Tip Sheet

Tip Sheet | 8 Things Admissions Officers Wish You Knew About Applying to College

By Tanya Abrams

Whether students are applying to a small, private college or a large, public university, there are some universal missteps that college applicants make year after year, much to the dismay of the institution’s gatekeepers who decide whether the student should be admitted.

To help readers of The Choice avoid these pitfalls, we’ve asked admission officers at a small sampling of colleges and universities to describe the one thing they wish students knew about the college admissions process. Their excerpted responses are arranged by theme.

Start Early

Choosing a college is a long but rewarding process. It takes time to find which college is the best fit for you. The sooner you complete your application (including transcripts, test scores, personal essay, and so on) the sooner you will receive a decision and your merit scholarship award. This provides you more time to investigate and weigh your options.
— Michael Joseph, vice president of enrollment management, Valparaiso University

I wish students knew to contact their universities of interest and research the steps of the application process before their senior year. Pre-planning can eliminate some of the trials and errors of applying to school. The sooner students conduct research on the application process and what it takes to be admitted, the better they understand which classes they need to take and how they should organize their past, current and future activities.
— Janie Alcala, associate director, office of admissions, Texas A&M University

College ‘Fit’ Goes Both Ways

I wish more students applying to college understood just how important “right-fit” is. Do we want to see people who were successful in high school and had a bunch of extracurricular activates? Yes, absolutely. But you can make an even better case for admission by showing us that you are going to be able to be highly successful and benefit most from the uniqueness of our institution.

Do your research. Don’t only make the case that you’re great, make the case that you’re a great match great for us.
— Micah A. E. Canal, chief admission officer, Antioch College

“Fit” is a real thing, and there are many ways to tell if the college you’re looking at could be the right one for you. Of course, a campus visit is a great way to get a good feeling for the personality of a place, but there are lots of ways to engage with and learn more about a school. Most schools have comprehensive Web sites and use social media to connect with prospective students.
— Shelly M. Placek, communications specialist, office of undergraduate admissions, Johns Hopkins University

Do Your Research

Since narrowing down the list of schools that you’re interested in has to come before the application process, we wish that more students knew how important it is to dig a little deeper during the college search. Do your research about each college, and have the courage to allow your perceptions to change; keeping an open mind during the search process can lead you to unexpected places.
— Ms. Placek, Johns Hopkins University

Students often choose a major a because they think it will lead them into a certain professional field. That is not always the case. Students should understand the field that they’re going into, and what path they have to follow in order to be successful. Becoming a doctor, for example, requires a total of 11 years of higher education before a student gets to practice medicine.

Students need to understand that not all colleges offer the same major or degrees, and that not all universities have law, dental, and medical schools. After earning a bachelor’s degree, some students will have to apply to graduate school, medical school or law school to continue their career path.
— Ms. Alcala, Texas A&M University

We’re Interested in Who You Really Are

In your essay, tell me something I can’t find anywhere else in the application.
— Dr. Zina Evans, vice president for enrollment management and associate provost, University of Florida

Be authentic. We want to know what your real interests and passions are, not what you think we want you to be interested in.
— Dr. Tom Bowling, vice president for student and educational services, Frostburg State University

Mind the Deadline

Deadlines: Know them. Follow them.
— Dr. Zina Evans, University of Florida

If you’ve taken dual-enrollment classes while in high school, you are still considered a first-year student and the first-year deadlines apply. At least here at VCU, there is more aid available for first year students, so it is to your benefit to be considered a first-year student.
— Amy C. Hutton, director of admissions, department of music, Virginia Commonwealth University

Keep in Touch

Put yourself on the mailing list. Contact a current student, alumnus, or admission representative. The more you know about the university and what it offers academically, socially, and financially, the better informed you will be. This also helps you set and manage realistic expectations concerning the university that you ultimately choose.
— Linda Sanders-Hawkins, director of admission, Howard University

Stay in touch with the admissions counselors. They can be a big help navigating a very challenging process. The personal touch can also help give the student an additional advocate when it comes time for decisions to be made.
— Wray Blair, associate vice president for enrollment management, Frostburg State University

Check the e-mail account you listed on your application daily. This is our primary communication tool. If your contact information changes, tell us!
— Ms. Hutton, Virginia Commonwealth University

Parents Need Not Apply

Students should be the ones to keep in contact with admissions counselors, not parents. When the time comes for a school to make the decision on who gets the “fat” envelope, it will help them have a better sense of who they are admitting and how well that person will fit in as a student.
— Mr. Blair, Frostburg State University

Choose Wisely

Students are more likely to succeed if they choose a college and major based on passion rather than potential earnings. You are more likely to be fulfilled and follow through with your intended field if money isn’t your primary motivation. If you aren’t sure what you want to do for the rest of your life, that’s okay. Choose a school that allows you to pursue your passion and gives you the flexibility to change your mind as you find direction.
— Tom Delahunt, vice president for admission and student financial planning, Drake University

We’d like to continue this discussion with you. If you have any advice about applying to college, please share them in the comments box below.

