Why Shouldn’t All Students Have the Opportunity to Succeed?

I’ve just returned from a Counselor Fly-in to High Point University, which is legendary for its opulent campus. It did not disappoint, as I was treated to accommodations in the on-campus hotel (lobby below), delicious meals (including dinner in the Prime steakhouse, where students learn to dress appropriately, put their phones away, and exercise proper etiquette), and genuine hospitality by the admissions staff, faculty, and employees. I enjoyed the snacks (no minibar charges) in my suite, and the many fountains, firepits, and pools.

We toured and marveled at the cutting-edge facilities for business, the health sciences, media, and both visual and performing arts. After a Q & A with a fabulous student panel (mostly from NJ and NY), a counselor in my group said, “These kids are great! But what about the kids who weren’t such stars in high school, the ones with lower GPA’s? What are they doing?”

Of course, the student panel presented to talk to families and counselors at every college is composed of campus stars. This counselor was skeptical because HPU admits students who may not have been at the top of their classes. But the response from Dr. Kerr Ramsey, Senior Vice President for Undergraduate Admissions, was perfect (I’m paraphrasing here):

“Why shouldn’t the students who had lower GPA’s in high school be given every opportunity to succeed? Maybe they weren’t motivated to challenge themselves then. We provide every student with a student success coach, teach them the life skills they’ll need to be successful in the real world, help them get internships, and watch them blossom.”

High Point’s belief in its students’ ability to succeed impressed me more than all the fancy amenities. Every student, from those in the Learning Excellence program to those who will deliver the news on ABC after graduation, has the potential to flourish. It’s great to see a college with so much faith in its method and its students.

How to Get into Medical School

The wisdom of my peers is an invaluable asset in my business. I have been doing this work for 12 years–some of my colleagues have done it for 20 or more. Here, a top NYC consulting practice shares its experience and truth…it may surprise you:

“Medical and dental school are a major part of our practice. In this past cycle, we have already have five clear admits to Harvard Medical School.

• One was a neuroscience major

• One was a fashion major

• One was a biological basis of behavior major

• One was a public health major

• One was an English major

The fashion major did the best: He got full rides from Northwestern, Johns Hopkins, Vanderbilt, Case; he got 25% from UChicago; he got into NYU (which is always a free ride), and Harvard. He ended up choosing NYU (barely edging out Hopkins).

Rigor is not really a thing in medical school admissions. All that time spent in honors classes could be better spent in research labs, hospitals, community service, and leadership. We had a potential client two days ago mention that taking anatomy, genetics, and physiology would be easier as a bio major. Our medical school consultant told her genetics is always a good elective for a premed, but there is no need to take anatomy or physiology. As many medical school admissions faculty have told me, "We'll teach you all the anatomy you need in medical school. Take the class if you're intellectually interested in it, but don't take it because you think it'll help you get into medical school."

Some colleges do have "premed" or "pre-dent" as a major. These majors do NOT look better on a medical school application.

In short, medical schools don't care about what you major in. They care about how you perform on the MCAT, how you perform overall as a student, how you perform on the specific group of prerequisite courses required to attend medical or dental school (such as general chemistry, organic chemistry, physics, biology, etc.), and they care deeply about your extracurricular activities in research labs, clinical settings, shadowing, community service and leadership, etc.”

Back to Campus

I’ve been gradually returning to campuses as schools have relaxed their visit policies. After visiting a few local colleges, I am planning a NYC trip this week. Next, I’m off to North Carolina mid-March and still deciding which driving-distance colleges to visit in April.

After two years of virtual conferences, I can’t wait to attend IECA’s National Spring Conference in Philadelphia this May! I’m looking forward to meeting admissions reps (those I know and new) when I visit Philly-area colleges and learn much from my colleagues about how to best support our students in the classes of 2023, 2024, and 2025. (Yes, I’m doing all I can to get answers for you too, 2022 grads.) Then, in June, I’m back off to Denver for HECA’s Spring Conference and a whirlwind Rocky Mountain college tour of 6 colleges in two days! Five years ago, I visited several Colorado campuses. My hope is that these 2022 tours will be quite different, emphasizing systems put in place to care for our students more and amenities like climbing walls and swimming pools less.

Our 2020 high school graduates lost a spring semester, prom, graduation, and other predictable rituals of senior year. Graduates from every subsequent year have lost more face-to-face time with teachers and peers, so they will need greater academic and mental health support when they arrive on campus.

We always ask admissions reps if there are any new programs and majors (because those are exciting). Now that we are going back on tours, I will make sure to ask about student support on every college tour and infosession: it’s not enough to keep the usual student tutors and 9:00-5:00 counselors on staff. Our new college students must know they can rely on a system to address their academic and emotional needs while they achieve their goals. I’m confident that their coping skills will help them become incredibly high achievers.