A Challenging Year

This past year has been difficult for all of us, especially for those students preparing their college applications. Schools were closed, classes were virtual & life as we knew it came to a grinding halt. Even the college application process, a relatively predictable process, was forced to adjust to this new reality, but slowly we are all returning to a new ‘normal.’

On college campuses across the country concerns about Covid-19 and its variants on the campus community remain high as they await the return of students in September. Schools are getting creative in finding ways to motivate students to get vaccinated for their safety and the safety of their fellow students. For example, the University of Nebraska is offering the chance to win weekly prizes to students and faculty with proof of vaccination. Incentives or not, Covid-19 rules will most certainly remain in place at many colleges.

Last year’s uncertainly increased the popularity of the gap year. A virtual freshman year spent confined to your dorm room, or bedroom, with a high tuition bill versus the experiences and maturity gained volunteering or pursuing a passion was not hard choice to make. With the ever rising cost of tuition, it was also an easy financial decision for many.

With life slowly returning to a new normal, so is the college application process. Campus tours, recognized as one of the best ways to gauge whether a school is a good fit academically and personally, are back after having been cancelled last year and asking the right questions is still key to making the most of the visit.

The SAT was repeatedly canceled last year for safety reasons, but is now back to its normal schedule. However, due to last year’s issues the number of test optional schools grew, pushing many more colleges and universities to make the switch. For some this designation is temporary, for others its permanent, but all the schools that did make this choice saw an increase in applications from minority students as a direct result. Some colleges are all together test blind, but you must stay informed because schools are constantly changing their requirements.

The Common App continues to improve, with many new tools to help students navigate the college application process. The essay prompts are familiar and continue to offer students a wide variety of ways to express themselves, but they did eliminate a rarely used essay prompt and replaced it this new one:

Reflect on something that someone has done for you that has made you happy or thankful in a surprising way. How has this gratitude affected or motivated you?

The optional COVID-19 question, located in the Additional Information section, will remain.

The Common Black College App, a.k.a. HBCU Common App, is celebrating its 20th anniversary helping lower-income students apply to college for only $20. Check here for more details.

So if your child is a rising junior, having a good understanding of the importance of this academic year and a little college planning will go a long way. Create a game plan consisting of how to best improve the rigor of your transcript, when to take the SAT/ACT, which schools to visit, etc.

Note: The minimum amount of credits required to graduate from the average high school is NOT the same as having the credits needed to be a competitive candidate. Only core classes, not electives, are considered when evaluating an applicant, therefore it is in the student’s best interest to take a full load of classes both their junior and senior year within the range of their academic strength.

Rising high school seniors, it’s crunch time. You are only a few weeks away from a very exciting, but stressful time in your lives, and being organized will make the difference between getting everything done effortlessly, or not. Those November 1st Early Action/Early Decision deadlines are right around the corner.

Regardless of their academic profile, the same three stats are key to a student’s college application: the rigor of their high school transcript, their GPA/class rank and their SAT/ACT scores. While the order of importance may vary from school to school, all three form the basis of any application.

The ‘perfect’ school for each student does exist, so start today creating a plan on how to put your best foot forward on your college applications.

Common App - Writing Requirements Resource

With the first wave of November early decision, early action & priority application due dates right around the corner, college applicants are working overtime to complete their applications, personal statements and supplemental essays.

Confirming if the colleges on their list required any additional essays, students normally turn to the Application Solution Center on Common App. Today, that resource has been upgraded with a search feature to make finding that answer even easier.

This feature will tell students which required and optional long-answer questions the college or university asks for, whether any of these schools request that a document be uploaded, where to find these school-specific questions, and what the word count is for each prompt.

All these college essays, from the 650 word personal statement to the 100 word short answer prompt, can be deal makers and/or deal breakers. They should be taken seriously by all students regardless of their academic profile.

It’s not to late to ask for help, so don’t hesitate to reach out to College Apps Made Easy. Email us at collegeappsmadeasy@gmail.com today and we’ll make sure you’re ready to submit the most competitive application possible.

Writing A Strong College Essay

The source of much anxiety and stress during the college application process, the college essay remains an important component of a student's college application: the unique opportunity for the applicant to use their own voice to tell their story. Students struggle to find the right topic though it is, more often than not, a topic they would never have thought interesting enough to write about.

