Does having a sibling who attends a college increase your chances of getting in? Do admissions officers go back and look at the sibling’s application or look at his or her current GPA?
Having a sibling who attends your target college (or who is an alumnus) will usually work in your favor. Most college administrators feel that, by enrolling more than one member of the same family, it increases the odds that this family will feel connected to this college and thus donate more money … and maybe cheer more loudly and enthusiastically at sporting events, too .
However, at the most competitive colleges (e.g., the Ivies and their ilk) sibling status means next to nothing. There are simply too many siblings who are eager to enroll … and too many non-siblings who are just as qualified (or more so). But, at the majority of other colleges, the sibling “hook” counts at least a little.
College officials do not typically comb through applications or transcripts to check out the matriculated sister or brother. They simply note the connection and may use it in the candidate’s favor, if there are close calls to be made.
Question: I took the September ACT and did much better than before, and that is the one I want the schools to see. I got everything but the writing results. I’m applying to some schools that have Rolling Admission and others with Early Action. I don’t want to hold off on my entire application waiting for the ACT writing results that ACT says may take 3-5 weeks. Should I send in my application now with a self-report of my ACT score and explain how everything is there except my writing results…and I’ll send them as soon as they are available?
Yep. That’s fine. However, if a college requires the Writing test, your verdict may be postponed until that score arrives. Alternatively, if you did decently on the Writing section of your previous ACT, you can self-report that score, noting that it comes from a previous testing. If the rest of your application is strong, the college may not have to wait for your new ACT results … or they may contact your counselor to confirm the Writing test self-report.
Question: I’m applying to UMass Amherst and I called Admissions to ask about the benefits/risks of applying Early Action (non binding) vs. Regular Decision The counselor was very vague and said “I don’t know because I haven’t seen the student pool yet.”
I have good grades and great extracurriculars, but my ACT scores are on the low side for UMass. Is it to my benefit to apply Early Action if I am on the borderline? I couldn’t get a sense from her as to whether if, I’m not accepted Early Action, I would be put in the regular applicant pool or just be rejected.
If you’re interested in UMass Amherst and your greatest deficiency is your ACT score, then you’d still be wise to apply via Early Action. There is really no down side to doing this, assuming that your junior grades weren’t weak, too (and it sounds like they weren’t).
If you’re planning to retake the ACT in October (or take the SAT), you can still submit your scores to UMass, if they’re better than your current score. Even though the November EA deadline will have passed by the time you get new scores, you can ask your school counselor to fax or email them quickly to UMass, if they are indeed scores that you want the admission folks to see. (Then you would have to follow up with an official score report.)
But if your new scores aren’t better … or if you don’t plan to take the test at all (because you’ve already taken it more than once and don’t expect to improve) … it’s still a wise move to show your interest to UMass by getting in the Early pool.
If you’re rejected outright via Early Action, you would be rejected outright via Regular Decision, too. So you might as well get the bad news promptly and move on.
Early Action is NOT a good plan for students who had an especially crummy junior year and who thus should compile some stronger senior grades before colleges get a look at them. It’s also not a good plan for anyone who has scheduled SAT’s or ACT’s for after November, since the college folks won’t see those results before the Early verdicts are handed down.
But, in your case, if you don’t plan to do additional testing (or if you’ve signed up already for the October ACT), then you’re really not taking a risk by aiming for EA at UMass. If the UMass admission official you spoke with sounded vague, she was probably trying to tell you that she can’t predict where you’ll stand in the admission pool until she sees the other candidates (or she may have just been checking her email on her Blackberry and not paying ample attention to you ).
If you end up being a strong applicant in that Early pool, you’ll get in. If you’re a borderline applicant, you’ll get deferred … and later compared to the candidates in the Regular Decision crowd. And if you’re a weak applicant, you’ll be denied … but not because you took a shot at Early Action. This would be your fate any time you apply. So I say to go for it … and good luck!
Question: My child graduated in 2007 and signed up for some courses at a junior college. Due to some personal issues with a disabled parent, she never started the classes nor dropped them. The college she’s interested in now says she needs to take some courses this year at the JC and so all the previous courses she had signed up for will be included in that average, which will make it next to impossible to get her GPA to where it is required for a transfer student. I know it isn’t being honest, but how would the college know if we didn’t provide a college transcript to them and attempted to enroll her as a freshman? I’m asking because I really don’t want to ruin her chances for ever getting in.
