Category: College Admissions

Every so often I have a parent or student tell me that everyone keeps asking their child or them, “what are you going to major in”?  Now, this is not a bad question, but it’s the response that a student gets after they say, “I don’t know”, that can be frustrating.  For some, whether it be family or friends, it seems like when they ask this question, they are expecting a junior or senior in high school to already have their life figured out.  They think that if a 16, 17 or 18 year old doesn’t know what they want to do as a career, they are going to be behind in life or not ready for college.  Below are six reasons why it is perfectly fine for a junior or senior in high school to not be sure of what they want to major in.

1. They could or should have a number of interests and passions and they haven’t eliminated any yet because there is still exploring to do or courses to take in college. They are going to experience many new and exciting things their first year of college that they have never experienced before.  At college they will be more independent than they have ever been in their life so they are going to interact with professors, peers and organization leaders who will most likely influence their future major decisions.  A Boston College admissions counselor made a great point when he said, “a student entering their freshman year of college should look at their freshman year like they are looking over the menu at a restaurant.”
2. There are so many options that they are not even aware of.  I went into college thinking I could be a lawyer.  I liked to do research, speak and as any kid wants to, thought I could make a lot of money.  I learned real quick after talking to certain professors and doing some research at college that there are things about being a lawyer that did not fit my skill set and and desires (mainly having to go to school for more than 4 years).  So I changed my major to political science but then eventually public administration.  I loved how public administration involved political science but also economics and business administration.  I didn’t even know public administration was an option when I entered college.  The first year of college is a time to see what’s available as an option, take classes that give exposure to a few different majors and get great advice.  Most colleges now have freshman take similar courses no matter what major they are in to make sure they get the proper foundation before they have to declare a major.  I talked with a University of Maryland admissions representative last week and she said that all freshman, including Engineering students, take what they call “gateway courses” and they can always change their major after the freshman year.
3. There are going to be jobs that haven’t been created yet.  Every year it seems that I hear of a job and I ask myself, “was that even an option when I graduated from college?” Especially with technology today, new jobs are being created each year.  Who knows what new jobs may be available 4-5 years from now.  This is another good reason to be more patient and see how the job market is evolving.  Now, I am not saying that a college student should wait until their senior year to decide what to major in, but I do think that it is okay for a college student to be patient for their freshman year and sometimes even the first semester of their sophomore year and see what major best fits their passions, skill set and desires.  I do strongly recommend that a college student pay attention to how long it would take them to complete their bachelors degree in four years (unless you know going into a co-op program that it will take 5 years).  Being uncertain about your major or changing late in your college career is something I do not recommend because then you are paying more and accruing more debt for college because it will take longer to finish.  Once you declare your major, it’s important to stick with and finish the commitment you started in order to finish in four years.
4. Colleges students change their major 2-3 times on average over the course of their college career.  This alone should give high school juniors and seniors the message that once they enter college, they will most likely change their major anyway.  So why go into college convincing themselves that they HAVE to major in one thing and if that doesn’t work out, they are setting themselves back or are going to be lost in life.  It’s okay for them to change majors as much as they see fit within the first year and half of college.  When a student completes an application, they may need to enter a major and also a 2nd choice major but if they are not sure what exactly they want to do, stay broad.
5. It may come down to the “soft skills” after all.  Unless you are majoring in Engineering, Nursing, Accounting, Pharmacy, Athletic Training, Occupational Therapy (or another type of therapy) or even Education, when it comes to finding a job after college, it will most likely not come down to what your major was.  Employers today are mainly looking for 5 skills. These are taken from a book by Jeff Selingo that I highly recommend you read called, There is Life After College. These 5 skills are 1) curiosity, 2) creativity, 3) digital awareness, and 4) contextual thinking, and 5) humility.  There are also the top 4 skills that are listed in job postings.  These are 1) communication/writing, 2) organization skills, 3) customer service/problem solving, 4) planning/detail oriented.  College students who graduate in the majors I mention above should also exhibit these skills but their degree is specific and the jobs they would get with that degree are going to be pretty specific.  Employers in these fields only hire students with those degrees.  Outside of the above majors, it may not matter what your major is.  It will come down to the skills mentioned above that will enable you to get the job.  For example, you can be a political science major and still get a marketing/advertising job if you interview well and are strong in the skill areas above the hiring company is looking for.
6. In the end, it could come down to an internship you did. Plain and simple, companies are getting more comfortable hiring individuals who did an internship with their company. Whatever major you pursue, take advantage of doing at least one internship but two would be even better.

