Communication in COVID: 3 Email Templates

There seems to be evolving a “pre-COVID” and a “post-COVID” lens through which to see so many things in our world. A case in point for me is email. Back in the pre-COVID days, I wrote a post on how to write an email. Targeted mostly for students who have not cultivated a thorough understanding of email etiquette (though some adults would benefit), the post got some traction. While I would not dispute any of the points there, the post-COVID perspective within me wants to simplify. With our lives having turned so pervasively online over the last six months, reading a lengthy email or interfacing with my work world exclusively through the medium of email is painful. I received 206 emails yesterday, for example, and most of them were needing a meeting or a lengthy response better delivered in person (or through Zoom).

As such, I think that there may be a better way around this most of the time. I don’t know that we’ll ever get away from all emails containing lengthy bits of information (not just considering newsletters), but I think we would all benefit from focusing on the primary principle in emails being that messages are succinct and scannable. 

After reflecting on a week’s worth of emails (and not just yesterday’s overwhelm), here are three primary email templates that I think we all should focus on (especially students within their communications):

1. Let’s schedule a meeting because the information I am giving you or need from you will take more than 2 minutes to explain and/or understand. Also, here is how to schedule a meeting with me (e.g. Calendly), and here is a specific date, time, and location where we both look to be free.

2. Here is the information you need or requested, or here is something that I am requesting; in either case, I think that what I am requesting will take less than two minutes to provide through email (so I am not requesting a meeting).

3. Thanks/appreciation. 

I am told that I’m “old school” in that I prefer emails to have greetings and closings as well as proper punctuation, capitalization, and spelling, but even if they don’t contain these things, the efficiency of the above notes would help a lot. 

Pretty straightforward! I’d love to hear others’ thoughts! 

3 Essential Resources for the Savvy Applicant

With great thanks to our friends Jennie Kent and Jeff Levy at Big J Consulting, I wanted to share the annual work that they produce and then generously publicly share on a handful of critical points of consideration for students, international or domestic, applying to US colleges and universities, with or without financial aid:

• Early Decision and Regular Decision Acceptance Rates

• Domestic Undergraduate Need-based and Merit Aid

• Financial Aid for Non-Resident Alien Undergraduates

Regardless of your category, I’m sure you can find some interesting data here. Take a look! And thanks, Jennie and Jeff!

Admissions Decisions

One of the components of the college application process that we tend to neglect to address too much in advance of applications is the assortment of possible results that colleges might share. None of this really informs application strategy or process, so we prefer to wait until applications are submitted and even until results start rolling in to share the possibilities. That said, what follows is a primer of sorts for application results. Keep in mind that colleges and universities the world over are left to their individual whims to determine what, how, and when to release results. As such, while this list may seem exhaustive, there are probably plenty of types of results that we are not including. Still, here are the most common ones!

• (Unconditional) Admit. This is the traditional “accept” response, which means that you have been offered a place in the freshman class. Although this variety of result does not traditionally include any mention of conditions for the student to meet, most universities will expect that the student continue on performing academically in a manner consistent with that shown through their application, even if this is not explicitly stated. (Read: No senior slump!)

• Conditional Admit. This means that the student is being offered a spit in the freshman class so long as they meet certain conditions that the acceptance outlines. Most commonly, this includes specific IB exam scores. If the student does not meet those conditions, then the offer of admission turns to a deny.

• Deny. This means that the student’s request for admission is declined and that they are not being offered a space in the school. In the vast majority of cases, this means that the student may not apply again until the next application cycle.

• Defer. When a student has applied through an early round -- such as binding Early Decision or non-binding Early Action or some other non-Regular deadline application -- the term “defer” means that they are postponing making a decision until the regular decision pool. However, it is not uncommon for a regular decision application to receive a “defer” decision; in this second case, this means that the admissions office is not yet ready to render a decision on the application and that they will wait for more information or even for the admissions process to play out with other students before they make the decision on whether to admit or deny.

• Waitlist. This one is a bit trickier. When a college is not able to offer an offer of admission to a student but feels that they would love to have the student if the space is available later, then they will employ a waitlist. This means that the student has been essentially denied but there might be the chance of a late admissions; in this way, the student needs to decide whether to accept the spot on the waitlist or to, essentially, be denied. If they accept the spot on the waitlist, then they must deposit at another school since some waitlist offers do not come until late in the summer. If a college fills entirely, they will typically email and release all students on their waitlist. Be sure to communicate closely with your counselor if this one plays out for you.

• January (Midyear) Admit or Deferred Admit. Sometimes colleges may not have space in the freshman class for the fall entry period, so they will instead offer space in a later semester. In essence, this gives the student the first semester off. Also, sometimes universities will render offers of admission for later years; in some such cases, these offers were requested -- as in the case of a student who wants to take a gap year who asks for deferred admission -- but in other cases, the university makes the decision unilaterally.

• Alternative Campus (Admit). Sometimes universities are not able to offer admission to a particular campus and instead will offer admission to a satellite campus, either permanently or temporarily. It is increasingly common for universities with international branches to offer admission to a student to spend the first semester or year at a secondary campus before coming to the main campus.

• Alternative Major (Admit). Sometimes students are not admitted for their top major and instead are offered admission if they agree to pursue a different program or major. Sometimes this contingency is built into the application process whereby the university asks for a ranking of top majors, but sometimes the university will reach out in special circumstances to offer admission to a secondary major for which they deem the student to be a good fit.

• Preferred or Guaranteed Transfer. This one perhaps has the most variation, although it is rare overall. Some schools will tell a student that while they are not admitted for the first year, they would be given special consideration or even guaranteed admission if they applied as a transfer student after attending freshman year elsewhere. Usually there is a specific GPA that must be met. Sometimes there are specific courses that must be taken. Also, sometimes the university will specify a specific institution that the student must attend, like a community college.

Again, there is technically an infinite number of potential outcomes from universities, but these are the most common ones. Also, to be clear, the reasons for universities making these decisions are not included here. Sometimes we can figure out why certain decisions are made, but most of the time we do not know. Nevertheless, be sure to share all results with your counselor!

Affording College

Affording a university education, especially in certain parts of the world like the US, is difficult, to say the least. We regularly dole out the following guidance to families during their final two years of high school, but some of this advice needed to have been embraced far earlier. To be clear, we feel that these are options that every student should consider, especially when they are considering taking out large loans. We are not certified financial planners or otherwise authorized to give you advice on how to take care of your money, but these points all come from experience in working with families throughout the years. 

