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Can anyone please help me out with some creative ideas about getting in to college? I know that I can't get in the school I want, but I a long time ago I read about these people that were partially qualified but did something creative that got them in. For example, sending the college 300 pencils with your name monogrammed on them along with your application. If someone could let me know anything that would be great. I've been racking my brain trying to think of things.

The reason I need this advice is because I got a 31 on the ACT, I just took the SAT and my II's are in December. I've taken 5 math classes, 4 science, 4 english, and 4 Spanish, all of which are honors or AP wherever possible. However, my weighted GPA (with 9.5 honors credits and 3.5 AP credits) is a 3.1. Rather pathetic. I look like an underacheiver, which I am, and I need help. I got deferred from my second choice. Please let me know anything!!

By Dave Berry on Friday, September 21, 2001 - 11:12 am: Edit

Lauren, if getting into top schools was as easy as thinking up clever ways to package an application, then the top schools would be filled with clever packaging artists rather than top students. The bottom line is: There is no way to "charm" your way into a college that's beyond your qualifications.

Don't despair, though. You just need to do a more careful examination of what's available. Your first- and second-choice colleges may not have been the right match for you (for a number of reasons). Think more about investigating which colleges are better suited for you rather than which cookies to send to the admissions office. They'll just eat your cookies then trash your application. Find the college that fits your profile. Good luck!

By vanii on Saturday, September 22, 2001 - 09:47 am: Edit

i just want to know how do colleges check whether uve been lying on ur applications -- exaggerated ECs, writing ur own teacher recs (esp when they dun require an official school stamp), plagiarising essays off the net or getting some1 else to write them, applying ED & EA to multiple schools etc etc.

i also understand a female applicant declaring engineering/phy6 etc such subjs as her intended major often is looked upon as a rarity -- as such her chances of admission increase significantly. in tht case any female applicant could declare eng/phy6 etc then change to her real desired course when she's admitted....? (esp when the app. forms state ur declared major is totally non-binding)

just wanted to know how the college admissions officers sniff out such cheats. thnx!

By Dave Berry on Saturday, September 22, 2001 - 03:35 pm: Edit

Good questions. I imagine that there is a lot of exaggerating going on every year among all the college applications out there. However, my guess is that the level of blatant forgery and plagiarism is much less. Multiple ED applications are somewhat common and there's a relatively low chance of discovery, but every year students are discovered doing multiple EDs and they pay a heavy penalty.

College admission folks aren't stupid. They didn't fall off the turnip truck yesterday. If you rip off a brilliant essay from the Web, they will probably notice your 530 Verbal and 540 Writing SAT II and red-flag your app. Also, if you inflate your EC resume, they might not find teachers' comments corroborating some of those mythical ECs. If you forge your recs, they might pick up clues from the similarity of writing styles or poor usage, etc.

Bottom line: You might be able to get away with it but WHY would you want to? If you fake your way into a school that you're not qualified to attend, you'll be found out and probably flushed out fast. Even if you can hang in there with a masterfully executed plan of deceit, you'll exhaust yourself trying to remember what lie you told to whom and for what reason. It's a tangled web, and a terrible way to prepare for the rest of your life.

By Roger (Roger) on Friday, October 05, 2001 - 11:42 am: Edit

Applicants often seek out unpopular majors to try to give themselves an edge at admissions time. At the most selective colleges, though, I would expect that you would have to back that up with demonstrated interest and proficiency in that area. Declaring yourself to be a Classics major might not help much by itself - if you aced four years of HS Latin, and studied Homer in the original Greek at your local college, though, you might well get a significant boost.

So, vanii, just sticking "Engineering" on your app might not help much if you can't back it up with strong performance in AP Calculus and advanced science classes, along with good SAT I and II scores in math.

By anon on Saturday, October 06, 2001 - 01:03 am: Edit

How did you get deferred so soon, Lauren?

By Lauren on Saturday, October 06, 2001 - 06:50 pm: Edit

The deferral was from last year. I applied to Simon's Rock College of Bard when I was a junior and they felt that I needed an extra year in high school. They deferred me instead of rejecting me and said they would look at me again this year. I decided not to go there but to apply to some other schools instead.

By Dadster on Monday, November 05, 2001 - 01:31 pm: Edit

If you think a particular college is almost hopeless, Lauren, and if you feel that you present yourself well in person, try to get an interview with a senior admissions officer. These people will sometimes go to bat for a candidate that they really like and who is really interested in the school. Even this will have a limited chance of success if your stats are marginal for that college, but I have heard first-hand accounts of how this has worked.

By Dave Berry on Thursday, February 14, 2002 - 01:46 pm: Edit

Here is some sage advice from one of my counseling clients' parents regarding the importance of the application essay, ECs, and profile marketing:

"On another note, I thought you would find a recent experience of mine interesting. I'm sharing it with you because it validates some points in your book and on your site. Please feel free to use the general aspects of the following without citing me, but not the specific points or university.

"I'm on a scholarship committee for the University of ____________ and just recently read through a pile of applications including transcripts, bio.
data, personal statement...all very similar to a standard application. I came away realizing how profoundly important the essay is. I studied and
compared test scores, class ranks, weighted vs. unweighted, depth of coursework, but I craved to know more about each candidate and wanted the essay to flesh out the numbers. When two candidates were equal, the essay--if it was well crafted and insightful tipped the scale. I also found that a brief mention of career aspirations helped me see what the candidate hoped to gain in college. Of course, some very bright students aren't settled yet and if their indecision was thoughtfully presented, then that was fine too. A cookie-cutter, generic essay was a definite negative.

"Another point worth sharing--everyone knows what a National Merit of AP Scholar is. So if a student has an award that might not be as well known then they need to add a footnote of explanation. This isn't always possible on forms, but an asterik can be placed next to the award and a descriptive passage somewhere else on the page. Also, applications get xeroxed. Writing in longhand was really no problem, but it has to be done in black ink so that it copies legibly."

Great points! Are you listening out there, juniors?

By Dadster on Friday, February 15, 2002 - 07:25 pm: Edit

Great insight, Dave. It's interesting to hear that at least in some cases, the essay is more than a minor tie-breaker among similar applicants.