Archive for the 'Admissions' Category

Why Women Are Getting More Rejection Letters Than Men

I was reading an ESPN article, which mentioned the fact that there are significantly more women in colleges, and applying to colleges, than men. I thought this was a pretty interesting fact. I was than led to a New York Times article entitled, To All The Girls I’ve Rejected. It was written by Jennifer Delahunty Britz, dean of admissions at Kenyon College. The fact is, that because colleges want to keep Male to Female ratios as close as possible, more women are getting rejection letters. This also means that it’s easier for a man to get into a highly selective university than for a woman.

There’s no real advice that can be associated with this. It just plain stinks. Women get the real short end of the stick because instead of competing against everyone equally for a spot, they are now competing against other women, and there are more of them. While it works out in the favor of men, it’s quite troubling that such a fewer number of men are going to college. In fact, if this situation continue, some experts think that college student bodies will be 60-40 female by 2010. So, the climate remains that men are getting left in the dust (academically), while women are now competing with each other.

One of the best things you can do is apply to a load of safety schools. If you have your heart set on one university, but don’t gain admission, you can always do well at a different college and apply for a transfer. For men, I wouldn’t be too excited about the prospect of having to work less to be accepted to colleges. I’d be concerned that the gender is lacking and being passed by women. It’s unfortunate that the crapshoot that is admissions seems to become cloudier every day.

People are just too good any more. Everyone has a million extra curricular activities, top grades, great service projects, and fantastic SAT or ACT scores. When everyone is lumped together, distinguishing the outstanding students from the bad students is one of the most challenging things. I used to be insanely bitter because I was rejected from ND while my friend, whom I got better grades than, but not better test scores was accepted. Thinking back, I’m almost positive our applications were very close (we both played varsity sports, I even held a job throughout High School), and they simply had to choose one and leave the other one be. So, some other advice is to try to distinguish yourself somehow. Start a web site, study abroad, live in Africa and help people with AIDS. No longer does captain of the soccer team and student body president with a 4.0 and 35 ACT score cut it, because there are loads of other students who have that. For women, the number is increased dramatically.

Also, if you don’t get into that dream college, don’t fret. Your school could crush them in a bowl game sometime.

October 19 2007 | Admissions | No Comments »

The Importance of Having a Safety School

In a perfect world, everyone would get into his or her first choice college. Alas, this world is not perfect, and Harvard rejected 91.03 percent of applicants to the class of 2011. It seems that ACT and SAT scores are getting better across the board, more and more students are finding it hard to get into their first choice colleges. What this means for the average student applying is that you better have a back-up plan, in case Duke decides to go Greg Oden on your application.

Think you’re too good for that state school down the street? Think again. If you think your inflated GPA and above average SAT will get you into any college you want, you have another thing coming. Admissions counselors are a very finicky bunch. A lot of times, who gets in and who gets the thin little letter of rejection seems more like a crap shoot than anything else.

In fact, I was rejected from a school that shall remain nameless, yet I had a substantially higher GPA than one of my friends who was accepted, and his SAT was only slightly higher than mine, and my ACT was the same as his. We both had solid extra curricular activities (he had four years of one sport, I had two years of volleyball, one year of football, and a year of theatre, while having a job). I had better AP test scores, and I had a brother at the University in question. Now, how did I get rejected? Bad essay? Maybe. A cynical part of me wonders if checking that little “Financial Aid” box really does affect acceptance. In any case, the point is that if I didn’t have a back up plan, I would have been sunk. My little example shows you how truly random the admission process can be.

Have several backup schools if you can afford the application fees. Throw in a community college for good measure. The worst thing you can do is limit your college decision. A backup school will give you some breathing room just in case NYU turns their nose up at you, and Stanford decides you won’t be hearing a Steve Jobs commencement speech any time soon. So the lesson is, have some back-up schools (more than one or two if you can help it).

I’ll leave you with a tale of a high school friend. He was smart, received a solid SAT score, probably had good essays, and he applied to some of the best colleges possible. Harvard, Yale, Duke, Johns Hopkins, Penn, Washington University in Saint Louis, and many more were all on his list. His safety school was Case Western. Unfortunately, he was denied from everywhere. If he didn’t have his safety school, he would have been sunk. It was a shame he didn’t select more safety schools, because he was not left with the possibility of making a decision. So, for your sake, remember to have a safety school.

August 23 2007 | Admissions and Pre-College Decisions | 1 Comment »

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