Meredith Vaughn

My College Application Process

My college application process was pretty chaotic- I ended up applying to 19 schools. I thought applying everywhere I was even remotely considering would give me the best spread of options when it came time to make a decision. Instead, I found myself spread way too thin, and I ended up getting rejected from most of the more competitive schools. Looking back, I think the two biggest components of the application process are demonstrating interest and wanting schools that want you. I wish I had devoted more energy and effort to pursuing these qualities more deeply in a smaller number of schools.

Demonstrating Interest

When you apply to 10+ schools like I did, you can’t put a lot into each application. Colleges can’t see how many schools someone is applying to, but they can see which students are spending the most time on their websites. They can see which students are reaching out to admissions counselors, and doing online tours, and opening their emails. Focusing on a few select schools allows you the ability to commit to this more fully.

According to the National Association for College Admission Counseling, 68% of colleges utilize demonstrated interest in their admission process. Some demonstrated interest involves expensive endeavors, like traveling to take in-person tours, or paying for the colleges’ summer camps. But there are plenty of easy, free ways to demonstrate interest that can have just as much of an impact. 

Here are some of the easiest ways to show a college you’re serious about going there:

  • Open emails from the school
  • Click on the links included in these emails
  • Follow the school on social media
  • Fill out any contact or interest forms they offer on their website
  • Take a virtual tour, or attend virtual information sessions
  • Reach out to an admissions counselor

          Basically, your goal is to get the college to notice you. Sending a few emails, even if they’re just to ask easy questions, puts you on a school’s radar and gives you an advantage over your peers. If, at the end of an admissions process, a college comes down to deciding between two equal candidates, they are always going to choose the person who they think wants to go to their school more. Demonstrating interest means making sure you’re that person.

          Ultimately, you should be learning as much as you can about your top schools anyway. Figure out what classes you would take, or what clubs you would join. Look into special programs, or opportunities for research or internships. Let yourself get excited about the school. It will help you gauge whether it’s really the right place for you, and it makes the application process way more fun.

          Wanting a School that Wants You

          Wanting a school that wants you is vital. This usually goes hand-in-hand with being financially practical, too, which is a big plus. When a school wants you to be there, they are going to go out of their way to pave the road so that you can be their student, whether that means offering more scholarships, or providing opportunities for smaller, more supportive groups within a larger school. This is something I wish I had understood better when I was applying: you hold a lot of power as an applicant, and there’s nothing wrong with using it to get what you want. Acting as if you are a valuable and noteworthy candidate will make a school think so too.

          Toward the end of my college application process, I had narrowed my choices down to SMU and UT-Austin. UT was the more prestigious option. Lower admission rate, higher rankings, more well-known. It was also going to be 60k a year, and I would have been middle of the pack among my peers. It isn’t self-defeating of me to admit I wasn’t wanted by UT. They had thousands of students ready to step in and fill my spot the second I backed out, and if I had encountered problems as a student there, I would have had to demand and fight for the resources I needed. Choosing UT-Austin would have meant, for me, 4 years of financial strain and constant vying for attention from the administration, with few opportunities to stand out or excel. 

          SMU was, initially, a school I hadn’t even wanted to apply to (proof that listening to your mom pays off). But, despite the school holding nicknames like “Southern Millionaires University,” SMU ironically ended up super affordable. They offered me 4 or 5 smaller scholarships that, combined, made a pretty big difference. And when I reached out requesting more financial help, an advisor was quick to find the necessary funds.

          They also offered me a spot in a smaller program- the Dedman Scholars Program– that provides an invaluable support system. With only 10-20 students per grade, the program allows access to a plethora of vital resources and gives students the opportunity to seek more personalized and accessible help, either from one of the four leaders or a member of their student-led leadership board. Plus, they host monthly social events! It makes the school feel small in all of the right ways. 

          I don’t think choosing the cheapest option is necessarily the best approach. But when a school goes out of their way to enable or compete for your attendance, especially financially, it’s a pretty sure sign that they want you at their school, and they won’t just abandon you as soon as you buy into their system. The more a college has invested in a student, the harder they are going to work to ensure that student’s success.

