Tag: #parenting

Institutional Need and College Acceptances

Posted on by Amy Garbis

Institutional Priorities and College Admissions

How do institutional priorities impact college admissions? We often hear parents say things like “my kid has a great GPA and test scores.” They mistakenly think that this gains entree to top schools. Many highly selective schools will use these first two data points to vet an application. This takes about 30 seconds. After this first round, the application is then ‘read’ by the admissions officers who often work individually or in groups to read an applicant’s profile in more depth, about 2-5 minutes. Colleges look for various criteria: activities, demonstrated leadership, personality characteristics that come through in essays, interests other than academics etc.

One thing that college admissions counselors are never privy to is something called institutional priorities that greatly influence which students are admitted to the school 

Institutional priorities play a significant role in shaping a college’s admission process. These priorities are a reflection of the goals, values, and strategic plans of the institution, and they influence how the admissions office evaluates applicants. Here’s how institutional priorities can impact college admissions:

Diversity Goals

   Many colleges and universities have specific priorities around diversity, equity, and inclusion. This can include diversity in terms of race, ethnicity, geographic region, socioeconomic background, gender, and academic interests. Schools may place additional weight on applicants from underrepresented groups or those who bring a unique perspective to campus life. This doesn’t necessarily mean diversity quotas, but it often guides the admissions committee to seek a student body that reflects a variety of experiences and identities.

Academic and Extracurricular Fit

   Colleges often prioritize applicants who align with their specific academic strengths or institutional mission. For example, a university known for strong programs in the arts may prioritize students with demonstrated interest or achievement in creative fields. Similarly, a school with a strong emphasis on STEM might place higher value on students with strong science and math backgrounds. If the college places a premium on extracurricular involvement, applicants with leadership roles or notable achievements outside of the classroom could be favored.

 Athletic Recruitment

   Many schools prioritize athletes, particularly those that compete at the Division I or Division III level. Recruiting top athletes can bring prestige to a college’s sports programs, build school spirit, and even generate revenue (especially in schools with prominent athletic programs). For such schools, admissions may favor recruits who demonstrate strong athletic talent and are likely to contribute to the success of the school’s teams.

 Legacy Status and Donor Connections

   Some colleges and universities have a tradition of admitting students who are legacies—children or relatives of alumni. Legacy applicants may receive special consideration as part of an effort to maintain long-term relationships with alumni and encourage ongoing donations. Similarly, students who are connected to significant donors or who are from families with the potential to contribute financially to the institution might be given preferential treatment.

 Geographic Representation

   Institutions often seek to maintain a geographically diverse student body. Colleges may prioritize students from certain states, regions, or countries to ensure that they have a broad national or international representation. For example, if a college is looking to increase its presence in certain regions, applicants from those areas might be more competitive.

Classroom Capacity and Institutional Resources

   Some schools have limited capacity in certain departments or majors and will prioritize applicants who are likely to fill areas where the institution has a shortage of students. For example, if a college is trying to increase enrollment in an underrepresented field such as engineering or nursing, applicants who demonstrate interest and aptitude in those areas may be given preference.

Financial Considerations (Yield and Full Pay Students)

   Colleges and universities often prioritize applicants based on their likelihood of attending if admitted. This is called “yield.” Institutions may use financial aid strategies or offer merit-based scholarships to attract higher-yield applicants. Schools may also seek students who can pay full tuition, especially if the institution needs additional revenue or if it’s looking to offset financial aid packages for other students.

Academic Rigor and Institutional Prestige

   Selective colleges may prioritize applicants from rigorous academic backgrounds, especially those from highly competitive high schools or who have demonstrated the ability to thrive in advanced coursework. A school’s institutional reputation might shape its admissions decisions as well, as prestigious institutions often look for students who will help maintain or enhance their academic standing.

 Alumni Networks and Career Outcomes

   Many colleges are focused on ensuring that their students are successful post-graduation, which can influence admissions policies. Schools with strong career services or a large alumni network may prioritize applicants who have demonstrated clear goals and aspirations that align with the institution’s career development resources. Applicants with a clear pathway to success after graduation can reflect well on the college’s reputation.

Mission and Institutional Values

   Colleges often have a set of core values, such as a commitment to social justice, sustainability, community engagement, or innovation. Admissions teams may look for students whose passions and activities align with these values. For example, a college with a strong commitment to sustainability might prioritize applicants who have demonstrated leadership in environmental causes.

In summary, institutional priorities directly shape how admissions offices evaluate applicants. Understanding a college’s institutional goals—whether they’re about diversity, athletics, academic rigor, or financial considerations—can help applicants tailor their applications to resonate with what the school values most. It’s important for prospective students to research each institution’s mission and strategic goals, as this insight can offer a competitive edge in the admissions process.

 

My Kid Is Lazy!

Posted on by Amy Garbis

Over the many years that I have tutored children and teens in writing, and as a college essay coach, I’ve repeatedly heard parents say, “My kid is lazy; he doesn’t do his homework until it’s too late.” I’ve also heard parents say “My daughter always procrastinates until the last minute.” Let me just say, unequivocally, that the kid is NOT lazy. Procrastination,  missing deadlines, not following through with tasks are common symptoms of ADHD.

Teens with ADHD typically experience some or all of the following:

  • Distractibility and lack of focus
  • Disorganization and forgetfulness
  • Self-focused behavior
  • Hyperactivity and fidgeting
  • Heightened emotionality and rejection sensitive dysphoria
  • Impulsivity and poor decision making
  • Poor concentration and trouble finishing tasks

According to ADDitude, teens will have a few specific activities or tasks for which they have no difficulty in exercising their executive functions quite well, which can be a source of confusion among parents, physicians, and psychologists. This may be in playing a favorite sport or video games; it could be in making art or music or some other favorite pastime.

