Wednesday May 23, 2012
For the thousands of students who took the SAT on May 5th, your scores will be available on the CollegeBoard website on Thursday, May 24th. If your scores aren't as high as you had hoped, don't panic -- you have lots of options even if you have low SAT scores.
Also, keep in mind that all highly selective colleges have holistic admissions -- they evaluate the whole applicant, not just some numerical data. A winning essay, meaningful extracurricular activities, demonstrated interest and good letters of recommendation can help make up for less-than-ideal test scores. Most important of all is a strong academic record.
That said, if your SAT scores are significantly below the norm for a selective college, you're chances of getting accepted will be diminished. These SAT articles and comparison charts can help you figure out how you measure up with matriculated students at different colleges and universities:
Tuesday May 22, 2012
A Kaplan survey from 2010 revealed that over 80% of college admissions officers use Facebook and other social media to help them recruit new students, and a study from UMass Amherst showed that 100% of colleges and universities are using social media in some way as they try to market their schools and engage students. This doesn't mean the admissions officers are all snooping around your profile (most are not), but some will try to use social media to learn more about you. So, before you start connecting with the admissions folks through Facebook, make sure your profile presents you in a positive light. These 15 good Facebook photos will help paint you as the type of student colleges want to admit.
Award Winner
Drawing by Laura Reyome
On the flip side of the equation, the wrong type of photograph can hurt your chances of being admitted. Before applying to colleges, make sure you delete these 12 Facebook photos.
Monday May 21, 2012
As you decide how many college applications you want to submit, keep a few important questions in mind:
- How likely are you to get accepted? If your academic record, GPA, and test scores are above the average for your top choice colleges, you are less likely to need the insurance of submitting a large number of applications.
- Do you really want to attend all the colleges to which you are applying? Don't apply to a so-called safety school if you can't actually see yourself being happy there. College is a huge investment of time and resources, so you should be applying to only those schools that you are truly interested in attending.
- When will you get a response from the college? If you've applied through early decision, early action, or a similar early reporting system, you may have an answer from your top choice college before applications are due at other schools.
While there are certainly students who apply to a dozen colleges or more, six or seven applications is often a more reasonable number. With a dozen applications, can you really give each application the personal touches that will
demonstrate your interest in each school? And do you really feel strongly about that many colleges? For more information, read this
article on determining a reasonable number of applications.
Monday May 21, 2012
Georgia's top colleges and universities represent a wide range of public, private, large, small, and specialized schools. My list of the
top 12 Georgia colleges includes an engineering school, an art school, four single-sex colleges, and a college with a strong religious affiliation.
University of Georgia
hyku / Flickr
You can probably guess that
Emory,
Georgia Tech and the
University of Georgia are on the list. Some of the other selections may be less familiar. The schools on the list were chosen based on a variety of factors such as academic reputation, curricular innovations, first-year retention rates, four- and six-year graduation rates, financial aid and student engagement. Check out
the list to see who made the cut.
To get a partial idea of what it takes to get into these top Georgia colleges, I've created side-by-side comparison charts of the ACT scores and SAT scores of matriculated students.
Is there another Georgia college that you think deserves a spot on the list? If so, share your recommendation below.
More Top Picks by State:
