Volunteerism is Essential on College Applications

While college admissions officers focus heavily on students’ grades and SAT scores, they also take a careful look at their history of volunteerism. Colleges offer such a wide range of volunteer opportunities, both on and off campus, that they look favorably on applicants who will likely become actively engaged.  

The Office of Student Involvement and Leadership at Rutgers University, for example, hosts more than 500 student organizations. It offers students limitless opportunities to serve others, both nationally and internationally, through “Rutgers Alternative Breaks” service trips.

 

The College of New Jersey offers between 50 to 100 percent tuition scholarships to more than 80 students who make a substantial commitment to volunteerism by becoming Bonner Community Scholars.  These students choose to focus on a particular area of service and provide 300 hours of meaningful volunteerism over the course of a year, combining service with their academic experiences.

Composing a Compelling Resume for College Apps

As students enter a new calendar year, thinking back on prior accomplishments and planning new ones for the year ahead, there’s an important task to undertake: compose a resume.  That’s the best way for students to assess their achievements and identify the gaps that need to be filled in before the time arrives to file college applications.   

The best time to first compose a resume is early in one’s high school years. Resume categories typically include: Education (listing G.P.A., SAT scores, A.P. courses, and other academic accomplishments such as summer courses taken on college campuses), Athletic accolades, Volunteer activities, Work experience, Extracurricular involvement, and, hopefully, details of a “passion project” where you are engaged in an activity that demonstrates a talent or interest not common among your peers which will ultimately help you stand out to college admissions officers.

 

Not every student needs to feature each category on a resume.  Athletes, musicians, and others involved in a time-consuming activity may not have the opportunity to take on a paid job.  Students with after-school family or work responsibilities may not have the liberty of being engaged in extracurricular activities.  But all students should be able to account for how they spend their out-of-school hours – hopefully developing a passion or talent that colleges will want them to bring to their campus.

The New Format PSAT and SAT Exam Release Details

Students preparing for the SAT exam have seven opportunities to take the current test in 2023: March, May, June, August, October, November, and December. Then, in March of 2024, a brand new test with a totally different format will be launched.  

College Board is once again revamping the SAT exam, which was first administered in 1926 and has undergone many revisions through the years. The change is big news to the nearly three million students who take the SAT each year at some seven thousand test centers in more than 170 countries.

 

The newly formatted test will first be introduced at international test sites in 2023, before launching at U.S. test sites in March of 2024.  The most significant changes are its format, which will switch from paper to digital, and its length, which will shrink from three hours of testing material to two hours. The new test will also reduce the length of reading passages and allow for the use of a calculator on all, rather than just some, of the math problems.

What Colleges Are Accepting Local Students?

When discussing colleges, everyone seems to know the names of the Ivy League schools – Brown, Columbia, Cornell, Dartmouth, Harvard, Princeton, University of Pennsylvania, and Yale – but are local students actually getting accepted to these prestigious institutions? 

Yes, but the competition is fierce, according to data posted on the website of Montgomery High School.  Between the years 2016-2020, Montgomery High School students have been accepted to every Ivy League school. At Princeton, 13 of 214 applicants were accepted; at Harvard, 2 of 81 applicants were accepted; at Columbia it was 8 of 148; at Yale it was 8 of 84; at Dartmouth it was 5 of 77; at Cornell it was 27 of 269; and at Brown it was 3 of 127.

Most Regretted & Least Regretted College Majors

Almost half of all job seekers with college degrees regret their field of study.  That’s the news from a recent “Personal Finance” report on CNBC.  The most regretted college majors are reportedly Journalism, Sociology, Liberal Arts/General Studies, Communications, Education, Marketing Management & Research, Medical/Clinical Assisting, Political Science & Government, Biology, and English Language & Literature. Between 87% (for Journalism) and 52% (for English Language & Literature) of graduates with these majors reportedly said they would choose a different one if they had it all to do over.  Statistics were cited from a ZipRecruiter’s survey.

 

While students may have a passion for these fields while in college, reality often sets in after graduation when they seek well-paying jobs to launch independent lives and cover their living expenses.  According to CNBC, most graduates who regret their choice of major say they would choose Computer Science or Business Administration if they were making the decision today. The main reason is the large discrepancy in salary.  With an average starting salary of almost $100,000, Computer Science majors were reportedly the happiest overall.

Strategies for Writing Effective College Essay

Most high school students who are applying to college start out by completing The Common Application that is accepted by more than 900 colleges.  It requires one essay, and students can choose from a variety of topics or one of their own creation.  

A recent article in U.S. News & World Report offered essay writing advice from college admissions experts to help students get started on this somewhat intimidating task.  “Students should narrow their focus and write about a specific experience, hobby or quirk that reveals something personal, like how they think, what they value, or what their strengths are,” according to an admissions expert. 

 

“Many memorable essays focus on ordinary topics, including fly-fishing, a student’s commute to and from school, and a family’s dinner conversations,” added another counselor. Additional writing tips emphasize the importance of being concise, coherent, congenial, honest, and accurate.

 

Unlike SAT scores and high school transcripts, the essay offers students a chance to showcase their personality and share with admissions officers anything they would particularly like them to know.

Students Get a Second Chance at “Early Decision”

Students who are anxiously waiting to hear, within the next few weeks, from their Early Decision college, should have a back-up plan.  If they end up being turned down or waitlisted, all hope is not lost. They still have another option, which could bring them exciting news and get them off the college application merry-go-round, early in the new year. 

Many colleges offer Early Decision II, with a January application deadline and notification in February – close to two months prior to the typical April 1^st college response date. The main advantage of applying early decision is that colleges usually accept a much higher percentage of applicants. Because early decision is binding, colleges know that any student they accept will definitely attend – increasing their “yield” (percentage of accepted students who enroll). For example, the latest early decision acceptance rates, according to U.S. News and World Report, are 87% at American University, 79% at The College of New Jersey, and 65% at University of Miami. The overall acceptance rate at these same schools is, respectively, 64%, 62%, and 28%.

 

The main downfall of applying early decision is the fact that it is binding, preventing students from comparing different financial aid packages that they might receive from different colleges.