First, I would like to clarify something I mentioned in my last post regarding the parents and students responsibility in the college application planning and application process.  I made the statement at the end of the post regarding the financial aid process that “this is the part of the process that the parent takes the lead, mainly because they are paying for their child’s college experience.”  I want to make clear that I don’t expect parents to think they are responsible to pay 100% of their child’s college education.  If you are a parent who who like to that is great.  However, even if a parent could pay for all of their child’s college education, I think it is wise for their child to “own” some of their education by having to pay for some of it.  If that means they work in the summer and that money has to go to their education or they take a small loan out that they will have to pay back, it is smart for them to have to pay for their own education so they don’t get complacent during college and think “my parents are just going to pay for it”.  There are parents as well that think their child should be paying for the majority of their college education and this is fine as well.  The student can do this by working and earning the money to pay for college, earning scholarships to pay for college and taking out loans (although I strongly recommend the total amount of loans after four years is less that their starting salary in their first job).  As long as there is honest communication between the student and parent regarding expectations, financial responsibility and what the financial numbers are, either way can be successful.  Hopefully this clarifies things a bit based on my previous comment and please feel free to comment or ask a question about anything in a post by clicking on the “leave a reply” link underneath the title of each post.  Below is an article I wrote back in the fall of 2015 that I think is applicable to a student’s responsibility when paying for college.

“Is high school really a job”?  This is a question I asked myself when I was in high school.  I heard my parents say more than once, “Going to school and getting good grades is your job.” This comment would normally be made following a discussion about me living off my parents, looking forward to being in college, being on my own and needing to get a job to pay for gas, car insurance, etc.

It wasn’t until I got older and worked with hundreds of seniors as they applied to college that I realized that high school is actually like a job and if done well, it may lead to “being paid” more to go to college.

This is not to say that the point of doing well in high school is to get a good financial offer for college.  Not at all.  After all, the learning that takes place in each class is extremely valuable, the biblical foundation and truths that are taught here at DC are life changing and the social benefits of friendship and contributing to extracurricular activities are really important.  I am simply approaching this topic from a college planning perspective.

Approaching high school as a job is a perspective that each high school student should embrace because their academic success in high school can be compensated by how little they end up paying for college.  Here are three factors that can be impacted by getting good grades in high school.

1. You will have more options.  If you do well in the working world, you typically have more options when looking to expand or grow your career.  Why? Because employers and those who hire trust you and know that you will succeed. Likewise, if you do well academically in high school, the number of colleges that you have the opportunity to be accepted in to grows as well. This allows you to be a bit “picky”  and find that college that would be a great fit for you because you are choosing from a larger pool of schools.
2. You will be able to apply to more “safety” schools.  One myth that I am always trying to dispel is that the “safety” schools that a student applies to are “not as good” as the target or reach schools.  This is not true.  What are considered “safety” schools varies from student to student depending on how well they have done academically.  University of Pittsburgh may be a “reach” school for a student with a 3.3 weighted GPA and a 1000 SAT (Critical Reading and Math), but for a student with a 4.3 weighted GPA and a 1350 SAT it is more of a “safety” school.  “Safety” schools are going to be the colleges that offer you more merit-based aid (scholarship money a student receives based on their grades and test scores). I emphasize with juniors that in my mind the most important schools they put on their list of “colleges they are thinking about” are the safety schools because they should be the ones “paying you to go there”.
3. Getting in to a highly competitive admission college could also save you a lot of money.

