Three big admissions myths

Many bad jokes begin with the words: "Three big lies are ...". However, what is happening in the admissions offices of universities is not a joke at all. The conditions in the college race are tougher this year than ever, and many families with applicants have already experienced it. The three big university lies can cost the parents of prospective students or influence the choice of admissions office between admission and rejection. Recently, the following statements have been in circulation:

• The score obtained during the standardized entrance examinations for admission to US universities (SAT - Standardized Aptitude Test and ACT - American CollegeTesting) is losing its importance.

• The application for financial support will not affect the admission decision;

• Conditions of admission are the same for everyone.
  What is hidden behind these beautiful words?

Lie # 1: Entrance tests are becoming less significant

Colleges today rely more on standardized exam scores thansome years ago. One of the reasons is the dramatic increase in the number of applications submitted to top colleges.It's not that there are more 18-year-old graduates, it's just that more children are applying to several universities at once. In order not to have to greatly increase the staff of the admissions committee, most colleges use SAT and ACT scores to quickly and easily reduce the pool of applicants.

Of course, none of the universities recognizes this.Colleges like to have a lot of applicants. And not only in order to gather the best students, but also to show the rating services how selective they are (in the perverse world of rankings, more refusals means a higher position). On the contrary, colleges use a variety of tricks to disguise reality.

Cheating games with test scores

Nearly all colleges publish a range of SAT grades with which applicants from the previous enrollment were accepted. They arecall it the range between the 25th and 75th percentile.Simply put, 50% of those who entered last year scored within this range in the entrance examinations. Therefore, if a young person sees a run-up from 1280 to 1430 points, he may quite logically consider that with a SAT score of 1300 points he has a good chance of being enrolled.But this is not the case. In reality, the bottom 25% (those with less than 1280) are reserved for the "special needs" of the educational institution: the enrollment of athletes, students of color, children of wealthy parents (sponsors). To really get a chance, you need a score above the upper end of the range.

For example, Vanderbilt University reports a 25-75 SAT range of 1380-1550 points. In fact, most of those who were rejected had SAT scores above 1500.

Best score and Super score

Best score out of severalAttempts to pass the SAT and ACT must be selected and sent to the college by the applicant applying. A Super Score means that the university takes into account only the highest marks. Most colleges explain internal rules on their websites.Unfortunately, it's not just students who benefit. Universities love to report top scores for one simple reason: it raises the rankings!

Elective exams do not always mean real choices

Many very good educational institutions declare an approach to admission that does not require entrance tests. It would seem that schoolchildren with good grades, who do not cope well with the very situation of the exam, can breathe out. Unfortunately for athletes entering NESCAC (New England Small College Athletic Conference - Little Ivy schools such as Williams, Amhurst and Middlebury ) and Patriot League colleges, this option does not exist. According to the rules in the listed colleges, scholarships for athletes are only awarded with an entrance exam score.

Maybe colleges where testing is optional,have a softer, more gentle approach to reception? No, they are also chasing ratings. Think about it: when an institution makes SAT scores optional, which students will include them on their applications? Only those for whom they are high. The GPA inflates and the college moves up a notch in the ranking.

Magic 700 points

The real situation in colleges and universities with a very high competition is scary: without 700/700 points, the admissions committee will not even consideryour application. Unless you have another strong trump card, because the guys who got 680/690 are a dime a dozen.

All around deception

This year the headlines “Scandal!Fraudulent results! "were published not only in Nassau County and concerned not only New York Stuyvesant High School, but also colleges.Both Claremont-McKenna and Emory admitted that they played with their exam results to look better in the rankings.

Grades in standardized tests are important from another point of view.“It's pretty simple,” says Ian Welham, education finance specialist at Complete College Planning Solutions, Springfield, NJ. You need more money - increase the passing score. “It doesn't matter what is written in the glossy brochure, an applicant who scored 800 points in mathematics is more profitable for college than one who just studied perfectly”

Lie # 2: Requesting financial support will not affecton the decision of the selection committee

Once upon a time, even before the last collapse of the stock market, it was true. In those wonderful days, colleges did accept students without looking at their wealth.The admissions committee did not really know if the student needed financial support. Now they more and more often ask for information about whether a young person can pay for the full tuition. And when there is a choice, all other things being equal, a thick envelope withmore likely to receive a more paying student.

