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I WANT TO KNOW WHAT MY COLLEGES VALUE ~ Very Important for Selective Schools
Use the Common Data Set. If it's too overwhelming come chat.
Google, "X College Common Data Set". Use the most recent year.
Example, Stanford Common Data Set.
PAY ATTENTION TO...
Section C: First Time, First Year, Freshman Admission Information
What classes do you require for admission consideration?
How many students apply and how many are admitted?
What does the school care about when looking at me as an applicant?
Testing information and statistics
Section H: Scholarship money and need based money per incoming freshman. Averages are listed.
PAY ATTENTION TO...
Section H: Financial Aid Information
Line H2A - J says that the average financial aid based award to an incoming freshman is $66,562. Takeaway: most everyone has need. Interested in knowing the athletic or merit scholarships? Look at line H2A - P and line H2A - Q.
97 students received $52,831 in NON-need based aid (that is merit or athletic scholarships).
My Favorite Resources for College Bound Students
Your College Bound Kid offers a great resources!
Jeff Selingo - Buyers and Seller Schools
Do you and do you well! What do selective schools care about?
On average, McNary has 32 juniors each year with perfect 4.0 GPA's.
At selective schools GPA is only the "floor" for admission consideration. They care more about your class rigor (in light of the classes you had access to at McNary) and where you engage in your community, region, state, and world.
Know that selective schools will:
Look at your School Profile. What classes did you have access to? Did you push yourself in our building? Come see Mrs. Conolly for a copy of your School Profile.
Look at you compared to other Celts. Students often believe they are in a hot tub. They look around and think, "I'm pretty amazing!" But students are in an ocean of amazing students when applying to selective colleges.
Selective schools will then compare you to your peers in the region.
Selective schools will be evaluating you in light of their institutional priorities. Each college has a mission/motto they must fulfill for their board of trustees.
Applying to selective schools requires strategy and a good dose of humility.
Respect the competition.
It is critical to apply to several schools you know you will be admitted to for sure.
How you apply: Early Decision, Early Action Restrictive Early Action, or Regular Decision really matters with selective schools. These schools are particularly sensitive to their yield rates. Your demonstrated interest may matter to them, or maybe it won't. How do you find out? Look at the Common Data Set!
Also, if you live within a several hour drive of a selective school you are applying to, they will likely look to see if you visited them.
The Pros and Cons of Early Decision Applications by Your College Bound Kid Podcast
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