Colleges that are the toughest to get into (Ivy League, Stanford, Georgetown, Public Ivies, elite small liberal arts schools, etc.) do not give out merit based scholarship money because almost every student they admit is near the top of their class in high school.  However, these colleges have large endowments to help with demonstrated need.  The EFC (expected family contribution) you receive after completing the FAFSA is all you are responsible to pay.  If your EFC is $0, you pay $0; if it’s $10,000, you pay $10,000 a year.  These are colleges that meet 100% need. You can do a Google search to find which schools do this.  Be careful though because if a college requires more than the FAFSA to determine financial need (CSS Profile, tax returns, etc.), they will use the information they receive from all of these to determine what your demonstrated need is.  If you have done well academically in high school and put yourself in a great position to be accepted into one of these competitive admission schools, it could pay off financially.

So parents, if you want to use the line, “Your job is to get good grades in high school,” I will back you up because I know the benefits of doing well academically can really “pay” off.

As I finish my Junior College Planning Meeting’s this month with all of my juniors and their parents, one topic I never get in depth about is how much of the responsibility falls on the student and how much responsibility falls on the parent when it comes to applying to college? Both parties do play significant roles in the process.  It is good to have balance but know which roles are important for each to play.  It also depends on which part of the process we are talking about.  Below, I will break down what I believe to be the proper role for both parent and student in each of the different processes involved in the college planning and application process.

College Research:

The student should spend their own time researching colleges and coming up with a list of schools that they are considering.  Parents can also do research and tend to spend more time doing so but what they should do more of is encourage their child to do research together if they see their child doing little on their own.  Why is it so important that the student take ownership of this process?  Because they are going to eventually attend college and if the parent is doing the research it may lead to more conflict later on when their child disagrees with what their parents are telling them.  At DC, I work with juniors to make sure they develop a list of colleges they are thinking about in their Naviance account.  Verdict: Student- 70%, Parent- 30%

College Visit:

The parent can definitely help plan the visit.  That probably involves a phone call to the admissions office.  Obviously, the parent is most likely going to pay for the expense of the visit as well.  As soon as you arrive on campus though, the student needs to take ownership of the visit.  The parent is definitely in a support role, but they need to let their child ask questions, initiate conversation and dictate what they should see and do on the visit.  It’s okay for a parent to ask a question or two but it would be even better if the student asked.  College visits can end up being very enjoyable and bonding experiences for both parent and child but it won’t be unless both understand their roles and stay within the appropriate boundaries.  The hardest thing for a parent is to be quiet.  They want to ask a lot of questions but sometimes this frustrates the child.  Verdict: Before Visit (Parent- 90%, Student- 10%), During Visit (Student- 90%, Parent- 10%)

College Application:

This process has to be owned by the student and encouraged by the parent.  If the parent is doing more than encouraging their child they are hindering their child from developing key maturity growth that they can only learn if they are put in new, uncomfortable and difficult situations.  If the parent is habitually helping their child avoid these situations, their child will have a more difficult time when they are forced into these situations in college.  The student should complete each and every part of the the college application. This includes the application itself, essay(s), requesting letters of recommendation and attending the interview. You would be surprised what I hear from college counselors when it comes to the interview. Parents want to ask questions before and after and even sometimes ask to sit in on the interview.  As a parent, I wouldn’t even be involved.  Encourage, ask your child some questions before they leave, and then stay home.  Even have your child pay the application fee (with your money is fine) so they know that their application costs money.  What happens after you apply? I recommend that all communication to a college regarding an application needs to be made by the student.  Why?  This shows interest and also initiative and maturity to the admissions counselor.  This is also very important communication that the student will need to continue in different capacities when they are at college.  Admission counselors want to hear from the student, not the parent.  As a matter of fact, when a parent calls, colleges that gauge interest do not count this as interest.  Verdict: When Applying (Student- 100%, Parent- 0%), After applying (Student- 100%, Parent- 0%)

