The Backup Plan

Many students have applied Early Action or Early Decision this year and are waiting for their decisions to be returned over the next few weeks. Of course, I would love it if every candidate was accepted to every school to which they applied, but chances are some people will be faced with deferrals and denials. My advice is to work on preparing the rest of your applications now. The very worst thing to have to do on the break between Christmas and the New Year is work on applications after you are already feeling defeated from an EA/ED decision. Better to get everything in tip-top shape now so you can be ready to press submit later, once you know the Early outcomes. If you end up being accepted ED, yes, you will have wasted a little of your time, but trust me, at that point you won't mind.

Prepare for the worst, and hope for the best. Remember, opening a skinny envelope is not the end of the world. But, do yourself the favor of putting in the time now so you will not have to later.

Crossing your fingers also never hurts. 

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Happy Thanksgiving!

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What should you do about missing documents?!

Imagine your mailbox at home. Now imagine you got a few thousand pieces of mail per day. Welcome to a college admissions mail room. It is not surprising that it takes days, if not weeks, to open, sort, and categorize all of the incoming items that go into applications. About two weeks after you see I have submitted 'initial materials' on Naviance, I recommend calling the schools where you have applied and asking them about the 'status of your application.' This should prompt the student worker (or whatever other lucky soul happens to be on phone duty) to pull up your file in their computer and tell you if it is complete. When they do this, they likely cannot see any of the actual parts of the application, so don't ask them about a specific teacher letter or have them tell you what scores they have in (according to FERPA they actually can't verbally share scores with callers). Instead, they should be able to tell you, in general, what required items are missing.

If something is not there that should be here is what to do:

-If you applied to the school via Common App, have your Common App number ready and see if they will transfer you to the processing department because if Naviance says the documents were sent, they should have access to them. BE PATIENT - the people on the phone are doing you a favor, you catch more flies with honey . . . .

- If you didn't apply with Common App, still see if they can track down your documents via a company called Docufide (the umbrella company that Naviance uses to send documents).

- If they check and they truly can't find the items, try to get the name and email address of a human that actually deals with document processing and/or file completion. Pass this information on to me in an email, and I will send your items right away. I'd much rather send the document to a person that can make your file complete than add one more piece of random paper to their mail room that will take weeks to process.

- Second best? Get a fax number (and ideally a person's name that I should fax it at attn to)

- Last option - confirm the address where the item should be mailed and email that to me.

- Scores missing? Next step is to log on to College Board/ACT and confirm that you placed an order. Then pick up the phone and call them to see if there is an estimated time of delivery. Hopefully you will discover they are on their way. Again, be courteous to the phone operators, they are just doing the best that they can to help and scores are advertised as taking up to 6 weeks to arrive at a college.

- Whatever you do, don't panic. Colleges often send out those 'incomplete application' notices as a way to cover themselves. They often are not able to use data that is current and you may call and discover that in between the time that they sent the 'missing items' letter and now your file has become complete. There are still about three weeks before ED and EA decisions are finalized, so it is not too late.

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Thanks Barnard Office of Financial Aid!

Thank you to Susan Lee, Senior Associate Director of Financial Aid at Barnard for coming to our PTA meeting last night! Her expertise was put to good use during our conversation about how the Financial Aid process works. Part II of our Financial Aid themed PTA meetings will be December 16 at 6:00 pm and will focus on filling out the FAFSA form, line by line. Remember, Seniors fill out the FAFSA starting in January of their Senior year. However, younger families are invited to attend to get a heads up about the types of questions they will be asked.

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"As Einstein used to say, ‘Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted.”’

I was pleased to read this article in the New York Times about the perils of rankings and how sometimes small and seemingly obscure data can dramatically change a school's rank. I've said it before, I'll say it again: rankings exist to sell magazines. They intentionally change the formula each year in order to get different results.

Speaking of the formula, the criteria itself is questionable at best. Peer ranking counts as a factor in ranking? How much your friends like you is a task best left to Facebook. The bottom line is that every college has strengths and weaknesses. The majority of the 3,000+ colleges out there have at least a few things that they are really really good at. For people interested in those things, they could rank "#1" on their list.