Comments are no longer being accepted.

Laura Wilson September 18, 2012 · 4:37 pm

I have three children currently attending college: twins who are sophomores in college (Northeastern and Colorado-Boulder) and a freshman at Fairfield. I’ve personally been through 50+ info sessions and tours, drove by many more campuses and investigated countless websites. As a parent, I find that colleges are generally not transparent with their information, especially info that could put the school in an unsavory light. For example, one of my daughters is a nursing major; the other entered as an architecture major. Not one school that they applied to mentioned that the admissions criteria was significantly more challenging for those majors in terms of median GPA and SAT/ACT scores. General information about median GPA’s and scores is misleading and websites are typically generic at best. We visited a campus and entered by its back entrance which was 2 blocks at best from a disturbing ghetto. That information, including the school’s high crime statistics was no where to be found on the website.

We certainly would have approached the admissions process differently if we knew that while my daughter was a likely candidate for general admissions, she would be an unlikely candidate for the nursing program given the most recent acceptance statistics in prior years. We could have/would have saved everyone a lot of time and aggravation had we been privy to accurate and accessible information. Through lots of tenacity we discovered that most nursing schools require a student to apply after their sophomore year, accepting the students with the top GPA’s. Getting that information was like pulling teeth which shouldn’t be the case at 50K+ a year for these schools. We also discovered that many schools don’t even consider graduation in 4 years due to inaccessibility of required classwork. Again, important info that should be directly posted on the website–or do something about correcting the issues causing that statistic!

Once my children were accepted to schools, we visited every school that was on the top of their list at least three times before sending in the deposit. Getting specific information about nursing programs (like where the clinical work is done, how many students drop out etc. was difficult). While the colleges have their wish list about how they’d like the applicants to improve, I certainly would like the same accuracy and transparency in return. At the end, my children found their perfect fit and are beyond happy. It took an inordinate amount of time, money and investigative work to make sure that we put our best effort forward, knowing that there was no guarantee. There should be improvement all around–we could all do better.

Dawn Rowold September 19, 2012 · 9:28 am

Thanks for the time and insight Laura Wilson! I have one in college and two to go.

Mary F. September 19, 2012 · 12:46 pm

All good advice from the above college counselors. I am fresh from a year of college campus visits (15) and a few returns for interviews. I’d like to direct the first part of this post to admissions officers and the second to visiting parents.

One of the biggest obstacles to getting a real sense of a school is having to endure session after session run by recent alums – I’m talking class of ’11, ’12 and even some current graduate school students. They were highly scripted, canned and were excellent at advancing slides on their Keynote presentations. Their understanding of the college or university as a whole simply pales in comparison to a seasoned admissions representative who has been reading applications for years, can field any inquiry, and knows the offerings and requirements inside and out. Gradually, our daughters found themselves drawn to schools where admissions officers were present and slightly more dismissive of those that sent newly minted alums.

The above mentioned “15” campus visits actually translated to 25+ info sessions. And that is because we actively pursued sessions offered by the specific pre-professional school or department of interest to our daughters. These can offer a much more personal look at a college, fill in the blanks on specific admissions requirements, and have often redeemed an otherwise ho-hum visit. Sometimes we attended 2-3 per campus. When we caught on to this, we began making these appointments a scheduling priority (if offered) – and attended the general info sessions only if we could fit them in.

Lastly, during our summer visits, we had some of our most informative experiences simply touring on our own in buildings/departments of interest – reading bulletin boards and encountering the stray administrator or professor who recognized our girls as prospective students and offered to answer questions. It’s hard, but it is possible to get off the beaten path.

Steve H September 19, 2012 · 5:06 pm

As a recent college graduate now in the workforce, I have several pieces of advice that I think admissions counselors, parents and teachers are not giving to kids.

1. People will tell you “not to worry about the money.” While you shouldn’t let it stop you from pursuing your goals, you should always be cognizant of it and hedge your bets. Spending $50k on an obscure, low-ranked private college instead of your local state school, especially if you will have to take out excessive loan debt, may not be the best idea. Similarly, if you love music, major in it, but get an education credential too – try to hedge your bets as much as possible to give yourself marketable skills. There’s too much mythology surrounding the power of a degree. It’s great, but it’s not a ticket to a six-figure salary, so don’t take out six figure debt.

2. Regarding “fit” – stereotypes are a real time saver, honestly. My school is stereotyped as being a haven for very wealthy, preppy, snobby people. Admissions reps assured us that every type of student can be found at the school. And that’s true – but most of the students were, surprise surprise, very wealthy and very preppy. These characterizations exist for reasons.