1. Save. This may seem trite, but there have been some bad rumors out there about how you may as well not save if you are not uber-wealthy. This is not the case. (I have read that it does not make sense to reroute a parent’s retirement contributions into savings as colleges do not take that into consideration in their calculations.) Do what you can to tuck away money for college! Consider a 529 or some other savings product. Every little bit helps. 

2. Be Open-minded. When families are sensitive to college costs, one of the first things that we counselors have to do is make sure that the students and parents are not overly focused on one single institution. Keep your options open and be open to many possibilities. This only makes it easier in the long run!

3. Be Clear About Your Priorities. If you are indeed cost sensitive, then be sure to communicate that to your counselor. And, parents, be sure to communicate this with your children. This is very much related to the previous comment, but by being clear that your top priority is affordability, we can all work together to find appropriate fits. 

4. Figure Out Your Budget. It is certainly worth the time for parents to sit down and to figure out what they believe that they can afford and then to go through the process of figuring out what colleges think that you can afford. In the US, go to any college website and use their net price calculator to see what that might look like. It is really important for families to understand the difference between what they think that they can pay and what universities will expect of them. Waiting until senior year for this is generally too late.

5. Choose cheaper colleges. Again, this may seem obvious, but within most countries, there is an array of different costs for attending university. Within the US, while some private colleges have surpassed the US$80,000 per year price tag, there are others safely under US$30,000. Additionally, it is worth exploring those places where you might be granted in-state, resident, or citizen discounts. Does your passport country provide a cheaper rate for citizens? (For example, did you know France passport holders pay domestic tuition in the province of Quebec in Canada?) Be sure to explore all avenues!

6. Apply for Financial Aid. Be sure to read all you can on university websites about need-based financial aid applications. In the US, most schools require the FAFSA and/or the CSS profile. Be sure to complete these documents if they apply to you. In these cases, you cannot be awarded aid if you do not apply.

7. Enroll in Recruitment Programs. There are a number of programs out there that work to connect students with interested universities. Two notable programs are Questbridge and Meto, which students should research and consider. These programs work to introduce students to appropriate fit institutions. Aside from these two, be sure to vet any with your counselor before signing up, especially if they ask for money, which is generally an indicator that you should avoid the program. 

8. Explore Institutional Grants & Scholarships. Scour those websites. There are plenty of universities that have application-based scholarships that maybe are not advertised as well as they might be. Of course, they might require additional essays or letters of recommendation, but, again, you cannot get the money if you do not apply. 

9. Search for Independent Scholarships. We recommend using the website Fastweb, but there are other tools and resources out there that students have successfully used. Most scholarships out there are in the US$500 to US$2000 range, but every little bit will help… and there are some much larger, competition-based awards out there. This takes time and effort, but they add up and are worth it!

10. Get a part-time job during school. It is not an uncommon thing for students to work while studying. Factor this potential in while developing your list. One colleague of mine always discourages cost-sensitive students from applying to rural universities because of the relatively larger potential for part-time employment in urban environments. Also, if you qualify for financial aid, some of your aid package may come in the form of a work-study on campus. 

11. Exchange Service for Tuition. Of course in the US there is the GI Bill that can help students with tuition in exchange for military service, but there are other options out there including through the Peace Corps and Americorps. There are also employers post-university who often offer loan assistance programs. And there are models for service exchange for medical school. 

12. Start at Community College. Beginning at a two-year US community college or similar pathway in other countries (e.g. college in Canada) provides a cheaper beginning to the college experience and reduces costs. In this way, students can pay a far-reduced tuition for two years before transferring to a 4-year institution for the final two years (ideally).

13. Defer Enrollment and Save Money. One additional opportunity is the often-misunderstood Gap Year. Simply put, take a year or two to get a job and to save money as an individual. In the US, this might allow the student the opportunity to establish tax independence, but, at the very least, it allows more time to save and even to figure out what pathway makes the most sense. 

In the end, families that are cost-aware are forced to confront questions that all students should. Remember that college, as with all education, is not a race to be won but rather an experience to be optimized. Be sure to consider each of the above options!

The Most Important Criteria

As any student begins to contemplate attending university, he or she must confront the plethora of qualities and attributes of the universities out there. This is daunting. Of course, it is true that there are over 4,000 colleges and universities just in the United States, with some claims of there being over 25,000 world-wide. However, what makes any of them a “good fit” for a particular student? Arguably each is unique and different, so what might make one of them the right school for a student? 

Most college counseling processes involve some deep reflection by the student. It is really important for students to take time to think about what is important to them in a college. As I have gone through my career in counseling students, I have encountered a host of criteria more regularly: a particular major, proximity to urban centers, distance from home, size of university, student to faculty ratio, affordability, etc. I would note that I have seen a growing number of other criteria as of late: the regional political disposition, job placement after graduation, the diversity of the student body, availability of internships, the academic support programs, merit-based scholarships, etc. And I have seen some unique criteria as well: a campus with an arboretum, minimal publishing requirements for faculty, a top-tier athletics program, the availability of a climbing wall, etc. This variety reflects the breadth and variety of the very different students with whom I have worked, all searching for a campus that fits them and their needs.

However, while I still think that it is absolutely essential for students to self-reflect and to learn all that they can about themselves in an effort to lead a better life, let alone to inform their college search process, I wish also to provide some additional scaffolding for identifying these important criteria based on some recent research. In 2014, The Gallup-Purdue Index, research on some 30,000 college graduates from the US, sought to explore the relevant college/university experiences of individuals who they deemed to have “great jobs” and/or leading “great lives.” The research is certainly worth taking the time to explore, especially when considering their definitions of success:

The Gallup-Purdue study found that college graduates who have achieved great jobs and great lives were more likely to be personally engaged with a faculty member, have participated in an internship, been involved in extracurricular activities and have graduated with manageable student debt. These findings held true regardless of the type of public or private non-profit, four-year institution, no matter whether highly or much less selective. It was the student experience and level of engagement that made the difference – not the rankings. (source)

So, in so many ways, but especially for young people still exploring the world around them and their place in it, there is wisdom in exploring those experiences that turn out to be most important to others who have found success at the other end of college. As such, perhaps we can find some angles through which to see the college search process with a more critical and informed eye.

