Getting In: The Zinch Guide to College Admissions & Financial

Getting In: The Zinch Guide to College Admissions & Financial Aid in the Digital Age
"The best college advice from the smartest experts we work with."Â—Stephen Rudin, MD, Founder and President, Individual U., LLC
"Constructive, practical, and comprehensible advice to anxious high school students."Â—Tom Parker, Dean of Admission, Amherst College
"No one brings as much knowledge to the college admission process [as] Mike Muska."Â—Michael Goldberger, Director of Athletics and Former Director of Admission, Brown University
Where to go, how to get in, and how to pay for itÂ—from the college admissions experts.
Getting In is your college admissions how-to guide, written by experts with insider guidance on everything you need to know to get into the college of your dreams.
About the Book
- The truth about college admissions
- What you need to knowbefore you apply
- Behind the scenes ofcollege admissions
- Choosing the right(vs. "best") college
- Your application strategy
- The Hook: Putting it all together
- Athletic recruiting andcollege admission
- Paying for college
- Thriving (not just surviving)during the long wait
- Case studies andsample essays
From the Book: The Top 10 Myths of College Admissions

1. The top colleges are looking for well-rounded applicants.
The top colleges arenâ€™t looking for well-rounded kids. Theyâ€™re looking for a well-rounded class. Every school has institutional needs it must fulfill. That means they need scholars for every academic department, athletes for each team, performers for every arts group, and even some â€œreally niceâ€ kids to organize hall-hockey.

So what does that mean for you? You have assets; you have something the college wants to make up that well-rounded class. How you identify those assetsâ€”in the context of the schoolâ€™s needsâ€” is what we refer to as positioning. How you communicate your positioning becomes your packaging.

Importantly, positioning and packaging become as important to the harried admission officer as they are to you. Giving that hardworking person an easy â€œhandleâ€ or â€œhookâ€ and showcasing your strengths helps the college and helps you.

2. The more extracurriculars, the better.
Once you understand that top colleges are looking for the wellrounded class rather than kid, youâ€™ll recognize that admission officers donâ€™t really care about a student having a laundry list of extracurricular activities. They would much rather see a student who excelled at one or two activities and who attained a leadership position in just one. And even better, admission officers love kids who did surprisingly well in those pursuits. Find your passion and let the admission officer find it in you as well.

3. Great extracurriculars and talents are the keys to getting in.
FUHGETABOUTIT! What really count are your grades and SAT/ ACT scores. Only after you qualify on those two measuresâ€”grades and test scoresâ€”does everything else come into play. Extracurricular activities, athletic skill, musical, artistic, or theatrical talent, background, overcoming unusual hardship, personality, and the institutional needs of the college in a given year all come into play. But to make it into the admissions sweepstakes youâ€™ve got to have an academic â€œticket.â€

4. Admission officers secretly enjoy rejecting all those applicants.
No, they really donâ€™t. Most admission officers are aware that a majority of candidates are qualified to be at their college, and they donâ€™t relish denying that opportunity to good kids. But every selective college has more qualified applicants than it can possibly admitâ€”and thus admission folks will be looking for reasons to deny applicants as well as accept them. So, they quickly dismiss applications that donâ€™t pass muster. The easiest to reject are Those with stupid mistakes on their application: misspellings, essay questions answered thoughtlessly or not at all, or pieces of the application left blank or missing altogether. Those in which applicants come across as arrogant, grade-obsessed, or narrow pre-professionals. Applicants who fail to show genuine interest in that college.

5. By the time I apply, the die is castâ€”and thereâ€™s not a lot I can do to improve my chances.
It is difficult to overcome a weak or spotty academic record. But if you are in the academically acceptable (but not strong) zone, there are things you can do to better your odds. The fact is that most applicants fall into a middle group of qualifiedâ€”but not â€œkillerâ€â€” applicants. This means that in committee sessions, the admission officers like having a clear hook or positioning for each student. It helps to categorize, assess, and justify accepting or denying an applicant: â€œAnother grade-obsessed pre-med from a high-powered suburban New Jersey high school.â€ Or, â€œInteresting, bright Mendocino, California, flower-child home-schooled by organic farmer parents.â€ (Who would you rather hang out with at college?) So, while not having a solid academic record will make your chances of admission to a good school more difficult, it wonâ€™t make it impossible.

