percent others. So we have a pretty broad mix of folks who are at different, different phases of being early in the process. All right. So I will stop talking.

I’ll hand it over to you and I’ll be back a little bit later for our Q&A. Thanks, Anesha. Okay, let’s get started. Um, so. First of all, why should you start early in this process? Um, there are four reasons that I think students can really benefit from starting early. Um, the first one is to be informed.

Um, there are so many moving components of the college search process from financial aid to different application plans. Um, some students are athletes and they’re curious about how that will play into the process. So being informed allows you to have more than just a few months of research. Um, it allows your research to build each year that you’re in high school.

The second piece is being prepared. After you have all the information about the process, you actually need to act. So being prepared really means giving yourself enough time to put forth the best college application. The third one is being strategic. There are lots of conversations about how competitive the college admissions process is, particularly right now.

In fact, it’s more competitive than it’s been in a while. Um, Being strategic means that you are being intentional about where you apply, how you apply, and how you present yourself on paper. This also allows you, if you’re starting early, to craft your four years in a strategic way. Um, and then last, this one is incredibly important, creating room to pivot.

Um, so there are things that change suddenly. Um, it could be receiving an admissions decision that you weren’t expecting. It could be the way that finances play into this process. Um, so starting early gives you room to pivot and have additional options. So parents, um, this is a partnership. Um, so you are also starting early as your students are starting early.

Um, parents can benefit one by really being able to establish a communication approach. When are you going to talk to your student? How do you talk to your student? Um, what are the best ways to kind of set up? through all this college information. Uh, the second piece is understanding the financial aspect of the admissions process.

This is a huge factor. Um, whether you are looking for a school to offer you a full ride scholarship, whether you are planning to pay out of pocket, um, or if you have need that you’re hoping is met through grants and other funding sources, the financial aspect is important no matter what. what your socioeconomic background is.

Um, and this allows parents to really understand where they fit in the process. And then the third one is prepare emotionally. This is your student. They are making oftentimes their very first big adult decision. Um, so starting early and having those lines of communication open really allow you to, um, Prepare emotionally for them to leave for them to choose the school that they’ll ultimately attend.

So, um, I think that, you know, our juniors on the call may be familiar with the common app, but I want to give you a quick review of the common app and talk about what goes into the common application. Um, many schools have their applications hosted on their websites, but most schools In this day and age are having their applications hosted through platforms that allow you to apply to more than 1 institution.

The most popular of those platforms is the common app comparable platforms include the coalition app. Uh, score, um, the UC system has their own app that allows you to apply to all of the University of California schools. Um, and so it’s likely that you’ll be going to one website and submitting an application that will reach multiple different institutions.

So on the common application, um, there are a number of areas that you’re going to have to fill out. So the first one is profile information. This is exactly what it sounds like. This is all about you and who you are and where you come from. Um, so your profile includes things like your address, contact information, how schools should reach you, um, any demographic information, languages that you speak, um, if you are a domestic student or an international student, um, and if you’ll be applying using a fee waiver.

Um, so that is your basic profile information. The next piece is your family. Um, and so one of the reasons that colleges ask about your family, it allows them to get a better understanding. of your home context and the educational opportunities that were available to you. So they’re asking about your parents marital status, parent education, if you have a legal guardian, and then of course, sibling information.

So your education includes your current high school. It also includes any other high schools that you attended. Um, if you took any dual enrollment courses, it would include colleges that you’ve attended. Um, what grades you got in those courses. Um, if you are applying early and you are, um, registered for courses and you’re applying before December, oftentimes we won’t have your senior year grades.

So you would list your most recent courses, any honors or community based organizations, um, that were a part of your education and then future plans. Future plans is what do you want to be when you grow up? What do you want to do? The next section on the application is testing. Um, testing includes standardized tests like the SAT or the ACT.

Um, it also can include IB exams. It can include AP exams, as well as language exams like the TOEFL. Um, and so you’re able to list. These are self reported. You’re able to list all of the tests that you’ve taken and what those credentials are. Colleges are typically going to ask for the official scores from the test provider, but this is your initial way of saying that you’ve taken these exams.

Um, the next thing is activities also known as your extracurriculars. These are clubs, sports, um, anything that you did in your high school. Um, but this also includes more, um, non traditional involvement. Um, and I, I don’t even want to use the word non traditional because As admissions officers, we see things other than sports and club involvement all the time, but oftentimes students.

And families do not think of family responsibilities, jobs, and hobbies as things to put on the college admissions application. And so if you babysat a younger sibling, if you cared for an elderly loved one, these are things that you can list as extracurricular activities or activities. On your college application, um, hobbies, they may have not have been a organized club at your high school.