Financial Aid:

This is the part of the process that the parent takes the lead, mainly because they are paying for their child’s college experience.  Nevertheless, the student should be aware, understanding of and knowledgeable of how much everything is, how much that will affect their decision and what they are responsible for.  This process can get tricky because it tends to dictate where the student ends up going.  If parent and child were in constant communication about finances and what to expect before the application process started, through the application process and after decisions and financial aid awards letters are received, it leads to a more wise and understanding decision when it comes to the college he or she will attend.  The parent will complete the FAFSA, CSS Profile and any other need based Financial Aid applications.  The students should be the one to complete any merit-based scholarships.  It’s okay if you find them for your child parents but please make sure the student take ownership of merit-based scholarships. Verdict: Need-Based Applications (Parent- 100%, Student- 0%), Merit-Based Scholarships (Student- 90%, Parent- 10%)

Decision on where to attend college:

This decision is always made by the student.  I know parents think they deserve some say because they are paying for college but in the end, if the student doesn’t make the decision, this can lead to tremendous anxiety and regret.

One aspect I love about my job as a college counselor is that while the information I share with students and parents through the college planning process can be similar, each student is different and I have to adjust what I share, at what time and how much information.  I met with one of my international students this past week.  Typically, international students are looking at applying to competitive admission colleges because it is honorable in their country to graduate from a college that has “name recognition” in their country.  There are about 30 colleges that make up this “list” of schools and they are all in the top of the US News and World Report rankings.  Believe me, I’ve had a couple international students e-mail me the list.  This particular international student, however, was not interested in the “name recognition” schools even though he has pretty strong grades and will have great scores.  I asked him why and he said, “I would rather be the head of the chicken instead of the tail of the phoenix”.  I have never heard this phrase before.  I did a little research and saw that in China, there is a well-known idiom that says, “I’d rather be a chicken’s head than the tail of a phoenix.”  The idiom expresses a commonly held notion: It’s better to be in a position of prominence, even if in a less glamorous sphere, than in a low position within a more prestigious context. In the West, a similar saying calls it being a “big fish in a small pond.” In daily life, this sort of thinking can take many forms. Many Chinese businessmen, for example, will leave their low positions in a major company in order to take a high position in a local unknown company.

I appreciated this student’s wisdom because what this idiom is saying is what I try and get students to understand regarding their decision as to which colleges to apply to and eventually attend.  This student was alluding to going to a big state University and finishing higher in his class rather than going to an Ivy league school and finishing in the bottom half of the class. Before those of you reading this post think I am saying that going to an Ivy league school or another highly competitive admission is not worth it, I want to make it clear that there are certainly a few advantages to going to these schools.  One is the networking opportunities because of wealthy and loyal alumni networks.  Another is opportunity to find a job (studies show these colleges are helpful in providing jobs in finance and consulting, when it comes to other majors there isn’t any evidence that competitive admissions colleges have a distinct advantage when it comes to finding a job).  Third is that because the overwhelming majority of these colleges are 100% meet need schools, they can be great buys for students who can get in and have significant need.

Nevertheless, there have been studies that show that students who finish at or near the top of their class at less competitive admission colleges are still accepted to competitive admission law, medical and graduate schools at a very high rate.  That is why it is important to understand that there are hundred’s of great colleges in the United States, not just 30-40.  The most important thing when researching colleges that you want to apply to is finding the best “fit” school.  One that you are going to thrive at academically, mentally, emotionally, physically, and spiritually.  If you have any questions about what factors are important to pay attention to please comment and I would be happy to provide more information.  You want to go to a college that you will earn merit-based scholarships and aid to go to so that when you are done with your bachelors degree, you are in great position financially to pursue a graduate degree and/or start a career.