Experts say that 80 to 85 percent of preteens continue to experience symptoms into their adolescent years, and 60 percent of children with ADHD become adults with ADHD. The impact of ADHD symptoms may increase or decrease over time depending on the individual’s brain development and the specific challenges faced in school or at work.

Further, according to ADDitude, many of your teens’ problems at home, at school, and in social settings arise due to neurological delays. ADHD is tied to weak executive skills — the brain-based functions that help teens regulate behavior, recognize the need for guidance, set and achieve goals, balance desires with responsibilities, and learn to function independently.

How does this manifest in teens?

  • Response inhibition (being able to stop an action when situations suddenly change)
  • Working memory
  • Emotional control
  • Flexibility
  • Sustained attention
  • Task initiation
  • Planning/prioritizing, organization
  • Time management
  • Goal-directed persistence (sticking with a task when it becomes “boring” or difficult)
  • Metacognition (the awareness and understanding of your own thought processes a.k.a. self-awareness)

What can you, the parent , do? Don’t say “He’s lazy and will outgrow it” thus setting your child up for failure in college and beyond. If you see these symptoms, talk with your child’s doctor.  ADHD is very treatable. The symptoms in teens are treated with medication, behavior therapy, and/or through changes to diet and nutritional supplements. Regular exercise and sufficient sleep are also very important.

Boxed In Generation

Posted on by Amy Garbis

 

Pandemic Effect on Students

 

The difficulties we are facing with this year’s students reminds me of a story I once heard, told by meditation teacher and psychologist Tara Brach. The story concerns a white tiger named Mohini who lives at a zoo. 

Mohini was put in a 12 foot by 12 foot cage upon arrival at the zoo, and lived much of her life in this prison. She spent years of her life pacing out the dimensions of her cage. Eventually, zoo staff were able to construct a larger habitat for the tiger, with much more open space. However, when they set Mohini free in the new space, she found a small corner of it and resumed her pacing, tracing out a 12 by 12 box in the grass.

Our current seniors spent a significant amount of their high school careers “boxed in,” like Mohini, in the confined space of their parents’ homes, with little exposure to the outside world and social exposure to no one but their parents. It is no wonder that now, even when restrictions have been lifted, a psychological cage remains. Being psychologically boxed in can leave one afraid to take risks and go outside of the comfort zone, which is also reflected in less-than-stellar essays. Perhaps a lack of boldness and daring in the writing is a symptom of a pandemic that asked an entire generation of enthusiastic students to put their adventurousness on hold. 

Our puzzle is how to encourage this generation to rekindle the inner adventurousness that makes for bold, standout essays. It is likely that we, too, have a bit of that psychological cage around us. The story of Mohini often elicits compassion from listeners. Can we hold that compassion for ourselves and our students, being patient as we slowly find our way back into the open grass? 

Simon Ginet, a college essay coach at A Starting Line, joined the team last year after getting his Master’s Degree in Education/Counseling from Boston University. He’s worked in the mental health field with trauma survivors around the same age as the students we work with, and has studied psychology as a student and layperson since 2009.

Thinking About Studying Abroad?

Posted on by Amy Garbis

Some students are ready to explore the world as soon as they graduate high school; others want to stay closer to home. To help offer some perspective, we recently asked one of our clients who attended a Canadian university to reflect on their experience studying abroad for four years… 

The largest anxiety I had about attending an international university was, without a doubt, all the red tape: I was stressed about obtaining a student visa, acquiring international health insurance, opening a bank account, finding a phone plan etc. These are all normal things to be stressed about, but don’t let them stop you from applying or attending; it’s all worth it!

First of all- remember that your school is a resource. If you are accepted into an international school, the university will delineate the steps you need to take to get a visa, and will likely have programs catered specifically to assisting international students in their process of ‘settling in.’ Once you get your visa application in, you can begin to tackle the other daunting tasks one at a time. If you know anyone in your community who studied internationally, or better yet, at your school of interest, it may be helpful to ask them about the process. On the whole, the process is much more manageable than it seems.

After you’ve filled out all the forms and submitted all the paperwork, you’ll have arrived at the best part! Studying internationally is a great opportunity to put yourself outside of your comfort zone and experience a new culture, language, and city. Finding other international students once on campus is a helpful way to feel ‘settled-in’ in a new place. Although it may be daunting to be in a different country alone, there are always other people who are in the same boat!

All About the Strategy

Posted on by Tina Weber

Tips

  • Find your passion.
  • Secondly, get involved.
  • Thirdly, leadership doesn’t mean ‘president’.
  • Fourth, show initiative.

Admissions: forget the scatter grams

Times have changed

The pandemic has upended college admissions. The top 20-30 schools have seen their applications increase by anywhere from 20 to 50 percent as a result of going test optional or blind. Nearly 168,000 freshmen and transfer students applied to UCLA for fall 2021 admission, a 24.6% increase compared to last year, according to data released by the University of California Office of the President. Of those, 139,463 applied for first-year admissions, while 28,440 applied for transfer admissions. Applications at Tufts were up 35 percent from the previous year.

What college admissions offices noticed with the test optional/blind policy is that many underrepresented students were now applying. These students sometimes had quite stellar resumes filled with community and school leadership roles and landed some sweet acceptances at top schools.

This leads us to data and scatter grams. By the time data points show up in Naviance, the data is at least one year old. But without community and school leadership roles, those data points on scatter grams are meaningless. The top schools want a diverse student body; they want students who show initiative, leadership, involvement, empathy, business acumen, creativity etc. 

So, a near perfect test score coupled with a stellar GPA alone isn’t going to get a student into a top school – those days are gone. It’s all about strategy.