Um, but maybe you are a self taught pianist or you like sketching in your free time. Those are all things that you can add on your admissions application. And then the last thing is writing. Um, most of your college applications are going to have a personal essay or a personal statement. Um, you may have.

Supplemental or additional essay questions that are asked by particular schools. Um, you also have opportunities to provide additional information. So, um, did you move while you were in high school? Um, was your education disrupted by the pandemic? Um, are there any factors on your application that you really feel need explaining?

You also have an opportunity in the writing sections to provide that information. Um, so All of this is an important noun because it allows you to reflect on what the college application is all about. These are those core, uh, sections of the college application. Um, and so when we talk about being informed, um, being prepared and being strategic, these are the things that you’re being strategic about.

These are the things that you’re researching, um, that you are reflecting on yourself. You’re asking your parents, your peers, your counselors, um, how can I craft the most accurate and compelling story about who I am for the colleges that I’m applying to? So we talked about the different sections of the common application.

Um, and I think. Picturing those sections allows you to better understand holistic application review. Um, if you have never heard the term holistic application review before, um, this essentially means that long gone are the days where colleges are only interested in your GPA or just interested in your test score.

Um, they are interested in knowing you as a person, and so they are taking a holistic approach to reviewing your application. Um, and so, some things to know about holistic application review, most selective institutions use holistic review. In fact, most institutions use holistic review. Um, some of the exceptions to that might be, um, a state school, um, that is not that selective.

Selective and they may have a minimum GPA. So if you meet that minimum GPA, you may be guaranteed admission at that particular institution. Um, that’s one example of some, uh, colleges that don’t use holistic admissions review. Um, but many of the schools that we, um, see our students at CollegeAdvisor interested in and applying in, um, the vast majority of those schools.

Um, are using a holistic approach. Um, again, you are more than a GPA and a test score. Um, do you not get me wrong? These two things can be incredibly important depending on the school that you’re applying to. Um, but you are not reduced to just this. There are so many other areas that you’re able to stand out, um, outside of these numbers.

All aspects of your personhood and life experiences are considered in a holistic application review process. Um, these can be explicitly mentioned in your application, um, or they could be, um, intertwined into your essay, into your activities. Again, really painting a picture, um, that is exhaustive about who you are.

Holistic application review is guided by institutional priorities. This is a very important piece to understanding, um, how college admissions works. Um, we would love to think that students are completely in the driver’s seat and this is all about merit. Uh, but institutions also have priorities that can dictate who gets in, who doesn’t get in, who’s on a wait list.

Um, and so that is kind of the umbrella that holistic application review is about. Um, let me give you a couple examples of things that are institutional priorities. Let’s say the, um, college that you’re interested in, um, just built a brand new, um, athletic facility. Um, and so maybe for the next five years, there’s going to be a strong emphasis on recruiting athletes.

Um, and that’s something that is going to play into their overall mission strategy. Um, another example might be, um, the school hired an assistant. Esteemed architecture chair, um, and architecture numbers aren’t that high and they really wanna build up that program that may have some impact on, um, how the admission strategy works out this year.

Um, a final example, if you think about a public and state institution, um, those institutions often have a commitment to students in their state. Um, so, for example, if you think of I’m in Atlanta, if you think of a school like Georgia Tech, Georgia Tech has a very specific ratio of in state students that they want on campus, um, out of state students and international.

Um, so it’s 60 percent in state, 30 percent out of state, and the rest would be international students. Um, and so that’s something that would really affect an out of state student wanting to apply to that college. Why does that matter? The institutional priorities matter because it means there are things that are completely out of your control that are going to factor into this process.

And so, um, I encourage our students to worry about and focus on the things that you can control. There are some factors outside of your control, but do not get fixated on those things. Institutions are looking for students who are a good fit on their campus. So holistic application review is always mission aligned and value aligned.

And so if a school says we believe in service to the community, that might be a theme that they’re looking for in their applications. If a college says they are huge innovators and there’s a spirit of innovation on their campus, they may be looking for themes of innovation. In your application. Um, and so you always want to position yourself as a good fit for the colleges you are interested in.

You are explaining why you all would be a good match.

So let’s talk about some myths about the college application process. Um, especially as you’re starting out early, um, I think admissions is a hot topic this year. It’s been a hot topic for the past three years because so many things have changed and shifted. Um, and there’s a lot of myths. Um, so the first one is it is impossible to get into a good college these days.

Um, the second parent should be the final decision makers. Um, students should be the sole decision makers is another myth. Um, you can understand your chances of admission by comparing yourself to students who applied the previous year. I hear this one a lot. Um, the fifth one, that is, that there is a specific way to stand out to all colleges.