3. School representatives like those above have good advice, but remember they are selling a product, and you should treat their claims with the same degree of healthy skepticism that you would treat any big financial decision.

4. A college degree is not what it used to be. It’s not a ticket to high earning power, it’s just potentially a ticket to an entry level job that will help you years down the line – it’s necessary but not sufficient for success. You need to do more than just get good grades. Don’t assume you will make a ton of money out of school, because you probably will not.

I actually enjoyed college on balance and have a decent job – but try to pay attention to these things as well, instead of just the rosy scenario often painted by counselors and parents.

Kate E September 19, 2012 · 10:32 pm

I have three children in college. One is in a top ranked university, one in a private college and one in a middle tier state school. I had an unbelievable conversation with Dean of students at one of the schools. My daughter came home from orientation registered for 13 credits. She claimed that no one really offered any help in course selection. So I called the Dean and asked why they were not counseling the students to take enough credits to graduate on time. She said and I quote “well, 13 credits is a full load.”. When I pointed out that she would not be able to graduate on time if she took that few credits every term, she replied, “We don’t ask that question.” It is clear to me that, at least at some schools, these students are merely an endless revenue stream. This was the Dean. Unfortunately, my daughter is now stuck at that institution. At least for now.

Norman Puffett September 20, 2012 · 10:42 am

Depending on information from a college admission general information session is essentially useless. Think of a marketing session for a timeshare.

Go on campus. Try to spend one night in a dorm sleeping with current students in your area of interest. Hang out in the cafeteria and ask questions of current students. Get some email addresses to be used for later follow-up. Ask students who are sitting in the library, working in a lab, sitting on the steps, etc. if they are willing to answer some of your questions. Ask them what they wish they had known before they enrolled, what they like and don’t like now.

Pick a class of possible interest. Ask the professor before class if she/he minds if you sit in class. Talk to some students after class.

Get information from students. It’s your only trustworthy source of information.

Dr. Norman Puffett
College Admissions Solutions

Scott Anderson September 20, 2012 · 11:46 am

And don’t forget…

STICKER PRICE MEANS NOTHING

College pricing makes about as much sense to the average consumer as trying to put a man on the moon. There are so many factors that go into determining what a student actually pays. The ever-increasing cost of college is nerve-wracking, but it can be alleviated.

higher ed September 20, 2012 · 12:54 pm

I have been working as an enrollment specialist for almost 7 years now and I can tell you that the information sessions work, depending on the size of the school. Also, tour guides only tell you the good things about the college. Ask for an admissions counselor to give you the tour.

A big pet peeve of us in the admissions field is that the students or their parents do not ask questions when they come and visit the campus. Laura, if you would have asked, they could have found the annual crime report for you. All schools have to publish the annual crime report due to the Cleary Act of 1990 and make it public knowledge.

Here are some questions to ask when you are going on visits:

1. Reputation (athletic, party, academic, religious, etc school)

2. Campus Security (Security guards or sworn police officers)

3. Transportation (nearest bus, train, or airport)

4. Housing and Meal arrangement

5. Area around the campus (how do to “townies” treat the college students)

Students and parents, please ask questions when visiting so that you are not blaming us a couple of months after the visit.

Monica Matthews September 21, 2012 · 7:08 am

There is some really valuable info here, both in the article and comments section. Finding the right fit college is tricky, but parents and students can work together to make the process fun. I recommend starting college visits as early as possible, even when kids are young on family vacations. Get used to stopping by and chatting with current students about their experiences. Ask family and friends about what they liked and didn’t like at their colleges. Find out why students left after their first year. The more information, the better!

WCP September 21, 2012 · 7:05 pm

On researching beyond the spin from Admissions — Something we found useful was occasionally reading student newspapers of colleges of interest. Most have online versions. One gets a sense of the student culture and perspective this way. If bad things have taken place, the student paper usually reports. For us, that was helpful — NOT to nix a place where something bad has happened, because every institution faces its challenges, but to get a sense of how administration responds (or not) to the challenge.

Rusty Shackelford September 23, 2012 · 8:09 pm

First and Foremost: As someone whose getting ready to graduate from college, I must say that I’m quite sick of parents that overprotect and do everything for their college-bound children. Their kids can’t figure anything out and their parents are so consumed with mapping their child’s future that the child graduates college unprepared to be an adult. My parents weren’t involved in anything that I did and I can assure you that any intelligent person can find the information out there to succeed in life/college/workforce. If they can’t then they don’t deserve to be here. For example: My girlfriend is practically a genius but still has no idea how to mail a package or how to pay a bill. (She does now due to my enlightenment).

**I’d also like to say that unless you’re going to school for specialized training (e.g. science, business, engineering), then save yourself the money and don’t go. Society wants you to think that you need to attend college…because,well, that’s the thing that one does. I attend an elite four year school and I can assure you that I know a plethora of people who are graduating that are unable to find work w/ their liberal arts degree.

