Next week, I head to St. Louis, MO for our professional association’s national conference. NACAC as it’s called, or the National Association for College Admissions Counseling is comprised of high school counselors, college admissions professionals and others involved in the transition from high school to college. Its members are “committed to maintaining high standards that foster ethical and social responsibility among those involved in the transition process”.
I mention that because many families don’t realize there are a set of professional guidelines that govern the work of colleges and universities in the recruitment, admissions, and financial aid processes. They provide rules and best practices for educators but also lay out expectations for students and parents, too. These guidelines are important and are intended to make sure the process is transparent, keeping the best interest of the student in mind.
As we start the admissions cycle together, I thought it would be helpful to go over a couple of these guidelines and help you understand what you can expect from our profession, but also from the University of San Diego. In addition, I’d like to offer a few suggestions about what you and your family can do to ensure that the next nine months or so are as productive, stress free, and successful as possible (including this week’s take-away!).
When you read most of the popular media and the stories surrounding the admissions process you can come away feeling as if it is shrouded in secrecy. I googled “college admissions advice” and got 561,000 results! Web sites named CollegeConfidential.com, howtogetin.com, and admissionschances.com, imply that somewhere, if you look hard enough, you’ll find all the secrets. (And by the way, I do not even remotely endorse any of those sites – I didn’t even open them up.) The fact is, there aren’t any secrets.
The practices outlined by NACAC and other organizations are in large part intended to demystify the process. For example, colleges and universities are bound to provide up-to-date information on our admissions requirements, costs, graduation rates, campus safety, programs offered, and a whole host of other statistics. These are found on our web sites and in our promotional material. The notion that some web site is going to have “all the inside scoop” is just plain wrong.
On the other side of that, however, is the student and family responsibility to know as much as possible about the schools they are considering. One of the reasons many families feel uncertainty is that they can become overwhelmed with all the information out there. That’s understandable – I just went through this process as a parent with my oldest son and even though I have done this for a living for the past 25 years, it was confusing keeping all the dates and deadlines straight. But like anything else, being organized and methodical in your college search will help. Keeping a notebook, or having a separate folder (electronic or paper) for each school will keep all that information organized.
Way beyond simply providing lots of information though, when your son or daughter begins making their list of schools, you should take advantage of the admissions professionals at those schools to provide assistance and answer all the questions you may have. Here at USD, every prospective student, whether they have applied yet or not, is assigned an admissions counselor. They are here to walk you through the process, provide details about admission requirements, scholarship opportunities and other information. If you haven’t yet been introduced to your counselor, you can visit our web site and find out who is your resource throughout the next several months. http://www.sandiego.edu/admissions/undergraduate/counselors/meet_counselor.php
The other resource you should absolutely draw upon is the expertise of your high school guidance counselor. They know from experience what many colleges are looking for, they can help identify a good “fit” for your son or daughter, and they can also help you understand their chances of being admitted based on other students from the school who may have applied and been accepted.
Your counselors and the admissions staff are here to help, but no matter where you seek advice, no admissions office or other professional should disparage any other school, or guarantee admissions or financial aid. The Statement of Principles and Good Practices also sets standards for deadlines, the most important of which is May 1 – the National Candidate Reply Date. This is in place so that colleges don’t apply undo pressure on families to pay their commitment deposit before they have had a chance to review all their admission and financial aid offers. The entire set of NACAC’s guidelines can be found at http://www.nacacnet.org/AboutNACAC/Policies/Pages/default.aspx.
On that same web site you will find the Student’s Rights and Responsibilities. These are intended to ensure that you and your student know what to expect and can be informed consumers of all this information. There are certain behaviors students are expected to follow as well, such as only depositing at one institution and of course, being truthful in completing the applications for admissions and financial aid.