And then the last one, um, college admissions is all about merit and fairness. So I’ve touched on a few of these already, but let’s look at the corresponding facts about this process. The first one is huge. Um, yes, there are schools with single digit and mid rates. Those schools are the minority of colleges.

There are thousands of great colleges in the U.S. and abroad. There’s even more, but thousands of great colleges in the U.S. Um, that can be a good fit for students and so do not get hung up on the same 20 schools that you hear are super selective. And it’s so hard to get into. Um, it’s really important for you to find something that is a good fit for you.

Um, and there are many of those schools around. The best college is the best fit for you. So, um, the best college for you may not be the number three ranked school in the country. Um, it may not be the school that everyone has heard of. Um, you really want to focus on what you’re looking for in a college.

Um, how big do you want it to be? Do you want it to be near a city? Are you looking for, um, a, a huge, 50,000, um, stadium football game. Like what is your experience that you’re looking for at college and, um, really finding the school that is going to provide that experience. Another fact, this process takes a village of supporters and decision makers.

So this is not all up to the parents, and this is not all up to the students. It is important to get that communication approach together so that you all can work together to talk about how far away you should be considering for colleges. cost financial aid. Um, what you want to major in. Um, this is a collaborative process that includes your family.

Um, it also includes oftentimes your high school counselor. It could include, um, an independent educational consultant or your CollegeAdvisor. Um, so it is certainly a village of supporters that are going to help you in this process. Colleges change strategies and admissions priorities from year to year.

So my best advice, if you are a ninth grader or a 10th grader, do not get caught up, too caught up, in what is going on in the admissions process at schools right now this year, because I can guarantee you it’s going to look different next year. It’s going to look different the year after, um, each summer admissions offices get together and they review their application.

They make new goals. They may, um, add essays, change essays. So it is a ever changing strategy. Um, the best thing that you can do is know the school that you want to apply to, Pay attention to their mission, their goals, keep your eye on their website, their socials, um, and once it is the year before you are applying, so I would say summer before your senior year, all of the updated policies should be available, whether it’s standardized testing.

Um, or whether it’s their essay requirement, um, they also should give you an annual average GPA for the class right before you. Um, so it’s incredibly important, um, as you’re starting out early, don’t stress early. Um, you really want to give it some time until you get closer to the process, um, to really understand, um, how you think you might fare.

Um, there is no formula to stand out. Um, and I think this is a. Difficult one. Um, because the most asked question, um, for admissions folks is always what is going to make me stand out. Um, and the answer that most admissions people give you is being yourself is going to make you stand out. Um, what I will say is.

The best way to stand out is to apply to schools that you are truly a good fit for, um, because it is going to be adamant to the admissions readers as they’re looking at your activities, as they’re reading your essay, um, that this is authentic and it’s not an over-strategized application. Um, we often read applications, um, and they’re great, but they just don’t feel right or, or they don’t feel authentic to the student.

Um, and so the best way to stand out, apply to schools that genuinely make sense for you, um, and really pour yourself into your application so that you can make a fit between who the school is and what they want. And who you are, and what you think you can contribute to the campus community. Um, and then the last fact about the college application process is there are many elements that have nothing to do with you, which I’ve mentioned on the last slide.

Unfortunately, it is not. Always fair. Um, and I think that is a truth for both students and parents to understand early in this process. Um, and it will, um, remove a lot of anxiety. If you know that there are certain parts of this I can’t control and it may not be fair. Um, it really allows you to put your best foot forward, um, and know that the right college for you is going to see you.

Um, and And, um, give you a favorable, favorable admissions decision, um, if you are a good fit. So there’s some things that are going to happen a little closer to the application process, but there’s things that also, um, you can start working on as early as the eighth grade. Um, so I would say throughout all four of your years, you want to focus on, um, choosing the right courses for you and getting strong grades.

Choosing the right courses may look like, um, advocating for AP or honors courses. So oftentimes, if you were not placed in certain courses in middle school, you are not automatically tracked into those courses in ninth grade. If you think that you should be in an AP or an honors course. Or if you just want to try it, trying it early is great.

Talk to your counselors. Um, your parents can talk to your counselors to help advocate for you, um, to take some of those rigorous classes. Um, and whether you are in rigorous classes or not, um, focusing on, um, really keeping your grades up are great. Uh, building meaningful relationships with teachers is incredibly important.

I talk to students all the time that are, um, in the first month of their senior year. And they tell me they don’t have a single person that can write a recommendation letter. This is a red flag to colleges. Um, you should have some meaningful relationship with a teacher, with a club advisor, a coach, um, someone that can speak to your academic ability.

Or your leadership ability if you are in 9th or 10th grade, even 11th grade, and you’re thinking, I don’t have any of those right now. The semester just started go forge a relationship with the teacher teachers that are good. Um, people to write a future recommendation letter, um, might be someone that will have you for multiple classes.

