While it's challenging to study engineering in college, it can also be very rewarding and stimulating! As part of College Matters' Student to Student series, we interviewed our former student Audry to talk about who would be a good fit for engineering, how unlikely classes and clubs helped her, and advice for engineering applicants.
INTERVIEW: The Most DIRECT Way You Can Become a Doctor: BS/MD
Do you have aspirations of becoming a doctor one day? There's a way you can bypass the medical school applications and get earlier assurance into med school. As part of College Matters' Student to Student series, we interviewed our former student Anish to talk about the basics of how BS/MD works and other important advice now that he’s a current BS/MD student.
College Matters Class of 2022 College Acceptances
We are so proud of all our students in the Class of 2022! Here is where our students have been admitted.
Appalachian State University
American University
Arizona State University
Bard College
Berklee College of Music
Bentley University
Boston College
Bowdoin College
Bowling Green State University
Brandeis University
Brown University
Bryant University
Carnegie Mellon University
Case Western Reserve University
Christopher Newport University
Clark University
Clarkson University
Clemson University
College of Charleston
The College of New Jersey
College of William and Mary
Colgate University
Colorado State University
Columbia University
Cornell University
Dartmouth College
DePaul University
Drexel University
East Carolina University
Eastman School of Music (University of Rochester)
Elon University
Endicott College
Emmanuel College
Fairfield University
Fordham University
Gettysburg College
Hamilton College
Hobart William Smith Colleges
Hofstra University
Indiana University
Ithaca College
James Madison University
Johns Hopkins University
Lawrence University
LeMoyne College
Loyola Marymount University
Loyola University Maryland
Loyola University New Orleans
Macalester College
Manhattanville College
Marist College
Merrimack College
Miami University (OH)
Michigan State University
Middlebury College
Mount Holyoke College
Northeastern University
Oberlin College
The Ohio State University
Oklahoma State University
Pace University-New York
Pennsylvania State University
Providence College
Quinnipiac University
Reed College
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Rice University
Roger Williams University
Rollins College
Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology
Sacred Heart University
Salve Regina University
School of Visual Arts
St. Lawrence University
St. Olaf College
Siena College
Skidmore College
Smith College
Stonehill College
Stony Brook University
Syracuse University
Tufts University
Tulane University
Union College
University of Alabama
University of Arizona
University at Buffalo
University of California - Davis
University of California - Irvine
University of California - Santa Cruz
University of Connecticut
University of Chicago
University of Delaware
University of Denver
University of Georgia
University of Illinois - Urbana Champaign
University of Maryland
University of Massachusetts-Amherst
University of Michigan
University of Missouri
University of New Hampshire
University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill
University of North Carolina-Charlotte
University of Oregon
University of Pittsburgh
University of Rhode Island
University of Rochester
University of South Carolina
University of South Florida
University of Tennessee
University of Vermont
University of Virginia
Vanderbilt University
Vassar College
Villanova University
Wake Forest University
Western Connecticut State University
Western New England
Wheaton College (MA)
Williams College
Worcester Polytechnic Institute
Yale University
How to Make the Most of College Admitted Student Events
Getting back on campus is great, but there are other ways to make up your mind.
Q: I’ve been admitted to several colleges. How can I choose by May 1?
A: It certainly is an anxious and unpredictable time! Even more so for high school seniors who are awaiting final decisions and feeling the pressure of the impending deadline to select a college.
The good news is that many colleges have gone back to in-person admitted student visit days. These are great and allow students to see the school through a different lens: one of a shopper and not an applicant. But what if you can’t attend?
Participate in virtual events. Many colleges are hosting virtual visit days for admitted students. You’ll be able to interact with faculty, speak with current students, and view some of the facilities.
Talk to a current student. If you don’t know someone from your high school or hometown that attends, call the admission office. They’re happy to make a connection.
Reach out to faculty in your area(s) of interest. Most faculty are happy to answer the questions of admitted students. And if they won’t make themselves available, well, that tells you something too.
Join the admitted student group online. These could be your future classmates. Do you like what you see and hear?
Read the college newspaper. Most college papers are online and searchable. What events intrigue you? What are students complaining about? Is the general vibe activist, collegiate, intellectual, humorous?
Ask for more time. If a college does not extend their enrollment deadline, call and ask if they will extend to give you time to make a decision.
But don’t double deposit!! Sending in two deposits is a violation of the NACAC guidelines and could result in you having both acceptances revoked. At the end of the day, you will need to go with your gut and choose. And if you’re really undecided, it’s probably because you are choosing from among several schools that are outstanding choices. And, most likely, there is no bad choice!
Should You Use Your Free SAT Score Reports?
When students register for the SAT, they are given the option to send their scores to four colleges for free. Sounds great! Right?