          It’s a tricky balance, trying to find a school that is going to want you enough to meet your needs, while also getting you to where you want to go. It depends on your field of study too- this is way more pertinent to liberal arts majors than a more STEM-focused student. But for me, at least, the school that wanted to meet my needs was the school that was going to get me the furthest. The way I see it, it’s easier to succeed when you feel like the people around you want you to succeed too.  

          For help applying to colleges, reach out to one of our tutors. We are happy to help you along your college application process. 

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          College Entrance Exam

          College Entrance Exams: How colleges know what you scored

          If I were to ask 10 different families about the submission process of their student’s ACT or SAT results, I would almost certainly get an equal number of different answers.  How do you know what will be seen by admission professionals and what won’t!?  My philosophy, always assume the college(s) will receive your official scores!  Here are a few key points in which all other assumptions can be effectively null:

          1. Transcripts – For the 89% of students that attend Public schools, expect your high school to submit your scores to colleges on your official transcripts.  There are even a few Private schools that include this info on your transcripts.  In fact, some colleges even accept these as official test scores – as they’re coming from an official source, ie.  not the student, nor the family.
          2. Application – You’ll quickly find out that when submitting College Applications – whether the Common App or to a particular school – it will ask about the student’s academic background and college entrance exams test scores.  At the end of almost every application, the student signs it, declaring the information provided was complete and accurate.  I have known students to have their acceptances remitted because a school found out the information from the application painted a different picture than what truly exists.
          3. Collected – Often times, when students attempt to only send the highest scores, all of their scores are disclosed to a college – again because the college expects a complete and accurate portrayal of the student’s achievements and scores.
          4. Purchased Lists – It seems to be a little known fact, but one of the primary ways in which colleges get a student’s information is from the ACT, SAT, PSAT, and EXPLORE.  Colleges often times purchase student’s information based upon a score range – so even if they don’t know your actual score – they will most likely know a narrow score range in which you fall within.

           

          So, how should a student go about sending their scores?  First off – I would recommend taking a FREE Practice Test for both the ACT and SAT – so you can determine a baseline and develop a strategy that is right for the student.  These scores are not recorded in the student record, but provide an accurate measure of the student’s ability with these particular college entrance exams. 

          Secondly, I would never recommend that a student take an official test unless they felt prepared and confident in their ability.  While an abnormally low score won’t necessarily affect admission at most universities – why provide any university with a reason to doubt their admission decision?

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          College Admission Scandal

          College Admissions Scandal – Update

          It’s been a hot topic since this spring when the story first hit the press, but what’s the latest information in the College Admissions Scandal and what does this mean for parents?

          When the story first broke about famous actors and uber rich parents buying their way into colleges, everyone was shocked. Now that there are more details coming out and those same parents facing additional charges, the scandal has become quite the headline.

          Charges and Outcomes

          Lori Loughlin and her husband Mossimo Giannulli, along with nine other parents, now face additional bribery charges.  Conspiracy to commit money laundering, and conspiracy fraud are two charges these families are already facing.  

          Some parents are already in prison, including actress Felicity Huffman, who after pleading guilty, received 14 days in a low-security prison for paying $15,000 to increase her daughter’s SAT score by 400 points.

          Some parents apparently paid as little as $200,000 and upwards of $6.5 million to have their students admitted to various colleges and universities throughout the United States. A few of those colleges include USC, Yale, Wake Forest, Georgetown, and Stanford among others.

          Honesty is the best policy

          Was it worth it? Of course not. You know what is worth it? Hard work and dedication for starters. There are things in life that will not be handed to you. You simply have to work for it. Getting a good ACT or SAT score is one of those things.

          That’s why here at Get Smarter Prep, we offer eight different levels of tutoring to help students study for the ACT. We offer an ACT Prep Course, Semi-Private Tutoring as well as Private Tutoring with three varying levels of tutors for both Semi-Private and Private Tutoring. Each student is different, that’s why we like to customize tutoring sessions to fit the student.

          Our goal with each student is for them to get the score they need for the school they want by them working diligently towards that said score. We help students reach their goals through strategies and knowledge gained from each session with their tutor, completed homework, and attending Office Hours to ask additional questions.

          To find out more about the college admissions scandal, listen to our podcast, Simply Smarter, where Premier-Level Tutor, Caleb Pierce and Marketing Director, Jill Purcell unpack the details of the scheme that rocked prestigious colleges and universities across the United States.

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