Um, it could be someone that you struggled in their class initially, um, but you ultimately brought your grades up or made a lot of improvement. Um, and another good teacher to write a recommendation is someone that is connected. To your future major. Um, so let’s say you want to major in journalism, getting a recommendation letter from your English teacher, uh, would be great.

Join extracurricular activities and seek leadership opportunities. The earlier you do this, the better. Um. Admissions officers really want to see, um, consistent and oftentimes progressive leadership from the freshman year to the senior year. So do not wait into your junior year to join something. Um, you want to try and do this early, explore summer opportunities.

Um, summers are great ways. to, um, beef up your resume, um, take an additional class, attend a summer program. Um, those can be really important opportunities each of the four years. Um, you want to be researching different majors and career paths. This one’s really important. Um, it is absolutely okay to not know what you want to do when you get to, um, the college application process.

Um, it is not okay to have never thought about it. Um, so even if you don’t know what your major is going to be, um, or the career that you might possibly end up in, um, know what your favorite classes are. Um, know what your favorite subject is. Um, sometimes those are things that can be clues to, um, the major that you’ll ultimately choose.

I’m building a college list. Um, this one is a good one. I mean, I think as early as eighth grade, you could have, um, in your iPhone notes, um, a couple of schools that are of interest to you. Um, maybe one of them, your older sibling went to, um, maybe another is, you know, in your city or in your state. Um, but as you progress through your four years, you’ll be introduced to more and more colleges.

Um, but in the beginning, I think a college list can just. be colleges of interest. Um, a great way to begin exploring, um, potential colleges for your list, um, is following them on social media. Um, most colleges have really strong social media presence at this time. Um, so I would go to their instagrams.

Their tick talks and just start following them. Um, see if you like the content, see if you can relate to the students. Um, this is a good way to get that exposure. Um, number seven, writing your essays. Um, this happens a little bit later. Um, I would say as early as the summer before your junior year potentially.

Um, but you can begin thinking about topics like what are some experiences Um, that have been very formative for you up until this point. Um, are there challenges that stick out? Are there, um, experiences that you feel like really made you who you are? Um, these are the kind of topics that ultimately make it to the college admissions essay.

Um, and then last, assemble your college admissions village. Um, so again, this is teachers. This is your high school counselor. Um, this is getting your parents, um, Um, on board, um, and any additional help that you need to kind of navigate this process. So parents, while your students are busy doing all of those things, um, you can facilitate campus visit opportunities.

Um, getting your student on a campus, any campus, is better than no campus at all. Um, so start with something close to you. Um, is there a large public institution? Is there a small private institution? Even if your student has no interest in going there, um, getting on that college campus can help them Um, envision themselves somewhere similar or somewhere very different.

Um, they may get on a campus of 2,000 students and think, Oh my God, this feels like my high school. I do not want to be on a campus that looks like this. Um, or they may visit a rural campus and say, Oh my gosh, I want to be near a big city. So just having that experience is super helpful. Build a relationship with the high school guidance counselor.

These are the folks that are going to guide your students, advocate for your students to college admissions offices. They’re writing their rec letters. They’re sending transcripts. You want to have a good relationship with them. You don’t want the first time that you talk to your student’s high school counselor.

To be when something goes wrong in this process, um, advocate for your student as needed. Um, I think there’s great value in letting your student drive the car. Um, but sometimes they need to pull over and they need a little assistance. Um, so don’t be afraid to jump in when, when they need that assistance.

Encouraging your student to advocate for themselves. That is super important. I’m filling out the FAFSA and exploring financial paths to college. That is a huge task for the parents. Just really understanding how finances are going to play into this process. College is more expensive than it has ever been and there are not many signs of that slowing up.

So you want to have a plan around the finances. De-center your ego from their college admissions experience. This one’s hard. This one’s so hard. Um, a lot of parents, um, feel that the student’s, um, choice of a college is a direct reflection of how they’ve been prepared, um, You know, they want them to go to the most selective college because that is going to show that they’re a good student.

Um, that may not be the route for every student. Um, and so just make sure we’re keeping, um, what’s best for your student, um, at the center of this process. And then last, um, celebrating the wins, getting admitted into a college is not the only win in this process. Um, finishing your first essay, um, getting a recommendation letter, um, that’s really great is a win.

Um, pressing submit is a win. Um, make sure that you’re really, um, celebrating those milestones so that your student also knows that there’s more to celebrate than just that acceptance letter.

Some final things to remember, um, this process works best when a team of supporters are involved. Um, and starting early is a strategy in itself. You definitely have a step ahead in the process by starting early, um, and your interest can change and that is absolutely okay. Because when you start early, you give yourself a runway.