6. Get as many recommendations and letters of reference as possible.
There is an expression in the admissions world: â€œThe thicker the folder, the thicker the kid.â€

Many parents think they should secure extra recommendations for their student from business leaders, politicians, or people with connections to the college. Bad idea! Unless the recommender really knows the applicantâ€”preferably through a work or academic experienceâ€”donâ€™t do it. A vague or uninformed reference is worse than no reference at all. An application folder stuffed with letters of recommendation from â€œhigh-poweredâ€ references is not appreciated by any admission officer. They are often vague and quickly recognized as favors being done for the applicantâ€™s parents. And they backfire with an admission officer burning the midnight oil in order to get through her nightly quota of applications.

This is also true for your teacher, counselor, and employer references as well. Make sure they come from people who know you well and who can write something thoughtful and meaningful about you. You donâ€™t want recommendations that are well-meaning but vague or filled with generalizationsâ€”because you really didnâ€™t take a course from, or work for, that person.

7. Send lots of stuff to the admission office to prove how interested you are.
Just as you shouldnâ€™t inundate the admission offi ce with extraneous recommendations, think long and hard if you are submitting examples of your work to the admission committee. Whatever you send them (special projects, art, photos, awards, etc.) better be pretty impressive or unique.

In one illustrative case, a young man sent the admission offi ce an Excel spreadsheet listing all the movies he had ever seenâ€”complete with each movieâ€™s director, actors, and notable crew members. He was trying to prove how interested he was in the entertainment industry. But, rather than being impressive, it contributed to a picture of the applicant as a grind. This became especially apparent as he made no effort to get involved with the drama club or an independent filmmaking project, or even to volunteer at a local film festival.

As an alternative, think of how to use technology to your benefit. Providing a link to your website, a YouTube video, or a wellproduced short DVD gives an interested admission officer an opportunity to investigate you further without weighing down your file.

8. Itâ€™s getting harder than ever to get admitted to a top college.
Many educators and journalists said that 2010 was the toughest ever to get into a top college. This was the result of three factors: the largest high school graduating class in history, seniors submitting more applications to more colleges, and a larger number of international kids interested in top name colleges. Fortunately, the number of kids in the senior class will now decline for each of the next few years. Add to that the weak economy and families deciding on less expensive state and community colleges, and the combination may ease the severe admissions pressure just a bit. But donâ€™t expect the competition for getting into a top college to change dramatically. The value proposition of â€œnameâ€ schools will keep admissions formidable for years to come.

But believe it or not, itâ€™s still a buyerâ€™s marketâ€”if you are willing to do some research and not just focus on the obvious popular choices in â€œtopâ€ colleges. For all the hype and stress of college admissions, far more schools accept more applicants than they rejectâ€”even some of the name schools.

That doesnâ€™t mean the competition isnâ€™t tough; it is. But once you get beyond the top 50 or so colleges and universities, the acceptance rate is typically above 50%. Admission is still a daunting prospect, but smart targeting and a good application should give you a fighting chance of getting in.

9. Admission statistics donâ€™t lie.
As Mark Twain once wrote, â€œThere are three types of lies: lies, damn lies, and statistics.â€ Admission statistics donâ€™t lieâ€”too much. But they can be misleading.

For example, whatâ€™s the number-one most selective institution of higher learning in the country? Did you guess Harvard? Stanford? Princeton? Sorry, youâ€™re wrong. The answer is the Curtis Institute of Music. In the fall of 2007, Curtis had the lowest acceptance rate in the countryâ€”only 4.8%. That is far more selective than Harvardâ€™s 7%, Stanfordâ€™s 8%, or Princetonâ€™s 10%. Why? Because Curtis is a small specialty school that attracts many of the nationâ€™s top musiciansâ€”those who are looking for music-oriented education. So kids self-select, and admission is very competitive.

