Top 10 College Admission Myths

College admissions myths are harmful because they students make mistakes that can hurt their admission chances or cause them to apply to the wrong colleges. College admissions myths also contribute to student stress.

Here is a list of the most common college admissions myths.

There is a Perfect College

Your life is not ruined if you don’t get into your first-choice college. There are hundreds of colleges that are right for you. Try to avoid getting your heart set on one college. Try a pick-three approach, where you focus on three colleges that are a good match for you. Since most students get in to at least one of their three favorite colleges, you’ll be happier with the outcome.

College Rankings are Extremely Important

College rankings do not provide a personalized match that considers your criteria and goals. Colleges with top rankings might be too expensive, not offer the right majors or provide cafeteria food that is unfit for human consumption. Only about a fifth of high school seniors consider college rankings to be very important in choosing a college. Only about 6 percent of college students are enrolled in one of the top 100 colleges.

You Must Enroll in a Big-Name College

Students (and parents) often feel that they must choose the most prestigious college that admits them. College is what you make of it, not what it makes of you. You can be successful at any college, if you graduate. Most famous and powerful people graduated from public colleges, not the Ivy League.

Increase the Odds of Getting into the Ivy League by Applying to All of Them

After all, if these colleges admit about 10 percent of their applicants, won’t applying to all 10 increase the odds of admission 100 percent? No. The math doesn’t work that way. These colleges do not choose who they admit at random. The odds of getting in are not related to the sum or product of the individual odds. Rather, if your profile isn’t good enough, you probably will be rejected by all ten of the most selective colleges.

Colleges Cap the Number of Students from Each High School

Colleges evaluate each application on its merits, without regard to the number of students already admitted from the school. For example, my high school graduating class was academically talented, with one third admitted to Princeton and a quarter to Harvard.

Unsolicited College Information Means Easy Admission

The opposite might actually be true. Colleges solicit applications to make themselves appear more selective. In other words, they might be seeking your application in order to reject it.

My Child is a Shoe-In to an Ivy League College

Nobody is guaranteed admission to any college, no matter how talented. Many talented students apply for admission to Ivy League institutions each year, and many talented students are rejected each year. Good grades and admissions test scores are not enough.

College Visits Don’t Matter

Some colleges use demonstrated interest to influence their college admissions decisions. Demonstrated interest measures the extent of a student’s interest in the college. A student who visits is more likely to enroll, if admitted, than a student who does not visit. College admissions officers use demonstrated interest to increase the percentage of admitted students who enroll. This can affect college rankings. Also, visiting campus lets you judge whether the college is a good fit based on the actual environment, as opposed to marketing messages. For example, you can’t taste the cafeteria food without visiting.

After Admission, Relax

Avoid senioritis, where your academic performance slacks off after acceptance letters arrive. If your grades suffer, colleges can rescind admission.

Getting into College is Really Hard

Sure, getting into an elite college, like one of the Ivy League colleges, is very difficult. But getting into a typical college isn’t all that difficult. Most colleges have better than 50/50 odds of admitting a student. If you apply to a good mix of colleges, you have a good chance of getting into at least one of them. More than 94 percent of first-year college students are attending one of their top three choices.

Written by Mark Kantrowitz and posted on Cappex.com on March 2, 2017

YOU GOTTA HAVE FAITH, FAITH, FAITH...

Posted by International College Counselors 2/28/17

When it comes to college admissions, a student's grades, course rigor, and test scores are always the most important factors of consideration.  But of course, a student's extracurricular activities can really differentiate an application.

Activities let schools know what a student is interested in.  More importantly, extracurricular activities can (and should) show a student's leadership, commitment, passion, perseverance, teamwork skills, initiative, focus, character, effort, maturity and interest in others.

 

When it comes to extracurricular involvements, many students shy away from faith-based involvement for a variety of reasons.  Some of our Jewish clients, for example, mention that admissions officers may be anti-Semitic or prefer a particular religion.  While this may be true - and impossible to know - we would argue that you do not want to attend a college that has anti-Semitic admissions officers.  And, given the number of Jews at top colleges, we're fairly certain that this reason is based more on conjecture than on fact.

 

Other students feel that colleges would prefer a different type of activity such as a sport or performing art.  Several of our students spend up to three hours daily on a sport, thinking that this will be the "key" to college admissions.  And, in very few cases, it is. But, for most students, all it does is ensure that this child will have a "one activity" resume - something not coveted by the colleges at all. 

 

On the other hand, joining a synagogue, church, or mosque youth group gives a student many opportunities to showcase their positive traits, including leadership and character, while gaining service hours and even work experience.   Anything from attending a mission trip, taking a leadership role in a Maccabi group, to volunteering to teach in a classroom can look great on the college application.

 

Another reason to get involved in your local religious group is because - in many communities - this is where much of the non-profit work takes place.  Sure, you can go on the Internet and hunt down organizations looking for teen help. Or, you can go directly to your local rabbi, priest or clergyperson to find out about one of the many service projects taking place in your own backyard.   What you are looking for is quality work with a purpose. To shine on an application, a student must maximize the time spent in extracurricular activities - any activities - by focusing, getting really involved, and working hard.

When writing about any extracurricular activities, students will want to do the following:

1. Show that the involvement has been growth-producing, productive and-or meaningful.  Colleges are looking to see if the student made a real difference.  This can include starting a website or social media campaign for the cause, growing a tutoring group/youth group/choir, writing articles for a bulletin, increasing membership or donations, and generally making a difference in the community.   

2.  Demonstrate leadership and initiative.  Colleges would like to see students have moved up in the activity.  Typically, this is signaled with a change of title and an increase in responsibility. Students who have progressed from a regular member to a position of leadership demonstrate this, for instance.  Initiative includes anything a student comes up with and then executes that makes the group/organization better.   For example, suggesting and then carrying through a new fundraising effort, or participating in and then organizing an event for the congregation or clergy.  

3. Received recognition.  As possible, students should take their initiative and ideas to the highest levels they can. For example, if a student is working on a project for their JCC, they should focus on reaching further and try to spread their initiative to many or all JCCs.  Significant efforts that go beyond normal efforts made by students should be publicized in hope they can gain national or international media attention.  Awards and honors earned are also important.  If there is an award or honor offered by the group, a student should make every effort to reach that level of recognition.  

Whatever activity students choose to get involved in, faith-based activities are a great chance to set themselves apart.   As we've said to many a parent, "I'm fairly certain your child will not grow up to be a professional lacrosse player, but she will be a Jew/ Christian/ Muslim/Jain.  Let's encourage that."