“The Dean” often receives questions like this one from students (or parents) who want to make a clean start after some previous college debacle. My answer is always the same. Don’t do it! Tempting as it will be, your daughter should NOT hide her past failures. . She can get in big trouble with this approach. All applications ask if your daughter has ever attended college elsewhere, and if she denies it and is caught–even a few years later, after she’s enrolled and done well–she could face expulsion.
Sure, she may NOT get caught. But it’s a risk I advise against. (In particular, if she is applying for financial aid, it ups the odds that her past matriculation will come to light.) Instead, she should explain her predicament, citing the family pressures that were on her at the time that she enrolled in classes that she subsequently didn’t finish. Admission officials are usually sympathetic to students who want to make a fresh start. But the best way to begin with a truly clean slate is to first own up to the past. Most colleges that admit transfer students will be flexible about the required GPA. In other words, if your daughter’s “official” GPA is low due to the false start, then the transfer-school officials will recalculate a second GPA based on the classes she really DID take. If the officials at the college she wishes to attend refuse to do this, she should be able to find other schools that will. And, perhaps, in doing so, she will find a college that is better suited to her overall.
Good luck to your daughter. I hope this works out for her.
Question: My son is applying to MIT and several other highly selective colleges. Must he submit ALL of his SAT and ACT results to the schools on his list or can he choose which scores the admission committees will see?
Your son may actually need the MIT degree before he even finishes high school just to figure out which scores he is required to submit! The ACT has always offered “Score Choice,” meaning that students can decide which test scores they want colleges to see. The College Board introduced this policy last spring. However, your son must send ALL of the SAT I scores from the same test date … i.e., he can’t submit only the Critical Reading score from June and only the Math or Writing from October, etc. For the SAT II’s (Subject Tests) he CAN send the results of only one test, even if he took more than one Subject Test on the same date.
BUT …. life is never simple in the admissions world. So, while most colleges respect the score-choice option, some colleges are now insisting that students must send EVERY score for EVERY test taken. Of course, these colleges will have no way of knowing which tests a candidate did take (unless the scores are on the high school transcript) because the ACT and College Board folks won’t tell them. So the honor system kicks in here.
As you’ll see on both of these rosters, MIT does allow your son to decide which scores to submit.
The College Board claims that they initiated the “Score Choice” policy to help make the admissions process less stressful. But with so many varying college policies, I think that, instead, they’ve actually turned up the heat in the admissions pressure cooker yet another notch.
When it comes to SAT scores, “good” and “bad” are relative terms, depending on where you’re applying.
There are lots of places where you can see the SAT norms for all schools on your current roster. The College View site is one of them. Click on the “Name” tab and type in a college that interests you. Then hit “Search.” Choose the college’s name on the list on the next screen. (Depending on the school you pick, it could be the only name on that list.)
You’ll see a tab that says, “Admissions.” There you’ll find test score ranges (the middle 50 percent) and you can see where (or if) your 630 falls within that range. For instance, if you look up “University of Hartford,” you’ll know that their middle range for math is 480 – 590. So your 630 would be considered a very good score there. On the other hand, if you look up Duke University, you’ll find a median range of 680 – 790. So your 630 is not a “good” score by Duke standards.
Most colleges put more weight on test scores than their admission officials are willing to admit. However, don’t assess your admission chances strictly by the numbers. If your test results are below a college median, ask yourself if you have other traits that will be attractive to that school (e.g., Are you a recruited athlete? An underrepresented minority? Do you come from a disadvantaged or very unusual background? Do you have any unique talents?) If you answered “No” to all these questions with test results at the low end of the range as well, then your admission odds may not be so hot . But if you responded affirmatively, you may still be in the running, even when your SAT scores aren’t especially “good.”
Question: My son is about to go to a junior college in San Francisco. He will do this because he has no idea what he wants to major in. If he spends one year at the junior college, can he transfer his credits to another college or will he lose them all if he doesn’t finish two years?