One component of the research looks at those “successful” individuals who thought that their education was worth the cost. When examining this subset, there are a series of experiences that significantly increased the chances of an individual strongly agreeing that their college experiences was worth the cost: 

In this way, doesn’t it then make some sense to, as I referenced before, use these criteria as a scaffolding to explore what criteria are of true significance in your college search?

Thankfully, Purdue-Gallup provide two documents that are terrifically helpful in the college search process. The first is entitled 6 Principles of Success and points to suggested behaviors for students in the search process as well as to points to consider when searching for colleges. The second, arguably the more important one and certainly the more helpful for our purposes here, is a College Planning Checklist, a listing of some essential questions to guide your research when exploring colleges. Again, while each college should yield its own relatively-unique answers to the questions, the students’ responses should be informed by some deep reflection and pursuit of a greater sense of self. 

For example, large class sizes might mean for some that finding a mentor will be harder given the competition for professors’ attention, whereas for others, large class sizes might be the inevitable byproduct of pursuing a resource-intensive (expensive) major about which the student is passionate. Exploring these dynamics is at the very heart of the college search. It is never too early for a high school student to start thinking about these concepts! 

The Two Week Rule

There are many counselors and advisors well-versed and highly-experienced in the college application world who recommend that applicants submit their applications ahead of time. I recommend two weeks! Why? This is an important question the answers to which I hope all students and parents understand…

The first answer is that if a student plans ahead to be done with an application two weeks before the deadline, it psychologically eliminates much of the stress of the application process that is derived from doing things at the last minute.

Second, it provides a buffer, time for the student to reflect on what he or she has done ahead of the deadline. If a student works to complete things two weeks ahead of time and then, while reviewing things in preparing to send, comes to the realization that something is missing or something is not as strong as they might like, then there is still time to adjust and to work with a counselor. This is not the case when the plan is finish the night of the deadline.

Third, things go missing in the submission process. It is getting better and better, but it is a plain fact that application materials do not always arrive where they are supposed to on time. There is a startling correlation between things missing and applying close to the deadline. Some of this comes from the technology and application portals getting jammed-up in the days leading into a deadline. (We want to be clear that when counselor materials -- recommendations, transcripts, profile -- go missing in the submission process, they are not held against the student at most institutions. Colleges, generally, are very accommodating when things are missing when there is evidence that they were submitted on time.)

Fourth, this allows your counselor to provide you and all of your classmates with equal attention. If everyone is pushing ahead with last-minute applications, then the counselors are being asked to respond and support accordingly. Of course, all counselors will do our best to support all of our students, but when one student's last-minute, eleventh-hour process keeps us from orderly and composed support of a student who is being proactive for a later application deadline, then things become unbalanced and unfair.  

Fifth, there is a small consideration in the application process at many places for the date and time of the submission, which colleges can see. It looks far better, of course, when a student submits in advance of a deadline than at the last minute. To be clear, it does not HURT a student to submit at the last minute -- colleges will support this! -- but it can HELP a student's image as a matter of demonstrated interest to submit early. 

Finally, consider the following real scenario... If a student applies on October 18 for a November 1 deadline, it usually takes a few days for the college or university to get back to the student confirming the application and receipt of materials. That means a student would probably hear back by about October 23. Now, consider the possibilities for missing materials: a student could have forgotten to submit SAT scores, an arts supplement, an essay, payment, etc. Or, as mentioned before, something could go missing in the submission process, such as a letter of recommendation, a transcript, a previous school transcript, etc. If the student applied two weeks ahead, we still have over a week to make sure all is in order before the deadline. However, if the student applies on October 31 for a November 1 deadline, they would not hear back until probably November 5 (and actually likely much later given that it takes more time for admissions offices to process those applications that come in at the deadline). Now it is after the deadline. Stress is high. If materials are missing, even if all has been submitted and we need only email the college admissions office to let them know all was sent -- which is usually all that it takes -- it is still over a week after the deadline. So, when these scenarios, which happen all too regularly, are avoidable, we strongly recommend that students do all that they can to avoid them!

So, please follow our advice:

Apply two weeks ahead of any posted college deadline!

"Stop Trying to Raise Successful Kids" (article)

We think that this might be one of the most important articles we have encountered in a long time. It is certainly recommended reading for parents and students going through the college process, but it is perhaps even more essential for parents of much younger kids. We would love to hear your thoughts!

Transition to College: Technology

At this stage, technology and education are inextricably linked, and this interconnectedness will only continue to grow as students move into college. That said, this post is intended to get students and parents thinking about the ways in which they will navigate those roads ahead. Our fundamental question is:

How will technology figure into your life in college?

Here are some additional points to consider:

• Be sure you know what your school recommends, requires, and provides before purchasing anything! Admitted student websites and social media groups are great places to explore answers to these questions.

• What will you bring to college for a communication device? Will you get a new cell phone or a SIM card for your current phone? Will you keep two devices?

• What will you bring with you to college for a computer? Does your college recommend a certain type or brand (e.g. Mac v. PC)?

• Does your college offer any discounts or deals for purchasing a new computer? Have you explored the IT department, the campus bookstore, and local shops?

• Alumni Advice: Check out what the IT office recommends and get what they say. If your computer breaks and you are using what they suggest, then they can definitely help you. If you’re using another brand or model, they might not be able to help!

• What software or platforms does your college recommend or require?

• Will you bring iPads/tablets, iPods or other personal music players, wearable technology (e.g. smart watch), or other technology?

• Will you bring a TV, gaming system, etc? Have you communicated with your roommates about this? And does the college make any recommendations on this front?

• Alumni Advice: Don’t bring things that will distract you and keep you in your dorm room the whole time. Some friends of mine had TVs and gaming systems and never left their rooms, which prevented them from making friends.

• Alumni Advice: Keep your stuff safe! High school is not real life. You cannot just leave your things laying around and expect them to be there when you come back.

This piece is part of a series on “transitioning to college.” We encourage graduating seniors and their parents or guardians to engage in discussion on a weekly basis about these topics. If you have feedback or additional ideas or perspectives to share, please let us know so we can incorporate your thoughts into revisions of our posts.

Transition to College: Sexual Intimacy

Based on feedback from countless alums, one of the components of college life that elicits the greatest amount of attention is sexual intimacy. Of course, this is often a difficult and awkward concept to engage in discussion about between students and their parents, but it is nonetheless a healthy and normal one that deserves the time and attention.