**Don’t attend an extremely expensive private school that no one’s heard of. Please. Attend a state school and save yourself the money. Colleges rope people in by the herds and rip you off left and right. It is a business, don’t forget that.

sue chap September 24, 2012 · 1:37 am

I have been dismayed by the college admissions gamesmanship that renders the process opaque at best. Colleges want honesty from students but fail to step up to the plate themselves.
1. Scores. The gamesmanship regarding standardized scores has gotten so out of hand the Attorney General should start investigating. The fact that some schools have reported fake scores is an obvious problem. Less obvious is how they are handling the new SAT Score Choice option. Many schools are telling students they have to submit all test scores. Yet the College Board claims that the schools have no way of knowing if a student has or has not submitted all schools. The upshot is that honest students may be shooting themselves in the foot by adhering to the college’s rules and submitting all scores-even bad ones-while dishonest students have a higher likelihood of getting accepted because they are the ones submitting only their best scores. And to those claiming that schools requesting all scores don’t penalize students for having some low scores-Get real! Someone showing two sets of scores between 700-800 will trump the student with two sets of scores between 700-800 and one set in the 600s.
2. Scoping out how much a student wants your school-Admissions officers are now playing all kinds of games to assess how much a student desires their school. Students who pay the admissions fee have paid to be considered for admission. Look at the credentials and make a determination. Playing games like Wait listing eligible candidates to test their level of interest is simply dishonest. There is no compelling evidence to guide decision making based on showing interest or pleading so rely on the data. This type of gamesmanship forces students to be dishonest, evasive or misleading to all but their top reach school.
3. Misrepresentation of the school. I have now heard about 10 tour guides talk about the ratio of faculty to students. The tour guides are trying to convey the idea that faculty are available. Even large state universities want to give parents (especially) the impression that the student will get to know the faculty. The first problem is that the schools know that the faculty-student ratio is a worthless number–even in small schools without adjuncts or teaching assistants. To derive meaning from the number you would have to determine how many of the faculty teach courses, what is the teaching load per faculty, what are the expectations for faculty regarding undergraduates. Where I am employed there was an understanding that any junior faculty member who won a teaching award was doomed (would not be renewed or get tenure) because they were spending too much time teaching and not enough time on their research. The message was loud and clear-teaching was to be a last priority. The punishment for being less popular among colleagues, for speaking out, for publishing too little…teaching more undergraduate students and, better yet (for senior faculty with clout and sadistic tendencies) outside ones area of specialty. Do you want your child at that sort of school? How do you learn about the role of teaching for each college? Not on the tours.

KW September 25, 2012 · 10:32 pm

I feel that so many people had very negative experiences with their college searches. I graduated a few years ago, but I remember looking and narrowed my search down by size and distance and went from there. I spent a lot of time online reading to get my own statistics and walked around campuses myself. After sending in applications, (and being accepted to my “first choice”, I did the official tour, and had my list of questions that was no longer hypothetical, because my plan was to go there. I loved my school enough to become a tour guide and, while I knew most of the factual information that parents and students would ask, our admissions staff encouraged us to talk about our experiences, professors, classes, activities, etc…not recite a script. Many students would come to campus as freshmen and remember their tour guides from their initial visit…

Ask questions…about everything. If you have a question now – write it down. Ask about career services, student teaching, study abroad, frats, dorm life, class size, registering for class, AP credits, quality of food, housing options, advisers, work opportunities, team/intramural sports, college activities, anything major related…you get the idea. The tour guide or students on campus can tell you what those things are really like. Some of those things (e.g. study abroad) may only work out for you if you start planning on it 1st semester freshmen year, depending on the courses your major requires.

Margie Kohl September 27, 2012 · 9:56 am

To college admissions people/tour guides: It really is important to show prospective students the dorms. We have traveled many hours to see a school and then be told that no dorm was on the tour. One guide even told us that that was their number one complaint from people–“not getting to see a dorm”. Hello!! The school has to be a complete fit. In order to be comfortable, you have to see the whole picture. My student would not have been put off by simple rooms, but by not being able to see them, she was left with the lingering thought that they must be hiding something and those colleges were dismissed, no matter how wonderful the academics were, And no–there are no videos/photos of the dorms on their website either. Amazing what they expect people to pay, without getting all the information.
MK

Jacky Han September 27, 2012 · 10:14 am

I’m a Chinese senior in high school who is planning to study in American colleges next year. I have taken the standardized tests required and just begin my college searching. I have to say, I am overwhelmed by hundreds of different schools, because it’s really hard to understand each school, in depth. As a foreigner, visiting the campus is impossible, so all I can do is to look through the Fiske Guide and visit the website of each school. I understand “fit” is the most important factor in choosing a school, but I just don’t know how to find the shining property of a school that fits me.