Your son CAN transfer credits from a two-year college to a four-year college, even if he only completes one year (or, for that matter, just one SEMESTER).
Note, however, that–depending on which four-year school he attends and the major he chooses–some of his credits may not transfer. Those that almost always DO transfer are in “core” subjects such as English, history, math, science, and so on.
Credits that might NOT transfer could be in areas that the four-year college doesn’t offer and may consider vocational (auto mechanics, travel management, cooking, etc.) but it really depends on the four-year school. Those institutions that have programs in such areas may accept the credits, even if your son will major in an unrelated field.
Other credits that probably won’t transfer are in remedial classes. For instance, if your son had to take a basic math course (comparable to a high school class), a reading course, an English-as-a-second-language course, etc. then it’s possible that those credits from the two-year school will excluded by the four-year school.
Also, if he’s interested in University of California schools, he may have to wait until he is a junior to transfer in. (But that doesn’t necessarily mean that he has to spend two full years at his JC. He could attend a different four-year school in the meantime.)
Bottom line: It’s likely that all or most of your son’s credits WILL transfer to a four-year college, even if he doesn’t graduate from the two-year college, but you do need to check this out on a school-by-school basis because you are likely to find inconsistencies.
Question: Would it be a smart idea to go to a community college for two years to save money and then transfer to a state college? The distance is my problem because the community college is a 44 minute bus ride from my home while the state college is a 17 minute bus ride from my home.
Many students do choose to transfer from a two-year college to a four-year college in order to save money. But if the trip to the CC from your home seems impractical, don’t rule out heading directly to a four-year school. Also, why not consider a school where you can live on campus? Although it can be money-saving to live at home, you may miss out on some of the best aspects of college life if you are commuting.
If you are a good student–or even a pretty good one–you may qualify for scholarships at both public and private colleges. In fact, sometimes the more expensive private colleges can end up being “cheaper” than the state schools because these college have more money to give away. Also, regardless of your academic talent, if your household income is low, you may also qualify for “need-based” aid that can help you cover not only tuition costs but also room, board, and some other college expenses.
As you complete the questionnaire, select all your preferences (size, location, major, etc.) Under the “Financial Aid” heading, don’t limit yourself to a school with any particular price tag … at least not the first time you tackle the questionnaire. You may find that this questionnaire will direct you to colleges that you haven’t previously considered—and which might turn out to be affordable— even if they’re not commuting distance from home.
Question: My son has been attending a great private school since his freshman year, but he is socially miserable. My husband and I would like to give him a happy senior year — and since all of his friends attend the local private school, we would like to transfer him there. Will transferring senior year hurt his chances of getting into a good four-year college? His GPA has been a steady 3.8.
For starters, I’m going to assume that the local private school does have room for your son at this late date. If so, then certainly the transfer will not hurt your son’s chances of getting into a “good” four-year school. But if you really mean, “Will it affect his college admission odds in any way and limit his options, especially if he plans to apply to Ivies or other hyper-selective colleges?” then the answer is an unsatisfying “maybe.”
Grades, course selection, and SAT (or ACT) scores are typically the most important components of a student’s application. If you believe that your son’s grades will be comparable (or perhaps even better) in the new environment, where he’s happy, then that is a vote in favor of the new school. Presumably, he will be able to transfer into the same level of classes at the new school that in was in at his old one. For instance, if he’d been okayed for AP Calculus at the old school, can he take it at the transfer school, too? But keep in mind that there may be some differences in the curricular offerings which could affect your son’s course selection. For instance, if AP American History is offered to seniors only at the new school and your son already took it as a junior at his old school, then he might not be able to fit any AP History class into his schedule. Similarly, if he was planning to take Latin 5 this year but the new school doesn’t offer Latin through the fifth year, then he might have to eliminate language or make another choice. You get the picture.
As for test scores, the school switch probably won’t make a whole lot of difference there unless your son was planning to take a Subject Test in the fall in an subject that he will no longer be able to take at the new school … e.g., the aforementioned Latin. (Seems like a long shot, but maybe that’s the case.)
Here’s where the transfer may be most likely to have a negative impact:
–If the local private school is not as renowned as the old school and if it doesn’t have the same reputation for rigor that the old school enjoys, then the more selective colleges may not be as interested in its applicants as they might be in those who come from the most prestigious private schools.
