College Admissions Q & A's

The New York Times asked a panel of four college admissions officers to answer questions this week about the college admissions process. There is a wealth of information in their responses to questions I hear often in my office.

The admissions representatives who answered questions about everything from essays to standardized tests to what they consider when evaluating student aplications to recommendation letters and more include:

Jeff Brenzel, Dean of Undergraduate Admissions at Yale University in New Haven, Conn., which in 2007 had 5,275 undergraduates and 6,083 graduate and professional students.

Bruce Poch, Vice President and Dean of Admissions at Pomona College in Claremont, Calif., which has an enrollment of 1,520 students.

Steven Syverson, Vice President for Enrollment and the Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid at Lawrence University in Appleton, Wis., which has 1,429 full-time undergraduates.

Bruce Walker, Vice Provost and Director of Admissions at the University of Texas at Austin, a public university with 11,000 graduate and 39,000 undergraduate students.

Spend some time reading through the information that these individuals shared - it will be well worth your time.

I hope you enjoyed your first day of winter break! I will continue to post during our days off, but it will not be as frequently as I will be enjoying time with my family.