college admissions in the United States#Race and ethnicity

File:ART CLASS STUDENTS AT CATHEDRAL SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL IN NEW ULM, MINNESOTA. THE TOWN IS A COUNTY SEAT TRADING CENTER OF... - NARA - 558216.jpg]]

Applying to colleges can be stressful. The outcome of the admission process may affect a student's life and career trajectory considerably. Entrance into top colleges is increasingly competitive,{{cite news |author= Valerie Strauss

|title= Some 2012 college admissions rates hit new lows

|newspaper= Washington Post

|date= April 4, 2012

|url= https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/post/some-2012-college-admissions-rates-hit-new-lows/2012/04/03/gIQA5ElIuS_blog.html

|access-date= May 15, 2012

}}{{cite news

|author= Steve Cohen

|title= Top 10 myths of college admissions

|newspaper= The Washington Post

|date= September 23, 2011

|url= https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/post/top-10-myths-of-college-admissions/2011/09/22/gIQAEn8XoK_blog.html

|access-date= December 12, 2011

}}{{cite magazine

|author= Andrew J. Rotherham

|title= Five Biggest Myths About College Admissions

|magazine= Time

|date= May 5, 2011

|url= http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,2069625,00.html

|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110507022553/http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,2069625,00.html

|url-status= dead

|archive-date= May 7, 2011

|access-date= December 12, 2011

}} and many students feel immense pressure during their high school years.Anthony Zurcher, July 25, 2014, BBC News, [https://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-echochambers-28492894 Ivy League miseducation], Accessed July 26, 2014

{{Blockquote|Private and affluent public primary education, test-prep courses, 'enrichment' programmes, volunteer service projects, international travel, music lessons, sports activities – all the high-cost building blocks of the perfect college application – put crushing pressure on the upper middle class and their offspring.|Yale professor William Deresiewicz, quoted in BBC News about his article in The New Republic, 2014}}

The college applications process can be stressful for parents of teenagers, according to journalist Andrew Ferguson, since it exposes "our vanities, our social ambitions and class insecurities, and most profoundly our love and hopes for our children".{{cite news

|author= Dwight Garner

|title= Application Adventure: A Dad's College Essay

|newspaper= The New York Times

|date= March 3, 2011

|url= https://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/04/books/04book.html

|access-date= May 15, 2012

}}

File:Summit High School Presentation.jpg

Some high schools have one or more teachers experienced in offering counseling to college-bound students in their junior and senior years.{{sfn|Mamlet|2011|p=27}} Parents often meet with the school counselor during the process together with the student.{{sfn|Mamlet|2011|p=32}} Advisors recommend that students get to know their school counselor.{{sfn|Mamlet|2011|p=28}} The counselor usually works in conjunction with the guidance department which assists students in planning their high school academic path.

School counselors are in contact with colleges year after year and can be helpful in suggesting suitable colleges for a student. Mamlet and VanDeVelde suggest that it is improper for an admissions counselor to tamper with a student's "authentic self".{{sfn|Mamlet|2011|p=35}} According to their view, ideal counselors have experience with college admissions, meet regularly with college admissions officers, and belong to professional organizations.{{sfn|Mamlet|2011|pp=38–39}} Counselors do not complete interviews, write essays, or arrange college visits.{{sfn|Mamlet|2011|p=30}} Most counselors have responsibility for helping many students and, as a result, it is difficult for them to provide individualized help to a particular student; one estimate was that the average ratio for all high schools of students to counselors was 460 to 1. Only about a quarter of public high schools have a counselor devoted to college counseling issues full-time, while almost three-quarters of private schools have a dedicated college counselor. Private school counselors tend to have substantially more contact with university admissions staff than public school counselors.{{cite news|author=Kathleen Kingsbury|date=January 9, 2009|title=Dirty Secrets of College Admissions|work=The Daily Beast|url=http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2009/01/09/dirty-secrets-of-college-admissions.html|access-date=July 7, 2012}}

Fee-based consultants, some available entirely online,{{sfn|Mamlet|2011|p=45}} can be hired to help a student gain admission, although there are some free programs to help underprivileged youth learn how to fill out applications, write essays, get ready for tests, and work on interviews.{{sfn|Hernandez|2009|pp=157–158}} Generally, when hiring a college admissions consultant, parents and students try to understand the consultant's philosophy, learn what services are provided, and whether any help will be offered regarding advice about financial aid or scholarships.{{sfn|Mamlet|2011|pp=38–39}} Consultants can help a student select schools to apply to, counsel them on test taking strategies, review scores, help with essay preparation (but not writing), review applications, conduct mock interviews, provide logistical planning, and collaborate with others such as athletic coaches.{{sfn|Mamlet|2011|pp=34–35}} Consultants try to keep a low profile; however, one admissions dean explained that she can "sniff out when there has been some adult involved in the process", and admissions personnel may detect varying quality regarding writing samples when one part of an application is polished, while other parts are less polished.{{sfn|Mamlet|2011|p=42}}quoting Jennifer Delahunty, dean of Admissions and Financial Aid at Kenyon College Assistance by consultants or other adults can go to extremes, particularly with hard-to-check variables such as the college essays; according to one view, plagiarism on admissions essays has been a "serious problem", particularly on applications to private universities and colleges.{{cite news|author=Eyder Peralta|date=September 21, 2011|title=Survey: Universities Increasingly Admitting Students Based On Wealth|website=NPR|url=https://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2011/09/21/140681011/survey-universities-increasingly-admitting-students-based-on-wealth|access-date=December 12, 2011}} Another risk in hiring a consultant is overpackaging: the applicant appears so smooth and perfect that admissions officers suspect the person is not real but a marketing creation.{{sfn|Mamlet|2011|p=40}}

File:Table and banner at college admissions presentation.jpg

A typical admission staff at a college includes a dean or vice president for admission or enrollment management, middle-level managers or assistant directors, admission officers, and administrative support staff. The chief enrollment management officer is sometimes the highest-paid position in the department, earning $121,000 on average in 2010, while admissions officers average only $35,000, according to one estimate. Admissions officers tend to be in the 30-to-40 age demographic.{{cite news

|author= Kelly Truong |title= Admission Officials' Tweets Fall on Deaf Ears |newspaper= The Chronicle of Higher Education

|quote= but college admissions officers typically fall into the 30-to-40 age demographic

|date= July 1, 2010 |url= http://chronicle.com/blogs/wiredcampus/admission-officials-tweets-fall-on-deaf-ears/25254

|access-date= January 14, 2013}} They are chosen for their experience in admissions, aptitude for statistics and data analysis, experience in administration and marketing and public relations.{{cite news

|author1=Melissa E. Clinedinst |author2=Sarah F. Hurley |author3=David A. Hawkins |title= 2011 State of College Admissions

|newspaper= National Association for College Admission Counseling (NACAC) |quote= Previous admission experience ... statistics/data analysis ... higher education administration ... marketing/public relations

|year= 2011 |url= http://www.nacacnet.org/research/PublicationsResources/Marketplace/research/Pages/StateofCollegeAdmission.aspx

|access-date= January 14, 2013

}} They serve dual roles as counselors and recruiters, and do not see themselves as marketers or salespeople, according to one view.{{cite news

|author= Eric Hoover

|title= On 'Finite' Recruitment

|newspaper= The Chronicle of Higher Education

|quote= They are counselors, but also recruiters. They use marketing techniques, but many don't like to use the 'm word.'

|date= August 4, 2010

|url= http://chronicle.com/blogs/headcount/on-finite-recruitment/26001

|access-date= January 14, 2013

}} They are evaluated on how well they "represent their college, manage their office, recruit staff members, and work with other administrators". Michele Hernandez suggested there were basically two types of officers: a first group of personable, sharp, people-oriented go-getter types who were often recent college grads; a second group was somewhat out-of-touch "lifers" who often did not graduate from a highly selective college.{{sfn|Hernandez|2009|pp=1–3}} Officers are generally paid an annual salary, although there have been reports of some recruiters paid on the basis of how many students they bring to a college, such as recruiters working abroad to recruit foreign students to U.S. universities.

Many colleges and universities work hard to market themselves, trying to attract the best students and maintain a reputation for academic quality. Colleges spent an average of $585 to recruit each applicant during the 2010 year. There are efforts to make increased use of social media sites such as Facebook to promote their colleges.{{cite news

|author= Eric Hoover

|title= A 'Sea Change' in Admissions

|newspaper= The Chronicle of Higher Education

|quote= rising costs ... impact of the web ... social media such as Facebook or YouTube that admissions offices need to master.

|date= June 29, 2011

|url= http://chronicle.com/blogs/headcount/a-sea-change-in-admissions/28421

|access-date= January 14, 2013

}} Marketing brochures and other promotional mailings often arrive daily in the hope of persuading high school students to apply to a college. According to Joanne Levy-Prewitt, colleges send "view books" not because they intend to admit them, but "because they want multitudes of students to apply" to improve the college's selectivity and to make sure that they have as many well-qualified applicants as possible from whom to choose the strongest class.{{cite news |author= Joanne Levy-Prewitt |title= Juniors should be wary of slick college admission come-ons |work= The Record (Bergen County, NJ) |quote=If you are a junior in high school, this winter or spring you are very likely to be inundated with glossy view books and slick brochures |date= December 30, 2006 |url= http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P1-132960540.html |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20150329064823/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P1-132960540.html |url-status= dead |archive-date= March 29, 2015 |access-date= August 20, 2012}} Colleges get access to names and addresses after students give permission to them after taking the PSAT or SAT exams.

U.S. News & World Report compiles a directory of colleges and publishes rankings of them, although the rankings are controversial.{{cite news |author= Jacques Steinberg |title= 'Best Colleges'? Counselors Beg to Differ With U.S. News |newspaper= The New York Times |date= May 19, 2011 |url= http://thechoice.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/05/19/nacac-on-usnews/ |access-date= December 12, 2011}} Other sources rank colleges according to various measures, sell guidebooks, and use their rankings as an entry into consulting services. College Board launched a website called BigFuture in 2012 with tools to assist in the admissions process.{{cite news

|author= Tanya Caldwell

|title= The Start of BigFuture, a New College Planning Web Site

|newspaper= The New York Times

|date= March 26, 2012

|url= http://thechoice.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/03/26/college-board-bigfuture-web-site/

|access-date= May 17, 2012

}}

For those intending to enter college immediately after high school, the admissions process usually begins during a student's eleventh grade when a student meets with a guidance counselor, selects some colleges, and perhaps visits a few campuses. The summer before twelfth grade is a time when many applicants finalize application plans and perhaps begin writing essays. Further, they decide whether to apply by early or regular decision. International students may need to take tests showing English-language proficiency such as the TOEFL, IELTS, or PTE Academic. The twelfth grade is when applications are submitted.

