Preparing for National College Decision Day

May 1st is a momentous day for college bound students.  It’s National College Decision Day – the deadline day for college applicants to confirm their enrollment for the upcoming fall semester. 

Typically, high school seniors apply to a gamut of schools, spreading their applications out among perceived “stretch,” “target,” and “safety” schools. By March 1^st they will have heard back from the vast majority of these colleges, letting them know whether or not they have been accepted.  Now, the ball is in the student’s court.  

 

Often, there is a clear-cut favorite and enrollment decision is an easy one.  Other times it’s a difficult choice.  As May 1^st approaches, students who are unsure of which college to choose may decide to “double deposit” – accepting admission at two schools and paying an enrollment deposit at each.  While possible to do, this is considered unethical as the student will ultimately attend only one university.  It’s also unfair to one’s peers, as it’s taking up a spot that could be cherished by another student. Likewise, it’s a waste of money, as enrollment deposits are typically nonrefundable.

Top 3 Hurdles of College Application Process

Admissions officers spend about ten minutes per application at large universities, and fifteen to thirty minutes at selective smaller schools, according to industry insiders.  So, students hoping to gain admission to highly competitive schools should emphasize three qualities on their applications.

The first is their numbers.  Every school looks at an applicant’s GPA and SAT or ACT scores, if submitted, with the exception of the very few “test blind” colleges and universities.  High school students should therefore take as competitive a course load as possible since Advanced Placement (AP) and Honors courses can significantly boost their GPA.  Students should also take the SAT (or ACT) several times, as they get unlimited “do overs” and can ultimately submit their highest test scores without colleges knowing how many times they took the test.

More Than 1.7 Million Students Took SAT Exam In 2022

More than 1.7 million students took the SAT exam in 2022 as part of their college application process, according to statistics from BestColleges.com.  Unfortunately, their collective scores were less than impressive with a national average total SAT score of 1050 – the lowest reported scores since 2016. Broken down by section, the average Evidence-based Reading and Writing score was 529 while the average Math score was 521. Back in 2018, the average total SAT score was 1068.

As expected, scores vary greatly by state.  According to BestColleges.com, the average total SAT score in 2022 for New Jersey students was 1079, slightly higher than New York’s average of 1067 and Connecticut’s average of 1025. But New Jersey students, on average, scored substantially lower than did their peers in Tennessee and Missouri (1200), Montana (1206), North Dakota (1212), South Dakota and Kentucky (1219), Nebraska (1222), Minnesota (1225), Mississippi (1226), Utah (1233), Kansas (1238), Wyoming (1244) and Wisconsin (1252).

What’s most significant for individual students is the way their SAT score compares to those of peers at their high school.  Colleges consider students in comparison with their classmates and favor those with the highest SAT scores for admission and scholarship purposes.

The Key Strategies for Identifying Best Fit Colleges

There are more than 3,000 colleges in the United States, often posing a dilemma for students who have no idea how to go about narrowing down their list of potential colleges.  While many colleges resemble resorts, with amenities such as a lazy river, golf course or ski slope, students realize that the main purpose of a college education is to prepare them for a career in their chosen field.   

So, the first step is to identify one’s ideal major. College Board has published the Book of Majors, listing the vast majority of majors offered at colleges throughout the country, and indicating which schools offer a degree in each field. Students can also go to the website of a large university, such as Rutgers, Penn State or Ohio State, view the vast list of majors and research those that are of interest.  

 

For more unusual majors, the list of potential colleges will be greatly streamlined.  According to the Book of Majors, only two universities offer a bachelor’s degree in Animal Genetics, Rutgers – New Brunswick and Clemson in South Carolina, while Animal Nutrition is offered only at Purdue in Indiana. Likewise, only a handful of universities offer a bachelor’s degree in Cognitive Psychology, including University of Connecticut, Emory in Georgia, Northwestern in Illinois, Tufts in Massachusetts, and Brown in Rhode Island.