Learning about Colleges and Admissions

One good aspect of the pandemic and how it is impacting college admissions is that it is causing college admissions offices to get really creative about sharing news and information about thier schools.  Chances are that many of the colleges were doing this on some level, but they have elevated their online presence and experiences for students and families.  (And for the counselors too.)  :-)

I have spent a lot of time listening to various college podcasts, reading blogs, and checking the YouTube sites for admissions offices and it has been both interesting and informative.  And because everything I have been doing is totally accessible to you, I hope that you are doing the same - at least for the colleges you are considering!

Here are a few tips that I have gained that I think could help you...

1. Go beyond just the admissions office.  If you are trying to get a good feel for a college, look to see what is out there on behalf of other aspects of the college.  This could include departments of majors you are considering, areas of school such as housing or residential life, clubs and groups on campus that appeal to you.  Many have, at the very least, different social media sites where they are communicating with their current students.  Even if the message isn't targeting prospective students specifically, I believe there is still so much value at getting insight into what those opportunities would be for you if you attend there in the future.

2. Jot down some notes.  (Stop rolling your eyes at me.)  This is actually far more important than you would think in the virtual environment.  If you are taking a virtual tour or attending the virtual admissions office information session, that is great, but because you are online and in the comfort of your home, you won't have the sensory experiences from physically moving about on campus, or the emotions as you meet the admissions representatives, etc.  Those sensations are key to helping students memory about campuses and so you don't want to lose out on reflecting on what you thought about the school by just closing your computer and heading to the kitchen for a snack.  Plus, remember, if you were making a traditional visit, you'd have the car ride home where you'd likely be talking about the visit with your parents and reflecting on if you could picture yourself at that college for the next 4 years so you should still do that either by talking it out with your parents or at least writing some of it down.  Also, for what it is worth, if that college asks on their admissions or scholarship applications why you are interested in attending their school, you will be thankful to have notes to help guide that answer.

3. Virtual visits only can make it tempting to just stick with considering colleges where your family members or friends have attended and to avoid those that others had seen and not liked.  And truthfully, sometimes that is a good indication of where you might be happy, but sometimes it is a terrible indicator.  Remember, the college experience I had or that your parents had is going to be different from the experience you have on campus today.  So especially since you don't have to spend any money or dedicate large chunks of time, try to consider exploring a few colleges that are known for your intended major or that show up on a college search result page as being a good match for you that you hadn't really given much thought about because they aren't ones you were already familiar with... you just might be surprised!

4. You are the best you there is!  OK, so that is definitely not a new statement or a new awareness, but the posts and blogs I have liked the most are those written by admissions officers that give insight into what they are doing and thinking as they are evaluating applications.  And the number of times that they point out that they don't want a bunch of cookie-cutter students - that they want you to be you - is too numerous to count.  The reality is the college will have goals.  That they know you can come to their campus and be successful, but they can't all take everyone.  So they just want you to be you and then they will be the college and hopefully that will result in a mutual fit.  An interesting persepctive was that students should remember that colleges have just 1 decision in this process while students have 2.  You decide where you want to apply.  They decide who they will accept.  But then it is back in your court again as you decide which out of all of the schools where you applied you will end up attending.  (Along those lines, and this is just my insight not from any of the colleges directly, but if you are thinking that you are applying to colleges where you would NOT be happy attending, then please, adjust your college application list!  If you wouldn't be happy there then save yourself the time and money of applying and invest that time in finding other schools that would have a better fit for you academically and socially so that if you ended up attending there you would be happy.)

Here are some of the sites I have been enjoying listening to, watching or reading in case you want to explore them as well.  (And you might notice that I have strongly gravitated towards information directly from admissions officers as opposed to those that are talking about what it was like when they were admissions officers in the past or through their interactions with admissions representatives.  It isn't that those other sites and resources are not helpful because they absolutely are, but right now, I have been enjoying getting it straight from the admissions officers that are in the field themselves and I love that most are not talking about why you should apply to THEIR college, it is applicable across the board to all schools and all applications.)

Podcasts:

Inside the Yale Admissions Office

Dartmouth College The Search

College Admission Brief (from Georgia Tech)

Some examples of things to Watch:

Northwestern University Admissions YouTube Page:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCqPdkyqFzuO8p6tasOpjftw

I particularly like their Applied Learning video series - this is just 1 example:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=njs7osQYSEM

Tulane Webinar related to Applying during Coronavirus:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SGRwRy0bqpM&feature=youtu.be

Notre Dame's Virtual Preview Days on Demand:

https://admissions.nd.edu/visit-engage/visit-campus/preview/preview-agenda/

Johns Hopkins has some College Search Process workshops: (Disclaimer, I haven't watched any of these yet, but I have read lots of their other stuff and participated in some of their counselor educational opportunities this summer and into this early fall so I am sure they are as good as those other experiences have been.)

https://apply.jhu.edu/campus-and-community/workshops/ 

Some articles/ blogs to read/ follow:

I love everything about the Tulane University Admissions Blog and could have shared all of them, but you can just go check it out on your own, but here are two samples.  This post is on Top 10 Application Tips

http://tuadmissionjeff.blogspot.com/2020/09/our-top-ten-application-tips-for-2020.html

Here is another one that is from a while ago and is still as appropriate and important as ever. Tulane - 8 emails never to send

http://tuadmissionjeff.blogspot.com/2012/09/five-e-mails-you-should-never-send.html

 

NYU shared insights on helping students to build your college list while social distancing

https://meet.nyu.edu/advice/building-your-college-list-while-social-distancing/

I feel a little bad that I don't have more to add to this part of the list because I have to be honest, I read a lot... like a LOT of admissions related articles and posts, but those are the ones which are standing out to me at the moment that are directly from admissions offices.  I think a lot of the admissions office articles tend to be focused at counselors and the rest of the blogs/ articles are usually not directly from the admissions offices.