{{Main|College and university rankings in the United States}}

{{U.S. News top 10|caption=The top 10 national universities (red{{nbsp}}File:Red pog.svg) and liberal arts colleges (blue{{nbsp}}File:Blue pog.svg) in the {{U.S. News top 10/year}} U.S. News rankings shows many located in the Northeast. The rankings have generated much controversy.}}

There are many college and university rankings, including those by U.S. News & World Report,{{cite web|url=http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/college|title=U.S. News & World Report rankings|work=U.S. News & World Report|access-date=September 29, 2014}} Business Insider,{{cite web |url=http://www.businessinsider.com/best-colleges-in-the-us-2014-9?op=1 |title=The 50 Best Colleges in America|website=Business Insider}} Money,{{cite magazine|url=https://money.com/best-colleges/ |title=Money's Best Colleges |magazine=Time |access-date=July 31, 2015}} Washington Monthly,{{cite web|url=http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/features/2006/0609.libarts.html|title=Washington Monthly's College Rankings|access-date=September 29, 2014|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141107154840/http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/features/2006/0609.libarts.html|archive-date=November 7, 2014|df=mdy-all}} and Forbes.{{cite web|url=https://www.forbes.com/top-colleges/list/|title=Forbes America's Top Colleges Ranking|website=Forbes|access-date=July 20, 2015}}

Rankings have been the subject of much criticism. Since much of the data is provided by colleges themselves, schools can manipulate the rankings to enhance prestige, such as Claremont McKenna misreporting average SAT statistics,{{cite news

|author= Tanya Caldwell

|title= Rankings Did Not Motivate College Official Who Falsified SAT Scores, Report Finds

|newspaper= The New York Times

|date= April 18, 2012

|url= http://thechoice.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/04/18/claremont-mckenna-official-who-falisified-sat-scores-was-not-motivated-by-rankings-report-finds/

|access-date= May 15, 2012

}} and Emory University misreporting student data for "more than a decade",{{cite news

|author= Justin Pope

|title= Emory University Sent False Data To Rankings Groups For More Than A Decade: Report

|work= Huffington Post

|quote=Prestigious Emory University intentionally misreported student data to rankings magazines for more than a decade

|date= August 17, 2012

|url= https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/20/emory-university-sent-fal_n_1810287.html

|access-date= August 20, 2012

}} as well as reports of false data from the United States Naval Academy and Baylor University.{{cite news

|author= Lynn O'Shaughnessy

|title= How U.S. News' College Rankings Can Hurt You

|newspaper= The College Solution

|quote= One of the perverse aspects about the rankings is that turning out thoughtful, articulate young men and women, who can write cogently and think critically won't budge a school's ranking up even one spot.

|date= September 12, 2012

|url= http://www.thecollegesolution.com/how-u-s-news-college-rankings-hurt-you

|access-date= September 14, 2012

}} There is hypocrisy surrounding rankings: some colleges pretend to loathe the guidebooks that rank them, yet if they get a good write-up, they "wave it around like a bride's garter belt".

The choices made by colleges to boost their rankings have been criticized as destructive.{{cite news|url=http://www.thecollegesolution.com/the-realities-of-merit-scholarships|title=The Realities of Merit Scholarships|author=Lynn O'Shaughnessy|date=May 3, 2012|work=The College Solution|access-date=June 26, 2012}} Rankings may not take a college's affordability into account,{{cite news

|author= Lynn O'Shaughnessy

|title= The Real Cost of Attending an Expensive East Coast University

|work= The College Solution

|quote= Rankings Perversion – ... US News & World Report's college rankings doesn't ... bestow demerits for being unaffordable.

|date= March 10, 2011

|url= http://www.thecollegesolution.com/the-real-cost-of-attending-an-expensive-east-coast-university

|access-date= August 20, 2012

}} factor in the average student indebtedness after college, or measure how well colleges educate their students. Rankings have been accused of tuning their algorithms to entrench the reputations of a handful of schools while failing to measure how much students learn.{{cite news|url=http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/features/2000/0009.thompson.html|title=Playing With Numbers: How U.S. News mismeasures higher education and what we can do about it|author=Nicholas Thompson|date=September 2000|newspaper=Washington Monthly|access-date=January 11, 2013|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130114232520/http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/features/2000/0009.thompson.html|archive-date=January 14, 2013|quote=U.S. News rankings don't measure how much students learn;|df=mdy-all}} Some admission counselors maintain that rankings are poor predictors of a college's overall quality.{{cite news

|title="Best For Whom?": College Admission Counselors Challenge Key Assumptions About College Rankings

|work= States News Service

|quote=The annual rankings of undergraduate colleges and universities by U.S. News and World Report generate negative opinions among professionals who work most closely with students and families

|date= May 19, 2011

|url= http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-256790465.html

|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20160413175648/https://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-256790465.html

|url-status= dead

|archive-date= April 13, 2016

|access-date= August 20, 2012

}}

In 2007, members of the Annapolis Group discussed a letter to college presidents asking them not to participate in the U.S. News & World Report "reputation survey".Note: this "reputation survey" makes up 25% of the ranking. A majority of the approximately 80 presidents at the meeting agreed not to participate,{{cite web | first = Scott | last = Jaschik | title = More Momentum Against 'U.S. News' | website = Inside Higher Ed | date = June 20, 2007 | url = http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2007/06/20/usnews | access-date = June 20, 2007 | archive-date = April 12, 2021 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210412032838/https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2007/06/20/usnews | url-status = dead }} although the statements were not binding.{{cite web|title=ANNAPOLIS GROUP STATEMENT ON RANKINGS AND RATINGS |publisher=Annapolis Group |date=June 19, 2007 |url=http://www.collegenews.org/x7131.xml |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070626055807/http://www.collegenews.org/x7131.xml |archive-date=June 26, 2007 }} Members pledged to develop alternative web-based information formats in conjunction with several collegiate associations.Note: associations include the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities and the Council of Independent Colleges. U.S. News & World Report responded that their peer assessment survey helps to measure a college's "intangibles" such as the ability of a college's reputation to help a graduate win a first job or entrance into graduate school.{{cite magazine| first =Robert| last =Morse| title =About the Annapolis Group's Statement| magazine =U.S. News & World Report| date =June 22, 2007| url =https://www.usnews.com/blogs/college-rankings-blog/2007/6/22/about-the-annapolis-groups-statement.html#read_more| url-status =dead| archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20070702061309/http://www.usnews.com/blogs/college-rankings-blog/2007/6/22/about-the-annapolis-groups-statement.html#read_more| archive-date =July 2, 2007| df =mdy-all}}

Most colleges and universities, particularly private ones, have an artificially high and unreliable sticker price while charging most students, by awarding grant and scholarship money, a "discounted price" that varies considerably.{{cite news

|author= Mary Beth Marklein

|title= 'Best value' colleges: Some have high price tags

|newspaper= USA Today

|date= February 7, 2012

|url= https://www.usatoday.com/news/education/story/2012-02-07/princeton-review-best-value-colleges-2012/52991578/1

|access-date= May 25, 2012

}} For example, in 2011–2012, the average sticker price for tuition, fees and living expenses at private colleges, was $38,590 while the average actual cost was $23,060; at public colleges, the average sticker price was $17,130 and the average actual cost was $11,380. The average full-time undergraduate gets $6,500 in grant aid along with $1,000 in tax-based aid to offset tuition and fees.

{{Blockquote|Sticker price is the full price colleges list in their brochures and on their websites. Net price is the price students actually pay. Net price accounts for the fact that many students receive grants or scholarships. So it can be considerably lower than sticker price.|Jacob Goldstein, NPR, 2012{{cite news

|author= Jacob Goldstein

|title= The Price Of College Tuition, In 1 Graphic

|newspaper= NPR

|date= May 25, 2012

|url= https://www.npr.org/blogs/money/2012/05/22/153316565/the-price-of-college-tuition-in-1-graphic

|access-date= May 25, 2012

}}}}

Discounting began in the 1970s and was dramatically expanded in the 1990s.{{cite news

|author= Paul Fain

|title= Why Deep Tuition Discounts May Not Spell Financial Doom: They can be a useful tool as long as tuition revenue is solid

|newspaper= The Chronicle of Higher Education

|quote= Discounting in higher education began in the 1970s, as college admissions officers copied the pricing systems used by airlines and other businesses. The approach of charging as much as people would pay was novel in the academy.

|date= May 2, 2010

|url= http://chronicle.com/article/Why-Deep-Tuition-Discounts-May/65331/?viewMobile=0

|access-date= January 14, 2013

}} Sticker prices are set at much higher than the real costs for most students, sometimes more than double, sometimes only one and a half times as high.{{cite news|url=https://www.usnews.com/education/blogs/the-college-solution/2011/05/31/dont-believe-a-college-sticker-price|title=Don't Believe a College Sticker Price|author=Lynn O'Shaughnessy|date=May 31, 2011|newspaper=U.S. News & World Report|access-date=May 25, 2012}}{{cite news

|title= The Real Price Of College

|newspaper= NPR

|date= May 11, 2012

|url= https://www.npr.org/blogs/money/2012/05/11/152511771/the-real-price-of-college

|access-date= May 25, 2012

}}{{cite news

|author= Jacob Goldstein

|title= Average Sticker Price For Private College: $36,993 A Year

|newspaper= NPR

|date= October 28, 2010

|url= https://www.npr.org/blogs/money/2010/10/27/130867761/average-cost-for-a-year-of-private-college-40-476

|access-date= May 25, 2012

}} Estimates are that 88%{{cite news|url=https://money.cnn.com/2011/10/26/pf/college/college_tuition_cost/index.htm|title=College costs climb, yet again|author=Kim Clark|date=October 29, 2011|newspaper=CNN Money |access-date=May 25, 2012|quote=While community college tuition posted a sharp 8.7% gain, it's still a bargain: only about $3,000 a year for full-time tuition.}} or 67%{{cite news

|author= Rebecca R. Ruiz

|title= Only One in Three Full-Time Students Pays Full Tuition

|newspaper= The New York Times

|date= November 15, 2011

|url= http://thechoice.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/11/15/economix/

|access-date= May 25, 2012

}} get some form of discount. The average first-year student may be paying 48% less than the sticker price. Generally, the sticker-to-net price discrepancy is greater at private colleges than public universities.

Colleges use high sticker prices to give themselves wide latitude in how to use funds to attract the best students, as well as entice students with special skills or increase its overall racial or ethnic diversity. The most sought-after students can be enticed by high discounts while marginal students can be charged full price.{{cite news

|author1=Chana Joffe-Walt |author2=Jacob Goldstein |title= How Colleges Fight For Top Students

|newspaper= NPR

|date= May 2, 2012

|url= https://www.npr.org/blogs/money/2012/05/02/151759177/how-colleges-fight-for-top-students

|access-date= May 25, 2012

}}{{cite news

|author= Jay Conley

|title= New Online Tools Expected to Lift Veil on College Sticker Prices: With federal mandate, all schools must offer net price calculators online by October 29.

|newspaper= U.S. News & World Report

|date= September 14, 2011

|url= https://www.usnews.com/education/best-colleges/paying-for-college/articles/2011/09/14/new-online-tools-expected-to-lift-veil-on-college-sticker-prices

|access-date= May 25, 2012

}} Further, the high sticker price is a marketing tool to suggest the overall worth of a college education by encouraging people to think that "schools that cost more must provide a better education". While there was growing concern about escalating college prices, most Americans believed that their personal investment in higher education was sound.{{cite news

|author= Brian Burnsed

|title= Americans Split on Value of a College Degree: A Pew study indicates many are skeptical, but college graduates remain confident in their choices.

|newspaper= U.S. News & World Report

|date= May 16, 2011

|url= https://www.usnews.com/education/best-colleges/articles/2011/05/16/americans-split-on-value-of-a-college-degree

|access-date= May 25, 2012

}} But discounting adds complexity to decision-making, deterring some students from applying in some instances based on a false sense of unaffordability.{{cite news

|author= Judith Scott-Clayton

|title= College Is Cheaper Than You Think

|newspaper= The New York Times

|date= November 4, 2011

|url= https://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/11/04/college-is-cheaper-than-you-think/

|access-date= May 25, 2012

}} Students from low-income backgrounds may be discouraged from applying or driven to attend less challenging colleges as a result of undermatching. Many schools now recruit students who pay full cost to subsidize those who can afford to pay much less, resulting in the financial makeup of the student body at some colleges skewed towards mostly affluent students and low-income students but few students from middle-class backgrounds.Nona Willis Aronowitz, October 3, 2014, NBC News, [https://www.nbcnews.com/news/education/middle-class-squeeze-elite-education-worth-170-000-debt-n212811 Middle-Class Squeeze: Is an Elite Education Worth $170,000 in Debt?], Retrieved October 3, 2014, "recruiting high-achieving, low-income kids to apply ... 18 percent of Williams students now pay no tuition ... To offset the cost, these schools often aggressively recruit students whose families can pay the full cost" In 2015, however, there were several instances of private colleges reducing their tuition by more than 40%.NBC News, [https://www.nbcnews.com/feature/freshman-year/these-two-colleges-plan-tuition-reset-40-percent-cut-n442876 These Two Colleges Plan 'Tuition Reset' With 40 Percent Cut], Retrieved October 12, 2015, "two small private liberal arts colleges are actually cutting tuition next year — by more than 40 percent. Utica College in New York and Rosemont College in Pennsylvania"

