College Admissions & Paying for College Articles

7/30/2019 College Admissions & Paying for College Articles

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Article 1

Applying To Too Many Colleges Can Hurt Your Chances

Grace Oberhofer decided to apply to an even dozen colleges. I wanted to have options, says the 2011 graduateof Tacoma School of the Arts in Washington. She got them: Though wait-listed by first choice Harvard, she wasaccepted at Tulane, Oberlin, Brandeis, Duke, Sarah Lawrence, and Tufts, where she is a sophomore this fall. Butshe was really taken aback by all the time and effort it took to figure out how to present herself to each and writeall those essays while making sure my schoolwo rk was going well and still trying to hang out with my friends onweekends and not be stuck at my computer all the time.

Indeed, a recent study by the College Boards Task Force on Admissions in the 21st Century showed that, notsurprisingly, the vast majority of students report that the more colleges they apply to, the more stressful theexperience is. Perhaps because of that pressure, overapplying can actually hurt your chances. Its tough to puttogether a personal, genuine application that shows comm itment to a particular school when youre applying to 20

different places, says Jeff Pilchiek, the director of guidance at Westlake High School in Austin, Texas. Its muchbetter to be an exceptional applicant at six schools than an average applicant at 12 or 20. Westlake students areencouraged to apply to a well-researched, well- tailored list of five to seven good fit colleges, including a mix of reach, target, and safety schools.

Judiciousness is best even if youre using the Common Application, which shouldnt be viewed as a one -size-fits-allexercise. The questions tend to be rather generic and often dont elicit the most creative or helpful responses, butstudents need to guard against that, cautions Seth Allen, vice president and dean of admis sions and financial aidat Pomona College in California.

Excerpted from 7 Ways to Stand Out in U.S.News & World Reports Best Colleges 2013. Available at usnews.com/college13. Copyright 2012 U.S.News & World Report, L.P. Used by permission of U.S.News & World Report, L.P. All rights reserved. U.S. News allows republication of this excerpt without specific written permission or

payment of royalties, provided that the excerpt is republished in its entirety without any modifications and includes thisnotice. Please contact [email protected] with any questions.


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Article 2

The Ideal College Applicant: A Well- Rounded Specialist, not a Joiner

Top colleges are increasingly after well-rounded student bodies of individual specialists: the football player, thepoet, the mathematician, the physicist. So its better to be involved in fewer activities wholeheartedly over time,rather than nine or 10 superficially, and make an impact, says Katherine Cohen of IvyWise, an admissionsconsulting company. One math whiz she counseled founded a microfinance club at her high school and thenraised over $100,000 to fund projects in Third World countries; ano ther spent three years researching his schoolslight bulbs, water flow, and air systems, then developed a sustainability plan that saved more than $6 million.

For me, my extracurricular activities have been really important especially my countertenornes s, says AryehNussbaum Cohen (no relation to Katherine), who spent a good 25 hours most weeks honing his skills as a rare malesoprano in class at LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts in New York, in voice lessons, and atvarious rehearsals and performances. He milked his musical bent to the best of his ability in his applications to 14

schools, including Yale, Harvard, New York University, and Columbia, submitting supplemental performance CDsand an essay about how the music of Eric Whitacre, his favorite contemporary composer, helped him deal withtrying times such as the loss of his grandmother. Realizing that lots of students had better grades and scores thanhis 96.87 (out of 100) GPA and 2170 on the SAT, he thought it best to empha size what I would personallycontribute to campus that no one else could.

Cohen got into 10 schools and is now a sophomore at Princeton.

Excerpted from 7 Ways to Stand Out in U.S.News & World Reports Best Colleges 2013. Available at usnews.com/college13. Copyright 2012 U.S.News & World Report, L.P. Used by permission of U.S.News & World Report, L.P. All rights reserved. U.S. News allows republication of this excerpt without specific written permission or



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Article 3

5 Mistakes To Avoid When Applying To College

Whats the fastest way to mess up your col lege application?

U.S. News & World Reports Best Colleges 2013 guidebook features 10 college admissions officers sharing their petpeeves.

Among the highlights: Be yourself : Ive been jaded by years of reading captivating pieces only to meet the student and realize thathe or she could not possibly have used the vocabulary relayed in the writing, reports Tom Delahunt of DrakeUniversity. Students should submit their strongest work, not someone elses. Passions, not laundry lists : I become leery about a candidate when I notice his or her list of extracurricularactivities increase significantly during senior year, reports Delahunt. Instead of a laundry list of commitments, weadmissions officers want to know which one (or two) o f these activities is truly a passion. Avoid slang : While there is a time and place for shortcuts, emoticons, and other symbols of contemporarycommunication, your application should reflect formal standards that would make your English teacher proud,advises Bruce Latta of the U.S. Naval Academy. Watch what you post : Many of our applicants tag themselves in photos after they have visited our campus,so its not hard for us to see what profiles are open to the entire world, Latta notes. My best advice is toremember that if your grandmother wouldnt be proud to see what youre posting online, it probably shouldnt bepublic. Know who we are : Too many students ask questions about what majors are offered and other informationthat is plainly stated on our website. says Suzi Nam of Swarthmore College. We want you to display, throughyour application, that you have a meaningful understanding of our institution and how and why you see yourself asbeing a good match. This kind of authentic, thoughtful engagement with the admissions office is what all collegesvalue most..

Excerpted from What Not to Do When You Apply in U.S.News & World Reports Best Colleges 2013. Available at usnews.com/college13. Copyright 2012 U.S.News & World Report, L.P. Used by permission of U.S.News & World Report, L.P. All rights reserved. U.S. News allows republication of this excerpt without specific written permission or



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Article 4

Her College Choice was A Really Sad Decision

Julia Zoukhri s top choice of the five colleges she got into was Drexel University in Philadelphia (the others wereEmmanuel College in Boston, St. Johns University in New York City, University of Vermont, and U. Mass. Amherst). But at $50,000 a year, the Somerville (M A) High School grad had to decline the offer. It was a really saddecision, she says.