Here’s why you might want to consider waiting…
If you choose to send the free score reports, you do so before you see your scores. That’s not a problem if you do well, but if you don’t perform to your potential, you may have just sent a score to a college that you’d rather not have them see. And with the growing number of colleges and universities going test-optional, you may choose not to submit scores at all!
Worried that sending scores later may be financially challenging for your family? Don’t! Students that get a fee waiver to take the SAT will still be able to send scores for free after they’ve taken the test.
Generally, our advice is to wait, review your entire test history, and only then choose which scores to send to which colleges.
Waitlisted! Now What? Next Steps
Welcome to the waitlist, the No Man’s Land of college admissions. Unlike waiting in line at the deli counter clutching your ticket with 93 printed on it and realizing that they are currently serving number 89, the waitlist in college admissions works differently. There is no order or ranking of students on the list, so contacting admissions to ask where you are on the waitlist is not a productive use of your time. The waitlist is an enrollment management tool used to help a college or university meet its enrollment objectives. Colleges look at prior yield rates, the percentage of accepted students who actually enroll, when admitting students. For example, if a college has a yield rate of 20% and wants a class of 1,000 students, it will accept 5,000 applicants. If the actual yield is lower than predicted, the college will utilize the waitlist to shore-up its freshmen class. As an enrollment management tool, the waitlist is also used to shape the class. If the university wants to expand an academic major, add geographic, socio-economic, ethnic or racial diversity, or increase the trumpet section of the marching band, they will pull students off the waitlist to meet their needs. Although a student’s probability of getting admitted off the waitlist is unpredictable, we do have this happen to students every year.
If you happen to be waitlisted, we offer the following advice. First, make sure that you put an enrollment deposit down at a college to which you were admitted. This is critical. Because you typically won’t come off the waitlist until after the May 1st deposit deadline, you will need to put an enrollment deposit down at another school to reserve your spot. Second, follow the directions given to you by the school that waitlisted you. Some schools want you to simply check a box on your student portal to indicate that you wish to remain on the waitlist and others want you to submit a letter of continued interest. Follow the directions! If the college wants additional information, it is good to include any updates to your academic record or extracurricular curricular activities and why the colleges is a good match for you. It should be brief and highlight new information that wasn’t included in your initial application. Finally, don’t be a nuisance to admissions. Reaching out to your regional admissions representative once is fine, but multiple calls, emails, and fancy chocolates won’t improve your chances. With an overall increase in applications this application cycle, we do anticipate more movement on waitlists this year, so if you happen to be one of the lucky ones, congratulations!
How to Get Ready for the Connecticut School Day SAT
The state school day SAT will be administered online this year!
This past week, many Connecticut high school juniors were surprised by the news that, for the first time, the SAT administered in March to high school juniors in the state will be taken online.
Standardized testing being what it is — stressful — has resulted in students and families having many questions.
Q: Is this the new digital test version that is shorter and adaptive?
A: No. The March school day SAT will be the exact same test format as the paper version. The only difference is that it will be taken online.
Q: Will colleges still accept it for admission purposes?
A: Every college admission officer that we talked to said that they would consider it just as they do any other SAT test score.
Q: What can I do to prepare?
A: The best way to prepare is to familiarize yourself with the interface. The College Board has a test version here where students can walk through a shortened sample test and the functionality of the system.
Q: The sample version online has an essay section! Will there be an essay on the March test?
A: No. You can ignore that part of the mock test. It’s a leftover from a previous version.
Q: What parts of the practice site should I pay attention to?
A: Students should familiarize themselves with how to move from question to question and section to section, how to flag a question so that they can go back to it later, how to highlight portions of the test and strike out eliminated answers, and how to use the math reference section.
Q: How can I practice the reading section?
A: What is tricky about the reading section is that the passage and the question and answers are on the screen together. Students need to scroll up and down to read the passage on the left-hand side of the screen, while the right-hand side of the screen is fixed. We suggest getting a PDF of a practice test (the College Board has several here) and taking it online. If you can, put the reading passage on one screen and the answer sheet on another to simulate the scrolling you will need to do.
Q: I’m worried that I’m not going to do as well on this version as I’ve done in the past!
A: Mark Anestis of The Learning Edge in Guilford says, “Don’t panic. It’s the same test!” And, besides, if you leave the test and really feel as if you bombed it, you have the right to cancel your score. So there is absolutely no reason to be stressed. Anestis says that as long as you spend some time getting used to the digital tools, you will be ready to go. So take a deep breath, and go in there and do your best!!
Looking at Colleges is Like a Game of Wordle
Have you caught the Wordle bug yet? It seems like the once-a-day word puzzle sensation is everywhere!