{{Further|College tuition in the United States}}

In the fall of 2011, colleges were required by federal law to post a net price calculator on their websites to give prospective students and families a rough estimate of likely college costs for their particular institution,{{cite news

|author= Daniel de Vise

|title= College Web sites to post cost calculators for prospective students

|newspaper= Washington Post

|date= October 28, 2011

|url= https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/college-web-sites-to-post-cost-calculators-for-prospective-students/2011/10/27/gIQABj0SQM_story.html

|access-date= May 25, 2012

}}{{cite news

|author= Jacques Steinberg

|title= The Choice on 'Today': Tips on Fafsa, and Net-Price Calculators

|newspaper= The New York Times and The Today Show

|date= January 20, 2012

|url= http://thechoice.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/01/20/choice-on-today-fin-aid/

|access-date= May 17, 2012

}} and to "demystify pricing". A student or family could go online, find the calculator at a college's website, and enter the required financial and academic information, and the calculator will provide a personalized estimate of the likely cost of attending that college. The first online calculators were started by Williams College. The online calculators look at financial need and academic merit to try to estimate the likely discounted price offered to a particular student from a particular college, using information including details from tax returns, household income, grade point averages and test scores. Schools vary in terms of their pricing formulas; some consider home equity as a factor while others disregard it.{{cite news|url=http://www.thecollegesolution.com/will-your-home-equity-hurt-financial-aid-chances-a-case-study|title=Will Your Home Equity Hurt Financial Aid Chances? A Case Study|author=Lynn O'Shaughnessy|date=June 25, 2012|work=The College Solution|access-date=June 26, 2012}}

There are numerous potential problems with the calculators. Some are difficult to find on a college's website; others require specific financial numbers, possibly leading to errors by parents or students; some are difficult to understand and use; some may be manipulated by schools to increase applications or to make it seem as if a college is "more affordable" than it is. Accuracy of calculator estimates may vary considerably from college to college. Ultimately aid decisions will not be made by calculators, but by humans in the admissions offices.

Another tool is the College Board's expected family contribution calculator that can give families an idea of how much college will cost, but not for any particular college.{{cite news|url=http://www.thecollegesolution.com/do-you-really-expect-me-to-pay-that-much-for-college|title=Do You Really Expect Me to Pay That Much for College?|author=Lynn O'Shaughnessy|date=May 22, 2012|work=The College Solution|access-date=June 26, 2012}}

{{Further|Student financial aid in the United States}}

File:FAFSA.gov_screenshot_2016-01-04.png website at www.fafsa.ed.gov.]]

There are many reports that many applicants fail to apply for financial aid when they are qualified for it, with an estimated 1.8 million students in 2006 qualifying for aid but failing to apply.{{cite news

|author= Valerie Strauss

|title= A new college admissions bible

|newspaper= Washington Post

|date= October 3, 2011

|url= https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/post/a-new-college-admissions-bible/2011/10/02/gIQAZVhqHL_blog.html

|access-date= May 18, 2012

}} Applying for financial aid is recommended by almost all college admissions advisers, even for middle- and upper-class families applying to private colleges. Each college has its own criteria for determining financial need and loans. One advisor counseled against letting the sticker price of a college dissuade a student from applying, since many of the top colleges have strong endowments allowing them to subsidize expenses, such that the colleges are less expensive than so-called "second tier" or state colleges.

College advisers suggest that parents keep financial records, including tax forms, business records, to use when applying for financial aid,{{sfn|Mamlet|2011|p=22}} and complete the FAFSA online, using income and tax estimates (usually based on previous years), early in January of their college-bound student's twelfth grade. Admissions officers can see the names of up to nine other colleges a student has applied to. According to several reports, some colleges may deny admission or reduce aid based on their interpretation of the order of colleges on the FAFSA;Ry Rivard, October 28, 2013, Inside Higher Ed, [http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2013/10/28/colleges-use-fafsa-information-reject-students-and-potentially-lower-financial-aid Using FAFSA Against Students], Accessed December 12, 2013, "Now, some colleges use this FAFSA position when considering students' applications for admission, which may affect decisions about admission or placement on the wait list, said David Hawkins"CBS News, Lynn O'Shaughnessy, October 30, 2013, [https://www.cbsnews.com/news/be-careful-what-you-share-on-the-fafsa/ Be careful what you share on the FAFSA], Accessed December 12, 2013, "The order, however, could also be hurting students who list their favorite school as No. 1. If a teenager shows too much interest in a school, the admission office may decide to offer the applicant a lower award because it is assumed that the child will enroll anyway"Liz Weston, Reuters, November 11, 2013, Daily Finance, [http://www.dailyfinance.com/2013/11/11/colleges-may-penalize-students-over-preference-on-financial-aid/#!slide=976781 Colleges May Penalize Students Over Preference on Financial Aid Applications], Accessed December 12, 2013, "Students can list up to 10 schools to receive their financial aid information, and the ones they list first strongly predict which enrollment offers they're likely to accept, college consultants say" accordingly, several sources recommend that colleges be listed alphabetically on the FAFSA to obscure any preferences.Lynn O'Shaughnessy, October 30, 2013, The College Solution, [http://www.thecollegesolution.com/a-dirty-little-fafsa-secret/ A Dirty Little FAFSA Secret], Accessed December 10, 2013Rachel Fishman, October 28, 2013, Access to Higher Education, Higher Ed Watch, [http://higheredwatch.newamerica.net/blogposts/2013/the_dark_side_of_enrollment_management-95569 The Dark Side of Enrollment Management] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131217224151/http://higheredwatch.newamerica.net/blogposts/2013/the_dark_side_of_enrollment_management-95569 |date=December 17, 2013 }}, Accessed December 13, 2013, "The FAFSA should either not allow institutions to see where students have applied or it should list the institutions in alphabetical order" There are reports that many parents make mistakes when filling out the FAFSA information, and mistakes include failing to hit the "submit" button, visiting an incorrect FAFSA website,Note: there are impostor websites similar to the official government website, sometimes asking for fees; the official FAFSA website is free; see FAFSA for further information leaving some fields blank instead of properly entering a zero, spelling names or entering social security numbers or estimating tax data incorrectly. Since FAFSA formulas assume 20% of a student's assets can be used for college expenses as opposed to 6% of a parent's assets, advisors recommend moving funds from student to parent accounts before filing the FAFSA, including moving funds to a parent-controlled 529 plan tax-advantaged account. Filing taxes early is recommended, but using estimates for FAFSA from previous years is possible provided the numbers are updated later after taxes are filed. There are no fees for applying on the FAFSA site. According to one source, the best time to begin searching for scholarships is before the twelfth grade, to guarantee meeting deadlines. Several reports confirm that it is important to file aid forms such as the CSS Profile early in the school year.{{cite news |author=Lynn O'Shaughnessy |date=November 29, 2011 |title=Take First Step to Apply for College Financial Aid |work=U.S. News & World Report |url=https://www.usnews.com/education/blogs/the-college-solution/2011/11/29/take-first-step-to-apply-for-college-financial-aid |access-date=July 7, 2012}}{{cite magazine

|author= Victor Luckerson

|title= 10 Tips for Getting the Most Out of College Financial Aid

|magazine= Time

|date= January 25, 2013

|url= https://business.time.com/2013/01/25/10-tips-for-getting-the-most-out-of-college-financial-aid/

|access-date= February 12, 2013

}}

In addition to cost factors, increasingly colleges are being compared on the basis of the average student debt of their graduates, and U.S. News & World Report has developed rankings based on average student indebtedness.{{cite news

|author= Carolyn Butler, Arlene Weintraub, Justin Snider, Margaret Loftus, Rett Fisher, Kimberly S. Wetzel (others)

|title= Best Colleges: Choose the Right School For You

|newspaper= U.S. News & World Report

|quote= 2012 edition; various authors and rankings; pages 19, 20, 30, 62, 63, 68–70, 78, 84, 86, 88, others

|year= 2012

}} A report in the Utne Reader chronicled substantial student indebtedness, and suggested that 37 million Americans in 2009 held student debt, and that nine in ten students used an average of 4.6 credit cards to pay for some educational expenses.Student Debt, by the numbers, Utne Reader, July–August 2012, page 39 The report chronicled an increase in average indebtedness from an average of $2,000 in 1980–81 to over $25,000 in 2009, as well as substantial decreases in Federal aid and Pell grants during that time period.

U.S. News & World Report and others suggest another factor overlooked in terms of financing college, which is the length of time it takes to earn a degree. Finishing a year early (in three years) lops off a substantial portion of the overall bill, while taking five years compounds the expense and delays entry into the workforce. Jacques Steinberg suggested that many college-bound students calculate how much debt they were likely to incur each year, and he suggested that debt for all four years of college should total less than the graduate's expected first year's salary after college, and preferably under $40,000.{{cite news

|author= Jacques Steinberg

|title= Transferring to a State University, and Saving Tens of Thousands of Dollars in the Bargain

|newspaper= The New York Times: Education

|date= April 11, 2012

|url= http://thechoice.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/04/11/transferring-to-save/

|access-date= May 17, 2012

}} A handful of schools have "free tuition" policies for low income students, so that they graduate loan-free.{{cite news

|title= No Loans for Low Income Students

|newspaper= Smart Student Guide

|date= May 17, 2012

|url= http://www.finaid.org/questions/noloansforlowincome.phtml

|access-date= May 17, 2012

}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.highschoolgpacalculator.us/|title=High School GPA Calculator}}

File:Alice_Tully_Hall_(48047494177).jpg in New York City, which specializes in the performing arts]]

Most educational institutions in the U.S. are nonprofit.{{cite web |url=http://nces.ed.gov/das/library/tables_listings/showTable2005.asp?popup=true&tableID=7062&rt=p |title= Table 1. Number and percentage distribution of Title IV institutions, by control of institution, level of institution, and region: United States and other jurisdictions, academic year 2009–10 |publisher=National Center for Educational Statistics, U.S. Department of Education |year=2011 |access-date=January 24, 2012}} Colleges and universities in the U.S. vary in terms of goals: some may emphasize a vocational, business, engineering or technical curriculum while others may emphasize a liberal arts curriculum. Many combine some or all of the above. Another consideration is the male-female ratio; overall, 56% of enrolled college students are women, but the male-female ratio varies by college, year, and program. Admissions guidance counselors can offer views about whether a public or private school is best, and give a sense of the tradeoffs.

Two-year colleges are often county- or community-oriented schools funded by state or local governments, and typically offer the associate degree (AA). They are generally inexpensive, particularly for in-state residents, and are focused on teaching, and accept most applicants meeting minimum grade and SAT score levels. Students commute to school and rarely live in dorms on campus. These schools often have articulation arrangements with four-year state public schools to permit students to transfer. Consultants suggest that community colleges are reasonably priced, and after two years with solid grades and academic performance, many colleges are willing to accept transfers.

Four-year colleges offer Bachelor of Arts (BA or AB) or Bachelor of Science (BS or SB) degrees. These are primarily undergraduate institutions, although some might have limited programs at the graduate level. Graduates of the tuition-free United States service academies receive both a Bachelor of Science degree and a commission.

Universities have both undergraduate and graduate students. Graduate programs grant a variety of master's degrees as well as the Doctor of Philosophy (PhD). Medical schools award either the MD or DO degrees while law schools award the JD degree. Both public and private universities are usually research-oriented institutions.

File:Pomona_College_wHY_1268.jpg like Pomona College emphasize liberal arts education at the undergraduate level]]

Liberal arts colleges are four-year institutions that emphasize interactive instruction, although research is still a component of these institutions. They are usually residential colleges with most students living on campus in dorms. They tend to have smaller enrollments, class sizes, and lower student-teacher ratios than universities, and encourage teacher-student interaction with classes taught by full-time faculty members rather than graduate students known as teaching assistants. There are further distinctions within the category of liberal arts colleges: some are coeducational, women's colleges, or men's colleges. There are historically black colleges; in addition, while most schools are secular, some stress a particular religious orientation. Most are private colleges but there are some public ones.