The raw numbers of admission are usefulâ€”up to a point. Believe it or not, more than a few colleges try to encourage applications from students who donâ€™t really have a chance of getting inâ€”in order to reject them. Why? Because a collegeâ€™s selectivity rate improves its standing in the U.S. News & World Report â€œBest Collegesâ€ rankings. Itâ€™s a little sick, but itâ€™s a fact.

Throughout this book weâ€™ll focus on various statisticsâ€”SAT/ACT scores in the mid-percentile ranks, yield numbers, early admission acceptance rates versus regular admission, legacy admissions. Weâ€™ll explain each one in the appropriate context.

But just remember: the numbers donâ€™t lie, but they donâ€™t necessarily tell the whole truth either.

10. Kids from private, prep, or high-powered public schools always do better in the admission sweepstakes.
Not necessarily. Schools like Harvard, Stanford, Yale, Brown, and the like see scores of applicants from good public school systems. They also receive lots of applications from notable private and boarding schools nationwide. In fact, applying from one of those â€œnameâ€ places can actually be a disadvantage. Thatâ€™s because so many applicants come every year from these high-powered towns and schools that it makes each candidate seem less unique. For example, itâ€™s always refreshing to admission gatekeepers to see applicants from rural areas. In fact, all other things being equal, a kid from a small-town school no one has ever heard of will have a better chance of getting in than a kid from a well-known high school. That well-known or high-powered school may routinely have 10 or more kids all applying to the same college. So not only are they vying for acceptance against the national applicant pool, theyâ€™re competing against their classmates! There is one downside to the small, unfamiliar, rural applicantâ€™s high school: the admission officer may not know much about the rural schoolâ€™s rigor or grading policy but is well aware of the well-known schoolâ€™s standards.
Now, thereâ€™s not a lot you can do about where you go to schoolâ€” unless you are reading this early in your high school career and are ready to move to Montanaâ€”so you may as well avoid obsessing about things you canâ€™t control. Instead, focus on how to improve your chances with the factors you can control. Thatâ€™s what we discuss throughout the book. And if you are applying from a high school thatâ€™s never before sent anyone to the college of your dreams, weâ€™ll tell you how to turn that into an asset as well.

From the Book: 10 Things Colleges Donâ€™t Want You to Know

1. It is a buyerâ€™s market.
Believe it or not, you are in a better position than you realize. That doesnâ€™t mean you can play Yale against Princeton, unless you are a phenomenal applicant; or USC against UCLA, if you are a very good one. But only about 65 colleges nationwide reject more applicants than they accept. Among the remainder, there are still many excellent and well-regarded institutions. And this is the group you want to focus on in terms of your core school choices (vs. your reaches).

2. Attracting good applicants is a competitive businessâ€” for the colleges.
Get on a collegeâ€™s radar screen early and enable them to come after you. There are a number of ways to accomplish thatâ€”such as connecting with a particular professor about her work and demonstrating your own interest and abilities in the area. The easiest way is to utilize Zinch. (Yes, this is a plug for Zinch; we partnered with them because we think what theyâ€™re doing is smart and effective.)

3. More than a few colleges cook the books to achieve a better â€œranking.â€
The U.S. News & World Report â€œBest Collegesâ€ rankings drive university administrators nuts. As a result, more than a few have been known to misrepresent the data that they provide to the magazine for its calculations. (The most recent involved a well-known university in South Carolina. They fudged the number of small classes offered by the university. The result pushed them from a ranking of 38 to 22.) If the rankings are important to you, make sure you do a Google search to see if there have been any negative stories suggesting less-than-kosher behavior by the colleges youâ€™re interested in.