This brings me to my last point and my take away for this week. Parents, before you go any further in this process, you should make it clear to your student – and to yourself – that THEY MUST OWN THIS PROCESS. You are there to help, as are the high school counselor, teachers and admissions officers. But in the end, it is the student who has to buy in to the final decision, and to do that – really, really, do that – they have to be the one to take responsibility for owning the process. That means THEY finalize the list of where to apply, THEY complete the application, THEY write the essay and decide which teachers to write their recommendations, and THEY keep track of the deadlines and requirements. Of course you can help, and should help, but part of this process is to begin – or continue – the transition from high school senior to young adult. That transition requires a certain amount of independence and responsibility.
My son and I had this conversation early on, and we made it clear that he needed to come up with a plan. I was going to help him in any way I could – provide information, help him research, arrange visits, be there to talk things through – but at the end of the day, he was the one going off to college and he had to live with the decision for the next four years. It had to be right for him.
It took awhile for him to get going on this ownership thing. I put a lot of sticky note reminders on his computer screen and sent more than a couple of texts reminding him of things that were coming up, but he eventually did take ownership. I helped him with his application, listened as he kicked around ideas about his essay, and of course paid for the application fees, but as the months passed, he took on the responsibility. Ultimately, we talked through his choices and the places he was admitted and one day, he confidently announced where he was going (which took both his Mom and me a bit by surprise). He never looked back and is very happy.
As I said in my last posting, this will all work out. It will work out a lot better when everyone involved understands both their rights and their responsibilities in the process.
In addition to using the comments feature, feel free to let me know your thoughts at spultz@sandiego.edu.
Monday, September 27, 2010
Thursday, September 2, 2010
Overlapping Cycles: The End and the Beginning
For me, this is the most exciting time in admissions. Here at USD, classes began yesterday and all the new students have arrived and we get to actually see the faces behind all those numbers and statistics we've been looking at for months and months. We know many of them - and their families - through our efforts over the past year or more and to see them on campus happy, excited and ready to go is a very rewarding feeling.
Our job in admissions, of course, is to bring in a new class every year. At USD, that means about 1140 new freshman and about 450 new transfer students this year. We are always proud of the young men and women we enroll, and this year's class is no exception. They are among the brightest class we have ever enrolled (as measured by SAT and GPA), the most ethnically diverse group in our history, and come from 42 states, 3 U.S. Territories and 22 countries. These students were selected from the largest applicant pool we have ever had - over 12,100 students applied for freshman admission this year. All in all, they are a wonderful group and our campus is excited to welcome them and help them achieve all of their goals and dreams.
All of our returning students are back, too, and it is equally rewarding to see them getting ready to resume their journey on campus. Many of them are getting ready to study abroad, take on an internship, declare their major, partner with a faculty member on a research project, or assume a leadership role in one of our campus organizations. They are taking full advantage of the opportunities that we talked about as they were looking at colleges, and to know that my staff and I played some small role in that is, well, priceless as the commercial says.
Along with those feelings of satisfaction and closure associated with our new and returning students is the excitement of starting the process all over again. While the rest of the campus is busy helping the new students settle in, the admission staff and I have been preparing to recruit the entering class of 2011. We have met with hundreds of rising seniors and their families all summer, planned our fall travel schedules and are ready to start visiting high schools and attending college fairs all across the country. We will start mailing information to your homes and it won't be long until we actually start reading applications! All of these activities, including this blog, are intended to build a relationship with each of you as you move through this journey of exploration and decision.
It is the overlapping of these cycles - one ending and one beginning - that is one of the main reasons I love my job so much.
Building relationships is at the core of what we do in admissions, and we want that relationship to be an interactive, engaging, and open one - regardless of where you or your son or daughter ends up. Through this blog, and the many interactions you will have with me and my staff, I hope we will be able to clarify some of the myths, misperceptions, and just plain wrong information that surround this process. Over the next nine months I will be posting thoughts every two or three weeks and addressing many of the most common sources of anxiety you are facing: how to select an appropriate set of schools, how to prepare the application, what happens once you submit the application and how decisions are made, paying for college and the process of scholarship and need-based aid, and ultimately, how to make that final decision. Each posting I hope to leave you with at least one takeaway that I think will help you and your family as you move toward that magical day of May 1 - the National Candidate Reply Date - when the decision gets made.