State colleges and universities are usually subsidized with state funds and tend to charge lower tuitions to residents of that state. They tend to be large, sometimes with student bodies numbering in the tens of thousands, and offer a variety of programs. They are generally less selective in terms of admissions than elite private schools and are usually less expensive, sometimes half or a third as much as a private institution for in-state residents. There are reports that due to recent budget shortfalls, many state schools are trying to attract higher-paying out-of-state residents.{{cite news

|author= Andrew J. Rotherham

|title= The Latest Wrinkle in College Admissions: State schools are increasingly recruiting out-of-state students who pay higher fees. But is this fair?

|newspaper= Time

|date= December 1, 2011

|url= https://ideas.time.com/2011/12/01/the-latest-wrinkle-in-college-admissions/

|access-date= May 18, 2012

}} In the past few years, competition for spots in public institutions has become more intense, with some state schools such as the State University of New York reporting record numbers of students accepting their offers of admission.{{cite news

|author= Lisa W. Foderaro

|title= Well-Regarded Public Colleges Get a Surge of Bargain Hunters

|newspaper= The New York Times

|date= March 1, 2009

|url= https://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/02/nyregion/02suny.html?ref=admissions

|access-date= December 12, 2011

}} There are reports that tuition at state universities is rising faster than at private universities.{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A21178-2003Oct13.html|title=PBS: 'Ten Steps to College' (transcript)|author=Howard and Matthew Greene|date=October 22, 2003|newspaper=Washington Post|access-date=May 19, 2012}} Flagship state universities are usually the most prominent public schools in a state, often being the oldest and most well-funded.{{cite web

|title= Frequently Asked Questions about Finding a College

|work= diycollegerankings.com

|year= 2012

|url= http://diycollegerankings.com/frequently-asked-questions-about-finding-a-college/

|access-date= June 22, 2012

}}

File:Flickr - The U.S. Army - United States Military Academy at West Point.jpg have particular admissions requirements; applicants must be nominated by their congressperson.]]

There are conflicting reports about the usefulness of test preparation courses. Mamlet and VanDeVelde suggest that "most students don't need a coach or a class" and that the single largest factor was "familiarity with the test". Another report agreed that SAT/ACT prep courses were a waste of money and that taking a few practice exams, and understanding how each test works, was all that was needed.{{cite news|author=Jay Mathews|date=January 20, 2012|title=5 wrong ideas about college admission|newspaper=Washington Post|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/class-struggle/post/5-wrong-ideas-about-college-admission/2012/01/19/gIQAayDXBQ_blog.html|access-date=May 18, 2012}}

In 2003, according to one estimate, 1.4 million students took the SAT and 1.4 million also took the ACT test, paying about $50 per test. Generally counselors suggest that students should plan on taking the SAT or ACT test twice, so that a low score can possibly be improved.{{sfn|Mamlet|2011|p=98}} One advisor suggested that students with weak SAT or ACT scores could consider applying to colleges where these measures were optional.{{cite news|url=http://thechoice.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/09/25/nacac-b-c/|title=College Options (And Strategies) for the 'B' and Even 'C' Student|author=Theo Emery|date=September 25, 2009|newspaper=The New York Times|access-date=December 12, 2011}} One suggested retaking the tests if there are "subpar test scores" in September and October (if applying early admission) or November and December (if applying regular admission.){{cite magazine|author1=Stacey Kostell|author2=Michele Hernandez|author3=Steve Loflin|author4=Katherine Cohen|date=October 12, 2011|title=How Can High School Seniors Improve Odds of College Admissions?|url=https://www.usnews.com/education/blogs/college-admissions-experts/2011/10/12/how-can-high-school-seniors-improve-odds-of-college-admissions|magazine=U.S. News & World Report |access-date=December 12, 2011}} Generally over half of eleventh graders retaking the SAT or ACT tests during the twelfth grade saw improvements in their scores. Colleges vary in terms of how much emphasis they place on these scores.{{cite news |author1=Hunter, Jeffrey G. |author2=Samter, Wendy |title=A college admission test protocol to mitigate the effects of false negative SAT scores |work=Journal of College Admission |quote=According to Gandara and Lopez (1998), SAT scores will be weighted anywhere from "almost not at all" to "heavily" in the admission decision, depending upon the college or university. |date=July 1, 2000 |url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P3-56122130.html |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130125041452/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P3-56122130.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=January 25, 2013 |access-date=August 20, 2012}}

A consensus view is that most colleges accept either the SAT or ACT, and have formulas for converting scores into admissions criteria, and can convert SAT scores into ACT scores and vice versa relatively easily.{{sfn|Hernandez|2009|p=57}} The ACT is reportedly more popular in the midwest and south while the SAT is more popular on the east and west coasts.

Regarding whether to choose the SAT or ACT, the consensus view is that both tests are roughly equivalent and tend to bring similar results, and that each test is equally accepted by colleges. Reporter Jacques Steinberg in The New York Times suggested that admissions deans repeatedly inform him that colleges view the ACT and SAT tests equally and do not have a preference.{{cite news |author=Jacques Steinberg |title=Q. & A. College Admissions; ACT vs. SAT: Deciding Which Exam to Take |newspaper=The New York Times |date=September 12, 2010 |url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=950DEEDF1339F931A2575AC0A9669D8B63 |access-date=May 15, 2012}} At the same time, small differences between the tests may translate into a slight benefit for the test-taker. One report suggested that the SAT favors "white male students" from upper income backgrounds.{{cite news |author=Sarah Gonzalez |title=SAT Tests Favor White, Male Students, Book Argues |publisher=NPR Florida |date=November 10, 2011 |url=http://stateimpact.npr.org/florida/2011/11/10/sat-tests-favor-white-male-students-book-argues/ |access-date=May 15, 2012}} Another report suggests that the ACT has more questions geared to higher levels of high school mathematics, suggesting that students who do well in math may perform better, but that the SAT is a better choice for students with an excellent vocabulary. According to one view, the SAT is more focused on testing reasoning ability while the ACT is more of a content-based test of achievement.{{cite web |title=ACT vs SAT: Key differences between the ACT and SAT |work=Studypoint.com |year=2012 |url=http://www.studypoint.com/ed/act-vs-sat/ |access-date=June 22, 2012}} In addition, according to this view, some SAT questions can be trickier and harder to decipher while some ACT questions may be longer; question difficulty progresses within each SAT section while difficult questions are randomly interspersed in the ACT; the SAT has a separate vocabulary section while the ACT has a separate science reasoning section. In 2016 the SAT was updated to remove the penalty for random guessing; the College Board advises that test-takers will benefit by guessing.

Many colleges require, recommend, or consider SAT Subject Tests in the admissions process. One described them as "true equalizers" in admissions, suggesting how strong a high school is, and elaborated that some admissions officers consider them to be a better indicator of academic ability than high school grades.{{sfn|Hernandez|2009|pp=59–65}} Another suggested that selective colleges emphasize SAT Subject Tests, while public colleges place less emphasis on them.{{sfn|Mamlet|2011|p=94}} The SAT Subject Tests were discontinued by the College Board at the beginning of 2021.

There was a report that scores on Advanced Placement exams could be helpful in the evaluations process.{{sfn|Hernandez|2009|p=97}} One report suggested there was a limit on the number of AP tests that should be taken, such that taking 12 AP tests was not as helpful as taking five and doing well on those five.

There are differing recommendations about the importance of interviews, with the consensus view that interviews were overall less important than college admissions essays, but should be done if they were offered. One advisor suggested that visits by college admissions personnel to the high schools were a waste of time for colleges, since there was not enough time to get to know specific applicants.{{sfn|Hernandez|2009|p=107}} In addition, she felt that personal interviews were generally overrated, though she noted that many Ivies have alumni interviews, which can help in borderline situations.{{sfn|Hernandez|2009|pp=153–156}} One counselor suggested that if an interview was offered by a college admissions program, then it was not really optional but it should be seen as a requirement, that is, not going to such an interview could be detrimental to a student's chances for admission. Another suggested that a student should try to get an interview, even if it was not required, since it might help "exhibit character strengths" that might not show up via grades on high school transcripts. Several reports noted that most Ivy League schools have abandoned the interview requirement, but that if there is an opportunity for an interview, even with an alumnus of the college, then it is a good idea to do it since not doing it signals a lack of interest in the school.{{sfn|Hernandez|2009|pp=153–156}} Knowing a college can be helpful during an interview, so that an applicant can say something specific about the school, or a professor who teaches there, or a subject or internship opportunities, since it shows sincere interest.{{cite magazine|author=Marc Silver|date=August 16, 2010|title=Rocketing Past the College Admissions Blunders: Deans and college counselors have seen it all, from the sublime to the ridiculous.|url=https://www.usnews.com/education/best-colleges/applying/applying-101/articles/2010/08/16/rocketing-past-the-college-admission-blunders|magazine=U.S. News & World Report |access-date=December 12, 2011}}{{sfn|Hernandez|2009|pp=153–156}} Interviews (if offered) may be more of a factor at small liberal arts colleges:

{{Blockquote|Our advice is that if offered an interview, a student should take it ... And they should dress as if they are going to dinner with their grandparents. The biggest faux pax comes in inappropriate dress for both sexes. Spaghetti straps, buttons that pop open. For boys a rumpled T-shirt ... If you look in the mirror and you think you look good, change your clothes. This is not a date.|Mamlet and VanDeVelde}}

File:Trinity_College_Hartford_Admissions_building.jpg in Hartford, Connecticut]]

One suggested that a goal of interview preparation should be to present oneself as "comfortable with spontaneous conversation" and be able to talk about interests without sounding like the answers were prepared in advance, and suggested it was important to show intellectual passion and a love of learning with a deep excitement, and show "social maturity" with sensitivity, empathy for others unlike oneself, and concern for issues larger than personal career ambitions.{{sfn|Dunbar|2007|pp=29, 36, 38, 83–96}} Applicants should have an attitude that was not be what can the college offer but what can the student offer the college, avoid asking questions about facts better answered elsewhere, and show an openness to new ideas, an ability to work cooperatively with others, ambition, and caring about others.{{sfn|Dunbar|2007|pp=62, 66, 67}} Interviewees should be ready for sometimes provocative questions to test social sensitivity; if an interviewer asks a "baiting or leading question", an applicant should respond by laughing while politely disagreeing with the perspective, and to keep trying to enjoy the conversation with the interviewer.{{sfn|Dunbar|2007|p=93}} Another advisor suggested that students must be prepared to answer the question What is your biggest failure in an interview.Sanjay Solomon, January 30, 2015, The Boston Globe, [https://www.boston.com/jobs/news/2015/01/30/can-failure-resume-help-you-succeed/uTBdq9A7LfXXF7vVOlG9oM/story.html Can a Failure Resume Help You Succeed?], Retrieved January 30, 2016, "Asking 'what is your biggest failure?' is an opportunity [for an interviewer] to get a reality check and to put a little pressure on this person" Applicants should avoid sounding snide, annoyed, contemptuous, and avoid describing oneself as humiliated, bored, depressed, angry, shy, inhibited, anxious, frightened, and frustrated,{{sfn|Dunbar|2007|pp=110–122}} and should be upbeat but avoid going for the hard sell.{{sfn|Dunbar|2007|pp=110–122}} Another report suggested that shy or timid applicants were at a disadvantage.{{cite news

|author= Hanley, Thomas A. Jr.

|title= Shyness and the College Admission Process: Who is Being Left Out?

|work= Journal of College Admission

|quote= If two applicants appeared academically equivalent on paper and both were interviewing at a top tier school, the gregarious, self-confident candidate would most likely be perceived more favorably than the timid and self-conscious one

|date= January 1, 2005

|url= http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P3-809396571.html

|archive-url= https://archive.today/20130125180139/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P3-809396571.html

|url-status= dead

|archive-date= January 25, 2013

|access-date= August 20, 2012

}} Another advisor suggested that a student try to find a common bond with the interviewer, and send a brief follow-up letter afterwards.{{sfn|Hernandez|2009|pp=157–158}}

Due to the Coronavirus pandemic, colleges began offering interviews over video conferencing platforms such as Zoom.{{Cite web|date=2020-10-21|title=Virtual College Interviews: Everything You Need to Know|url=https://blog.collegevine.com/virtual-college-interview-tips/|access-date=2021-10-30|website=blog.collegevine.com}}

File:Sign saying Common Application Membership.jpg.]]