As such, for this topic, we encourage students to consider the following prompt:

What are your parameters surrounding sexual intimacy?

Here are some additional thoughts and questions to contemplate:

• Have you examined your college’s rules surrounding sexual intimacy and consent? How about the local laws?

• Alumni Advice: Be sure to know the rules and laws! Everyone knows someone who ran into problems in college because they didn’t know them.

• Under what conditions would you consider to consent to sexual intimacy with a partner, if any?

• Alumni Advice: Stay away from drunken “hookup culture” at college. It can lead to so many problems.

• What resources are available for students who have questions about sexual intimacy or who need guidance? Where are the offices located? What are their hours?

• What difficult situations might present themselves in relation to sex and intimacy that you can plan ahead for?

• Alumni Advice: Discuss your plans surrounding sex and intimacy with your friends so that you can support and help each other, particularly surrounding safety.

• If you are unsure of the concept of sexual consent, take some time to review this video:

• Also, be sure to revisit this video, which is often used to promote discussion about consent:

This piece is part of a series on “transitioning to college.” We encourage graduating seniors and their parents or guardians to engage in discussion on a weekly basis about these topics. If you have feedback or additional ideas or perspectives to share, please let us know so we can incorporate your thoughts into revisions of our posts.

Transition to College: Hopes & Fears

The process of looking ahead to college/university — for both students and parents — is a complicated ball of emotions. On one hand, it is exciting, and so many have been looking forward to it for so long. But on the other hand, it can be anxiety-provoking, leaving the familiar and moving on into the unknown. That being said, confronting our hopes and fears is an essential component of this process, and the earlier that students and parents confront and then share their thoughts, the more time there is to reconcile them. As such, this week we encourage students and parents to consider the following prompt:

What are your hopes and fears looking ahead to university?

Here are some additional prompts to flesh out your thinking:

• What do you hope for from the college experience?

  1. What do you fear the most?

  2. What sorts of experiences are you most looking forward to in the first year?

  3. What kind of relationship do you hope to have with your roommate?

  4. What would a lonely day look like for you in college? Is there anything you can do to minimize those?

  5. What kinds of classes are you most excited to take?

  6. What is the biggest thing you hope to have learned by the end of your first year?

  7. Alumni Advice: It is very normal to have some worries as you transition to college. Be sure to know in advance who you can talk to about these worries at the college. There are always people there to help.

This piece is part of a series on “transitioning to college.” We encourage graduating seniors and their parents or guardians to engage in discussion on a weekly basis about these topics. If you have feedback or additional ideas or perspectives to share, please let us know so we can incorporate your thoughts into revisions of our posts.

NACAC's The State of College Admission Report 2019

Each year, the National Association for College Admission Counseling (NACAC) surveys its member institutions on a number of factors. Read the report here! There are some very interesting findings. Take some time to look through.

College Visits

There is no better way to understand a college or university than for a student to see it with his or her own eyes. As such, we strongly recommend that families consider planning college visits during the high school years, if at all possible. To be clear, it is certainly possible to successfully navigate the college search process without visiting colleges, but it is hard when a student is only able to use the internet for points of comparison. In fact, I have seldom had students really fall in love with a school -- or an attribute of a type of school -- without visiting. So, plan early and do what you can to get on some college campuses! And keep in mind the importance of demonstrated interest, especially in the US. 

Here is a bit of a topical approach to some common questions and concepts...

Can’t I just apply and then visit? 

This was typically the protocol for many students years ago: apply to a swath of schools that seemed to fit the bill and then visit those to which the student was accepted. Unfortunately, this does not allow students to use their visit to help their search processes. How do they know the schools they have applied to are the “right” ones? As such, we recommend that students do what they can to visit before the application process. If a student must choose between visiting before or visiting after, we recommend before!

What if I have a small window of time to visit? 

This is related to the question about only being able to afford to visit one location. In the end, utilize your college counselor! Pick a city -- or work with your college counselor to pick a city -- and then visit a bunch of different colleges in that city. In almost every urban environment there are several institutions of higher education that are different enough to give you a sense of some different types of schools: Boston, London, LA, Paris, DC, Chicago, Seattle, Manchester, Amsterdam. (New York is a tough destination for this one, actually, without being able to get out of the city.) Let your college counselor know which city you’d like to visit, and we can put together a list.

What if I have a really small window of time to visit colleges? 

In the “good old days,” when college counselors were encouraging people to apply-and-then-visit, when it was possible, they would push students to do just two visits before the application process to inform the list: one large, one small and one urban, one rural. Combine these two attributes into two schools, and this was all that was needed: one big, urban school and one small, rural school or one big, rural school and one small, urban school (although this latter type is harder to find!). If this is all you can do, this, at least, will get you thinking about two of the more basic criteria: size and proximity to city.

What do I do if I want to visit the summer before junior year (or earlier) when college counseling has not yet formally begun?

Of course, if you can plan ahead, we would love to meet with you to discuss, so don’t be discouraged by any sense that college counselors are not available. That said, the idea early in the high school career is to visit a wide array of different types of places, even if they don’t seem to be places that are very interesting. You never know until you check them out! As such, what we would recommend is to find a list of schools that cover a wide array of different types of places and then start researching. Go to the websites and start seeing what stands out. Then pick a few of the favorites to visit. Let us know how we can help! 

What if I only visit hyper-selective schools?

This one is a bit more complicated. If you look at all the Ivy League schools freshman and sophomore year, fine. Maybe they will be motivational for you and you will rise to the challenge academically knowing you need to work hard to get admitted to these places. However, to be clear, while we would discourage any student from focusing visits only on the hyper-selectives, I also say that if you find yourself in Princeton, New Jersey, go visit Princeton. While there are many unique elements to the institution, we can approximate and replicate just about all of them in other institutions, so don’t hesitate to visit schools like this. Just don’t focus on only those types of places! It is best to visit an array of different types of places. 

What do I do when visiting a school? 

