eight (maybe ten) is enough
TRANSCRIPT
Eight (Maybe Ten) is Enough: Successful Methods for Application Control
Steve Frappier, Director of College CounselingClaudia Jolivert, Associate Director of College Counseling
Ransom Everglades School, Miami, FL
www.ransomeverglades.org
Overview of “Eight is Enough”
Concerns: - Fear of “The Wrong Choice”- Why “Application Control”?
Conversations:- “Getting to Know You” by Junior Year- “Getting to Know You” by Senior Year
Data:- “Backwards-Mapping”- Common Data Sets
Methods:- A new use for “Interest” and “Expect”- Making a “Lava Lamp” chart
Concerns:Fear of “The Wrong Choice”
Concerns:Why “Application Control”?
Multiple Points of View
Student: “I want options and back-ups and choices. I want to reach for goals and dreams, and I want to make myself and others proud.”
Counselor: “I don’t want to ‘feed the machine’ with students’ applications, nor do I want to see low yields at colleges that are good to us.”
Marketplace:Wall Street Journal article (04/05/12): - In 2011, 29% of seniors applied to 7 or more schools
NACAC-based data (2010)- average applications per student: about 4- average university yield: 45%
Concerns:Why “Application Control?”
Challenges to acknowledge:
Ease of the Common Application (although we requested it!)
Increased need for “financial safeties”
Applications submitted based on perceived “hooks,” audition, portfolio, legacy, “connections,” athletic recruitment, “really good essay,” etc.
Stories of exceptions and outliers
Conversations: “Getting to Know You”by the end of Junior Year
What we believe in:
Guiding students toward a well-balanced list of schools that will allow for a choice (i.e., at least two affordable options) by graduation
That admissions is more of a science versus a pure lottery
That “chances” are based on historical data
Conversations: “Getting to Know You”by the end of Junior Year
Toolbox Items, to assess each student in person and/or on paper:
Request student questionnaire and/or self-narrative
Review teacher comments
Track or observe visibility on campus
Conduct appointments and exchangee-mails
Request parental questionnaire
Conversations: “Getting to Know You”by the fall of Senior Year
Introducing a reality check – “Can you …
… afford the application fees and test scores?”
… write and revise clear and original essays by the deadline?”
… prepare for and attend all of the interviews, shortly after applying?”
… handle all of the potential ‘no’ or ‘maybe’?”
… afford (in time and money) to visit your potential options in April?”
… provide three unique reasons why you are applying?”
While providing and discussing …
… previous years’ results from within the high school
… recent results from the admissions marketplace
Data:“Backwards-Mapping”
Reconstructing a process from the result, back to the origin
De-emphasizing the “wrong” numbers:
Application Volume
Overall Admit Rate
Middle-50% Ranges
Rankings
“Record-lows” and “Record-highs”
Data:“Backwards-Mapping”
“Better” numbers?
What is the number of enrolled freshmen? (Exactly how big is
the airplane that we’re wanting to fly?)
What are the attributes and demographics for the past freshman class that the college has published and is celebrating?
Data:“Backwards-Mapping”
Community attributes – frequently published or inferred:
Male / Female ratio
Multicultural percentages, including International students
Geographic Distribution
Spaces filled through Early Decision vs. remaining space for Regular Decision
Number of Freshmen per academic subdivision (Arts & Sciences vs. Engineering, etc.)
Type of High School (public, private/independent, boarding, home, etc.)
Legacy ratio
Socio-economic diversity (Pell-Grant Eligibility, First-Generation College-Bound)
Quantity of varsity sports teams
Data:“Backwards-Mapping”
Case: Asian-American female in Florida applying regular decision to Columbia.
Context: In 2010, Columbia College (within Columbia University) had 1096 freshmen.- 43% of the class filled Early Decision- 15% from the South- 25% Asian and Asian-American- 49% female
Question: How many students “like your student” were probably in this freshman class?
Analysis: 43% of the 1096 freshmen (471 students) were admitted Early Decision, which left 625 spaces regular decision
Then, assuming an equal distribution of students based on published data:
625 regular decision slots x 49% female x 25% Asian-American x 15% South = 11-12 enrolled students from regular decision … “Do you apply?”
Data:Common Data Sets (CDS)
A public, annual report of institutional data, which can often be found in the university’s web site under the Office of Institutional Research (IR Office)
Focus on Section “C” – which is for first-year admissions and enrollment analysis (4-6 pages)
The CDS can reveal gender differences in admit rate, can show whether more enrolled students use ACT or SAT, and other useful metrics
These data sources, in combination with our own school’s results, help us in crafting “expectation” levels for our students
Methods:A new use for “Interest” and “Expect”
Case:“C’mon, it’s already October. It will be easier for me to apply to these 20-something schools than to convince my parents otherwise.”
Context: A student’s self-made list, based on self-prescribed “chances.” This was an “A-” student with great rigor, no demographic hooks, a 32 ACT, and two Subject Tests in the low-700’s.
Question:How do we advise from here?
Top Choice
High
Medium-High
Medium
Medium-Low
Low
Safety 80+%
Likely60-80%
Possible40-60%
Reach20-40%
Unlikely< 20%
Methods:The “Lava Lamp Chart”
Within Family Connection, have the student indicate an “Interest” level for each school on the Prospective list (1) prior to meeting and (2) regardless of “chances.”
Prescribe “Expect” with student, then write names of colleges in cells.
Methods:The “Lava Lamp Chart”
Closing Observations
Anticipating non-admission might actually be becoming easier in our “new normal” era of high volume.
Some individual, qualitative aspects (such as non-elite athletics and essays) seem to be mattering less, as hyper-selective schools engineer attribute- holders into a freshman class.
Declaring these realities – and proving how you got to these conclusions – can help to envision April 1 results and reactions to those results.
Closing Observations
Eight applications can “get it done:”
“I had at least two great choices.”
“I left myself room for interests that developed throughout senior year.”
“I didn’t hear a lot of ‘no’ or ‘maybe’.”
“You helped me to challenge myself.”
Ten applications can allow for additional “financial safeties” and/or merit-based scholarship opportunities.
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