There are differing opinions about the importance of the college essay. The consensus view is that the essay is less important than grades and test scores, but that an essay can make a difference in some instances, often at highly selective colleges where they can "make or break your application". There was one report that essays were becoming more important as a way to judge a student's potential and that essays have supplanted personal interviews as a primary way to evaluate a student's character.

The Common Application requires that personal statements be 250 to 650 words in length.{{Cite web|url=https://admission.stanford.edu/apply/freshman/apply.html|title=How to Apply: Stanford University|website=admission.stanford.edu|language=en|access-date=2018-10-28}} Although applicants may strive to reach the word limit, college admissions officers emphasize that the most important part is honing and rewriting:

{{Blockquote|Writing is easy; rewriting is hard. And essays deserve to be rewritten several times. Lots of kids think the objective is to write about something that will impress the admission office. In part that is true, but what impresses an admission officer is an essay that conveys something positive about the applicant; that allows the committee to get to know the kid just a bit from those few pieces of paper. The essay is an opportunity to provide a different perspective about the applicant, a reason to accept a kid. It is an opportunity not to be wasted.}}

Advisors suggest that the essay should be concise, honest (with no embellishments), coherent, not boring, accurate, and visually evocative. The essay should reveal a likeable and intelligent individual. It should approach humor and controversial topics with caution and balance.{{cite magazine|url=https://www.usnews.com/education/blogs/professors-guide/2010/09/15/10-tips-for-writing-the-college-application-essay|title=10 Tips for Writing the College Application Essay|author1=Jeremy S. Hyman|date=September 15, 2010|access-date=December 12, 2011|magazine=U.S. News & World Report |author2=Lynn F. Jacobs|author3=Jonathan Reider}} Other tips include avoiding jargon or abbreviations, overly emotional appeals, profanity or texttalk (example: Schools H8 2 C texttalk), or artiness (e.g. poetry in an application) or cockiness.

Former guidance counselor for students at Andover and college admissions authority Donald Dunbar suggested that essays must emphasize personal character and demonstrate intellectual curiosity, maturity, social conscience, concern for the community, tolerance, and inclusiveness.{{sfn|Dunbar|2007|p=ix}} He advises to not merely "be yourself", but show your "best self".{{sfn|Dunbar|2007|pp=11–21}} Dunbar furthermore claims that demonstrating class participation suggests a "willingness to go beyond selfishness" and shows enthusiasm for learning.{{sfn|Dunbar|2007|p=25}} Alan Gelb suggests that the only "no-no" is "shameless self-promotion".{{cite news

|last= Gelb

|first= Alan

|title= The College Admissions Essay: Finding a Topic

|newspaper= The New York Times

|quote= For your college admissions essay, you will be asked to write 500 flawless words ... As far as I'm concerned, the only taboo is shameless self-promotion.

|date= May 14, 2012

|url= http://thechoice.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/05/14/the-college-admissions-essay-finding-a-topic/

|access-date= May 15, 2012

}} Topics to avoid{{according to whom|date=October 2016}} include babysitting experiences, pets, encounters with illegal drugs or alcohol or criminal activity,{{sfn|Mamlet|2011|p=207}} excuses to explain a low grade,{{sfn|Mamlet|2011|p=207}} stories about a former home or big brother or sister,{{sfn|Dunbar|2007|p=34}} a simple listing of achievements,{{sfn|Mamlet|2011|p=207}} expressing thanks for being chosen as a leader, talking about a "wilderness leadership course",{{sfn|Dunbar|2007|pp=67–68}} general complaining or whining,{{sfn|Mamlet|2011|p=207}} racism or sexism or disrespect for groups of people,{{sfn|Mamlet|2011|p=207}} bad taste or profanity or vulgarity or bathroom humor,{{sfn|Mamlet|2011|p=207}} early love or sex experiences,{{sfn|Mamlet|2011|p=207}} criticism or disrespect for parents,{{sfn|Mamlet|2011|p=207}} telling only jokes,{{sfn|Mamlet|2011|p=207}} excessive bragging or too many instances of the "I" pronoun,{{sfn|Mamlet|2011|p=207}}For example: "I did this, I did that, then I did this" and on and on. personal health information about yourself or a friend or a family member,{{sfn|Mamlet|2011|p=207}} and copy-and-pasting a term paper in the essay form{{sfn|Mamlet|2011|p=207}} such as about global warming or the European debt crisis. Applicants should refrain from express opinions too strongly as if no counterviews were possible.{{sfn|Mamlet|2011|p=207}} The topic should be something the applicant cares about,{{sfn|Dunbar|2007|p=50}} and should show leadership in the sense of "asserting yourself to help others have more success". According to Dunbar, leadership is not necessarily about being in charge such as being the team captain or school president.{{sfn|Dunbar|2007|p=54}} Applicants should present a broad perspective and avoid simplistic words such as never, always, only, or nobody, which suggest narrow thinking.{{sfn|Dunbar|2007|p=136+}} Dunbar advised against the standard "tell 'em what you've told 'em" essay formula but doing something different, interesting, and exciting.{{sfn|Dunbar|2007|p=147}}

Former admissions director Michele Hernandez agreed, and suggested that the best essay topics were a slice-of-life story with poignant details, in which the writer shows and does not tell.{{sfn|Hernandez|2009|pp=130–136}} She suggested that a student show their essay to a literate friend and ask if would they admit this person to the college.{{sfn|Hernandez|2009|pp=130–136}} She recommended that applicants not try to come across as a "preppy well-off kid" but downplay parental status.{{sfn|Hernandez|2009|pp=6–9}} Advisors Mamlet and VanDeVelde suggest that students proactively try to explain an unusual grade, such as a low grade in a core course.{{sfn|Mamlet|2011|p=58}} There are online databases available to help students write cogent essays.{{cite news|last1=Anders|first1=George|title=What Essays Thrill Elite Schools? These Teens Will Show You|url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/georgeanders/2014/12/01/what-essays-thrill-elite-schools-these-teens-will-show-you/|access-date=March 17, 2015|work=Forbes|date=December 1, 2014}}

Many colleges ask for teacher recommendations, typically from eleventh or twelfth grade teachers of core courses who know the student well. A counselor recommendation is often requested as well. One report suggested that having more than four recommendations was a mistake, as a "thick file" indicated a "thick student" to admissions personnel. Teacher recommendations are becoming less important as a rating measure, according to one report.{{cite news

|author= Kim Clark

|title= 8 Big Changes to College Admissions in 2010 and 2011

|newspaper= U.S. News & World Report

|date= November 15, 2010

|url= https://www.usnews.com/education/best-colleges/applying/articles/2010/11/15/8-big-changes-to-college-admissions-in-2010-and-2011

|access-date= May 15, 2012

}} In addition, a few colleges are asking for recommendation letters from parents to describe their child:

{{Blockquote|You might think they do nothing but brag ... But parents really nail their kids. They really get to the essence of what their daughter is about in a way we can't get anywhere else.|Deb Shaver, director of admissions at Smith College{{cite news

|author= Bonnie Rochman

|title= The Latest Trend in College Admissions: Parents Write Letters of Recommendation: Some colleges are starting to ask Mom and Dad to put in a written plug for their progeny in the college admissions process.

|newspaper= Time

|date= March 26, 2012

|url= https://healthland.time.com/2012/03/26/the-latest-trend-in-college-admissions-parents-write-letters-of-recommendation/

|access-date= May 18, 2012

}}}}

File:Elmira_College_Office_of_Admissions.jpg ]]

Advisors counsel that applicants should meet deadlines,{{cite magazine|author1=Diana Hanson|author2=Esther Walling|author3=Craig Meister|author4=Kristen Tabun|date=November 16, 2011|title=Which College Admissions Deadline Should You Choose?|url=https://www.usnews.com/education/blogs/college-admissions-experts/2011/11/16/which-college-admissions-deadline-should-you-choose|magazine=U.S. News & World Report|access-date=December 12, 2011}}{{sfn|Hernandez|2009|p=153}} spend time researching colleges, be open-minded,{{cite news |author=Strauss |first=Valerie |date=March 7, 2010 |title=College admissions strategies: Don't listen to friends, and more |url=http://voices.washingtonpost.com/answer-sheet/college-admissions/college-admissions-strategies.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121101150704/http://voices.washingtonpost.com/answer-sheet/college-admissions/college-admissions-strategies.html |archive-date=November 1, 2012 |access-date=December 12, 2011 |newspaper=The Washington Post}} have fun, communicate what "resonates" to the applicant about a particular school, not fall in love with one or two colleges,{{cite magazine|author=Carolyn Butler|date=September 13, 2011|title=Follow 7 Strategies to Get Into College: To stand out in the admissions game, prepare early and use common sense|url=https://www.usnews.com/education/best-colleges/articles/2011/09/13/follow-7-strategies-to-get-into-college?PageNr=2|magazine=U.S. News & World Report |access-date=December 12, 2011}} follow directions precisely and make sure to click the "submit" button. Rudeness towards staff members, feigning enthusiasm, and being pretentious are other turnoffs reported by admissions officers. There is strong consensus among counselors and advisors that starting the college search early is vital. One recommends starting early in the twelfth grade; another suggests that even this is too late, and that the process should begin during the eleventh grade and summer before twelfth grade.{{cite magazine

|author1=Nancy Meislahn |author2=Don Fraser Jr. |author3=Jolyn Brand |author4=George Mills |title= What Are Some Mistakes to Avoid in the College Admissions Process?

|magazine= U.S. News & World Report

|date= July 20, 2011

|url= https://www.usnews.com/education/blogs/college-admissions-experts/2011/07/20/what-are-some-mistakes-to-avoid-in-the-college-admissions-process

|access-date= December 12, 2011

}} Sources suggest that students who begin the process earlier tend to earn more acceptance letters. Another advantage of beginning early is so that applications can be proofread for mistakes. Advisors suggest that emails should be sent to specific persons in the admissions office, not to a generalized inbox. Advisors suggest that applicants sending in paper applications should take care that handwriting is legible, particularly email addresses. Advisors counsel that mistakes or changes should be explained somewhere in the application; for example, an adviser at Grinnell College suggested that a record need not be perfect but there must be an "explanation for any significant blip". Advisors suggest that applicants should "own up to any bad behavior" such as suspensions since schools are "dutybound to report them", and suggest that a person should "accept responsibility and show contrition for "lessons learned", according to one view.{{sfn|Hernandez|2009|p=137}} Disciplinary actions are usually reported to the colleges by the high school as a matter of course. Advisors suggest that the application should help a student position themselves to create a unique picture. It helps, according to one advisor, if a person knows himself or herself, because that enables an applicant to communicate effectively with a prospective school. A report in The New York Times in 2016 suggested that some universities were considering changing their admissions guidelines to be more inclusive of less affluent applicants, to put less emphasis on standardized test and AP scores, and to put more emphasis on determining "which students' community-service projects are heartfelt and which are merely window dressing"; the report suggested that college admissions policies were often "cited as a culprit in sleep deprivation, anxiety and depression among students".Frank Bruni, January 19, 2016, The New York Times, [https://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/20/opinion/rethinking-college-admissions.html?_r=0 Rethinking College Admissions], Accessed January 19, 2016Lisa Heffernan and Jennifer Wallace, January 20, 2016, The Washington Post, [https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/parenting/wp/2016/01/20/to-get-into-college-harvard-report-advocates-for-kindness-instead-of-overachieving/?tid=sm_fb To get into college, Harvard report advocates for kindness instead of overachieving], Retrieved January 20, 2016, "Parents, educators and college administrators have long wrestled with the unintended negative side effects ... intense focus on personal achievement and the unfair advantages of more affluent students."

