Test-optional admissions have created a huge influx of applications at many colleges. Admissions counselors confirm that making decisions is more complicated than ever. That’s why counselor and teacher letters of recommendation are getting extra attention, whether students apply test-optionally or not.
These surveys are the primary source that high school guidance counselors use to write letters of recommendation. While they would welcome the opportunity to know every student well, the system doesn’t allow this. It’s up to parents and students to fill in all the blanks.
Counselors are busy with seniors now and won’t address these letters until later in 2021, but there are real benefits to thinking about them now. That’s because writing an effective parent/student survey, aka “brag sheet,” can inform the other elements of the application that you complete and create, including the college list, activity list, Common App and supplemental essays, and perhaps the “additional information.” If you apply for scholarships, what you write in your surveys can make that easier too.
Once these letters are opened in the admissions office, they are reviewed and balanced with other elements in the application. Do they support the story the student tells, and how well? Well-written letters allow admissions officers to craft their classes with institutional goals in mind.
Start by opening the surveys and cutting and pasting the questions into a Google Doc. Don’t answer the questions quickly, but really think about them in relation to your child (or yourself). Every person is more than a string of adjectives, and each of those adjectives wouldn’t make your point unless you can support it with an example.
De-stress the college process by finishing this step early, before the application process picks up steam later in the spring. I’ll be giving tips on how to write surveys that will create stronger counselor letters during the first week of March (date t/b/d). Let me know if you’d like an invitation or would prefer to make an appointment for you and/or your student.
While there is never a guarantee that any student will be admitted to any school, the class of 2021 is experiencing even less predictability. The situation begs insight beyond what we already know about yield protection, test-optional admissions, and college’s financial fears.
That’s why I was excited to share stories with 30+ colleagues on Friday afternoon.
Here’s what I discovered: Several consultants’ students applied to many more colleges because of test-optional admissions. (My line is that too many schools add too much stress.) Few of my students chose not to test, but those who did not reached for colleges that would have been sure denials had test scores been required. Two were successful, but only after switching to ED after colleges recommended that. Some colleges have asked us to call if we have deferred students who will commit.
The scoop on highly-selective colleges: However, others had students without scores who were admitted to highly-selective colleges like Tufts (Tufts admitted 50% test-optional ED applicants) on the basis of high rigor, GPA’s, strong recommendations, and essays. The consensus was that standardized testing is still a valuable part of an application at the most competitive colleges, but it disturbed us that scores of 1550+ on the SAT and 35+ on the ACT seemed to be better predictors of success. That represents only the top 1% of test-takers, and there’s no guarantee (there never is) that students who earn these scores will be admitted.
An honest conversation: Admissions offices at UT Austin, UVA, and UNC Chapel Hill confirmed that their out-of-state admissions rates are generally below 10%. Students and families need to understand that denials from these colleges have no reflection on the quality of their applications. My California colleagues, who work with many Texas applicants, underscored that. My twelve years as a consultant bears this out, even as more students choose to add these schools to their lists each year.
Good news for many: All of our students who applied to colleges below the top tiers, with or without scores, were accepted nearly everywhere they applied. More selective colleges that received large numbers of applications and deferred many students, including Northeastern, UMiami, and Tulane, were eager to admit students who switched from EA to ED II, and we all had stories about students admitted to the University of Michigan with lower profiles than those who had been deferred. One deferred student was admitted to Stanford, another to Georgetown. All this attests to yield protection. Remember that deferrals are not denials!
Next steps: We will be calling admissions offices for accurate data to help us build our juniors’ first lists, then reconvening in May when all the acceptances are in. We will also pool all our personal data anonymously.
Testing: I participated in a webinar with Compass Test Prep and have a call in to them regarding how to best advise 2022 and 2023 grads as they navigate another year or two of test-optional admissions. Yes, they should definitely test! College Board is planning on an electronic option for the SAT by 2022 and ACT will finally offer the section testing originally planned for fall 2021. Will keep you posted with updates.
Let’s think spring: It’s the usual time for college notifications! Congratulations to my students who have committed to colleges and will be heading off to CU Boulder, Hamilton College, University of Miami, University of Michigan, University of Richmond, Sacred Heart University (merit and athletic scholarships), University of Tennessee, Tulane University, UVA, and University of Wisconsin. Most are still waiting, but all have excellent options.
This weekend, I completed a Character Collaborative course and am eager to use what I learned as a new tool to help my students craft more focused essays and applications.
In 2016, the above colleges committed to a new organization called the Character Collaborative. Its mission was to go beyond simple numbers in college admissions and to emphasize applicants’ character traits, including ethically-based attributes such as empathy, honesty, humility, open-mindedness and unselfishness as well as performance-based character elements such as resilience, grit, teamwork and taking responsibility.
Since I began helping students write their personal statements in 2009, it has been my objective that students' stories would communicate these qualities, albeit subtly to avoid generic versions of the “activity laundry-list,” athletic injury, and community service epiphany essays. The Character Collaborative provides colleges with a framework to allow them create rubrics to assess the particular traits that matter to them most. Below, see how “teamwork” may be evaluated through essays and recommendations, extracurricular activities, and interviews:
Empathy, honesty, humility, open-mindedness are, of course, valued by all colleges. I add academic curiosity to that list. However, a college’s identity and priorities, including location, size, academics, and culture, may call for more fluidity of performance-based qualities. The degree, structure, and style of teamwork desired by MIT or CalTech for science and tech majors varies greatly from what many other colleges and majors might seek.
This excites me because I can start conversations with college admissions officers, whether their institutions belong to the Character Collaborative or not, about which character traits they value most in their communities and pass that information on to my students and families. Something new for the Class of 2022!