A few days ago I was on the phone with an ivy league admissions officer.  I typically will follow up with each school that my students have been deferred or denied to through the Early Decision deadline. This is so I can get any information they can provide as to why they came to the decision they did and if deferred, what can they do over the next couple months to help themselves and be a more attractive applicant.  This ivy league admissions officer mentioned something that I have never heard before.  She said, “for the unhooked, their chances of getting accepted are even less”.  Now, I know what it means to have a “hook” when it comes to applying to a highly competitive university and I know what some good “hooks” are, but it was the first time I have heard an admissions counselor refer to the “unhooked”.

What are the top hooks that admission counselors refer to?

1. Top committed recruited athletes
2. Top legacy students
3. Member of an unrepresented group
4. Parents who have been philanthropic towards charities or colleges

This ivy league admissions counselor that I talked to said that the typical admission rate at their school is around 7-8% but for the “unhooked” it goes down to around 4%.

So who are the “unhooked”?  Everyone else.  You might say, “I am in the National Honors Society, top 10% in my class, take all the AP courses my school offers, am a three year varsity starter in two sports, play in the band and help construct our school Yearbook.”  This is all great!  It isn’t unique, however, to the most competitive admission colleges in the United States.  I am not saying that you cannot get accepted to an ivy league school if you do the above things.  I am saying that your chances of getting accepted are very slim.

What should I do then?  1) Do what you enjoy, 2) do it well, 3) grow in responsibility and 4) take risks.

What do you mean?  1)  if you are going to do something because you think it will “help for college”, don’t do it.  What you do on your own time should be things you are excited and passionate about and you would do them no matter what it meant for college. 2)  if you do what you enjoy and are passionate about, you will do it well.  Why?  Because you will have a desire to improve and it will bug you if you do not do something well.  You will want to be a continual learner.  3) You will enjoy what you are doing so much and love to learn more and more about it that you will naturally take more of a leadership role (editor, captain, president or even CEO!).  4) Taking risks is apart of learning and they will come naturally if you are doing the first three things listed above.  You will want to start selling something not knowing if anyone will buy it, make something not knowing it will work, start a fundraiser that you are not sure how much you will raise, etc.  These are great risks and if you fail, it’s okay, you learn and try again!

The overwhelming majority of us will fall into the “unhooked” category but we are all uniquely created by God and all have special gifts and talents that He has given us.  There are hundreds of really good colleges in the United States and you can thrive and excel at many of them.  Your “hook” may not be a fit for one school, but it can definitely be a “hook” that another great school is looking for.  Find the one that is the best “fit” for you keeping in mind that it’s you that will make the school that you attend “better” and not the school making you “better” because you are there.

In the college admissions world there are normally a couple notable changes/updates that take place in the course of a year that are important to understand and be aware of.  This past year (2016) was an unusual year as there were more “major” changes in the college admissions world in one year in any other year of my career.  These major changes were Prior-Prior Year when it comes to to submitting the FAFSA, the Redesigned SAT that was first administered last March and the Coalition for Access and Affordability launching it’s application.

Each of these changes are still going to be big factors in the world of colleges admissions in 2017.  Students and college admission offices will continue to get adjusted to the redesigned SAT.  Students will need to take advantage of the new test prep material (specifically online at collegeboard.org and Khan Academy) and college admissions offices will need to collect more data and develop norms this year because they will be reporting scores from the redesigned SAT on their school profiles for the first time this year.

The effects of Prior-Prior Year as far as submitting the FAFSA will continue to be seen throughout 2017.  Because parents can now submit the FAFSA beginning October 1st using their previous year’s taxes, it has placed pressure on the colleges to provide financial aid and scholarship information to accepted seniors a lot earlier than they normally did. Colleges who rely on the FAFSA information they receive from families to provide need based financial aid always send out their financial aid award letters in March.  Now colleges will be competing to get this financial aid award out as soon as December with some school waiting to see how this year goes and other colleges respond before moving up the time they release financial aid award letters.  It really effects when colleges need to put their budget’s together for the next year.  So stay tuned for adjusting and changes by colleges regarding Prior-Prior Year in 2017.