It's the small 'incident' that makes the best essay topic; an event, experience, revelation or moment that the student might consider inconsequential, yet was powerful enough to alter the student's view, direction or purpose. An essay has accomplished its job if the reader learns something about the applicant that is not already contained in the application. 

The seven essay prompts for the 2018-2019 Common App are identical to last year’s, offering applicants an endless variety of options of what to write about. With a maximum word count of 650 words (minimum of 250) any student regardless of their socioeconomic situation, or background, will easily find a story to tell through one of the following prompts:

1. Some students have a background, identity, interest, or talent that is so meaningful they believe their application would be incomplete without it. If this sounds like you, then please share your story.

2. The lessons we take from obstacles we encounter can be fundamental to later success. Recount a time when you faced a challenge, setback, or failure. How did it affect you, and what did you learn from the experience?

3. Reflect on a time when you questioned or challenged a belief or idea. What prompted your thinking? What was the outcome?

4. Describe a problem you've solved or a problem you'd like to solve. It can be an intellectual challenge, a research query, an ethical dilemma - anything that is of personal importance, no matter the scale. Explain its significance to you and what steps you took or could be taken to identify a solution.

5. Discuss an accomplishment, event, or realization that sparked a period of personal growth and a new understanding of yourself or others.

6. Describe a topic, idea, or concept you find so engaging that it makes you lose all track of time. Why does it captivate you? What or who do you turn to when you want to learn more? 

7. Share an essay on any topic of your choice. It can be one you've already written, one that responds to a different prompt, or one of your own design. 

There are five essay prompts for the 2018-2019 Coalition Application. Very similar to those of the Common App, the Coalition’s belief is that there is no ‘perfect’ length for an essay and propose a range of 500-550 words. The prompts are ….

1. Tell a story from your life, describing an experience that either demonstrates your character or helped to shape it.

2. Describe a time when you made a meaningful contribution to others in which the greater good was your focus. Discuss the challenges and retreads of making your contribution.

3. Has there been time when you’ve had a long-cherished or accepted belief challenged? How did you respond? How did the challenge affect your beliefs?

4. What is the hardest part of being teenager now? What’s the best part? What advice would you give a younger sibling or friend (assuming they would listen to you)?

5. Submit an essay on a topic of your choice.

Students applying to highly selective colleges and universities will find that they also have supplemental essays to write, which should never be taken lightly. With school-specific prompts and smaller word count limits these essays should also be well written, researched and should answer the prompt. Here's yet another opportunity for students to use their voice!

Making the assumption that we know what admission officers want to hear is a common error and the truth is that we have absolutely no idea. We do know, however, that a strong essay should NOT be a reformatted resume, repeat information already available somewhere in the application, and should avoid these topics.

The essay can be either a deal maker or a deal breaker, so DO NOT take it lightly, and beyond good grammar and spelling, a college essay is NOT an English class essay, but resembles more a journal entry or letter home. Write something that the admission officers will remember, not fall asleep reading!

The Coalition Application

The Coalition Application is the newest option in the college application process, having been created in 2016, as their site states, 'by a group of dedicated college leaders aiming to improve the college application process, particularly for those students from historically under-represented groups.' It stresses diversity, equality and is attempting to level the playing field.

Its members are a diverse group of 140 colleges that share the same criteria of affordable tuition, need-based aid, and a 6 yr graduation rate of 70% or higher. The Coalition Application members pride themselves in providing generous financial aid and cost-effective in-state tuition which allows students to graduate with minimal debt. 

So how does the Coalition App differ from the Common App?

The primary difference is that the Coalition Application is geared towards helping first-generation, lower-resourced and under represented students that tend to come predominately from low-income minority households, realize their dreams of going to college by proving substantial support in the form of financial aid, scholarships, etc. Students are encouraged to begin thinking about college as early as freshman year in high school, storing writing samples and other items that illustrate their passions in a digital 'locker.'

Here are some other differences ...

• The Coalition App, while still relatively new, has 140 member colleges vs the over 800 of the Common App with all Ivy League colleges accepting both of these application platforms. Each platforms has new members join every year. 