{{Multiple image

| image1 = TOEFL Logo.svg

| image2 = IELTS logo.svg

| direction = vertical

| footer = Many schools ask that non-native English speakers provide TOEFL or IELTS scores

}}

International students form a large and growing percentage of applicants to American universities.{{cite web|url=http://www.iie.org/Who-We-Are/News-and-Events/Press-Center/Press-Releases/2011/2011-11-14-Open-Doors-International-Students|title=International Student Enrollments Increase in 2010/11|access-date=September 29, 2014}} According to Andover counseling director Sean Logan, applications to American universities from foreign students have increased dramatically in the past decade. International applications are typically similar to domestic ones but with additional complications. Most international applicants do not receive a GPA score or transcript from their school.{{cite web|url=http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/wiki/Applying_to_the_United_States|title=Apply to uni in the USA – The Student Room – The Student Room|work=The Student Room|access-date=September 29, 2014}} Most will not normally take SAT or ACT exams, so these must be arranged. Most American universities are happy to accept international qualifications such as the International Baccalaureate and A Levels,{{cite news| url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/universityeducation/8796366/The-American-dream-How-to-apply-to-a-US-university.html | location=London | work=The Daily Telegraph | first1=Andrew | last1=Halls | title=The American dream: How to apply to a US university | date=September 29, 2011}} although it is often up to the applicant to elaborate on the meaning of these qualifications.{{cite web|url=http://www.fulbright.org.uk/study-in-the-usa/undergraduate-study/applying/admissions-criteria#academics|title=US Admissions Criteria – Undergraduate Study in the USA – US-UK Fulbright Commission|access-date=September 29, 2014}} Non-native English speakers may be asked to provide English language qualifications such as TOEFL or IELTS scores. If a university requires or offers an interview, these can normally be conducted over the phone or with alumni residing in the applicant's country.{{cite web|url=http://www.uniintheusa.com/how-why/us-applications/1449/interviews|title=Study Abroad Grants – Study Abroad Funding – University In The USA|access-date=September 29, 2014|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141225040629/http://www.uniintheusa.com/how-why/us-applications/1449/interviews|archive-date=December 25, 2014|df=mdy-all}}{{cite news| url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/universityeducation/8810587/Why-study-in-the-US-could-be-a-bright-idea.html | location=London | work=The Daily Telegraph | first=Janette | last=Wallis | title=Why study in the US could be a bright idea | date=October 7, 2011}} International applicants often must cope with higher tuition fees and less available financial aid, although this varies significantly by college. Further, international applicants must also apply for a student visa, which can be a complex and time-consuming process.{{cite web |url=http://www.intstudy.com/study-in-america/study-advice/apply-to-study-in-america |title=Apply to Study in America | International Study |access-date=2013-01-14 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130124222427/http://www.intstudy.com/study-in-america/study-advice/apply-to-study-in-america |archive-date=January 24, 2013 |df=mdy-all }}

College admissions officers are generally looking to build a well-rounded class and look for students who will complement each other. Consequently, many schools are looking for students who are passionate and excel at particular things, and candidates who fulfill certain institutional needs rather than a "well-rounded kid".{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/06/nyregion/planning-summer-breaks-with-eye-on-college-essays.html?ref=admissions|title=For a Standout College Essay, Applicants Fill Their Summers|author=Jenny Anderson|date=August 5, 2011|newspaper=The New York Times|access-date=December 12, 2011}}{{Blockquote|Colleges are looking for ... the well-rounded class. Colleges put together their entering class as a mosaic: a few great scholars for each academic department; a handful of athletes; some musicians, dancers, and theater stars; a few for racial and economic diversity; some potential club leaders, etc. Colleges want a kid who is devoted to – and excels at – something. The word they most often use is passion.|Steve Cohen in The Washington Post, 2011}}

{{Blockquote|Colleges want students who have demonstrated through their actions an ability to see and connect with a world that is larger than they are.|Robin Mamlet and Christine Vandevelde, 2011{{sfn|Mamlet|2011|p=69}}}}Institutional needs include athletics and music as well as geographical, cultural, racial, and socioeconomic diversity (Pell Grant recipients, first-generation students).

Some schools, particularly public universities, will use admissions criteria which are almost entirely formulaic in certain aspects of admission. For example, they may be required by statute to admit a minimum number of in-state students, or to guarantee admission to students graduating the top 6% of their high school class, or to guarantee admission to valedictorians. Many admits, however, are made on the basis of subjective judgments regarding the student's "fit" for the institution.{{cite news|author=Kayla Webley|date=April 12, 2012|title=How Colleges Really Make Admissions Decisions|newspaper=Time |url=https://newsfeed.time.com/2012/04/12/how-colleges-really-make-admissions-decisions/|access-date=May 17, 2012}}

Admissions offices must read through thousands of applications, each of which include transcripts, letters of recommendation, and the application itself.{{sfn|Hernandez|2009|p=104}} In 2009, the average admissions officer was responsible for analyzing 514 applications, and officers have experienced an upward trend in the number of applications they must read over time. A typical college application receives only about 25 minutes of reading time, including three to five minutes for the personal essay if it is read.{{sfn|Dunbar|2007|p=6}}

Larger admissions offices will have specialists assigned to cover different regions, and individual officers may act liaison for a regional set of high schools developing a deep understanding of their curriculum and rigor. The reading and preliminary admit / deny decision may be divided up into committees of readers, and borderline candidates are then discussed more collectively. Some admissions offices use a scoring system in an effort to normalize the many applicants. Criteria include standardized test scores (generally ACT and/or SAT), college prep courses, grades (as shown in the high school transcript), strength of curriculum, class rank, degree of extracurricular involvement, and leadership potential. A combination of these can be used to derive an academic index.{{sfn|Hernandez|2009|pp=66–71}} For example, at Dartmouth College, data goes into a master card for each application, which leads to a ready sheet, where readers summarize applications; then, an initial screening is done: top applications go directly to the director of admissions for approval while lackluster ones go to another director.{{sfn|Hernandez|2009|pp=110–111}} Dartmouth uses "A" for accept, "R" for reject, "P" for possible, with "P+" and "P-" being variants.{{sfn|Hernandez|2009|pp=110–111}} A committee might spend a week with the "P" ones, of which they only accept about a sixth.{{sfn|Hernandez|2009|pp=110–111}}

Many colleges also rely on personal essay(s) written by the applicant and letters of recommendation written by the applicant's teachers and guidance counselor. One principal benefit of the essay lies in its ability to further differentiate students who have perfect or near-perfect grades and test scores. Institutions place different weight on these criteria: for example, "test optional" schools do not require or even accept the SATs for admission.{{Cite news|url=https://www.unigo.com/get-to-college/college-search/test-optional-colleges-10-colleges-that-dont-require-sat-or-act-scores|title=10 colleges that don't require SAT or ACT scores|date=2018-07-13|work=Unigo.com|access-date=2018-10-28}} Some factors are beyond a student's control, such as a college's need in a given year for diversity, legacy applicants, or athletic recruiting.

Some colleges hire statistical experts known as "enrollment consultants" to help them predict enrollment by developing computer models to select applicants in such a way as to maximize yield and acceptance rates.{{cite news|author=Daniel Golden|date=May 29, 2001|title=Glass Floor: Colleges Reject Top Applicants, Accepting Only the Students Likely to Enroll|newspaper=The Wall Street Journal|url=http://www.tdy-perdiem.com/club1/college12.htm|url-status=dead|access-date=December 31, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120426082540/http://www.tdy-perdiem.com/club1/college12.htm|archive-date=April 26, 2012|df=mdy-all}} Some of these models take into account factors such as an applicant's "zip code, religion, first-choice major and extracurricular interests, as well as academic performance". Some colleges extract information from the federal FAFSA financial aid form, including names of other schools the applicant is applying to.

File:Baker-Library-Dartmouth-College-Hanover-New-Hampshire-05-2018a.jpg admissions, according to Michele Hernandez, spends a week examining the possibles or "P"s, and after much deliberation, accepts perhaps a sixth of them.]]

High school academic performance is generally the single most important factor in winning admission. Maintaining high grades is particularly important for the fall semester of twelfth grade. Academic performance in core courses is especially important.{{sfn|Mamlet|2011|p=57}} An ideal academic record is one of increasingly better grades in courses of progressive difficulty.{{sfn|Mamlet|2011|p=53}} Ninth grade grades generally do not count much, but trends are important—an upward trend in grades was a positive factor, a decline a negative one.{{sfn|Hernandez|2009|p=146}} Public universities are more likely to evaluate applicants based on grades and test scores alone, while private universities tend to be more "holistic" and consider other measures.{{sfn|Mamlet|2011|p=13}}

Colleges also evaluate applicants by examining how a student has successfully exploited what a high school has had to offer.{{sfn|Mamlet|2011|p=41}}Note: quoting William Fitzsimmons, Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid at Harvard University. The strongest candidates will have been challenged by the most demanding courses their school has to offer . Where AP courses are offered, having a high grade point average based on good grades in AP-level or honors courses will be looked upon favorably, but dropping a hard course will be seen negatively.{{sfn|Hernandez|2009|p=139}}

The college admissions office usually will know schools well enough to understand that not all schools offer AP-level courses so candidates from those schools are not put at a disadvantage. On the other hand, the admissions office will have a high school profile and takes into account such data as curriculum offerings, demographics, and grade distributions at the high school.

These are read in conjunction with the high school academic record, but their importance varies from school to school.Robin Mamlet and Christine VanDeVelde, College Admission: From Application to Acceptance, Step by Step, Three Rivers Press, 2011, Retrieved January 6, 2016 Some schools are test-optional where applicants do not need to submit scores. Schools typically release information on the range of scores from their candidate pool as well as accepted student pool to make applicants aware of their student profile. Some schools will consider superscore results or superscoring when an applicant has taken the SAT multiple times by combining the highest score from different test subsections,{{cite news

|author= Peter Van Buskirk

|title= 9 Testing Tips for College Applicants

|newspaper= U.S. News & World Report

|quote= Keep the 'superscore' in mind: At most colleges, admissions officers look at the best combination of scores.

|date= June 9, 2010

|url= https://www.usnews.com/education/blogs/the-college-admissions-insider/2011/08/29/9-testing-tips-for-college-applicants

|access-date= October 15, 2012

}}{{cite news

|author= Devon Keefe

|title= Develop a Testing Strategy.(Kaplan)(presenting SAT Reasoning Test scores for college application)

|newspaper= Newsweek

|quote= Even many schools that have "opted out" of Score Choice have suggested that they will continue to "super score" students' test scores (i.e., take the highest sectional score from each test and combine them).

|date= August 17, 2009

|url= https://www.questia.com/read/1G1-207214496

|access-date=

}}{{dead link|date=July 2021}} although superscoring is rarely done for the ACT{{cite news

|author= Valerie Strauss

|title= Do colleges superscore ACT and SAT equally?

|newspaper= The Washington Post

|quote=most schools superscore both the ACT and the SAT. While many schools do, many more do so for the SAT than the ACT.

|date= June 9, 2010

|url= http://voices.washingtonpost.com/answer-sheet/sat-and-act/superscoring-act-vs-sat.html

|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20121019033332/http://voices.washingtonpost.com/answer-sheet/sat-and-act/superscoring-act-vs-sat.html

|url-status= dead

|archive-date= October 19, 2012

|access-date= October 15, 2012

}} because of difficulty processing five separate rounded numbers.{{cite news

|author= Daniel de Vise

|title= College, Inc.

|newspaper= The Washington Post

|quote= Not many superscore the ACT, because they'd have to work with five separate numbers, including a composite that often has been rounded up or rounded down

|date= February 8, 2012

|url= https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/college-inc/post/guest-post-calculator-shopping-the-night-before-the-sat/2012/02/08/gIQAoVc0yQ_blog.html

|access-date= October 15, 2012

}}

{{See also|Yield protection}}

File:Braker_Hall_-_Tufts_University_-_IMG_0949.JPG is sometimes referred to as Tufts syndrome]]