But, people allow themselves to put so much weight into a pointless magazine (or book, or article, or any other 'ranking' organization . . . I'm an equal opportunity ranking basher) that they sometimes lose sight of the fact that there are probably a few kids that are miserable at Harvard and Williams (see that, they can't even limit themselves to anointing one number one, they have to separate Universities and Liberal Arts Colleges . . . ). There are also some kids having their ideal college experience at SUNY Albany, ranked number (gasp!) 143.

I admit, I do have the US News from last year because I got it for free at the Baltimore NACAC. And I do bring it out in some college meetings. Why? Because it is a quick list of schools that can help me double check if I missed a place. I'm not in it looking for a difference between #7 and #12, I'm jogging my memory.

Moral of the story? Don't take rankings as something written in stone (the publishers wouldn't want that either, they need you to buy next year's magazine). Use rankings as a place to start the exploration; look up places on the list that you have not heard of. Pay less attention to the numerical rank and more attention to the information you discover after looking the school up on your own. Also, consider multiple sources - Washington Monthly and Forbes also publish lists that often look different from US News. Last, promise that for every ranking list you look at you will read at least section of Colleges That Change Lives.

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Save Your Items from Destination Nowhere

 Destination: nowhere in particular Originally uploaded by thekermanns

A few of you have been offered free 'priority' or 'VIP' applications to some schools and they have offered to waive the fee. Great! We know I'm all for saving money. However, there will be a major processing issue if you decide to use that free app, and then still have that college listed in your Common App account.

Why? Naviance is linked with the Common App. If it sees you have a school in your Common App list, even if you have not submitted any part if it, it will send your documents to the college via Common App. And it will never end up being downloaded by the college, because you won't have filed a Common App with them.

How to fix this? Update your Common App. Delete schools that you are not using a Common App for. That way, I won't send your items and have them lost in the abyss of the internet, never reaching their destination.

Thanks!

FAQs

If I had a nickel for every question I've answered in the past week about . . . . It seems there are a few common questions that keep coming up - please see below for the answers!

Our School Code is 333648

My title is College Counselor (Though honestly, you can call me Guidance Counselor, College Adviser, I'm really not picky . . . and neither are the colleges)

My phone number is 212 772 1220 x4

ElRo's Fax number is 212 772 1440

ElRo does not offer Honors classes. Colleges will know this because they will get a copy of our school profile with your transcript.  They understand that because we don't have a traditional 'tracked' system, we don't have a need for Honors classes because all students are working at a rigorous level. We do offer a small number of AP courses and College English, all of which are weighted.

The GPA can be found on the transcript. It should also be accurate in Naviance.

Our school is annualized, so final grades are posted once per year. An academic class that meets 5 days per week is worth 2.0 credits per year. An elective class that meets fewer days per week is worth 1.0 credits per year (or 0.5 credits per semester if the course is only one semester long).

We do not run on a trimester system. You just leave the column blank on the Common App.

We do not rank.

When in doubt, check the school website first. Most information you need should be there (or on our 2011 profile).

Happy Applying!

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Thanks New School!

The New Face of Parsons
Originally uploaded by The New School

This morning I was hosted at a counselor breakfast for the New School with presentations by Eugene Lang College The New School for Liberal Arts, The New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music, and Parsons The New School for Design. Full disclosure, they had me when I walked in and saw that a piece by Kara Walker was in the stairwell up to the second floor where the breakfast was being held. She is one of my favorite artists, so the morning started off on the right foot.

In a nutshell, here is what I learned:

Eugene Lang should be on the radar of anyone looking for small seminar classes in an urban environment. You get the benefits of New York City, without the size and anonymity (and sometimes out of reach selectivity) of NYU.

Jazz and Contemporary Music is a wonderful option for students that are looking to be musicians. It is not a classical conservatory (for that, see Mannes) but it is a really great fit for students that have clear musical performance goals. A live audition is required. They also offer a dual degree program with Lang that can be a good thing for students (and parents) that want some academics to 'fall back on.' FYI-The way to apply for that dual program is to check the box on the JAZZ application (not to file a Common App for Lang).

Parsons may be the face of the New School that people know best, thanks to Tim Gunn and the popularity of Project Runway. But Parsons is not just for fashion designers, they also offer programs in things like photography, product design, game design, architecture, and even business administration! A portfolio, and the 'Parsons Challenge' is required, but what a fun place to make it work! (I couldn't help myself . . . )

Thanks New School for a delicious breakfast!  I recommend students that don't have class today and next Thursday take advantage of touring local schools to get some visits out of the way and not have to miss school doing it.