Visits typically are comprised of two components: a campus tour and an info session, where someone, usually from the admissions team, leads a discussion about the school. We recommend taking advantage of both -- and any other -- opportunities offered by the school. Keep in mind, though, that these visit experiences are typically highly sculpted, so we recommend doing three things on any campus visit… First, sit in the dining area where students are abound. Are they happy? Excited? What are they wearing? Are they socializing? Can you see yourself there? Second, grab a school newspaper. What are the issues being discussed? Are they relevant to you? Do they speak to your interests or concerns? And, third, examine the bulletin boards while walking around campus. What is being advertised? Apartments? Missing items? Jobs? Internships? Social activism? These things can fill many of the gaps avoided in the more refined components of the formal visit. Also, it makes sense for you to take a look at the current year’s supplemental application questions, those questions that are specific to that college and see if you can find ways to answer them through the experience of your visit.

What if I cannot get on the official tour and info session?

If you cannot get on the official visit or they are not offered on days when you are there, ask if you can be provided with information for a self-guided tour. Most admissions offices will offer these. Then, you and your family can stroll around at your own leisure. This being said, given the role of demonstrated interest, we recommend that you take some time to drop a quick email to your admissions representative to let them know you were there and what you thought of the place after your tour!

What if I don’t get to visit the schools I will eventually apply to?

Don’t worry about this. It is more important to visit some schools than the ones you will apply to. Your college counselor can help you with approximations: if you liked school X for these reasons, then you will probably like school Y because they are similar. Very few students I have ever worked with have visited all of the schools to which they applied. Of course, though, if you are fortunate enough to be able to make visits each year, we would recommend that you start broad and increase your focus with each year, perhaps intending to visit your final college list heading into the senior year. 

Are there any schools you really recommend I visit?

Yes. Just one. An early decision school. We have a hard time recommending that a student apply binding Early Decision to a college without having visited. It seems too risky.

Will you put together the itinerary for us?

Nope. This one is for you. Of course, parents typically need to be involved here to arrange for transportation and logistics, but in an ideal world the student would communicate and sign up for the visits. 

One final point…

When we discuss college visits, we think about driving a submarine: it is designed to head in one direction without great maneuverability. Once headed in a certain direction, it is hard to turn. That said, when something has been discarded, just like with a submarine, it is hard to see what has been left behind. The submarine lingo here is that it is hard to see what is in your baffles, directly behind you! So, just as submariners do, students visiting colleges should routinely check their baffles! This can simply be visiting a school on occasion that does not fit the with the type of school that they seem to be gravitating toward. When you stop looking at schools as an on-off switch and rather as places for which there are many good reasons to attend, you can learn something even from a school you know you would never attend about what you are looking for. So, for example, even though you might have moved away from large, state institutions in favor of small liberal arts colleges, be sure to check that hunch on occasion and “check your baffles” by taking another look at a big school. There is certainly something you can learn from such a visit, but you are also honoring one of the most important principles of the college process: you have the right to change your mind! 

The Phantom Applicant

A good friend of mine used to work in the admissions office of a hyper-selective liberal arts college. This was a few years back, and while the technology has changed, the process has not. He shared with me that whenever there was an interaction with a student, it was recorded in one way or another in a manilla folder, so when the application arrived, it joined a cataloguing of visits to campus, inquiry cards completed at fairs, email exchanges with the reps, etc. Essentially, all manner of “demonstrated interest” (or DI) was kept on file and taken into account during the application review. However, if an application arrived and no materials existed for that particular student, the application was deemed a “phantom applicant” and placed in a red folder (instead of the manilla folder). Now I won’t go into the details about the ways in which this particular institution factored the paper-trail of DI into their application review given how varied this can be among different colleges, but suffice it to say that the students in the red folders began the application review process at a disadvantage compared to those who had demonstrated interest.

Now the mistake in hearing this is to manufacture and construct artificial mechanisms and reasons for demonstrating interest. As I share with my students, while I may not be able to give any secrets about how to guarantee admission into any particular schools, I can share unequivocally how not to be admitted to any institution: be disingenuous! The college admissions process mostly has a great sense of that which is genuine and that which is not. So, to be clear, I do not advocate demonstrating interest for the sake of demonstrating interest. Instead, I adhere strictly to a belief that good DI is merely good research.

In today’s day and age, the internet is our primary means for research, and some college websites are better than others. However, what it means to research a university is something that we, as educators, do not always establish with our students. What does it mean to research a school? Here’s a thought that I use… I encourage students to defer immediate, gut reactions when researching. It is not a light-switch, either on (yes) or off (no). Instead, I want students to consider it to be an accounting and balancing, more of the variety of a pros and cons listing. Unfortunately, what I have found is that a student will go to a website and find two or three things about a school — maybe even the elements of their criteria that initiated the search — and then stop researching. Instead, I ask students to withhold that final determination of yes/no in favor of a more thorough examination. What I ask is for them to come up with at least three pros and at least three cons. The diligent researcher might come up with 50 pros before she comes up with 3 cons; this school, then, might be a yes! Conversely, a student might come up with 8 cons before he finds that third pro; this one might be a no! In proceeding through this process, though, a student is really just deepening their search criteria by establishing which elements of a school are most important. In the end, though, the student needs to keep researching past their search criteria, to keep digging at what elements of a school are particularly important to them and which unique elements of specific schools really stand out.

However, coming back to the internet and demonstrated interest, at some point in the research process there will come a need to learn more. In an ideal world, the student would be able to visit each college of interest, but this is increasingly impossible. However, in lieu of going to the school for a formal visit and information session, the student should absolutely reach out to the trained professionals in the admission office to get their questions answered. It is true that there are plenty of institutions (e.g. USC, NYU) that do not track DI as part of their process; however, if a student’s outreach and connection with a school — the traditional domain of DI — are genuine and related to his or her active research process, regardless of whether the school tracks DI, the outreach benefits the student by providing the answers to their questions. Again, good DI is just good research.

In the end, when a student takes their search and research process seriously, there should be no concerns about DI, as their research should have led them to an effective demonstration, whether or not the individual institutions track it. Seen this way, the parable of the phantom applicant makes a bit more sense: the students in the red folders can be seen, through one lens, of begin poor researchers. So, ultimately, don’t be a phantom applicant! Be a good researcher!

NACAC Guide to International Admissions

Each year the National Association of College Admission Counseling (NACAC) publishes a guide to International University Admission. It is a wonderful resource for students and parents considering institutions across the globe. Please find it here, for your reference!

Transitioning to College: Academics

For most students, their preparation in high school has served them well as they move on to college. Some things will be familiar while others will be less so. Some coursework will be far more demanding that what was previously experienced, and some will be consistent with what was experienced in high school. That all being said, it is highly valuable to put time in now into thinking about how best to make the academic transition to college:

How are you ensuring that you will make the adjustment to college academics successfully?

