Your senior-year plan

Maybe we should blame all of our college admission woes on the board game Life. Remember that game? A simple spin of the game’s wheel got us a college degree! Real life, however, is not so easy.

Here is one of the coldest and hardest facts that high school students must face each year: The college applicant pool is getting larger and more competitive, while the number of spots for the incoming class mostly remains the same. It is a scary (but very possible) scenario that the college you seemed destined for at the beginning of your junior year may slip out of your grasp by the start of senior year.

A few years ago, the reason for receiving a rejection letter might have been poor SAT scores, lack of extracurricular activities or an early case of senioritis. These days, however, with more and more students recognizing the need for a college education, the simple reason is that even though you’re good, colleges have an uncanny way of finding someone who is better.

“Better” does not have to mean a higher average or longer list of accomplishments; it could mean that despite a very similar admission profile, an arbitrary decision must be made when it comes down to two good students for one spot.

Maureen O’Rourke, the college guidance counselor at Mount Alvernia High School in Newton, Mass., can vouch for this. Although her school has boasted a 100 percent college-admission rate for the past 16 years, nothing is a guarantee.

“We never know what hidden agenda or admissions criteria a college has for a specific year…to produce a diversified student body,” O’Rourke says, citing such considerations as the gender ratio, demographics and even personality types among the applicants.

“It is not uncommon for a top-notch student [to be rejected by] a college and a student with a weaker profile to be accepted,” if it means that the school will be satisfied with the nature of the incoming student population, she says.

It is important to understand that the college admission process is not a conspiracy. But the newest admissions phenomenon has above-average students scrambling to find spots anywhere in the nation’s middle-ranked schools. It doesn’t matter if you are the fifth generation to attend a certain school; there are no guarantees these days.

O’Rourke calls the trials of the college admission process a “growth experience.” Here are some tips to help alleviate your growing pains:
1. Apply early
Get your application materials in as soon as possible. Colleges, above all, are businesses, and they need tuition money to survive. If you are a good match for a certain school, an application letter—and possibly some scholarship money—could be in the mail to you well before any date printed in the application materials.

2. Be aware of rolling admissions
These open-ended deadlines are double-edged swords. Think of them as no-cost insurance policies for colleges, who can see their numbers climb gradually but steadily as opposed to jumping dramatically in April and May if there were a set application deadline.

But consider this one terrific advantage: You’ll know early on if they want you. You’ll also know if they don’t. If you’re rejected, all is not lost. Although colleges won’t advertise this loophole, you might be able to submit updated materials—or even a completely new application—later on in the admissions cycle. It’s a long shot, but if a school’s confirmed student numbers are not where they should be by the start of summer, a school that said “no” in December may say “yes” in June.

3. Don’t assume anything
Point for point, you may very well match the profile for the school’s ideal student. But don’t paint your room in those school’s colors just yet. If you are planning to major in a certain field, keep in mind that the school may already have reached its capacity for majors in that field and is currently recruiting for a different program. As a result, you may get a rejection letter simply because there are no more spots in the program at the time you applied, even if you do submit a stellar application.

4. Be a frequent and courteous visitor to your high school’s guidance office
Your admission to college is a sign of your high school’s success as well as your own. If you experience a snag, your college guidance counselor should help you regroup for another plan of attack, whether that means sending a new round of applications to be dispatched immediately or writing an essay to get you off the waitlist.       

5. Interview whenever possible
A one-on-one meeting with a college’s admissions counselor helps them fill in the gaps and clarify anything missing on the application. Nervous? A case of the jitters at this time in your life will most likely be considered charming and, unlike when you interview for a job four years from now, probably won’t be held against you.

6. Avoid the “S” words
“Safety school,” that is. If you feel like you’re treading water in the application pool, don’t expect your “safety school” to be there to bail you out. There are many ways that so-called safety schools can fail you. If a school that you are over-qualified for sees that you are also applying to a higher-ranked institution for which you are also a good match, the admissions committee may assume that you will attend the more prestigious school. Instead of wooing you with a large scholarship, the committee may send you a rejection letter, wanting to instead spend its time on students they think want to attend their school more than you do.     

Although he’ll never know the full story, this may be exactly what happened to Frank Walton of Staten Island, N.Y. He applied to and was rejected by a small Jesuit college in the Northeast, yet was accepted by his first-choice school, a much higher-ranked college also part of the Jesuit community in the Northeast. It just didn’t make sense to Frank, who says getting rejected to his safety school was a “wake-up call.”

“Don’t take [getting into your safety school] for granted,” says Frank, who is now a junior at his first-choice school. Although he was surprised by the rejection, he luckily was unscathed by it, unlike other students who must put plan B into effect.

The college admission process is a crazy, nerve-wracking time of your life, but you’ll make it. Think of it as an adventure, and try to keep an open mind as far as the possible outcomes. Real life might not be as easy to navigate as the game of Life, but it is certainly a lot more interesting!

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