Um, you really give yourself time to pivot, um, and to make changes to this process as needed.

Okay. Thank you so much, Chelsea, for that. Um, I really love two points that you raised. One, the village. I think that’s like absolutely. Super, super important, and I’m really glad you shared it tonight. Um, and so, yeah, anyway, well, I don’t have to gush. We can get to the questions before we get to the questions.

Just a quick update for folks. If you’re having any challenges with submitting questions, you might have to log out, log back in and make sure you’re logging in through the link that you received via email and not through the webinar landing page and just as you submit questions, just a reminder that we cannot give you an admissions overview or admissions schedule.

So please don’t show your profile or things like that. We can address kind of broad questions about the admissions process overall. Okay, so our first question for you, I did provide an answer, but I thought you could give a more comprehensive one. This one asks, in the Common App, can high school students start their profile in their sophomore or junior year and then just edit and add to it as they get closer to actually applying to schools?

So the common app, um, is released each August. So August 1st for that year. Um, so you’re not able to necessarily go in and kind of have this profile that builds. Um, but you could go in and poke around and not actually submit an application. Um, you could absolutely do that just to see, um, how it’s set up, um, and learn more, um, about the format of the Common App.

I did, because I was sitting on this question for a minute, I did look it up and the Coalition app, I believe, allows you to like build a portfolio over time. So if you’re interested in that, and like having one account and build, adding to it over time, you might want to consider the Coalition over the Common App.

Um, uh, the next question was do institutions publish their priorities on their website? I think this was talking about, this came up where you mentioned like innovation and like certain things that the, the universities kind of prioritize. So do, do institutions publish those types of things or do students have to poke around and find them in some other kind?

Yeah, so there, there’s not going to be a page that says institutional priorities, unfortunately. Um, but there are so many places where you can be a sleuth and find this information. Um, one of those places is the admissions blogs. So, um, a lot of institutions have admissions blogs, um, in which they will articulate exactly the kind of student that they’re looking for.

Um, that is not uncommon. Um, the mission and values website. So think of the school that you’re interested in. Google X university mission statement, value statement. That’s another place where the school is explicitly telling you, um, what they find of value and how they see their community. Um, that’s a great place.

Um, and then again, social media. Um, a lot of the, um, admissions, social media sites, uh, profile current students. Um, and so look at those current students, look at the types of things they’re participating in the ways that they talk about themselves, their goals. Those can also be clues to what the institution finds a value.

Thank you. Um, the next question is where in the application. Can a student highlight jobs or internships? So jobs and internships would actually go under the activity section. So think of that as like an extracurricular activity.

Someone said, is there a checklist that I can follow? CollegeAdvisor has a checklist, right? Yes. Uh, yeah. So check in with your CollegeAdvisor, but there are probably a ton of resources online if you are looking for a specific template. Um, how many colleges would you recommend applying to? Oh, I think there’s, this is a sticky one and there’s mixed opinions.

Um, I typically say no more than 12. Um, that’s my general rule of thumb, and that’s a much larger number than folks applied to years ago. Um, if you have a balanced college list, you don’t need to apply to 12 schools. You might only need to apply to six or seven. Um, but oftentimes we see a lot of the highly selective institutions on college list, and it’s like five or six schools that have single digit admit rates.

And so if your list looks like that, you should be applying to 10 to 12 schools, but I would not apply to any more than 12. Yeah, I will. I will add to that. I think that’s good advice to leave it out, though. You might hear different depending on the advisor. Does the, sorry, let me make sure. Does the Common App allow students to submit ACT scores to some schools, but not all?

Um, yes. And in fact, um, right now it’s a very different landscape, um, because so many schools are test optional. The vast majority of schools are test optional. Um, and so what the Common App asks of you is just a self report. You have to follow up when, with an official school report, uh, an official. Score report for most schools.

And so you could, um, you could leave the self report blank, honestly, and just send your official scores to the schools that you’d like to send it to. I was, I’m also going to ask you, I guess, to speak to because they said we were told not to submit their scores to certain schools if it was under X. So do you have guidance around like score submission or score?

Submission guidelines broadly. Yeah. So, um, the best way to, um, understand. So this isn’t a test optional environment. So test optional policies mean submit if you want to, but if you don’t submit them, you won’t be penalized. Um, and for the most part, schools are penalized serious when they say that. So do not feel like you, um, have to submit even though it’s optional.

But what you want to find out to know that if your scores will help your application is what is the average test score or what is the range of test scores for admitted students? Um, and Typically, this is provided on the admitted student profile. Um, again, this is something that you can likely search. Um, it’s always released for the previous class.

