College admissions is an overwhelming process for many students, even more so when the results are close. The waiting period between submitting a college application and the university's final decision can be stressful. The average turnaround time for an admission decision for schools with rolling admissions is four to six weeks, and the regular decision process takes even longer.
When it comes to admissions, each application is viewed and analyzed on its own merits, profiles, and other factors and data points including the grades, essays, and other things like the geographic diversity of the incoming class – to make the most informed decisions.
Some aspects of college admissions are outside your control, but it is essential to be informed about the process.
Most Important Factors in
College Admissions
According to a 2019 report from the National Association for College Admission Counseling, the top factors for admissions are overall high school GPA, grades in Advanced Placement or other college-prep classes, and the difficulty of the student's curriculum.
It is highly recommended that you start early to take control of what's in your control and excel in it. This means planning for college as early as freshman year.
According to Anna Ivey, former Dean of Admissions at The University of Chicago Law School, most four-year colleges look for three characteristics: academics, extracurricular activities, and personal qualities.
"Your record for your college application starts the first day of ninth grade," she says. "For 9th grade, 10th grade, 11th grade, your job is to build your credentials. Once you get basically to the summer before 12th grade, you need to make a mindset shift from building your credentials to presenting your credentials."
According to experts, admissions officers want to see if a student has made the most of what's been offered to them in the context of their high school environment and resources. Therefore, they appreciate students taking an extra step in terms of advanced placement or the most rigorous course loads. This indicates their intellectual curiosity, passion for their field of study, and work ethic to the admissions officers.
"The foundation of admission decisions is the academic preparation," says Mike Pichay, who, in a previous role, served as assistant director of admissions for Stanford University in California. "They want students who they believe will thrive at their institution. Beyond that, they want to evaluate students' personal characteristics to see how they would contribute to the campus."
Colleges' Priorities for Admission
It's essential for you to understand that while admissions officers strive to take a fair and transparent approach towards admissions, it doesn't necessarily mean the process is entirely "objective."
Choosing the first-year class is a very subjective task – besides good grades and scores, officers also seek personal characteristics and abilities that will enable them to create a well-rounded student body from different backgrounds and possess diverse talents that fit well with the school's mission and aim.
There are certain sports that admissions offices must leave open for certain types of students. This could be anything from finding students with exceptional talent in art, music, or athletics to filling department-specific needs like encouraging the admissions of female computer science majors. This could also include ensuring an even mix of males and females or having a specific balance of in-state vs. out-of-state students.
According to Julie J. Park, a University of Maryland – College Park professor specializing in racial diversity in higher education, many colleges are primarily concerned with enrolling well-qualified applicants of different socioeconomic backgrounds. However, another report from EMRA Research states that colleges also often use policies that benefit more affluent students, like legacy admissions and recruiting out-of-state students who pay non-resident tuition fees.
Ivey says that admissions officers ultimately work for the university and are tasked with executing those institutional priorities that come from above. There's a whole mix of things that go into the class that they're trying to form.
Here are some factors that the admissions might be dependent upon:
Schools and seat allotment
Within schools, a limited number of seats are allotted to specific courses. Indeed, there is not an even distribution of applicants for each course. Assuming one of the courses within that university is world-renowned, admissions get more applications for that. And since some schools have more applicants with the same seats available - the chances of you getting in are also significantly lower.
Grades
Admissions end up categorizing their students based on the grades they scored, essentially as Achievers, Target, and Aspirational.
Achievers are students whose average scores and profiles are better than many other applicants. But their chances of applying to other competitive schools are high too.
Targets are the students whose average scores match the university's requirements and whose chances of getting admitted are high, too, based on the requirements.
Aspirationals have average scores lower than what the university requires and accepts. The chances of admitting these students are a little lower since they might lower the university averages and make the school look less competitive.
School Requirements
If there are specific requirements or positions the school needs to fulfill, they might prioritize applicants with those qualifications over others. Just because these individuals have the talent/skill universities are looking for, their chances of getting selected increase significantly.
School Ratios
If the university's ratios are out of proportion, they might seek more applicants belonging to a specific set requirement. For example – If the university wants to balance the ratio of males and females on its campus, it might be more inclined to filter the applicants based on their gender.
Past accomplishments
When it boils down to limited seats and multiple applicants, universities look at candidates' past achievements because that might determine the value they bring to the campus.
Organizational Affiliations
If the universities value their organizational affiliations, they will be more inclined to admit and enroll students from those organizations to maintain those ties and affiliations.
Therefore, if you're denied admission, chances are, it might not have anything to do with you as a person or whether or not your grades were good enough. Sometimes admissions committees have to make tough decisions.
However, you can combat this through "Demonstrated Interest." The best way is for you to make sure your application is unique and stands out among all others. Having a cohesive theme within your application helps.
You should also look at the graphs of the university and assess the trends they've followed over the past few years in terms of their admissions. Please take note of any specific trends you see or the policies they've been actively supporting since that can be a determining factor in your admissions.
Also, you can explore some alternative paths, like getting admitted to one school and then applying for a transfer to another, to ease the application and admission process for slightly more competitive schools.
It would be best if you avoided being put in the "Like Many Others" pile. Make sure your applications stand out and strongly reflect your interest in a university.
Source
"How Colleges Choose Which Students to Admit | Best Colleges | U.S. News." Web. 18 Oct. 2022.
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