The game is simple. You have six chances to guess the five-letter word, only being told what letters are correct and in the wrong place or correct and in the right spot.
Our Wordle-fest group chat (yes, it really is a thing) has had some fierce debates about the best way to go about solving each day’s puzzle. Some, like myself, subscribe to the “stay with what you know” strategy. If I know that I have an S in the first spot and a Y in the last, my next guess will follow that pattern — something like SPICY. In the other camp, we’ve got the “eliminators.” They are happy to burn a turn with a strategic guess, with the intention of eliminating as many letters as they can early on. They’ll start with SCORE and then guess IRONY. (See what I did there?)
So how can your Wordle strategy inform how you research and visit colleges? Read on!
Some students are eliminators!! During every college visit, and at each virtual event they attend, they are figuring out what they don’t want. They’re ticking things off the list rather than adding them. SMITH wasn’t quite right? They’ll check out UCONN. And that’s okay. They’re not wasting time! At every step of the way, they are getting clarity as to what they ultimately want in their college experience.
And then there are the students that are fine-tuning their criteria, visit by visit. They’ll return from a tour saying, for example, “I liked BROWN a lot, except maybe a more outdoorsy crowd.” Off to BATES they go!
Whatever your campus Wordle approach is, know that there is no right way to go. Sometimes you need to eliminate criteria, and sometimes you need to fine-tune or confirm what you think. Regardless, the most important thing is to keep playing! For that’s how you’ll find your MATCH!
Acknowledgments. Thanks to my Wordle-fest friends (Alicia, Becky, Bill, John, Katie, Ken, Linda, Steve) for your inspiration.
Need Help With Your College List? Then Attend This Upcoming Workshop
Are you a sophomore or junior in high school who’s ready to start considering different college options? The good news is there are so many options available to you here in the US and abroad. However, it’s not so easy to know what you want out of a college and how to find colleges that fit.
In the upcoming workshop Getting Your College List Started, College Matters Educational Consultant Gilbert Guo can help you get more clarity on your college list. On February 21st and 22nd (winter break for most local high schools), he’ll work with students on figuring out their college profile and how to properly research colleges.
With these skills and resources, students and families will walk away with several great match colleges that they could potentially visit and apply to. They’ll know how to get the information that students need in order to interview well and write standout supplemental essays.
This workshop will be limited to the first 12 students who register. For more details or to secure your spot, please go to this link: calendly.com/gilbertguo/collegeworkshop?month=2022-02. For questions, email Gilbert at guo@college-matters.com.
5 Quick Tips for High School Freshmen and Sophomores to Prepare for College
1. Who gets into college…and why?
The College Matters staff recently listened to higher education expert Jeff Selingo at the annual IECA Conference speak about his new book Who Gets In and Why, which gives an in-depth look at three admission offices and how they selected students. Selingo highlighted the importance of students standing out from the pack with their character. Admission offices receive more than enough applicants who are academically qualified—challenging curriculum, solid GPA, solid test scores. Beyond that, admission officers want to know what students are genuinely curious and passionate about. How are students serving other people, making the most of the opportunities available to them, or creating opportunities for themselves?
2. Will you survive or thrive in college?
Jonathan Burdick and Seth Allen, two admission officers at highly selective colleges, echoed some similar messages to Selingo in a mock application review they hosted. Allen emphasized that students should obsess over having a fulfilling high school experience rather than doing things for college admissions. He referred to some students as “renters.” These students join clubs or volunteer just because it might look good, but it’s clear they aren’t truly committed or passionate about them. “Owners,” on the other hand, are very engaged in a few activities because they are a genuine reflection of who they are. His admission office believes that “owners” will not just survive, but thrive when they get to campus.
3. Get the most effective teacher recommendations
Start thinking about which teachers you connect with the most. Most colleges will require two letters of recommendations from your junior year core academic teachers. When it’s time for you to ask those teachers, you should feel confident that they will have plenty to write about you. Establish a genuine relationship with them so they have a good idea of who you are as a learner and a person. This is important information for admission officers.
4. A money tip
This one is more for parents. If you plan to apply for financial aid, keep in mind that colleges will use your income during your student’s prior-prior year to calculate your financial need. That means if your student enrolls in college in the fall of 2022, they will use your income from your 2020 tax return.
5. We know what you have to learn, but what do you want to learn?
Start thinking about what you’re actually interested in learning. Every student has to take the five core subjects. Is there one area that you’re particularly curious in learning more about? Is there a subject or topic outside of school and traditional academics that you’re fascinated with? If so, take some initiative to explore that a little more. Read articles or books that intrigue you. Watch informational videos or documentaries. Listen to podcasts. If you’re up for it, why not start your own project?