Personalization Is Key to Successful Applications

The existence of The Common Application, which is accepted by more than 900 colleges nationwide, has resulted in many high school students applying to ten or more colleges.  This has significantly impacted the college admission process.  Colleges and universities are all concerned with their yield – the percent of accepted students who actually enroll – as this greatly impacts their rankings.  It is therefore only natural that colleges will favor applicants who display a strong interest in their school and indicate, in some way, that they will likely enroll if accepted.

The key to standing out from the hundreds, or even thousands, of other applicants with similar SAT scores and GPAs is to personalize all applications.  Let colleges know exactly why you are particularly attracted to their school and the specific ways you would contribute to the campus community.

Common App Essay Prompts 2021-22 Now Revealed

Back in 1975, administrators from fifteen colleges got together and decided to create one application that students could use to apply to any or all of their colleges. This was the birth of “The Common App” which, as of 2021, is accepted by more than 900 colleges and universities across the United States.  More than one million students are expected to use this year’s Common App – which will go live with its latest updates on August 1st – to file about six million applications. But college-bound students can get started on the most time-consuming part of the application right now.

An integral component of The Common App is an essay of 250 to 650 words that is required by the majority of its participating colleges. Students have a choice of seven essay topics, one of which states, “Share an essay on any topic of your choice. It can be one you’ve already written, one that responds to a different prompt, or one of your own design.” So, the topic options are truly limitless!

High School Grades Can Earn a Huge Monetary Reward

“High School Grades Could Be Worth $100,000. Time to Tell Your Child?” That’s the title of a recent New York Times article, written by the prestigious newspaper’s “Your Money” columnist, Ron Lieber, who also penned a newly-released book, “The Price You Pay for College: An Entirely New Road Map for the Biggest Financial Decision Your Family Will Ever Make.”  

The focus is the huge impact that “merit aid” plays on discounting the price that students and families actually pay for their undergraduate education. Lieber compares college classrooms to airplane cabins, with people paying vastly different amounts for the same experience.

There are certain criteria that affect admissions and financial aid offers that are out of a student’s control, such as parents’ income, zip code, and other demographic information.  But there is much that is within a student’s power, such as high school grades (starting with the first semester of freshman year) and SAT scores. That’s the topic that Lieber recommends parents and their children talk about.

Attend Top College for Future “FAANG” Career

College-bound students who dream of working at one of the most prestigious tech companies after graduation should pick their school most carefully.  There are a few very specific universities favored by “FAANG” companies Facebook, Apple, Amazon, Netflix and Google, as well as by other prestigious tech companies, when hiring recent graduates for lucrative positions.

The University of Washington greatly surpassed all other schools with regards to the number of graduates securing employment at major tech organizations, according to TechRepublic.com. When reporting “employee make-up” at the most elite tech companies, University of Washington ranked first at Amazon with more than 5,000 employees and first at Microsoft with more than 6,000 employees. It ranked fourth at Facebook with close to 1,0000 employees.

Stanford University earned the top spot at both Apple and Google, with 2,000 and 4,000 employees, respectively, at these two highly sought-after employers.

Be Sure to Know What “Test Optional” Truly Means

Students are often thrilled to hear the news of the latest college to join the “test optional” list that currently includes Harvard, Penn State, Villanova, Boston College, University of Virginia, and other elite institutions.

Students may make the assumption that gaining acceptance to these colleges and universities will now be easier, with one less hoop to jump through. However, the past admission cycle has demonstrated just the opposite. 

The majority of colleges went test optional for the high school graduating class of 2021, due to the mass cancellation of SAT exams last spring. These colleges wanted to continue attracting a vast number of applicants, in order to remain as competitive as ever. They more than succeeded at meeting that goal.