4. Donâ€™t get snookered by the rankings.
First, the magazine rankings are often very misleading. They reflect a formula that purports to be objective. But objective criteria like class size, student-faculty ratio, alumni giving, and the number of volumes in the library canâ€™t capture the subtle but more important factors that determine just a how good a college really is: the quality of the faculty, the schoolâ€™s location, its physical attributes, and, probably most importantâ€”and elusiveâ€”the happiness of the student body. Second, there are lots of sub-lists that allow colleges to tout their rankings. By now all colleges know how to spin their numbers to make things sound better. Third, you should ask yourself what value the rankings have to you? If it is simply â€œbrandâ€ recognition, thatâ€™s OK; but recognize it for what it is. The important thing is to be sure to take any of the rankings with healthy doses of salt.

5. Colleges have personalities.
No one would ever confuse Brown with Princeton. Or Georgetown with Wesleyan. Rankings donâ€™t reflect personality, and personality is often far more important to a student ultimately being happy on a campus. Where youâ€™re happy, youâ€™ll excelâ€”academically and otherwise. So do your research. And after you get your fat envelopes, donâ€™t enroll at a â€œnameâ€ college that doesnâ€™t really excite you. Youâ€™re probably better off at a school that has less cache but fits you better.

6. Stereotypes are sometimes true.
Often the rumors about a college campus are indeed on target. One well-known Ivy is known as â€œthe gay Ivy.â€ A major Midwest state college is reputed to be populated largely by kids from Long Island. How accurate are these stereotypes? Often more on target than a school wants to admit. If you are concerned that these stories paint a picture of a place where you may not be happy, it is worth your time and effort to track down their veracity. After all, West Point and Annapolis offer great educationsâ€”but they are certainly not for everyone.

7. Colleges play up what you â€œthinkâ€ is important.
For example, colleges always talk about their terrific student-faculty ratio. Unfortunately, that number is largely misleading. So are measurements of the percentage of classes with fewer than 20 students. Both of these measures are typically included in various guidebooks and rankings, and both are good examples of how colleges â€œcook the books.â€

At most schools, youâ€™ll probably have to take some large lecture classesâ€”and you shouldnâ€™t worry too much about them in your freshman year. They are part of the college experience. More important are questions like these: How many upper-level undergraduate courses are taught by full professors? (One very prestigious Ivy is known for elusive faculty who tend to stick to research and grad students.) Are they available to all undergraduates or reserved for students in a particular major? Similarly, how accessible are small seminar courses to undergrads? The point? Donâ€™t get snookered byâ€”or hung up onâ€”college-reported statistics.

8. Every school has weird traditions.
Some are cute; others are a bit bizarre. Painting â€œAâ€ mountain before the fi rst football game at Arizona State is a big tradition at ASU. Unfortunately, students do it in the 110-degree heat of late August. Alternatively, at Bennington, there is a tradition of scheduling â€œcross-dressing nightâ€ on the first evening of Parentsâ€™ Weekend. The students seem to love it, but more than a few visiting parents are in shock. Be sure to explore some of these more quaint traditions, and think about whether youâ€™d be comfortable participating in them.

9. Colleges are businesses.
As we said earlier, most colleges are nonprofi t institutions, but they do operate on a profit-and-loss basis. And in tough economic cycles, it is very useful to see what a particular college has cut back onâ€”or what fees theyâ€™ve increased. Those choices will often give you an insight into what the school considers most valuable.

10. Colleges are political institutions.
They have powerful constituencies that must be attended toâ€”the faculty, the alumni, the surrounding community, sometimes the state legislature, and occasionally the church, among others. When you look at a college, keep these constituencies in mind, and think about how they influence the college.
Country USA
Manufacturer Cliffs Notes
Binding Paperback
ReleaseDate 2011-05-03
UnitCount 1
Format International Edition
EANs 9781118005972

Country	USA
Manufacturer	Cliffs Notes
Binding	Paperback
ReleaseDate	2011-05-03
UnitCount	1
Format	International Edition
EANs	9781118005972

Getting In: The Zinch Guide to College Admissions & Financial Aid in the Digital Age

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