This can be an important factor in some situations, sometimes a "driving factor",{{cite news |author= |date=Winter 2013 |title=Inside College Counseling with Director Sean Logan |url=https://www.andover.edu/About/Newsroom/TheMagazine/Documents/AndoverMagSeanLogan.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150510172036/https://www.andover.edu/About/Newsroom/TheMagazine/Documents/AndoverMagSeanLogan.pdf |archive-date=May 10, 2015 |access-date=February 24, 2013 |work=Andover Magazine |df=mdy-all}} since a college may be more likely to say yes to a student likely to matriculate. Accordingly, it has been advised to become knowledgeable about schools being applied to, and "tailor each application accordingly". College visits (including overnight ones),{{sfn|Mamlet|2011|p=121}} interviews, attending College Fair days,{{sfn|Mamlet|2011|p=121}} comments in the essay, contacting college faculty members, answering and opening emails,{{sfn|Mamlet|2011|p=121}}Note: colleges can tell whether emails are opened or not by a prospective student. place position of the college on the FAFSA form or its FAFSA position,Note: admissions officers can see all colleges applied to that are listed on the FAFSA form, and there are reports that some colleges interpret being first or second on the FAFSA list as a sign of demonstrated interest and other indications of interest can be a factor for many colleges concerned about their yield—the percent of students who accept an offer of enrollment. According to Andover's college counseling director Sean Logan, it is important to have numerous contact points with colleges to show demonstrated interest: visiting, phone contact, emailing, visits to websites (including number of clicks as well as length of time on the website), whether a college visit included a tour and interview, and whether a college-recommended off-campus personal interview was done. Schools such as Connecticut College and Emory University have been credited as "popularizing the yield game" by refusing well-qualified students who failed to show much real interest in attending, as a way to boost their yield scores. One top high school student was waitlisted at a "likely" collegeNote: "likely" meant there was an estimated 80% chance of acceptance by the college for showing lack of interest:

{{Blockquote|We assumed they weren't coming, because we didn't have much contact from them. We know they're probably using us as a back-up and they haven't done much to show any sincere interest, so we decided to waitlist them.|Andover college counseling director Sean Logan, remembering a comment from a college admissions director.}}

One report suggested that colleges seek students who will be actively involved on campus and not spend every day studying alone.{{sfn|Dunbar|2007|p=55}} As a result, they look recommendations from teachers that suggest active participation.{{sfn|Dunbar|2007|pp=56, 57}}

Admissions officers often try to screen out difficult people.{{sfn|Dunbar|2007|pp=69–82}} According to Dunbar, many colleges are "afraid of aggression". He recommends avoiding "harsh humor" and signs of severe emotion, anger, or aggression.{{sfn|Dunbar|2007|pp=69–82}} Admissions evaluators look for signals that might indicate a difficult person, such as disrespectful criticisms of others and evidence of substance abuse.{{sfn|Dunbar|2007|pp=69–82}}

Michele Hernandez suggested that almost all admissions essays were weak, cliche-ridden, and "not worth reading".{{sfn|Hernandez|2009|pp=130–136}} The staff gets thousands of essays and has to wade through most of them.{{sfn|Hernandez|2009|pp=130–131}} When she worked as an admissions director at Dartmouth, she noticed that most essays were only read for three minutes.{{sfn|Hernandez|2009|pp=130–136}} Some too-common essay types were the "outward bound" essay about how a person discovered their inner grit while hiking tough mountains or the "community service" essay about how a student discovered, while working among disadvantaged peoples, that "all persons were the same".{{sfn|Hernandez|2009|pp=130–136}} Admissions officers seek to learn how a person thinks, what kind of person they are, and their level of intellectual promise.{{sfn|Hernandez|2009|pp=130–136}}

Regular decision applicants are notified usually in the last two weeks of March, and early decision or early action applicants are notified near the end of December (but early decision II notifications tend to be in February). The notification of the school's decision is either an admit, deny (reject), waitlist, or defer. Notifications as an online status update on an individual college’s application portal are becoming more common, although a few schools still send notifications by email or regular mail (in which case a "fat" envelope is usually an acceptance whereas a "thin" envelope is usually a rejection or waitlist).

Letters of admission typically require the admitted student to maintain good grades and good conduct before matriculation. Teachers and college counselors of seniors advise students against "senioritis". Schools do rescind admission if students have been dishonest in their application,{{Cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2019/05/15/georgetown-moves-expel-two-students-aftermath-admission-scandal/|title=Georgetown moves to expel two students in aftermath of admissions scandal |newspaper=The Washington Post |access-date=Sep 21, 2019}}{{Cite web|url=https://edition.cnn.com/2019/03/25/us/yale-rescinds-student-admissions-scandal/index.html|title=Yale rescinds admission of a student whose family paid $1.2 million to get her in|date=March 25, 2019 |access-date=Sep 21, 2019}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.stanforddaily.com/2019/04/07/stanford-expels-student-admitted-with-falsified-sailing-credentials/|title=Stanford expels student admitted with falsified sailing credentials|website=www.stanforddaily.com|date=April 7, 2019|access-date=Sep 21, 2019}} have conducted themselves in a way deemed to be inconsistent with the values of the school,{{Cite web|url=https://edition.cnn.com/2019/06/18/us/harvard-rescind-admission/index.html|title=Harvard rescinded admission for racist comments. It wasn't the first time|website=www.cnn.com|date=June 18, 2019 |access-date=Sep 21, 2019}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2017/6/5/2021-offers-rescinded-memes/|title=Harvard Rescinds Acceptances for At Least Ten Students for Obscene Memes|access-date=Sep 21, 2019}} or do not heed warnings of poor academic performance; for example, one hundred high school applicants accepted to Texas Christian University, whose grades plummeted in the spring of their twelfth grade as a symptom of senioritis, received so-called "fear of God" letters from an admissions dean asking them to explain themselves and threatening to rescind offers of admission.{{cite news|url=http://thechoice.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/06/18/university-sends-fear-of-god-letter-to-students-with-senioritis/|title=University Sends 'Fear of God' Letter to Students With Senioritis|author=Tanya Caldwell|date=June 18, 2012|work=The New York Times|access-date=June 22, 2012|quote=College-bound seniors beware: ... failing grades ... your university may soon threaten to rescind your admission}}

Admitted students may also be awarded financial aid and notification of this is made around the same time. Students who are dissatisfied with an aid offer can appeal for the offer to be improved.

International students who have been accepted will need to complete the necessary paperwork for visas (such as an I-20 form).{{cite news

|author= Tanya Caldwell

|title= For International Students, a College Admissions Checklist for April

|newspaper= The New York Times

|date= April 6, 2012

|url= http://thechoice.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/04/06/for-international-students-a-college-admissions-checklist-for-april/

|access-date= May 15, 2012

}}

Rejection letters from most schools will mention that there is no appeal process but many schools, especially public universities such as the University of California, have a formal appeal process requiring "new and compelling" information from the appellant.{{Cite web|url=https://www.mercurynews.com/2014/03/24/on-college-think-hard-and-rationally-before-appealing-a-uc-schools-denial-of-admission/|title=On College: Think hard and rationally before appealing a UC school's denial of admission|date=March 24, 2014|access-date=Sep 21, 2019}}{{Cite web|url=https://admissions.wvu.edu/forms-and-procedures/admissions-decision-appeal|title=Admissions Decision Appeal|website=admissions.wvu.edu|access-date=Sep 21, 2019}}

About half of schools use a wait list, particularly those that accept fewer than half of all applications.Note: figure for Fall 2010 admission cycle was 48% of colleges using wait lists. Schools use the wait list as an enrollment management tool because they are uncertain how many of their original admits will enroll,{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/14/education/14waitlist.html?ref=admissions|title=For Students, a Waiting List Is Scant Hope|author=Jacques Steinberg|date=April 13, 2010|newspaper=The New York Times|access-date=December 12, 2011}} but the exact implementation varies widely among colleges. Some schools put a large number onto the wait list (relative to the class enrollment size) even though this puts many wait-listed students in "limbo" and gives most of them only false hope,{{cite news

|author= Lynn O'Shaughnessy

|title= Getting Off a College Wait List: 5 Things to Do Now

|work= CBS News

|date= April 9, 2010

|url= https://www.cbsnews.com/news/getting-off-a-college-wait-list-5-things-to-do-now/

|access-date= December 31, 2011

}} the "basic equivalent of purgatory".{{cite magazine

|author= Zach Miners

|title= You've Been Put on the Wait List for College. Now What?

|magazine= U.S. News & World Report

|date= April 9, 2010

|url= https://www.usnews.com/education/best-colleges/right-school/timeline/articles/2010/04/09/youve-been-put-on-the-wait-list-for-college-now-what

|access-date= December 31, 2011

}} With a class size of only around 2,500, Penn put 3,535 applicants on its wait list for the Class of 2022 (of whom 2,327 remained on the wait list) but accepted only 9.{{Cite web|url=http://www.upenn.edu/ir/Common%20Data%20Set/UPenn%20Common%20Data%20Set%202018-19.pdf?pdf=CDS%202018-19|title=University of Pennsylvania Common Data Set 2018-19|access-date=Sep 21, 2019}} In the same year, Tulane put over 10,000 applicants on its wait list but admitted only 2.{{Cite web|url=https://tulane.app.box.com/s/zwm37ymscy77bx5oh0elusqfcsnl66sz|title=Tulane Common Data Set 2018-19|access-date=Sep 21, 2019}} By contrast, the University of Oregon with a class size of 4,000 offered wait list status to only 264 and admitted 69 of them.{{Cite web|url=https://ir.uoregon.edu/sites/ir1.uoregon.edu/files/CDS_2018-2019.pdf|title=University of Oregon Common Data Set 2018-19|access-date=Sep 21, 2019}} However, many schools do lose a small number of admitted students due to a phenomenon sometimes called summer melt:{{cite web

|author= Scott Jaschik

|title= The Other 'Summer Melt' in Admissions

|website= Inside Higher Ed

|date= April 4, 2011

|url= http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2011/04/04/new_research_points_to_a_summer_melt_issue_for_low_income_students

|access-date= December 12, 2011

}}{{cite news|url=https://www.usatoday.com/news/education/2011-05-05-college-admissions-summer_n.htm|title=Private colleges try to round out fall's enrollment into summer|author1=Scott Jaschik|date=May 5, 2011|newspaper=USA Today|access-date=December 12, 2011|author2=Kevin Kiley}} students, even those have sent in a deposit, will not show up in the fall, and this "melt percentage" can be as high as 5% to 10% of persons who have paid a deposit.

