Latest in College Admissions

Earlier this month I was out of the building for a day to attend the Ohio Association of College Admissions Counselor Articulation meeting.  This is the opportunity for all of the Ohio 2-year and 4-year, public and private colleges to come together and meet with high school counselors to review what they are looking for in applicants, what we need to be aware of as we work with you during the year, the latest news from their campuses and more.

One of the challenges each year is that Ohio has a LOT of colleges!  359 in fact.  So we get a quick glimpse of them and yet, while it feels fast and overwhelming at times, I always find myself walking away with important information.

When we met with senior students and parents at the college information night we talked about the data on where Kilbourne students have been most likely to attend after they graduate.  It is not a surprise that most of the colleges where students attend are located in Ohio.  CSCC is the most frequently attended post-secondary institution for our students.  Their growing opportunities along with the fact that it is, by far, the most cost effective choice, has made this the top choice for our students.  After CSCC comes the Ohio State University which includes both main campus and the branch campuses.  Getting admitted to main campus continues to grow more competitive with each year.  The current freshmen class of students at OSU have an average ACT score of 29.3 – 29.4 and 95% of the accepted students are in the top 25% of their high school graduating class (65% were within the top 10% of their high school classes).  OSU also shared that 99% of their accepted students had more than 4 credits of math, 91% had at least 4 credits of Science, and 89% had 3 or more years of foreign language.  I also thought it was interesting to learn that only 17% of the admitted students did not have College Credits coming with them.  Clearly, they are looking for students who extend beyond the minimum requirements.  I will remind you though that they were quick to point out that there is a place for everyone interested in being a Buckeye to be accepted and that their branch campuses do have a lot of great opportunities for students to get their start.  For WKHS graduates, the colleges which rounded out our top 5 most attended included Ohio University, the University of Cincinnati, and Miami University.

One of the break-out sessions at the senior night had been regarding highly selective colleges… and we talked about the competitiveness of highly selective colleges, I assume you believed me about the fact that admissions to these colleges and universities is a definite long shot, but Brown University recently shared that they accepted just 7% of all of their applicants and 94% of those accepted students were in the top 10% of their high school class.  One of the craziest (mind-boggling) stats is that their middle 50% of ACT score ranged between a 33-35.  (Middle 50% means that 25% are below that range and 25% are above it... which means 25% of their accepted students had a perfect score on the ACT and only 25% of their accepted students had less than a 33.)  Duke University admissions data for the current freshmen class paints a similar picture of competitiveness.  They accepted about half of their class from the early decision applicants and half from the regular decision applicants.  But because of the numbers of applicants, that means that technically they accepted 18.4% of their ED applicants and just 6.4% of their regular decision applicants.

And yet, I really want to stress to all of you that there IS a college that is out there for every student with every area of interest and capability.  And many of them are expanding programs and opportunities based upon student interests and needs.

Capital University shared that they have a program that honors students who have a parent working in non-profit or public service sectors guaranteeing the students half-tuition.  I thought this was incredible!  So, if you have a parent who works as a teacher, a firefighter, for a non-profit health organization, and so many more specific areas, then you qualify to have half-tuition for college at Capital.  Learn more about their good guarantee.

Many of the Ohio schools such as Muskingum, Miami, and Akron have competitive e-Sports teams so if you are seeking opportunities to take your video game skills to the college level then this might interest you.  There are also many colleges that are focusing on digital design majors (like Tiffin) or similar fields such as Cybersecurity (like Ashland and Walsh).

One of the other big pieces of information that you will want to know is that Miami shared that they require one recommendation letter, but that the letter can be from any staff member who knows you well - a teacher or counselor.  The way the Common App indicates it on their site is that one counselor letter is required, but that is because their system doesn't have a way to report that it can be from either school representative, but that one is required.

We have links on the Counselor website and extra copies sitting out in the front of the counseling center (as well as I have some in my office) of the brochures that help give overviews of all the Ohio colleges if you want to check them out.  

The reality is that aspects of college admissions and the new majors, initiatives, and priorities of every college are frequently changing.  This is part of why having access to college websites as well as the chance to meet with admissions representatives makes it so much easier to explore what is happening on campuses each year.