So right now, schools will show their fall 2023 admitted student profile. And typically, there’s going to be a GPA range, um, and a test score range. If you don’t find that just in general information online, You can reach out to the admissions office and explicitly ask, what is the average SAT score or ACT score for students that were admitted last year?

What things can I do as an eighth grader that will increase my chances of getting into the colleges I prefer later on? Um, so this is a good question. Um, one, very few things that you do before high school are actually going to make it to the activities list. on your college application. Um, and so it kind of starts over once you’re in high school.

Um, however, what you could be doing as early as 7th or 8th grade is focusing on that course selection and getting good grades. What you do in your courses in 8th grade and the kinds of courses that you take will have a big impact on the courses that you are tracked into in high school. In high school.

Um, so I would say course selection and grades, um, would be the most important. I love that answer. That’s something I totally don’t think about, about like eighth grade classes and how they impact, um, high school, uh, placement. So yeah. Thank you for that. Uh, I’m gonna do a quick. P.S.A. In the middle. So for any folks who are in the room who are not currently working with us, we know that the process is overwhelming.

You all are sharing a ton of thoughtful and good questions. Um, and so we do have a team of over 300 former admissions officers and admissions experts who are ready to help you and your family navigate the process through a 1:1 admissions. Sessions so you can take the next step in your college admissions journey by signing up for a free 45 to 60 minute strategy session with an admission specialist on our team by using the QR code that is on the screen during that session.

We’ll review your current extracurriculars, talk about your college lists and explore an application strategy in order to help you get prepared to stand out in the competitive college admissions world. We will leave that, um. QR code back up and get back to the Q&A. One other thing, please do not chat me questions.

I’m going to ignore them. Please drop your questions in the Q&A. Um, okay. What are some examples of stand out summer experiences? Does having a job matter or study abroad or leadership seminars were unique? Um, so don’t think as much about what is unique. Um, when you think of all the students that apply to colleges at some point, not very much is going to be unique.

We, we see it all at some point. Um, what you want to. Put more effort in to is what makes the most sense for you. Um, and so it may be an internship. It may be a summer program that’s very connected to, um, your unique interests. Um, it could be a part time job. If you’re a student that helps provide for your family, um, or you’ve been working at the same job for four years, um, that can be a very, um, Compelling activity.

Um, so it really depends on, um, your interest, um, and what you’re trying to convey on the application. Someone said in regard to college essays, do you recommend that we should write our own or ask, uh, okay. In regards to, I guess I’m a little confused by this question. I might skip it. If you, if you’re, you wrote a question about college essays, I’m confused by it.

So please clarify, um, what should you do if you are behind on where you should be in the process.

So, I mean, the good thing is you can catch up. Um, we work with clients all the time that start working with us. What, like, a few weeks before August, sometimes even after that, their senior year. So you can definitely catch up, but it is going to take some time. So if you are behind, the first thing you should do is focus on that college list.

Um, that can really help you, um, save some time and not. Spin your wheels. Um, if you know that the schools that you’re applying to are test optional, then maybe you decide not to take the SAT or the ACT. And so you don’t waste your time on that. Um, you can also, you know, get a better understanding of, um, the selectivity of those schools.

Um, that might be something that, um, can dictate the courses that you end up taking your senior year. Um, so you can always catch up. I would say just getting organized. Um is important. Forging those relationships with teachers for letters of recommendation is important. Um, so those are the things that you kind of can do as soon as possible.

Um, and then just making sure you’re covering your bases. You can do this in six to seven months. Like you can, you can get this work done pretty quickly. Um, but starting early, Just makes it a less stressful experience. I mean, you could do it in two weeks. It depends on how much time you want to give to it, the quality that you’re looking for.

So, yeah. Someone, this is an interesting question, so I’m going to ask it just to hear what you would say. We’ve heard that once you tour a college, they open a file on you and it’s good to send thank you letters for those tours, which will go to your file as a potential applicant. Is there any truth to this?

Oh, good one. Um, so colleges have, um, very sophisticated ways of tracking applicants and prospective students now. Um, so the short answer is yes. Um, not only do you have a file, um, after a tour, um, but you have a file after you sign up at a college fair or send an email or go to an information session. Um, so yes, there is this record.

of how you’ve engaged with the college, um, since you entered their system. Now, um, some schools take how many times you visited campus or how many times you’ve emailed. Some schools take that into account in their admissions decisions. Um, that is called demonstrated interest. Um, I am of the mind that demonstrated interest does not hurt.

Even if a school says we don’t pay attention to it, don’t worry about it. It is still. in their application system most of the time. Um, so it cannot hurt you in this process. There’s absolutely a lot of truth to that. What is a balanced college list? A balanced college list, um, is a list of schools, um, that allows you to have good or reasonable chances of coming back with more than one acceptance.