• What is the process for registering for courses at your college? Is the process different for freshmen?

• What are the required courses or general education requirements for your college? How will you strategize getting them completed?

• What resources does your school provide for choosing courses? Is there someone you could call or email with questions?

• Do you know when you will be asked to register for courses? Be sure to look into this process in advance.

• Alumni Advice: At bigger schools, there is often a rush to register, so make sure you know what your top choices are and what 2 or 3 back-ups will be in case you don’t get in. Be prepared for this, especially during your freshman year!

• Have you thought about what courses you will take? Can you find a curriculum guide? If so, take some time to look through and make note of which courses you would like to take.

• Are there freshman-only courses available? Often colleges will offer seminars or writing-intensive courses that are only available for freshmen to aid in the transition to college.

• Alumni Advice: Take the freshman-only courses! They give you great foundations in getting to know expectations at your school, and you get to meet even more classmates.

• At the beginning of the semester, is there an add/drop period or a “shopping” period while students figure out which courses are ideal for them?

• Alumni Advice: If you don’t get the courses that you really want, be sure to attend the courses anyway during add/drop on top of the other courses in which you are enrolled and try to speak with the professor. Often, but not always, they have some power to get you into the course!

• Have you thought about where you will study? Some students try not to work in their rooms while others try to do all of their work there. If not in your room, do you know the other spaces available? Libraries? Student centers? Study rooms?

• What resources are available to you to assist with your academic performance? Often colleges will have writing centers, math support, other academic help desks, as well as study skill support centers. Some schools offer peer tutoring resources as well.

• Will you have an academic advisor? What is his or her role? And when will you be assigned?

• What will you do if you experience academic difficulties? What supports are available?

This piece is part of a series on “transitioning to college.” We encourage graduating seniors and their parents or guardians to engage in discussion on a weekly basis about these topics. If you have feedback or additional ideas or perspectives to share, please let us know so we can incorporate your thoughts into revisions of our posts.

Transitioning to College: Friends & Roommates

The transition to college is at least in part challenging due to the social adjustments that must be made. For most students, their entire social and support networks must be reestablished and reformed in the new environment of college. For some students, these networks have been formed over the course of 13 years! Starting over can be daunting, and so, this week, we encourage you to consider the following:

How will you focus your efforts to establish social connections?

Here are some additional questions to consider:

• When will you learn of your housing situation and roommates?

• Have you received any roommate questionnaires or surveys from your college designed to help pair you with others? Be sure to answer these questions thoroughly and thoughtfully, being honest with yourself about who you are.

• Alumni Advice: Many students will find their roommate via a Facebook group. Many of these groups are monitored by university administrators, so be mindful about what you decide to post about yourself online! (Be aware of this cautionary tale!)

• Alumni Advice: Don’t room with friends from high school. If you are close with someone else going to your college, each of you should room with someone else. It will allow you both to have more friends right away!

• What will you want to communicate with your roommates about you? (TIP: Be honest about your living habits and share who you are, not the person you wish you were or hope to become!)

• Alumni Advice: Be sure to discuss who is bringing what, especially when it comes to bigger items such as refrigerators, radios, televisions, etc.

• What clubs, activities, or other opportunities will you take advantage of early in your college career to be involved and to meet others?

• Alumni Advice: Take advantage of all of the activities and opportunities that your college provides in the early going. Some of them may be cheesy, but you have to put yourself out there to make friends.

• It is entirely common for college freshmen to experience homesickness. Have you explored the resources available if you encounter homesickness yourself?

• Alumni Advice: Remember that everyone is going through the same challenges as you in being new at college!

• Have you thought about how you will go about having conversations with your roommate(s) about boundaries and rules for the room, particularly around cleanliness, bedtimes, and having friends over?

• Do you know about campus resources to turn to if there is a roommate conflict that requires mediation? Are there TAs or RAs available in the dormitories? Residential life staff members?

This piece is part of a series on “transitioning to college.” We encourage graduating seniors and their parents or guardians to engage in discussion on a weekly basis about these topics. If you have feedback or additional ideas or perspectives to share, please let us know so we can incorporate your thoughts into revisions of our posts.

Transitioning to College: Packing

Looking ahead to the move out of the home and to a new city and country for the next three or four years can be a daunting thing to comprehend for many. The transition to a new school and community aside, what will you bring? So, this week we ask you to consider the following fundamental question:

What will you bring with you to college?

Here are some additional questions to consider:

• What luggage will you use to transport your belongings? Can you carry them all yourself? Have you considered that you might need a particular piece of luggage for shorter travel home or elsewhere throughout the school year?

• What carry on baggage will you bring with you?

• Alumni Advice: All airlines have weight restrictions as well as limits on the number of pieces you may check and carry-on. Be sure to research in advance what your airlines allow for each and to plan carefully.

• Alumni Advice: Most international flights will allow you to check two pieces of luggage per person; however, be aware that if you have connecting or domestic flights, you may have to pay for additional baggage for the domestic flights, especially if you have to switch airlines! (And make sure you have enough time between flights!)

• Beyond clothing, what things do you want to bring with you from home? Consider over-the-counter cold medicine and other self-care products that are easier to find and/or cheaper near your home.

• What will you bring with you in terms of clothing? Have you looked at the climate and average weather? What will you need to get that you don’t need here and when/where will you get it?

• Alumni Advice: Begin making a packing list as early in the spring of your senior year as you can! It will be fine if you forget some things, though!

• Alumni Advice: Be sure to think about bringing items that will make you feel at home in your dorm room!

• Are there things that you can purchase when you arrive rather than bring from home?

• Alumni Advice: Don’t bother buying cold weather gear if you live in a warm-weather place. The stuff at your school will be better. And, if you’re in the US, you can always just order from LL Bean later!

• Alumni Advice: Do not buy sheets outside the US! There’s no such thing as Twin XL sheets outside the US, and most dormitory beds in the US are this size.

• Conversely, are there things that you can mail to yourself?

• Alumni Advice: Put aside things that you won’t need until second semester (or if in the US, after Thanksgiving break), and either bring them back with you when you come or have your parents mail them later to save space in the fall!

• Do you know if your school provides the opportunity for storage over the summer so you don’t have to bring everything home each year? If not, are there local storage facilities?