• The Coalition Application is a simpler application to complete compared to the Common App. in our opinion. Much of the same information is required, but the Coalition App asks students to self-report their classes and grades for 9th - 12th grades. That is optional on the Common App that was, at its inception, created to simplify the application process by having students fill out only one application.

• Essay prompts - The Coalition App has five essay prompts with a 500-550 word count limit compared to the Common App's seven prompts with a 650 word count limit. Some students will relish the lower word count - don't let it fool you into thinking that's easier - while others will have trouble telling their story well in so few words. Supplemental essays and additional information are college specific.

• Both platforms are free to use, do not offer an advantage over the other, require application fees for submitting, but accept fee waivers from eligible students. Not to be overlooked, the Common App having been in use for almost 20 yrs, has had chance work out the technical bugs that the Coalition App has fallen prey to due to its short existence. 

So which is best?

It really depends on the colleges that make the cut to the final college list. At the moment only three schools accept only the Coalition App: the University of Maryland, University of Florida and University of Washington. Some large state schools that used to accept only their own online application, like Rutgers University, have begun accepting the Coalition App.  Other colleges still accept only their own application and one of these two platforms, others do exactly the reverse. One thing is for sure, College Apps Made Easy does not recommend students filling out both. Students should do their due diligence before staring to fill out anything.

College Application Timeline - September 2018

Another summer comes to an end and with it the 2018-19 college application process officially begins. On August 1st, the Common App and its new features that further streamline the application process, relaunched after only four days off line. Fill it out early and don't forget to sign the FERPA waiver.

All applicants, regardless of their class rank or academic profile, will be following the same steps in the college application process, so everyone should check the following list to make sure nothing falls through the cracks. 

•  Retake the SAT/ACT - All students should be encouraged to take either, or both tests, at least twice, especially if not happy with the first scores. They are different so read up and decide which one is best suited to you. Don't forget to take advantage of the four FREE test scores that come with each registration. This is especially important for minority applicants.

The next SAT will be Oct. 6th with a registration deadline of Sept 7th. The ACT will be offered on Sept 8th, followed by another on Oct 27th with a Sept 28nd registration deadline. All students should check to see if they are eligible for fee waivers.

•  College List - Take the time to create a well-balanced college list of reach, target and safety schools. An applicant should be happy to attend any of the schools they apply to regardless if it is considered a safety. Hint: Take the time to put together a solid list. You'll be glad you did in a few months.

•  College Essay - This year's essay prompts are unchanged from 2017-2018, allowing all students many options to tell their own unique story. Highly selective schools and honors programs often ask for supplemental essays, so don't forget to check. Do not take these supplementary essays lightly because they do serve a purpose and don't let the small word count limit fool you. They take time to write properly.

•  Letters of Recommendation - If you haven't yet selected which teacher/coach/mentor will be writing your letters of recommendation now is the time to reach out and ask. But don't ask just anyone!

•  HBCU - Students interested in applying to a Historically Black College or University (HBCU) can also use the Black Common App. Pay only $35 to apply to all the colleges that make up this group.

•  California Common App -  Students interested in going to college in California will need to fill out the University of California application. Review this application carefully as the application requirements are slightly different and there are additional essays to write.

• Coalition Application - An alternative to the Common App, the Coalition Application is accepted by approximately 140 colleges that all meet the same criteria: affordable tuition, need-based aid, and a 6 yr graduation rate of 70% or higher. Not sure which you should use? See what the differences are here.

•  Parental Role in the Application Process - Parents are implicated in the college application process, but their roles are well defined and should be respected. 

• International Students - Representing a larger percentage of the student population on campuses across the country, these students must start their application process earlier in order to accomplish the additional steps necessary.

Today's college applicant has many tools - College Board and Naviance - and even a choice of applications to use in the process of applying to college. But, with Early Decision, Early Action and Priority application deadlines fast approaching - some as early as Oct 15th - rising high school seniors no longer have the luxury of time when it comes to their college applications as they did during the summer. College Apps Made Easy will continue posting monthly application timelines to help everyone stay organized and avoid the most common college application mistakes, but never hesitate to ask me for help.