I will be writing from two perspectives - my role as Director of Admissions at USD and with my 25 years of experience at three different institutions and also as a dad who in 11 days (not that I'm counting) will bring his oldest son to college for the first time. Having just gone through this process and now faced with the reality of the whole thing, I can appreciate what you are all going through and will experience over the next several months. While primarily intended for parents, I hope this will be helpful to students and to high school counselors alike and I welcome your comments and questions.
So, as we start this new cycle together, and as I bring to a close my 25th admissions cycle I leave you with my first piece of advice, shaped more by my recent experience as a parent at the end of his family's own journey:
As stressful as things may seem now, things will all work out well in the end. There is not just one good match out there for everyone, but many good matches. Be open to the possibilities.
The cycle is beginning anew. Enjoy the ride!
Steve
spultz@sandiego.edu
Our job in admissions, of course, is to bring in a new class every year. At USD, that means about 1140 new freshman and about 450 new transfer students this year. We are always proud of the young men and women we enroll, and this year's class is no exception. They are among the brightest class we have ever enrolled (as measured by SAT and GPA), the most ethnically diverse group in our history, and come from 42 states, 3 U.S. Territories and 22 countries. These students were selected from the largest applicant pool we have ever had - over 12,100 students applied for freshman admission this year. All in all, they are a wonderful group and our campus is excited to welcome them and help them achieve all of their goals and dreams.
All of our returning students are back, too, and it is equally rewarding to see them getting ready to resume their journey on campus. Many of them are getting ready to study abroad, take on an internship, declare their major, partner with a faculty member on a research project, or assume a leadership role in one of our campus organizations. They are taking full advantage of the opportunities that we talked about as they were looking at colleges, and to know that my staff and I played some small role in that is, well, priceless as the commercial says.
Along with those feelings of satisfaction and closure associated with our new and returning students is the excitement of starting the process all over again. While the rest of the campus is busy helping the new students settle in, the admission staff and I have been preparing to recruit the entering class of 2011. We have met with hundreds of rising seniors and their families all summer, planned our fall travel schedules and are ready to start visiting high schools and attending college fairs all across the country. We will start mailing information to your homes and it won't be long until we actually start reading applications! All of these activities, including this blog, are intended to build a relationship with each of you as you move through this journey of exploration and decision.
It is the overlapping of these cycles - one ending and one beginning - that is one of the main reasons I love my job so much.
Building relationships is at the core of what we do in admissions, and we want that relationship to be an interactive, engaging, and open one - regardless of where you or your son or daughter ends up. Through this blog, and the many interactions you will have with me and my staff, I hope we will be able to clarify some of the myths, misperceptions, and just plain wrong information that surround this process. Over the next nine months I will be posting thoughts every two or three weeks and addressing many of the most common sources of anxiety you are facing: how to select an appropriate set of schools, how to prepare the application, what happens once you submit the application and how decisions are made, paying for college and the process of scholarship and need-based aid, and ultimately, how to make that final decision. Each posting I hope to leave you with at least one takeaway that I think will help you and your family as you move toward that magical day of May 1 - the National Candidate Reply Date - when the decision gets made.
I will be writing from two perspectives - my role as Director of Admissions at USD and with my 25 years of experience at three different institutions and also as a dad who in 11 days (not that I'm counting) will bring his oldest son to college for the first time. Having just gone through this process and now faced with the reality of the whole thing, I can appreciate what you are all going through and will experience over the next several months. While primarily intended for parents, I hope this will be helpful to students and to high school counselors alike and I welcome your comments and questions.
So, as we start this new cycle together, and as I bring to a close my 25th admissions cycle I leave you with my first piece of advice, shaped more by my recent experience as a parent at the end of his family's own journey:
As stressful as things may seem now, things will all work out well in the end. There is not just one good match out there for everyone, but many good matches. Be open to the possibilities.
The cycle is beginning anew. Enjoy the ride!
Steve
spultz@sandiego.edu
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