• Alumni Advice: Do not pack food! It is a waste of space in luggage. Either mail it or figure out where you can buy it when you arrive. (Parents, care packages are a great way to surprise your children when they are away!)

• Alumni Advice: Parents, please keep in mind that this is a very stressful time for students. Don’t be domineering about the packing process! Be helpful and supportive and offer assistance if needed, but don’t dominate this process.

• If you are able to communicate with your roommates or suitemates, be sure to do so! Many communal groups will coordinate larger ticket purchases like rugs, TVs, video games, futons, etc. Also think about things like hot plates and water heaters (if they are permitted), and coordinating with them who will bring what!

• Alumni Advice: Bed, Bath and Beyond is a terrific resource. There is a searchable database of what to bring based on the individual college. Check it out!

This piece is part of a series on “transitioning to college.” We encourage graduating seniors and their parents or guardians to engage in discussion on a weekly basis about these topics. If you have feedback or additional ideas or perspectives to share, please let us know so we can incorporate your thoughts into revisions of our posts.

Transitioning to College: Safety

Regardless of where in the world students have lived or from where they hail, transitioning to college and a new environment requires some consideration of safety. Particularly for those of our students who have resided among the world’s safest cities for their entire lives, it is important to consider a number of factors related to keeping oneself safe. As such, we ask that you consider the following:

What are the resources available in regards to safety?

Please consider these additional, more pointed questions:

• Where are local hospitals in relation to your college? Police stations? Fire stations?

• Alumni Advice: Learn all of these numbers and program them into your cell phone and share those numbers with your family!

• Where will you seek medical care while at college? Is there an on-campus doctor or clinic? Or are there off-campus options?

• In regards to medical care, what will be the extent of your medical insurance coverage? Most colleges provide some sort of insurance, and some require all students to be enrolled. Will you remain on your parents’ insurance as well? Do you have copies of your vaccination records? Do you have a copy of your insurance cards?

• Do you know where the local Emergency Room is? And do you know what typical ER protocol is in terms of when you should visit an ER and what to do when you are there?

• Do you know your blood type?

• Do you know the difference between an ER and Urgent Care centers or clinics?

• What is your comfort level with basic first aid? Where can you buy basic medical supplies local to your university?

• Have you examined your university’s campus safety/security program and offerings? Most schools have a campus emergency number. (Program this one into your phone, too!)

• Is there a campus blue light system or the equivalent?

• Have you examined any maps of your destination city in regards to safety as well as public transportation options?

• Are you aware of what the “buddy system” is? (Learn and practice it always!)

• Do you have relatives or family friends nearby? What are their addresses and phone numbers? Program them into your phone!

• Have you considered who might be an emergency contact? Some universities will require an emergency contact within the country of the school.

• Are you aware of legal differences between your home and your host state/region/country? For example, consider open-container (alcohol), legal drinking ages, weapons, sexual consent, etc.

• Alumni Advice: While it is not uncommon for citizens to argue with police in other parts of the world, this is unacceptable and even illegal practice in other countries, such as the US. Show police respect always!

• Alumni Advice: Use good sense: don’t flash valuables around or allow yourself to be victim of crimes of opportunity.

• Alumni Advice: Always be aware of your surroundings, and, for example, take out headphones when walking home alone, especially at night.

• Alumni Advice: Do not text or talk on the phone when crossing the road.

This piece is part of a series on “transitioning to college.” We encourage graduating seniors and their parents or guardians to engage in discussion on a weekly basis about these topics. If you have feedback or additional ideas or perspectives to share, please let us know so we can incorporate your thoughts into revisions of our posts.

Transitioning to College: Communication

Leaving home to head to college typically means a restructuring of daily life in light of the newfound independence that university life provides… for parents and for students! That said, one of the elements of daily life that we all take for granted when we live under the same roof is communication. Most families tend to operate in routines, and those routines most regularly provide opportunities for students and for parents to connect and communicate, if not daily then at least regularly. So, in light of how these routines will need to be adjusted, we ask that you consider the following:

How will you communicate with your family?

Here are several additional questions and points to consider as you consider establishing a communication plan:

• What is an appropriate amount of communication home? What is too much? What is not enough?

• What does this communication look like? Is it on the phone? Videoconferencing? Texting?

• Who will initiate the communication?

• When will the communication take place?

• Alumni Advice: Many families recommend setting a weekly time for a more formal and lengthier call home, such as on a Sunday night. That said, take time to consider how the time difference can wreak havoc on communication plans.

• Parent Insight: ”A video conference with our daughter once a week freshman year was plenty. Always having it on Saturday afternoon for her was really helpful, as she never had to worry about us expecting to talk at unplanned times.”

• What are the expectations regarding communication with other relatives? Grandparents, siblings, others?

• With whom will you share your college mailing address? (Parents: care packages — shipments of reminders of home — go a long, long way for college students!)

• Have you collected all of your relatives’ mailing addresses? (Students: periodic postcards with handwritten messages can be pleasant surprises.)

• What are expectations surrounding academic updates? Keep in mind that colleges generally will not communicate with parents about student grades or other issues!

• What constitutes an emergency? And whom will the student contact? And how? What is the designated mechanism for communication in the event of an emergency? Be sure to explore the expectations around emergencies clearly!

This piece is part of a series on “transitioning to college.” We encourage graduating seniors and their parents or guardians to engage in discussion on a weekly basis about these topics. If you have feedback or additional ideas or perspectives to share, please let us know so we can incorporate your thoughts into revisions of our posts.

Navigating the Wait List

Not all application decisions rendered by colleges fall neatly into the categories of “accepted” or “denied.” The third, often more emotionally challenging result, is the wait list or waiting list. The chances of getting off the wait list are slim on a national (US) average, but there are several things to understand and then to do, which we hope to illuminate here.

First, what is the wait list? In as simple a definition as possible, the wait list is a pool of applicants to whom the admission office has not granted outright admission but whom they might still consider if they have space once all deposits are counted.

