Facts for Applicants

College admission is getting more and more competitive. Some of the contributing factors:

• Children of Baby Boomers are now applying to college.
• 41% of college-bound seniors have A+, A or A- grade averages compared to 31% ten years ago.
• More families can afford college tuition.
• Colleges' endowments have grown, allowing them to offer more financial aid.
• The Internet allows students to visit schools for free with virtual tours.
• Online applications on the Internet allow students to apply to many schools with ease--information need only be entered one time.
• Students can write one application--the Common Application-to apply to many of the hundreds of schools which accept it.

Approximately 270 schools offer early decision or early action programs and applying to them increases your chances of gaining admission. But, you must be a strong student academically by the end of the junior year, with an upward grade trend and strong test scores. A 2002 study at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University equated the advantage of applying early to a 100 point increase in your SAT score.

Brown and Princeton, two early decision schools, will not allow early decision applicants to apply to early action programs. Georgetown, an early action school, will not allow early action applicants to apply to any early decision programs.

Princeton's application requires 4 short personal essays and 13 "hodge podge" questions that change from year to year.

Brown University requires you to hand-write your personal essay and does not numerically rank their waitlisted students, which may vary from 15-150 students.

The University of Pennsylvania took 82% of its students in 2004 from out-of-state and has the highest percentage of international students in the Ivy League. 98% of Dartmouth's class of 2006 is comprised of out-of-state students.

In 1996, Yale rejected about 72% of the applicants who scored between 700-800 on their verbal SAT I and rejected about 76% of its applicants who scored between 700-800 on their math SAT I.

If you were waitlisted at a college, and the school is your number one choice, it is very helpful for you to write the school a letter. You should not only update the school on your grades, scores and activities since you applied, but also state that it is your first choice and will attend if admitted. Schools are concerned with their yields and want to admit students who will attend.

Community service is one of the most important extracurricular activities that colleges like to see.

A glowing letter of recommendation from your parents' influential friends might hurt your chances for admission if the writer does not know you well.

A college interview and a college visit could be crucial to your chances of admission. You should consider sending a portfolio of material (i.e. art, music, writing) that demonstrates a special talent, especially if you have received awards or other recognition.

Legacies are not easily awarded admission anymore and schools only offer preference to early decision legacy applicants.

Affirmative action is changing the ethnic breakdown of the California, Michigan and Texas student bodies.

Donating $10 million to a college will not necessarily secure your admission.
Families whose yearly income is $100,000 are still eligible for financial aid.
If you are seeking financial aid, early decision has a drawback-you will not have the ability to compare aid offers from multiple schools.

There are some excellent low cost universities like University of California-Berkeley, which costs $16,580 per year for out-of-state students, and Montreal's McGill University, which costs $8,763 - $15,000 per year for International students.