Articles of Information
An excellent
resource for parents and students relative to college and financial aid is
 www.usnews.com
and then click on education and browse.
Top Students Feeling the Sting of Rejection
“Even top students feel the sting of rejection” is an
article in the Philadelphia Inquirer City and Region section (Sunday, April
28,2002) that explains the high level of competition to get into college – and
not just the elite colleges and universities! With more students attending high
school than ever before in our country, and a higher percentage of those
graduates attending college, many students are not being accepted by the college
of their choice. The crunch is perhaps most pronounced for white females who are
suffering as colleges seek gender balance.
The article states that it is not just Ivy League
schools and similar elite universities that are becoming super selective, but
also “traditionally accessible” schools such as Temple, Widener, University
of Delaware, and Rutgers. All of these schools are experiencing record numbers
of applications.
In 1976, 33% of high school graduates went on to
college. Today, the number is close to 43%.
The article can be depressing for parents and
students. Here are students who have great SATs, super GPAs, tough course loads,
are involved in many activities, and they still can’t get into their
top-choice college. With this reality check in mind, what should students do?
First and utmost, keep working hard! Don’t give up! One solution is expanding
your list of acceptable colleges from 5 – 7 to 7 – 10. On this longer list
should be “totally safe” schools that previously were omitted or not even
considered. The article points out that students and parents need to develop a
new mindset relative to where they will go to college.
To read the entire article, come to the Guidance
Office, and ask for the Inquirer article on “Keen competition to get into
college.”
Less Credits Needed
Students at the 14 state-owned universities (this includes
West Chester, Kutztown, etc.) will need fewer credits to graduate under a new
policy recently adopted by the universities’ governing board. The policy,
which takes effect in the fall of 2002, requires students to complete 120
credits for a bachelor’s degree. This means that students need to average 15
credits per semester (five courses in most cases) to graduate in four years.
The old policy gave latitude to individual colleges to
determine the number of credits for graduation. Eleven of the state colleges
required 128 credits to graduate. The average private college requirement is 124
credits.
The change in policy hopefully will help students graduate
in four years, eliminate the need to take “filler courses”, and get students
moving into the job market sooner. Currently the state system’s average
four-year graduation rate is around 25%. Hopefully that percentage will jump
significantly with the new 120-credit policy.
Tax-Savvy Ways to Fund College
www.moneycentral.msn.com/articles/family/college/1464.asp
The SAT’s
An excellent article about the SAT’s. Both students and parents will gain
valuable insight into the test. The article discusses the use of SAT’s, pros
and cons, historical background, and thoughts by college presidents.
Although the article alludes to the notion that students do not need to take
SAT’s to get into college, that is simply not the case for most high school
students. “Most universities have no immediate plans to stop asking for SAT
scores.” In 2000, 44% of the students who graduated from high school took the
SAT’s. Only 280 (13%) of the nation’s 2,083 four-year colleges make the SAT
optional. Rather than omitting them, many colleges are placing less weight on
SAT scores in the admission process. The bottom line is that most high school
students need to take the SAT’s. The
complete article is in Time magazine,
March 12th issue, page 62.
SAT
II: SUBJECT TESTS
- About
the Tests – Some colleges require or recommend one or more SAT II:
Subject Tests for admission or placement. Subject Tests are one-hour,
primarily multiple-choice tests that measure your knowledge and skills in
particular subjects and your ability to apply that knowledge. They fall into
five general areas: English, history and social studies, mathematics,
sciences, and languages. Because the tests are independent of specific
textbooks, grading procedures, and methods of instruction, they help
colleges to compare academic achievement of students from different schools
where course preparation and academic backgrounds may vary widely.
- How
Colleges Use the Subject Test Scores – Colleges use Subject Test
scores, in combination with other information (your high school record,
scores from other tests, like SAT I, teacher recommendations, etc.) as a
dependable measure of your academic background and achievement and as a good
predictor of your future performance.
- WHICH
Subject Tests should you take? Find out which tests the colleges you are
considering require. You can do this by contacting colleges directly,
reviewing college catalogs, checking The College Handbook, or
checking College Board Online Web site at www.collegeboard.com.
- How
to register – The Registration Bulletin has all the information
you need to register and report scores to college. Stop worrying about
deadlines! Save time by registering online at
www.collegeboard.com.
You can also mail the form in the Bulletin, or reregister by
phone, if you registered previously for tests while in high school. When you
register, you must specify which Subject Tests you plan to take.
- Prepare
for the Tests – When should you take Subject Tests? Take such
tests as United States History, Biology E/M, Chemistry, or Physics as soon
as possible after you complete the course, while the material is still fresh
in your mind. You’ll do better on other tests like languages after at
least two years of study.
Thinking about slacking??
The following is a letter that was recently received from a
college:
“We have noticed a worrisome trend in transcripts from
high school seniors who had completed most of their graduation requirements
prior to their senior year. They opted to take a minimal and lightweight course
load for their last year of high school, apparently thinking that senior year courses
and grades did not matter in the college admissions process.
We definitely look at senior year grades and
course load. A lightweight or unchallenging academic load in senior year can be
the basis for a decision to reject an applicant.
Make sure you continue to take a full and challenging
academic load in your senior year of high school. The more you
challenge yourself in high school, the better prepared you will be for college.
A willingness to challenge yourself in high school is a good indicator of
success in college.
Note that doing well in the SATs or ACTs will not make up
for a weak senior year curriculum and declining grades.
If you have questions about course choices available to you
as a junior or senior, be sure to speak to your guidance counselor.”
The reason for printing this letter is to advise parents
and students that colleges REALLY DO look at your senior course load and grades,
and they do use this as criteria when accepting or rejecting students
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