{{Blockquote|The admission process is a complicated dance of supply and demand for colleges. And this spring, many institutions have accepted fewer applicants, and placed more on waiting lists, until it becomes clear over the next few weeks how many spots remain.|Jacques Steinberg in The New York Times, April 2010}}

{{Main|Transfer admissions in the United States}}

While most college admissions involves high school students applying to colleges, transfer admissions are important as well. Estimates of the percentage of college students who transfer vary from 20%{{cite news

|author= David Moltz

|title= More private colleges court community college transfers

|newspaper= USA Today

|date= February 18, 2010

|url= https://www.usatoday.com/news/education/2010-02-18-IHE-transfer-students-18_ST_N.htm

|access-date= May 19, 2012

}} to 33%{{cite news

|author= Lynn O'Shaughnessy

|title= Transfer Students: 8 Things You Need to Know

|newspaper= U.S. News & World Report

|date= November 16, 2010

|url= https://www.usnews.com/education/blogs/the-college-solution/2010/11/16/transfer-students-8-things-you-need-to-know

|access-date= May 18, 2012

}} to 60%,{{cite news

|author= Bill Schackner

|title= Transfers a hot commodity for colleges

|newspaper= Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

|date= March 28, 2012

|url= http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/news/education/transfers-a-hot-commodity-for-colleges-240047/

|access-date= May 18, 2012

}} with the consensus position being around a third of college students transfer, and there are many indications that transfer activity is increasing. One report suggested that nearly half of all undergraduates in the nation were attending community colleges.{{cite news

|author= Roman, Marcia A.

|title= Community College Admission and Student Retention

|work= Journal of College Admission

|quote= Community colleges enroll nearly half the undergraduates in the U.S.

|date= January 1, 2007

|url= http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P3-1209566581.html

|archive-url= https://archive.today/20130125103740/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P3-1209566581.html

|url-status= dead

|archive-date= January 25, 2013

|access-date= August 20, 2012

}} Media coverage of student transfers is generally less than coverage of the high school to college transition. A common transfer path is students moving from two-year community colleges to four-year institutions, although there is considerable movement between four-year institutions.{{cite news

|author= Kim Clark

|title= Obama's Lessons for Transfer Students: His former roommate talks about what he and Obama learned about switching between colleges

|newspaper= U.S. News & World Report

|date= January 16, 2009

|url= https://www.usnews.com/education/articles/2009/01/16/obamas-lessons-for-transfer-students

|access-date= May 18, 2012

}} Reasons for transferring include unhappiness with campus life, cost, and course and degree selection. There are no consistent national rules for transfers, and requirements vary by college.{{cite news|author1=Allen Millett|author2=Leslie Goldberg|year=1999|title=E-Campus Discussion Lounge|newspaper=Washington Post|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-adv/liveonline/viewpoint/collink/collink120199.htm|access-date=May 19, 2012}} Many community colleges have articulation agreements with four-year schools, particularly flagship state universities, so that matters such as the transfers of credits are handled appropriately. There are indications that many private colleges are more actively seeking transfer applicants. Still, transferring can be difficult; transfer students have been described in the past as "academic nomads".{{cite news

|author= Tim Barker

|title= Meet the transfers – they are academic nomads: Schools, government seek to streamline system to help more students make switch to four-year colleges, keep credit hours they have earned.

|newspaper= St. Louis Today

|date= February 5, 2012

|url= https://www.stltoday.com/news/local/education/meet-the-transfers---they-are-academic-nomads/article_075d610e-dc58-5686-abfe-61c803e18594.html

|access-date= May 19, 2012

}}

File:2021 College attendance, analyzed by race and schools' overall admission rates.svg

Selective schools (especially highly selective schools like those in the Ivy League) have garnered a great deal of criticism regarding racial equity, the importance placed on the prestige or ranking of colleges, "holistic" admissions, and factors determining admissions. These issues affect a small percentage of college applicants, as roughly 3% of college applicants will matriculate at a college admitting less than half its applicants.{{Cite web |last=Thompson |first=Derek |date=2015-04-02 |title=The Inspirational 'It Doesn't Matter Where You Go to College' Meme Is Wrong |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2015/04/the-3-percent-crisis/389396/ |access-date=2022-06-21 |website=The Atlantic |language=en}}

The selection criteria of highly-ranked colleges may be of little importance, as admittance to these schools may not affect later success.{{Cite journal |last1=Dale |first1=Stacy Berg |last2=Krueger |first2=Alan B. |date=2002 |title=Estimating the Payoff to Attending a More Selective College: An Application of Selection on Observables and Unobservables |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/4132484 |journal=The Quarterly Journal of Economics |volume=117 |issue=4 |pages=1491–1527 |doi=10.1162/003355302320935089 |jstor=4132484 |s2cid=17144446 |issn=0033-5533}} While graduates of more selective colleges earn more, this is likely correlation, as students attending these schools earn the same as students of comparable ability attending less selective schools.

Colleges have increased outreach to attract applicants who have been historically underrepresented in their applicant pool and admitted classes, such as applicants from lower income neighborhoods (which may not be well served by knowledgeable college counselors) and applicants who are first-generation college students, much to the criticisms of anti-affirmative action movements.{{Citation needed|date=March 2023}}

In 2018, there was a probe by the Department of Justice into whether colleges practicing Early Admissions violated antitrust laws by sharing information about applicants.Erica L. Green, April 10, 2018, [https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/10/us/politics/justice-department-probe-college-early-decision.html Justice Department Launches Probe of College Early Admissions], 'The New York Times, Retrieved April 11, 2018 The case Students for Fair Admissions v. President and Fellows of Harvard College proceeded to trial, alleging that Harvard's race-conscious admissions practices discriminate against Asians and putting affirmative action in the context of college admissions again into the judicial arena. In 2019, there was a notable admissions scandal in which affluent parents used unfair methods to get their children into competitive schools, involving cheating on standardized tests as well as bribes paid to college coaches and admissions personnel.Moriah Balingit, Nick Anderson, Susan Svrluga and Devlin Barrett, March 14, 2019, Washington Post, [https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/in-the-wake-of-operation-varsity-blues-admissions-rescinded-at-usc/2019/03/14/26ba5164-4688-11e9-8aab-95b8d80a1e4f_story.html?wpisrc=nl_headlines&wpmm=1 Rescinded admissions, a class-action suit: Fallout from college scandal spreads], Retrieved March 15, 2018.

File:20230810 Ivy-Plus admission rates vs parent income percentile.svg admissions rates vary with the income of the students' parents, with the acceptance rate of the top 0.1% income percentile being almost twice as much as other students.{{cite web |last1=Chetty |first1=Raj |last2=Deming |first2=David J. |last3=Friedman |first3=John N. |title=Diversifying Society's Leaders? The Determinants and Consequences of Admission to Highly Selective Colleges |page=2 |url=https://opportunityinsights.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/CollegeAdmissions_Nontech.pdf |publisher=Opportunity Insights |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230731024342/https://opportunityinsights.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/CollegeAdmissions_Nontech.pdf |archive-date=July 31, 2023 |date=July 2023 |url-status=live}} Figure 3. "Ivy-Plus" refers to Ivy League schools plus others with similar prestige, rankings or selectivity.]]

While many "elite" colleges intend to improve socioeconomic diversity by admitting poorer students, they may have economic incentives not to do so. Colleges are incentivized to admit students who are able to pay full tuition without aid. Additionally, college rankings, which have an effect on the students applying each year, penalize poor average standardized testing scores; colleges therefore admit students with higher scores,{{Cite news |last=Tough |first=Paul |date=2019-09-10 |title=What College Admissions Offices Really Want |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/09/10/magazine/college-admissions-paul-tough.html,%20https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/09/10/magazine/college-admissions-paul-tough.html |access-date=2022-06-21 |issn=0362-4331}} who are typically also richer.{{Cite web |last=Kantrowitz |first=Mark |title=How Admissions Tests Discriminate Against Low-Income And Minority Student Admissions At Selective Colleges |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/markkantrowitz/2021/05/21/how-admissions-tests-discriminate-against-low-income-and-minority-student-admissions-at-selective-colleges/ |access-date=2022-06-21 |website=Forbes |language=en}}{{Cite news |title=These four charts show how the SAT favors rich, educated families |language=en-US |newspaper=Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2014/03/05/these-four-charts-show-how-the-sat-favors-the-rich-educated-families/ |access-date=2022-06-21 |issn=0190-8286}}

Wealthier applicants also benefit from other advantages, like test-prep courses, private schools, international travel, and extracurricular activities, such as in athletics and music.{{Cite news |date=2014-07-25 |title=Ivy League miseducation |language=en-GB |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-echochambers-28492894 |access-date=2022-06-21}}

Many universities choose to evaluate applicants based on subjective factors such as an admissions essay or letters of recommendation. This has been the source of disagreement, with detractors arguing that colleges lack the authority and knowledge to judge students according to personal characteristics, and that high schoolers should not be put under the impression that failure to gain admission is a critique of their personality. Critics also argue that holistic admissions is intended to justify selection that seems otherwise random,{{Cite web |last=Staff |first=Jason Willick {{!}} Senior |date=2012-10-01 |title=The 'holistic' admissions lie |url=https://www.dailycal.org/2012/10/01/the-holistic-admissions-lie/ |access-date=2022-06-21 |website=The Daily Californian |language=en-US}} or otherwise biased towards wealth and race.{{Cite web |last=Bovy |first=Phoebe Maltz |date=2013-12-17 |title=The False Promise of 'Holistic' College Admissions |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2013/12/the-false-promise-of-holistic-college-admissions/282432/ |access-date=2022-06-21 |website=The Atlantic |language=en}}{{Cite news |last=Starkman |first=Ruth |date=2013-08-01 |title=Confessions of an Application Reader |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/04/education/edlife/lifting-the-veil-on-the-holistic-process-at-the-university-of-california-berkeley.html |access-date=2022-06-21 |issn=0362-4331}}

The weighing of certain personality traits in analyzing a student has also become the subject of debate. For example, many highly-ranked schools state that they hold leadership qualities in high regard. To portray "leadership", students may feel the need to collect political positions without considering whether they're truly interested in the roles.{{Cite news |last=Cain |first=Susan |date=2017 |title=Not Leadership Material? Good. The World Needs Followers |work=New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/24/opinion/sunday/not-leadership-material-good-the-world-needs-followers.html}}{{Cite magazine |last=Deresiewicz |first=William |date=2014-07-22 |title=Don't Send Your Kid to the Ivy League |magazine=The New Republic |url=https://newrepublic.com/article/118747/ivy-league-schools-are-overrated-send-your-kids-elsewhere |access-date=2022-06-21 |issn=0028-6583}} Furthermore, according to Helen Vendler, a former Harvard professor, Harvard's focus on qualities such as leadership, service, and scientific interest is unlikely to attract future artists and writers.{{Cite web |last=Vendler |first=Helen |date=2012-10-15 |title=Writers and Artists at Harvard |url=https://www.harvardmagazine.com/2012/11/writers-and-artists-at-harvard |access-date=2022-06-21 |website=Harvard Magazine |language=en}}

{{div col|colwidth=28em}}

• College tour
• Cooling out
• FAFSA position
• Hidden Ivies
• Ivy League
• National Association for College Admission Counseling
• Need-blind admission
• Open-door academic policy
• Rolling admission
• Senioritis
• Student financial aid in the United States
• The Early Admissions Game
• Transfer admissions in the United States
• University and college admission
• First-generation college students in the United States{{div col end}}

{{reflist|group=lower-alpha}}

{{Reflist|2}}

{{refbegin}}

• {{Cite book | last1 =Coates| first1 =Ken| last2 =Morrison| first2 =Bill| title =What to Consider If You're Considering College: New Rules for Education and Employment| publisher =Dundurn| year =2015| isbn =978-1459723726}}
• {{cite book |last=Dunbar |first=Donald |title=What You Don't Know Can Keep You Out of College |url=https://archive.org/details/whatyoudontknowc0000dunb |year=2007 |publisher=Gotham Books |isbn=978-1-59240-302-8 |url-access=registration }}
• {{cite book |last=Hernandez |first=Michele A. |title=A is for Admission: The Insider's Guide to Getting into the Ivy League and Other Top Colleges |year=2009 |publisher=Grand Central Publishing |isbn=978-0-446-54067-4 }}
• {{cite book |last1=Mamlet |first1=Robin |last2=Vandevelde |first2=Christine |title=College Admission: From Application to Acceptance, Step by Step |year=2011 |publisher=Three Rivers Press |location=New York |isbn=978-0-307-59032-9 |ref={{harvid|Mamlet|2011}} }}

{{refend}}

• {{cite book |title=The Chosen: The Hidden History of Admission and Exclusion at Harvard, Yale, and Princeton [1900 to 2005]|year=2005 |publisher=Houghton Mifflin Harcourt |isbn=978-0618574582 |author=Jerome Karabel}}
• {{cite book| title=The Price of Admission: How America's Ruling Class Buys Its Way into Elite Colleges--and Who Gets Left Outside the Gates |year=2007 |author=Daniel Golden |publisher=Crown |isbn=978-1400097975}}

{{wikivoyage|Touring prestigious and notable universities in the U.S.}}

• [https://bigfuture.collegeboard.org/pay-for-college/paying-your-share/expected-family-contribution-calculator# Estimated college cost calculator] hosted by the College Board
• [https://cssprofile.collegeboard.org/ CSS Profile college aid estimator] hosted by the College Board
• [https://nces.ed.gov/collegenavigator/ National Center for Education Statistics] College navigator
• [https://vimeo.com/121807311 Workshop on campus visits]

Category:University and college admissions in the United States

Category:Consulting occupations

Category:School counseling