Some very good colleges, for example, Wesleyan, admit that they cannot afford to select, not at all focusing on the financial capabilities of prospective students. “A lot of colleges, however, don't behave so honestly,” says Muska. "And people need clarity."

Likewise, some of the most stringent college students in college are slowly moving away from no-credit scholarship policies. Until 2007, many of the wealthiest colleges said they had excluded student loans from the financial support they offered to students. Today, however, for you to be offered a scholarship without credit, your application requires that you indicate and prove a certain level of family income.

At Cornell University, loan-free financial support is only available to families with an annual income of less than $60,000. Dartmouth and Williams also said that only students from the poorest families would receive scholarships.

However, there is good news for parents who can afford to pay for their education in full, especially when it comes to studying in another state. The acceptance rate of out-of-state applicants at leading public universities broke all records last year.And the number of international students admitted to many colleges has doubled and even tripled over the past four years. Because they also pay full tuition fees.

But not all wealthy parents are ready to fork out. Welham, an education finance consultant, talks about a new trend he's noticed in his clients. “There used to be a certain layer of parents who said:“ I want my child to study at the best university, no matter how much it costs ”. Now imagine a family with 3-4 children.Even those with very high incomes are reluctant to pay $ 750,000 to $ 1 million for college.Instead, they ask us to suggest a way not to pay the full price. ”

Lie # 3 - The rules of the game are the same for everyone

“I'm shocked: education is the same roulette”.

Let's go back to international students.It is hardly surprising that many of the overseas applicants for American college places have very high SAT scores. And universities love it.Unfortunately, an incredible number of applicants from China at the same time manipulate their knowledge of English or academic transcripts. And colleges pretend not to notice.The combination of high test scores and full tuition fees helps to turn a blind eye to such a trifle.

Colleges need students to be diverse, not diversified.

The secret is open - admissions committees are more concerned with the balance of recruitment. Each faculty needs bright minds who will be engaged in science, several cool athletes, to them add talented musicians and actors, necessarily - children of wealthy parents who will help to build a new wing of the library, and a couple of successors of university dynasties. It will be much more difficult for a good applicant who does not fall into any of these categories to enter a university.

Early admission does improve your chances of admission, but under certain conditions

Looking at the early admission competitions at prestigious colleges, it seemsthat applicants in this case have more opportunities than with standard admission. However, this statement is true with only two caveats.

“Many of the early admission seats are reserved for the 'right' students,” explains Muska. The best athletes are advised by coaches to apply for early admission - in particular, to the universities of the Plus League or NESCAC, which do not provide sports scholarships. Second, early recruits tend to have higher grades and SAT scores than everyone else. ”It is better for those who submit documents to assess the situation soberly: if the university is too “rich”, apply for admissionin the early set is not worth it.The probability of being rejected in this case will be higher - applicants in the early recruitment pool are more prepared.

And the last hackneyed truth: it is often said that you can find a college for any person. This is definitely true.Less well known, but no less true, is that everyone can find the right college for themselves. Alas, most kids and their parents are too keen on trying to get into the “best” university instead of the most suitable one.

“According to the latest data, it takes an average student 5.6 years to complete their education.This is a lot if the choice is unfortunate. - notes Welham."If your child is in college at a cost of $ 50,000 a year, a mistake in a year and a half will cost $ 75,000."

“The saddest thing,” Muska adds, is that most of these expensive mistakes can be avoided. Instead of relying on magazine ratings that reflect subjective editorial ratings based on meaningless statistics rather than reality, or the experience of a single college visit with a student walking backwards as your tour guide, applicants should study the curriculum.a better place.It will take more effort, but it is better to attend classes, live a little on campus. Yes, such visits are not easy to organize, they are more expensive. But it will be much cheaper than choosing the wrong institution. ”