Um, so I’ll give you an example of what a balance un unbalanced college, college list is. Um. We talk about schools in three categories, safety, target, and reach schools. Reach schools are these super, super selective schools. So let’s think of that as all of our Ivy League institutions, top 10 institutions that have single digit admit rates.

If your entire college list, no matter how smart you are, and I really want to underline that, you can be the best student in your class, your school, your state, you can have a perfect SAT score. Those schools are a reach for everyone that applies because so many students are competitive and are at the top of their game.

And so if your entire list only includes Super, super selective institutions. That is not a balanced list because it is hard. It is a reach for anyone applying to those schools. A balanced list might look like three of those, um, selective schools. Let’s say you have three Ivy league institutions on your list.

Um, let’s say you have your, um, public state institution that has a 60 percent acceptance rate. That’s your safety state. School. And then you have some other schools that are selective and competitive, but you’re right in the range of the types of students that they admit. Um, and so a balance list just means you did your research and you are casting your net not haphazardly, um, but to schools that actually, that you have a chance of going to and that you’ll do well at ACT/SAT.

Both are neither. Oh, I was at the format of the question. I love that. Um, both or either or. Um, so most schools have no preference whether you take the SAT or the ACT. If you know that you want to take a standardized test and you have the time and resources, I would say take both once. See which one you like better or do better on and then max out in Whichever one you prefer to get the best score possible.

I know you kind of spoke to this already But just because we’re on standardized testing someone asked For a test optional school. Would you say that submitting and high SAT score helps the admission helps with admission? Um, so sometimes it’s kind of a wash. So like if you are Already a strong student, um, submitting a strong SAT score may just, you know, underline what your decision was already going to be.

Um, where I see it particularly helpful is if you are a student that maybe has some blemishes on your high school transcript, and there’s some areas that you struggled in, having a high SAT or ACT score could be that kind of additional. Information that says, okay, I really am able to do the work. I struggled in this class or that class.

Um, and so there is a student, a type of student, a predicament that a high SAT score or ACT score can really help you in the test. Optional environment. Okay, my next question for you is how many recommendation letters may be used? I’d like to use a teacher and an employer and a volunteer center. Is that too many?

Um, usually, um, so my, my letter of recommendation, um, advice is submit only what is asked for. Um, and most of the time colleges don’t tell you that, you know, just to be mean, um, they don’t have the capacity to review more items than what they ask for. Um, and so you want to find the two recommendation letters, um, that speak most fully to you.

Um, If the college does not specify, I always like to see at least one teacher that’s super important. Um, and then the second person should be able to speak to you outside of the classroom in some way. Um, an ideal person might be a teacher who’s also the advisor of an extracurricular. Um, but two typically covers it.

Um, I don’t know many colleges that ask for any more than three. Um, so you just want to pay attention to their requirements. Um, Am I at a disadvantage if my school doesn’t offer AP or IB or honors classes and then separately, but on the same topic, should I take more AP or dual enrollment classes? Yeah, good question.

So there, I think in the, the high school, Atmosphere. There are, you know, preferences on A.P. Versus honors. Um, there are typically beliefs on which one is harder. Um, that are are very related to your high school. Um, keep in mind from the admission standpoint, we’re looking at things from a higher level. Um, and so what that Yeah.

typically looks like is did this student challenge themselves based on the curriculum available to them? Um, oftentimes, if you did take advantage of, let’s call it 10 honors classes, which is a high number. Um, but let’s say you took 10 honors classes. Very rarely would we look at those 10 honors classes and say, well, why didn’t they take 10 APs?

Um, You’re choosing something above the standard curriculum. Um, and that is helpful. Um, same thing for dual enrollment. Um, I often hear, you know, dual enrollment may not be as hard as an AP class. Um, there may be a legitimate reason why you took a dual enrollment class instead of an AP class. Um, the bottom line is that you took something above the standard.

Um, another good way to kind of get into, um, um, Which one to take? Talk to your high school counselor, um, and say, what are the types of curriculum that our top students at our school are taking? Um, are they maxing out on AP classes? Are they doing honors? Is it a mixture of both? Um, because. You want to see yourself succeeding in your high school, and that’s often a good indicator that you’re going to succeed in the applicant pool of wherever you apply to.

Sorry, I was half listening because I was trying to answer a question. Did you mention school profiles? Not yet. I will. Um, so one of the things that happens, um, and this is not something that you provide your high school counselor provides what we call a school profile to every college you apply to. And your school profile essentially is giving us the skinny on your school.