Why do colleges use wait lists? Simply put, the admissions practices at colleges and universities in the US are driven predominantly by the need to fill a specific number of beds, their enrollment target. In order to do this, colleges focus on yield, which is the number of students who were admitted who actually attend, and the wait list protects yield. To explain further, let’s consider a simplified example of a college that is looking to fill 1000 beds in the freshman class. Some individual way up the leadership hierarchy of the admissions team is responsible for constructing a yield model that predicts yield. This is an enormously complicated calculus that we will not try to explain here, but suffice it to say that predicting the behavior of adolescents is tricky. However, let’s say that this college anticipates a 50% yield, which is to say that half of all admitted students will deposit and enroll. If they are looking to fill 1000 beds, then the logic would suggest that they admit 2000 students at that 50% yield to result in filling those 1000 beds. However, given the imprecise nature of yield predictions, colleges would rather avoid being over (and have too many students to fill their limited beds) and consequently typically pursue being under. In our overly simplified example, the admissions team might aim to admit 900 students by admitting 1800 instead. In this model, this college would then go to the wait list to creep toward their enrollment target of 1000 beds.

How do colleges use the wait list? As with most of the information here, the specific details of practice at individual colleges vary, but the general ideas are roughly accurate across the board. In regards to this question, most colleges release decisions by April 1 and expect students to deposit at one (and only one) college by May 1. As such, as deposits and refusals (those students who have made the decision to enroll or not, respectively) come in, colleges begin looking at their wait list pool. For example, if there are a disproportionate number of women in their enrolling pool, then they might start looking at men from the waitlist. If there is not enough diversity, then they might start looking at those factors. If they need more athletes, artists, business majors, etc… At some point, usually after May 1, colleges will then either release all students from the wait list because they reached their targeted enrollment (essentially denying all remaining students on the wait list), or they will start making offers to wait-listed applicants. If we consider the example from the previous question, they will look to fill those 100 beds, but they will do so based on their institutional needs based on the demographics and composition of those students who have already deposited. So, in considering this, the wait list is not really a list at all, with students all receiving a rank or number; instead, it is a pool from which they will look to sculpt their incoming class.

What can I do to get admitted off the wait list? There is no sure-fire way to guarantee admission off of the wait list — remember that the overall chances of getting off the wait list are small! — but there are things that students can do to make sure that if a college is going to the wait list, that they are considered.

1. Focus first on where you were admitted. Make a plan to accept one of the offers of admission from the schools to which you were admitted and to make a deposit before May 1. That is most important. Do not overly focus attention on the wait list.

2. Determine whether you would like to accept offers to remain on the wait list. Once you have chosen where you will deposit, you need to ask whether you would definitely attend the school whose wait list you have been offered. If you cannot say definitively that you would attend, then it does not make sense to accept the spot on the wait list. In this case, decline the wait list offers and move on with the places where you have been admitted or other wait list offers.

3. Carefully consider what is asked of you to remain on the wait list. Posts like this are somewhat dangerous in that we are providing an overview of what might be asked of you, whereas the actual expectations of a college (which change year-to-year) are articulated carefully to the student directly. Strictly follow the instructions the schools provide!

4. Demonstrating Continued Interest. Most colleges will ask wait-listed students to somehow demonstrate their continued interest in their school. Ultimately, these instructions tend to be very specific. Keep in mind that the admissions team at all colleges is focusing on yielding students throughout April; they are not ignoring wait-listed students per se, but the wait list is not their top priority, so the trick is to articulate your desire to be admitted and to follow the instructions provided while not coming across as pushy, aggressive, or annoying. This is a slippery slope, but it is most easily navigated if the student has effectively engaged in establishing a relationship with the admissions officer previously! That said, in most cases, colleges will provide instructions on how to demonstrate continued interest, which usually is through an additional letter to be uploaded to a portal or sent to a particular person or institutional email address. Sometimes specific prompts are provided for students to respond to, but often there is no structure. In this latter case, we recommend students consider the following for inclusion in their letter:

   1. What has changed in your life since time of application? Interests, activities, family life, etc.

   2. Are there any updates to share? Accolades, performances, awards?

   3. What has continued to resonate with you about this college? Programs, majors, professors, specific courses, etc.

   4. How have you remained the same? Grades, activities, etc?

   5. Tell them that if admitted, you would 100% attend. (If you cannot say this, with the exception of financial aid packages, then do not remain on the wait list.)

5. Work with your college or guidance counselor. Finally, your college counselor can be helpful to you throughout the wait list process. They can be helpful in brainstorming and proofing letters and emails, but they can also provide additional advocacy whenever possible.

What does the timing look like here? We continue to share new ways in which the college landscape has changed. The wait list is one notable example of this. Until recently, colleges, by and large, never went to the wait list until after May 1, the date by which admitted students must deposit. Until that date, they would not know for sure how many wait list spots they must fill. However, over the last several years, colleges started going to the wait list prior to May 1, with the hope that if they were to beat their competitors to a particular wait-listed student, then they would have a better chance at yielding. (One college with whom I spoke recently shared that on May 1, they have to make 4 calls to yield one student off the wait list while on July 1, they have to make 25 calls to yield 1.) However, this trend has accelerated and last year, we saw some of the most selective institutions on the planet go to the wait list well before May 1. As such, it is our firm recommendation to complete all expectations to remain on the wait list as soon as possible. While previously we would have recommended to get the work done by May 1, we are now recommending that students work to accept or deny spaces and then to submit any requested materials as close to April 1 as possible.

What happens if I do get admitted off the wait list? If a student deposits at one college and then gets offered an acceptance off the wait list at another institution, the timing of the offer determines the process. If the wait list acceptance is offered prior to May 1, then the student must notify the institution to which he or she initially deposited of his or her intention to accept a spot at the other college; typically the initial deposit would be refunded. Then the student may deposit at the new college. However, if the wait list offer is made after May 1, the same process applies, but the initial deposit (typically) is nonrefundable.

What if I get multiple wait list admission offers? Implicit within this question is one about choosing to remain on multiple wait lists. We do not take issue with a student remaining on several wait lists so long as the student would accept an offer of admission to each of them over the college to which he or she has deposited. If a student remains on multiple wait lists and is offered admission from one, we ask that he or she reconsider their decision to remain on the still-pending wait lists. For example, if a student is wait-listed at 5 colleges (not outside the realm of possibility), remains on all of them, and is offered admission to her third favorite place (#3), then we would ask that she then remove herself from the wait list at colleges #4 and #5 given that, logically, she would not ever accept the offer of admission over #3. Things can get tricky if multiple wait list admission offers arrive simultaneously, but we would ask the student to communicate with his/her college counselor to navigate the process.