Hurry Up and Wait!

College-bound seniors in high school have been awaiting the mail eagerly these last few months. Many have received the dreaded letter sized envelope containing a single sheet, while others have happily received a large envelope filled with yet more forms to fill out! The third option is the purgatorial wait-listed status. Many students may have received all three types of notices. If they're lucky, they've been accepted to the school to which they would really like to go. In those cases the uncertainty of being wait-listed and the disappointment of outright rejection are mitigated. Many people would rather have a simple "yes" or "no" rather than be wait-listed. At least that's what they say, even though with being wait-listed the possibility of "yes" is still present. Or is it?

Rachel Louise Ensign and Melissa Korn wrote an article for the Wall Street Journal of 4/9/12 entitled, "Colleges Tough Waiting Game", which is available at online.wsj.com.. In the article they write about how unlikely it often is that a wait-listed student will be offered admission. Indeed, Carnegie Mellon in Pittsburgh accepted just six of the over 5,000 applicants they wait-listed last year. As part of the same article, they present a very interesting chart, "The Old College Try", which presents wait-listed information from more than a dozen "elite" schools.

As per the National Association of College Admission Counseling, colleges are supposed to fill remaining admissions openings from their wait-lists by August 1. The writers cite Kennon Dick who was the associate dean of admissions at Swarthmore and educational consultant at an admissions consulting firm called College Coach. Mr. Dick says that when colleges turn to their wait-lists they look to fill unique holes in the incoming class or for students who "show interest in the college through phone calls, emails and letters after accepting a spot on the wait list". In many of my previous posts I've advised that you get the names of various representatives you've met on visits and tours of the colleges you visit and contact them at different points in the application process, for example, after your visit/after you apply. This includes tour guides, professors, team coaches, admissions staff, etc. If you're wait-listed at a school in which you are really interested, now would be the time to contact them again.

In the Wall Street Journal of Saturday-Sunday, April 19-20, 2011, Jane Kim wrote an article entitled, "Buying Your Way Into College". In it she stated ,
Many schools begin by admitting part of the class without
regard to the ability to pay, but start to consider it
when the financial aid budget runs thin. For the first
time since 2005, the University of Rochester doesn't
expect it will be completely need-blind when it comes
to admitting students off the wait list this year.
Ensign and Korn also write about this:
Applicants requiring financial aid may have an even
tougher time. Even at a handful of need-blind schools-
those that don't consider financial need in admissions
decisions-waitlisted students with less need have an
edge. Six percent of private colleges were need-blind
in the regular admissions cycle but became need-aware
once they started admitting students from the wait list,
a 2008 survey by the National Association for College
Admission Counseling said.

These are all things to review when considering your options. The old adage comes to mind. "A bird in the hand..."

If Spring Training Is Almost Over, Can Summer Be Far Behind?

Although the area of the country in which I live has had an usually mild winter, the beginning of baseball season always seems to mark the long awaited countdown to summer. Most students look forward to a season away from school and homework but many parents are looking for ways to entertain their children and enrich their development. Truth be told, many are just looking for something for the kids to do while they're at work! Have you noticed all the summer camp advertisements and open houses?

In addition to camps geared to specific talents and interests, pre-college programs are offered by many schools for students in middle/high school. Students who are interested in a certain college or university may go to its website to see which programs are available. In my blog way back on September 22, 2010, I reviewed four such programs at New Jersey Institute of Technology, Douglass College and the Fashion Institute of Technology as well as one at the New Jersey Center for the Performing Arts. There are hundreds, if not thousands, more. Peterson's publishes a guide entitled, Summer Programs for Kids and Teenagers .
The Kaplan Yale Daily News Guide to Summer Programs is worth a look as well.

In finding information about summer programs, websites can be particularly helpful, as they are usually more current and updated more frequently. I like one out of George Washington University - www.usummer.com. Clicking on the "Summer Programs" tab will bring you to a directory of hundreds of programs not exclusive to GWU.

CAUTION: Many motivated students look at a summer program as a way to enhance their application to an exclusive or highly competitive college. As with many things, it's not WHAT is done as much as HOW it is done. An expensive or even self-sacrificing summer program really does little if you've gained no insight from it. If you travel to some exotic place to dig water wells and all you come away with is you didn't really like the food, you will not produce as good an application essay as the one about how you loved teaching the neighborhood kids to throw a curveball.