College Admissions Counseling Blog

As many of you know, the College Board changed the SAT in 2005 to add a writing section to the required test. There have been many criticisms of the new writing test since that time and many colleges either don't consider it or give it limited consideration. Several new studies, however, indicate that the writing test is actually a better predictor of college grades than the critical reading and math tests from the SAT. The studies come from the College Board and the University of California. The writing test was originally added to the full SAT at the insistence of the University of California which had threatened to stop using the SAT unless changes were made.

Although I think there are still substantial concerns about the validity of the writing section of the SAT, it appears that with these new studies more colleges will reevaluate their usage of the writing section.

Now that most students have decided where they will be in the fall, the thoughts are turning to getting ready for the college experience. One of the ways to ensure a good experience is by staying healthy in college. Here is a link to 101 health and wellness tips for college students. This is a good synopsis of some of the issues related to staying healthy in college.

The University of Vermont has announced that they will be offering grants to cover the cost of tuition and costs to all Vermont undergraduates who are eligible for Pell Grants and who are Vermont residents. This policy will begin with the 2008 entering fall class and will be phased in over the next 4 years to include all undergraduates eligible for the Pell Grant.

The announcement makes it clear that the grants are for tuition and costs only which means that these students will still have some obligation to pay for room, board and books. Still it is good to see a state university taking action to improve the financial aid available to the neediest of their students. As noted in the past few months, more and more of the colleges without tremendous endowments are figuring out ways to improve their financial aid without breaking the bank. Hopefully more college will continue to follow the lead of those colleges that have improved their financial aid in the past year.

I have discussed many issues surrounding the college admissions process on this blog and I hope they have been helpful. But there other resources out on the web discussing college admissions. The problem is separating the good information from the not so good.

A new resource that has been put together is the Carnival of College Admissions. Brian Carver over at Accepted to College began this project and, although still in its infancy, it shows much promise. Basically, the Carnival consists of submissions from various resources throughout the web that deal with the world of college admissions. In the few weeks that the Carnival has been going there have been some wonderful submissions. And for those who are wondering, you will find a few of my submissions as well.

If you are in the search for the right college, take a look over at the Carnival of College Admissions to get some other perspectives on the college search. Enjoy the new resource.

There is a new article discussing the increased wait list numbers being used this year by some of the highly selective colleges. Although I have already reported on the increased wait lists this year, this article is interesting as it provides more detailed information on how unlikely, and unpredictable, getting off a wait list is at many colleges. Amherst placed 1,400 students on their wait list this year in their effort to fill a class of 440. According to the article this was up 40% from last year. However, according to the Common Data Set information from Amherst itself, last year saw 1462 students offered a wait list placement.

According to Amherst's Common Data Set information in 2007 they took no students off the wait list. In 2006 they took 2 students off the wait list and none in 2005. However, in 2004, Amherst took 78 students off the wait list and 72 in 2003. These numbers would indicate that based on the most recent years, it is likely that Amherst will take few, if any, students from the wait list. But students on the wait list will hope that this year is a repeat of 2003 and 2004.

Students on a wait list at Amherst, or most selective colleges, are unlikely to gain admission off the wait list. They need to understand this and prepare alternatives in case they do not get off the wait list. And hope that this is one of the years when their wait list college accepts more than the normal number.

One of the issues that experienced college counselors understand is that there are certain groups of students who have a much better chance for admission at selective colleges. One such group are legacy students, those students who have a parent who attended the college the students is applying to. ABC news has examined this group of students in a new article discussing the lack of information colleges make available about legacy students.

Legacy admissions must be considered even by those students who do not have legacy status. The stated admission rates include the admission rates for legacy students, as well as other groups such as recruited athletes. The result is that the actual admission rate for the typical student who does not belong to one of these groups is much lower than the stated admission rate.

College admissions is not a perfect system but the more the prospective student understands the issues and limitations, the more likely that they will make appropriate choices.

Amherst College has announced that they are extending their need blind admission policy to international students. Need blind admissions means that Amherst will admit international students without regard to their ability to pay for their college education. This makes Amherst one of only 8 colleges in the US that offers need blind admission to international students.

It is difficult for many deserving international students to seek admissions to US colleges because they can't afford the cost. Amherst's move to need blind admissions is good news for all international students seeking to attend college in the US.

Oberlin College has announced that they are eliminating all loans for students who receive Pell grants and replacing the loans with grants. Pell grant recipients typically come from low income families making less than $35,000 a year. About 12% of Oberlin's 2,800 students receive Pell grants.

Although Oberlin's move will effect a limited number of students it is an innovative way to use limited resources to improve the financial aid package of those students least able to afford college. Hopefully more colleges will continue the trend of improving the financial aid available to their students.