–If your son has been elected to some leadership position at his old school for his senior year, then he will probably have to relinquish it as a newcomer, should he transfer. I imagine that many of those jobs were already finalized in the spring. Likewise, if he is an athlete, he might lose a starting role or playing time, if he transfers. If, however, the bulk of his extracurricular activities and hobbies are outside of school (e.g. community volunteering or theater, martial arts, writing poetry), then the transfer should make minimal difference.
–The teachers and counseling staff at the new school will not know your son well at application time, and this could impact his recommendations and perhaps the college choices that the counselor helps him to make. Ways to get around this include asking junior-year teachers for references, providing the new counselor with information about your son’s achievements and strengths, and doing your own research into college options–or even hiring a private counselor.
Finally, even though your son is “socially miserable” at his current school, you don’t want to be too quick too assume that he will glide seamlessly into the new school that his friends attend. While you know your son–and his friends–and can probably gauge this pretty accurately, do keep in mind that teenagers are … well … teenagers. The relationship that your son enjoys now as “the kid from the other school” could potentially change once he transfers. The novelty of having him around might wear off, or some of the gang might be threatened by your son’s success with his schoolwork (or with the ladies??? ) Thus, it’s conceivable that your son may not be as happy at the transfer school as you anticipate.
Bottom line: If your son continues to be a 3.8 student, wherever he enrolls, he is sure to have many “good” colleges to choose among. But being a newcomer in his senior year might make him a somewhat less strong candidate than if he hadn’t transferred, especially at the most sought-after colleges (which, of course, may not be on his list in the first place). However, if you’re convinced that your son will have a much more enjoyable and memorable senior year if he transfers, then I think that that’s a small price to pay for his happiness.
Question: Is it possible to be independent solely because I no longer live at home and get no help from my parents? I am 19 years old and am currently living with a relative in a room that I’m renting. I’m trying to get as many hours as possible at my job as well as picking up extra babysitting hours to save up for college. My parents can’t afford to help pay for my college education, and I know i can’t do it on my own. Considering I get no financial help from them and do not live at home do you think it’s possible to be independent and get some extra financial aid?
“The Dean” gets a lot of questions about Independent Student status, usually from students like you who are truly on their own. However, being “Independent” for financial-aid purposes is a whole other story, and most colleges stick to the letter of the law.
As you will see, if your parents are still living, you are under age 24, and you are not married or a parent yourself, in foster care, a veteran, or a ward of the court (i.e., your parents’ parental rights have been terminated, due to abuse or other concerns), then you will not qualify as Independent.
However, if your parents’ household income is low, then you will probably qualify for significant financial aid, even though they will be expected to help you fill out your FAFSA forms and to contribute to your college costs, if they are able.
It’s also possible (although, unfortunately, improbable) that you can convince financial aid officers at your prospective colleges to determine that you are Independent, even though you don’t meet the official criteria. To so you, I suggest that you gather letters from several adults that confirm what you have told us about your situation. One such letter could come from your relative-landlord. Others should come from those in a position of some “authority”–e.g., a high school guidance counselor or principal, a social worker, a minister or other member of the clergy, etc. An employer could write on your behalf as well
Most college financial aid officials do have some latitude when it comes to granting Independent status. And, even if you don’t manage to get such status, there may be financial aid officers who will be sympathetic to your plight and will help you to get extra aid, where it’s available. When you contact the college officials, be as specific about your family circumstances as you can be. Why are you no longer living at home? For instance, was there abuse of any kind (physical, sexual, verbal)? Is someone in the home a substance abuser? Do you have a step-parent who doesn’t want you around? etc. Lots of high school and college students claim that they simply can’t get along with their parents. But if you can provide compelling reasons to explain why your home life was especially difficult for you, this might work in your favor.
Schedule the appointment(s) in advance. Try to go in person, rather than make a phone appointment, if this is possible. Once you are there, act appreciative for any help you have received so far, even if it’s minimal. Be grateful–not entitled–as you ask for more.
You have a challenging road ahead, but it sounds like you are prepared to navigate it, however bumpy it becomes. Best of luck to you. Be persistent!
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