November 1st is finally in the rearview mirror, giving counselors a chance to breath just a little until the November 15th deadline, and a chance to reflect on how things went in the early application period:
Lists are beyond aggressive A number of counselors are reporting more students with college lists that seem to be based more on hope than anything else. It isn’t unusual for a few students to come in with a list of colleges that, based on the numbers, make the student a reach candidate. This year, more lists than usual are fitting that description, and fewer of these lists seem to contain any schools where the student stands a more realistic chance at admission.
There seems to be a perception among some parents that their child’s chances of admission at reach schools will be increased this year if the student, teachers, and/or counselors attribute the child’s performance to issues related to COVID. While COVID has played a role in the achievement levels of many students, these parents seem to be forgetting that every high school senior applying to college had some COVID hardships to overcome, and many of them still came out of the experience with exceptionally high grades.
This isn’t to say colleges will slough off COVID if it’s offered as a cause of hardship, but its frequent appearance—and the availability of COVID-affected students with stronger credentials—make it less likely that B students will be considered at schools used to seeing A applicants. Meanwhile, the lists that include places like Harvard, Princeton, and Yale—with Columbia as the safety school—seem to be on the rise.
SARs are out of control. Counselors were delighted when colleges first started asking students to self-report grades. This step would speed up the admissions process, and since students had no reason to lie, the approach seemed nearly foolproof.
Yes, well. So many colleges are now asking for self-reported grades—in different formats—students are finding it harder to apply to college than ever before. This is especially true at colleges that wait to ask the student for self-reported grades until after the student applies. Colleges that wanted all materials by November 1st can’t reasonably expect students to submit an SAR they didn’t know about in a timely fashion, but that’s exactly what some students and counselors are fearing.
Someone needs to take this issue by the horns. Creation of a common SAR may be a pipe dream, but what about creating a website where students submit this information once, and the website contains algorithms that format the information to the liking of a particular college? That would make everyone happy, including counselors, who are now spending hours no longer working on transcripts—since those hours find them working with students on SARs instead.
Financial Aid? Yes, Well… Some early applicants applying for financial aid feel hamstrung by the December release of the new FAFSA. This is especially true for Early Decision applicants needing aid, since the only escape clause from an ED application is if the college doesn’t meet full demonstrated need. If the college says yes in December, but doesn’t offer aid until February, what is the student to do?
Unpopular as this may be, it is likely wise for ED applicants with need to continue to apply to other schools, and to keep those applications active until they hear about the money their ED school has to offer. This is by no means the perfect answer, but an exceptional year calls for exceptional circumstances—and all qualified college-bound students deserve the right to be somewhere come next fall.
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