5 Misconceptions of the College Application Process

When it comes time to engage with the college application process, many students and parents struggle with common misconceptions. 

1)   Ivy League universities, and other elite institutions, are not beyond the financial reach of families. In fact, they are the most affordable. These schools have such incredible endowments that they are able to meet the full financial need of all their students, not requiring anyone to take out loans. The struggle is not how to pay, but how to gain admittance. Colleges and universities on this list include Amherst, Davidson, Johns Hopkins, Northwestern, Stanford, Swarthmore, Vanderbilt, Washington and Lee, and University of Chicago.

  

2)   College acceptance is not a “numbers game.” There’s a rhyme and reason as to who gets accepted where. So, applying to a greater number of colleges is not going to give a student an advantage over applying to a smaller number of target schools – colleges where one’s SAT scores and GPA are in line with those of current students.  If a student has not taken a rigorous course load, with a great number of AP courses on which they scored a “5” on the end-of-year exam, and earned impressive SAT scores while engaging in a “passion project,” the likelihood of gaining acceptance to Princeton is miniscule. Adding Brown, Columbia, Cornell, Dartmouth, Harvard, Yale or UPENN to the list is not likely to improve one’s outcome.

3)   Early Decision (ED) is not just about getting an earlier response from a school. (That’s actually the benefit of Early Action.) At many colleges and universities, applying early decision greatly increases an applicant’s likelihood of gaining acceptance.  According to statistics from Collegevine.com, at Brown University 13% of ED applicants were accepted compared to 5.1% of those who applied regular admission, at Columbia the acceptance rate was 11.3% ED to 3.9% regular, and at Duke it was 16.4% ED to 6% regular.  A similar ratio is reported by many of the most competitive schools that strongly favor ED applicants as it boosts their yield: the percent of accepted students who enroll.

 

4)   Students should not wait for their “rec letters” to be written before applying to colleges.  It’s actually the other way around. Once students submit an application via the Common App, their counselor assembles and forwards their supporting documents, including transcripts and letters of recommendation.

 

5)   The majority of colleges do not reject most applicants.  Colleges popular with New Jersey students that accept more than 50% of their applicants include University of Massachusetts – Amherst (66%), University of Delaware (72%), University of Pittsburgh (67%), Penn State (56%), Drexel University (83%), and St. Joseph’s University (83%).   

 

Susan Alaimo is the founder & director of Collegebound Review, offering PSAT/SAT^® preparation & private college advising by Ivy League educated instructors. Visit CollegeboundReview.com or call 908-369-5362