It tells us how big it is. It tells us, um, the racial or ethnic background of your school. It may talk about income. So number of students that are on free or reduced lunch. But more importantly, it tells us, um, what the curriculum looks like. Are there AP courses available? Is there a limit? Are there honors?

Is there a limit? Um, do students have to wait to take those courses? Um, and so a lot of times students feel like they’re, um, they have some kind of like unique high school curriculum structure that we’re not going to explain, you know, we’re not going to understand. And they’re so nervous about it. Um, more high schools have weird and funky stuff going on with their curriculum than normal.

So we look at your school, school profile. That is how we understand your school, and then we judge you within that context, not the context of some student that lives three states away that goes to some other kind of school. Thank you. Sorry about that. Um, is it bad? So someone asked, they gave a, their son is very involved in, I guess, a variety of activities, and they asked, is it bad to be, is it bad for college admissions to be well rounded?

To have these very broad and diverse. And then how do you connect all of those interests through the essays that are creating a hook or an overarching theme for that student? Yeah. Um, I, I read this one. Um, so there’s, there’s two kind of minds to that. Um, When we look at students who have activities that are like very narrow, and I don’t mean narrow in a bad way, but very focused.

They know exactly what they want to do. It’s their final career path. They’ve done a research project. They’ve done an internship. That’s really exciting, you know, because it’s a student that is really sure of what they want to do. Um, but the reverse is. When I look at a student who, um, let’s say they want to be a computer science major, um, but they’re also really interested in theater and language and all of these things that are like seemingly unconnected or not the typical computer science student, that’s really compelling.

That means you have a dynamic student with multiple interest. Um, Depending on the school again, there are institutions that explicitly talk about, um, having a a dynamic student on their campus. I mean, think of any liberal arts institution, um, they’re wanting students that are going to find interest and passion, um, and perspective in a number of subjects.

And so, again, I think really connecting with the mission and the values of the institution and the different components of that institution. Um, can be helpful. So, you know, you might say I’m interested in this part of the computer science program because I really like coding. Um, but I’m really interested in this art club or this music organization.

Um, and it allows you to connect with multiple. Campus uni members. Um, coming down to the wire. So I want to ask this question that I found to be interesting. My child wants to use AI to assist with writing his scholarships essays. What is your view on running your written essays through an AI in order to help with grammar words, etc?

Yeah. I mean, what a hot topic. I mean, I think so many, um, college admissions folks, we spent the summer kind of ruminating over what this would look like. Um, so one, many colleges have AI statements. Um, where they’ll actually tell you how they feel about it. Um, I think the general consensus is that AI can be a tool for college admissions, just like it’s a tool for anything else.

Um, the problem is when your entire essay is AI generated. Um, I think a, um, responsible way to use AI, um, might be beginning to build an outline of. Um, some, some high level topics that you want to hit, um, in an essay and then making sure that your voice, your voice and your own words are the meat and potatoes of that.

Um, I, I also think, you know, giving it the test of, if I gave this essay to someone else, And then they looked at the prompt that I put in, would they be able to tell that I use this to inform my essay? Um, so you still want to make sure that it stands alone and stands up by itself and that 80 percent of what you’re saying is not coming from technology.

Um, and then also just as a. Another tip is that there are some A. I. Detectors out there. So if you want to write it, get the A. I. Help and then put it back in. It’ll point out like this. This area still kind of sounds a little A. I. Ish. So it might help to point out where you would where they might need to do some additional editing in order for that essay to seem more human or more so in their own voice.

All right, we are going to leave it there. I feel like we did like wrap rapid fire questions. I wish we could do an hour of rapid fire. We have done that in like a Q and A. We have done that with a full admissions officers. Yeah, those are fun sometimes. Um, as a moderator, it’s a little overwhelming sometimes, but yeah.

Okay. Well, thank you Chelsea for, um, answering all of those questions. Thanks to you all for providing all of those questions. We hope that you, uh, gained some insights and apologies to those folks whose questions we could not get to, though you all had some really great answers. I tried to answer some in the chat when I could.

Um, and so that is the end of our webinar. We hope that you gained some insights on the types of questions. Support needed for creating strong college applications. We also hope that you’ll join us for our upcoming webinars. So this Tuesday we’re going to share a parent’s guide to college admissions success.

So for parents who have further questions, please join us on Tuesday on January 22nd, we’ll have the panel featuring alums from Northwestern and the University of Chicago. That is a great way to learn a little bit more about institutions, though it will not count as a demonstrated interest, but it is similar to an info session and on January 28th, we’ll have a session on How to Make the Most of Your Summer.

for your time. For college prep. So there were a few summer program questions in there. So definitely join us at the end of the month. We hope to see you soon. But until next time have a great evening everybody. Thanks, Chelsea. Thanks Anesha.