The Coalition for Access and Affordability college application is still a question mark in the world of college admissions.  It was said that the application would launch in April 2016 and then nobody heard anything.  Then at the beginning of the summer I was made aware that the application is available to be completed for member schools.  Then at the end of the summer we were told that only half of the member colleges were accepting it for this academic year.  My recommendation is that if a college accepts the Common Application, just complete this application and don’t worry about the Coalition application.  Those of us in the college counseling world still do not understand the purpose for this Coalition for Access and Affordability application.  We will hear more about this in 2017 but don’t hold your breath on when any new information is released.

So what is going to happen in the world of college admissions in 2017?

1.  New SAT Test Date in August– The first SAT test date of the school year has always been the first Saturday in October.  For the first time this year, College Board will now have a test administration in August.  The exact Saturday in August hasn’t been released yet.  This will change the testing time table for a lot of seniors but it may also allow the colleges to change their early decision (ED) and early action (EA) policies as far as what testing they will accept for these early deadlines.  Since October was the first test in the past, they let students take the October test and even the November test and as long as those students sent the scores directly to them, they allowed these scores to be submitted and reviewed for early admission deadlines.  Now, you may see them not accept the November exam anymore since seniors now have two opportunities in August and October to take the test and the ACT already has tests offered in September and October.
2. Admission Numbers (at Most Competitive Admission Colleges) Continue to Drop– The “train” that started 15-20 years ago by US News and World Report when it comes to their college rankings keeps getting faster. You would think at some point UPENN, Harvard and Yale for example, would sit back and say, “wow, our applications keep going up every year (which they intentionally try to do through their marketing and advertising strategies), now that we have gone over say 30,000 applications and we only accept 5-10 % of these applicants, let’s not try and get any more applicants so that we can deny more students.”.  Nope, instead they say,”let’s continue to try and get more applications so we can deny more students and stay at the top of the US News and World Report rankings.  We can hire more admission counselors to “read” applications”.   Obviously, this is my interpretation of what they are saying but it’s the only way I can imagine them thinking because they could do a couple things  right away that would reduce or at least level off the amount of applications they get.  First, adding another required essay will reduce the number of applications (just ask Boston College) and second, they can tell students that if you are not in the top 10% (even just say 25%), your chances of getting in to our school is less than 5%.  In the end, it continues get more difficult to be accepted to the most competitive admission colleges.
3. You will see more colleges implementing EA or ED deadlines– I think you will see more colleges, who haven’t had an early action deadline in the past, implement an EA deadline or a college who had been EA only implement an early decision (ED) deadline.  Why?  Because of Prior-Prior Year and colleges now being able to get Financial Aid Award letters out earlier.  They can now market to their accepted students earlier and do their best to encourage them to attend their school either by creative marketing or by offering more merit-based aid to those accepted students who are in the top 20-25% of students applying to their school.  Colleges will want students to commit to come to their school earlier since they are going to have to provide financial aid and scholarship information earlier.

Happy New Year!  My name is Trevor Creeden and I am the Director of College and Career Counseling at Delaware County Christian School (DC).  I have been a college counselor for 16 years now and really enjoy guiding high school students and their parents through the college planning and application process.  I have been writing a newsletter every month for the past 7 years that I have been at DC called the College Counselor Corner.  I have realized for the past few years that I have been behind the times.  Writing a newsletter in Microsoft Publisher and attaching it as a PDF in an e-mail once a month is old school and I finally pulled the trigger and started a blog.  I am looking forward to serving the DC community through this blog but I also hope this blog can inform, serve and communicate important college planning and application information to anyone who reads it.