Zoukhri wishes now that she had applied to more moderately priced schools. Her dad and mom, Moroccan andFrench, didnt know much about the American process, so the swim team captain learned the ropes firsthand. Inthe end, Zoukhri chose U. Mass., where she will be in the least amount of debt when she looks toward vetschool.

GPA: 3.6 unweighted SAT SCORES: 590 math, 550 critical reading, 570 writing EXTRACURRICS:Swim team captain,lifeguard, swimming instructor; has black belt in karate ESSAY TOPIC: How a fellow karate student with autism

changed her perspective on dealing with people and on herself HELPFUL: CollegeProwler.com. The sites reportcard on a school provides a grade for anything from transportation to weather to boys/girls. Its almost as good asvisiting the college. HEADS-UP: Wishes she had thought more about which classes to take as a freshman so shecould be better set up for animal science. ADVICE:Interview. It gives you a chance to explain shortcomings in yourtranscript. Be ready for: Why did you apply here?

Excerpted from Success! How They Made It in U.S.News & World Reports Best Colleges 2013. Available at usnews.com/college13. Copyright 2012 U.S.News & World Report, L.P. Used by permission of U.S.News & World Report, L.P. All rights reserved. U.S. News allows republication of this excerpt without specific written permission or



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Article 5

To Clinch a Great Financial Aid Package, First Understand the Process

When offering financial aid, many college and university officials claim to meet a students full need. This meansthat the total package offered to prospective students which can be a combination of grants, federal and privateloans, and work-study money will fill the gap between the family contribution and the cost.

But exactly how need is determined, and how much schools will offer in grant money versus loans, is based onseveral factors. As a starting point, most secondary institutions rely on one or two tools to help determine theexpected family contribution, or EFC. Anyone applying for federal student aid will need to submit the FreeApplication for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA, which asks detailed questions about family income, investments,savings, and other financial matters.

Excerpted from How to Clinch a Great Package in U.S.News & World Reports Best Colleges 2013. Available at

usnews.com/college13. Copyright 2012 U.S.News & World Report, L.P. Used by permission of U.S.News & World Report, L.P. All rights reserved. U.S. News allows republication of this excerpt without specific written permission or



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Article 6

If You Borrow for College, Beware!

If student loans are inevitable, take them on smartly, advisers warn. With this type of debt, theres certainly apecking order, says Chuck Knepfle, director of financial aid at Clemson University in South Carolina.

About two thirds of college students take out loans, with the average debt load for the class of 2012 approaching$29,000 for those who borrowed, estimates Mark Kantrowitz, publisher of college financial planning websitesFinAid.org and Fastweb.com. Total outstanding student loan debt has now topped $1 trillion, and a number of financial experts have recently decried it as the next big bubble, especially given some of the risks associated withprivate loans.

Students should always exhaust their federal options first, advisers agree; federal loans have fixed interest ratesand flexible repayment options. And students should borrow only what they absolutely need. (There are betterways like a job to pay for snacks and the movies.) Walk back the numbers, advises Kristine Movalli, 25, a fiscal administrator at a telemarketing firm in Boston, whopays just under $700 a month from her $27,000 annual salary toward her $100,000 in student loan debt, mostlyfrom private loans. Know what youre getting yourself into, she says.

Excerpted from Beware, if You Borrow in U.S.News & World Reports Best Colleges 2013. Available at usnews.com/college13. Copyright 2012 U.S.News & World Report, L.P. Used by permission of U.S.News & World Report, L.P. All rights reserved. U.S. News allows republication of this excerpt without specific written permission or



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Article 7

How A Real Survivor Tackled the College Application Process

When he was in sixth grade in New Hampshire, Michael Kemp was in a car accident that killed his mother and lefthim in a coma for two months with a traumatic brain injury. He recovered, worked hard in rehab, and refusedspecial education opportunities, th ough I was reserved and withdrawn. Going to high school in Somerville, MA ,where he lives with his aunt and grandmother, definitely changed that, says Kemp, who always imagined myself going to college.

He delved into music (playing trombone and guitar) and computers, and volunteered as a yard worker at a localcampground and a trombonist in his church orchestra. He applied to four colleges, hoping to pursue computerscience and possibly game design. Wait-listed at Worcester Polytechnic Institute, he got into U. Mass. Amherst, U.Mass. Boston, and Bostons Wentworth Institute of Technology which he picked.

GPA: 3.65 unweighted SAT SCORES: 610 math, 550 critical reading, 700 writing EXTRACURRICS:School band,community service club, drama club, and National Honor Society; altar server at his church ESSAY TOPIC: Howrecovering from his accident has made him want to work hard in college and life DO-OVER: If he could do anythingdifferently, he says, I would have looked at more schools. BOOST: Taking Visual Basic, computer repair, Java AP,and other computer classes in high school HARDEST PART: The financial aid and scholarship applications. All thework paid off, however: Grants and scholarships will cover about two thirds of Wentworths $45,0 00 annual tab,while hell cover the rest upfront or with loans. ADVICE:Get a reality check on the schools you decide to apply toby talking to people who attend or graduated from them.

Excerpted from Success! How They Made It in U.S.News & World Report s Best Colleges 2013. Available at

usnews.com/college13. Copyright 2012 U.S.News & World Report, L.P. Used by permission of U.S.News & World Report, L.P. All rights reserved. U.S. News allows republication of this excerpt without specific written permission or


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