Many thanks for your understanding in our cancellation of the original 'What To Expect From the College Process' PTA meeting. I think we can all agree it was a prudent decision!
While the event is rescheduled for 4:00 pm on Thursday, November 29, we know it can be hard to make events accessible to all so in addition to the live Q&A, I took questions via email and am posting the answers below.
Do out of state schools or private colleges know or care if the student is earning an Advanced Regents Diploma?
At Eleanor Roosevelt, our aim is for every student to at least attempt to earn an Advanced Regents Diploma. This diploma has addition Regents Exam requirements and like any award or achievement is an indication of a student going above and beyond basic graduation criteria. As a general rule, our assumption at ElRo is that no student should aim for the minimum and that academic enrichment beyond the basic diploma is valuable. With that said, there are always some students each year who, for a variety of reasons, end up earning a Regents Diploma. They are in good company as this is the most common type of diploma issued in New York State. As for colleges, most of them assign regional representatives so they will likely be familiar with the Advanced Regents Diploma. While it is unlikely that an Advanced Regents Diploma would change an admission outcome, there would be a strong correlation between students earning it and students who are admitted to the most selective colleges. Regardless, it is an achievement that would stay with the student forever and could be listed on their resume permanently.
What is specifically listed on the student's high school transcript, which will be sent to the colleges they are applying to? For instance, does our school list the student's SAT scores, school based extracurricular activities, etc.?
The NYCDOE transcript shows a record of the courses students have taken, the grades earned, and the credit values associated with the classes. Regents and LOTE exams are also listed. There is a cumulative weighted average GPA at the bottom. Outside standardized tests like the ACT, SAT, and AP are not listed. Activities are not listed. Students get a copy of their transcript during an Advisory lesson so they can better understand the story being told by their academic record.
How is GPA calculated? Are AP classes weighted more than "regular" classes in calculating GPA?
GPA stands for Grade Point Average. It is a numerical average of all grades, proportional to the number of credits earned. (For example, an 88 in a daily core academic subject worth 2.0 credits has a slightly larger impact on GPA than an elective grade of 88 worth 1.5 credits because the class does not meet every day). NYCDOE runs on the 100 point scale. The GPA is cumulative and is updated every June when the new grades post. Eleanor Roosevelt is an annualized school, so only the final grade is shown on a transcript. Marking period grades from report cards are not final grades and are not on the official transcript. At Eleanor Roosevelt, AP courses and College English are weighted by a factor of 1.05. These weighted courses are designated by an asterisk on the transcript.
How does a student find out their class rank? How do colleges look at class rank at a small school that is as competitive as ELRO, where the Top 10% are only 12 or 13 students?
Eleanor Roosevelt does not rank. The school profile will list the GPA distribution for the seniors, but there is no way to determine rank beyond that. It is very common for high schools not to rank and, as the question implies, it is clear why ranking would not be relevant to our school. Colleges look at the entire application when determining if they admit a student. They will factor in things like: GPA, test scores (when applicable), extracurriculars, essays, letters of recommendation, rigor of curriculum and courses chosen.
Can you please speak to the testing requirements, ACT versus SAT and the timing to take those tests, how many times you can take them, do the colleges see all the scores? What about the subject matter tests-do you recommend them-who should take them?
You can read a lot of my comments regarding testing by clicking here to see archived test related blog posts. I would also encourage anyone with testing questions to attend our annual testing themed PTA presentation, Demystifying Standardized Testing, happening this year on January 17. To quickly summarize though -- the ACT and SAT are just different brands of college admission tests. Some students do better on the ACT, some do better on the SAT, and some students do equally well on both. Students can determine their preferred test by comparing the PSAT and practice ACT scores using this concordance table. All colleges accept both brands of exam. The goal is just to maximize the score. Best practice is to sit for the preferred exam two times, starting in the spring of Junior year. Note: The NYCDOE has a free SAT for all 11th grade students on Wednesday, March 27. Colleges only see scores that the student sends them because testing records are the student's private property. Some colleges do have policies where they ask to see all sittings if the student took the exam more than once, but in this case typically they are still most interested in the highest scores.
I do not recommend subject test scores to the typical ElRo student because only 6 colleges require Subject Tests at this time. With that said, any student interested in one of those six places can absolutely sit for the exams where they feel they can score the highest. The schools that require them tend to admit students with main SAT scores in the 1450+ range/ACT scores in the 33+ range, so this is another reason why most ElRo students do not need to spend time or energy on these extra tests.
If the student does not feel standardized tests capture their ability, there are hundreds of colleges that do not require testing for admission. These testing optional colleges can be found at www.fairtest.org.
Can you talk about the process of applying for testing accommodations for the ACT and SAT for a child with an IEP?
Ms. Damesek is our school's SSD Coordinator. If you have a disability or medical diagnosis that might be suited to testing accommodations, contact Ms. Damesek in the student's 10th grade year to learn about applying for accommodations. Having an IEP or 504 does not automatically result in SAT/ACT accommodations.
At what point do we get together with you to discuss a list of schools and get an understanding of which schools are reach versus safety? Is it after the 11th grade final grades are in? When do most families have enough of a sense of what the student’s academic record is so that they can start making realistic choices of places to visit and not include schools that will end up being out of reach academically?
The timeline at ElRo is as follows:
- Juniors have a student kick off during January Regents week. At this event they will get information about their online college planning account and information about scheduling their junior family meeting with me.
- Junior meetings occur between February and June and are scheduled first come first served based on the student's preference. The meetings last for one class period (about 40-45 minutes) and parents/guardians are invited to attend. At this meeting, Ms. Kleiman will get to know the student a little better and a preliminary college list will be brainstormed.
- Seniors have a second private family meeting in the fall of Senior year. These meetings occur between September and December and parents/guardians are again invited. At this meeting, the college list is gone over and Ms. Kleiman gives feedback on the odds of admission and balance of the list.
- At student office hours, held weekly on Tuesday after school for students only.
- At PTA meetings/evening events centered on the college process
- At Parent Teacher Conferences/Open School events
- Via email (*by far the fastest way to reach me)
How you can tell for which schools demonstrated interest is important?
Demonstrated interest is a growing topic of conversation in this landscape. For those unfamiliar with the term, it refers to when colleges factor in how student behaviors demonstrating interest factors in to the admission decision. Examples of demonstrating interest include, but are not limited to, visiting campus, opening and reading emails, attending events, and having an interview. Instead of asking which schools do track demonstrated interest, it is much more efficient to identify those that do not. These schools will openly state on their websites that this does not weigh into the admission decision. See this example on Duke's website indicating they do not factor in demonstrated interest (under the visiting tips section).
One way to find out if a college pays attention to demonstrated interest is to ask them. For those more interested in deep dives into data, you can also look up the college's "Common Data Set" where they are asked to list the things they consider, including the level of student interest. When you see an 'X' in the very important or important column it is usually a sign that it matters to that school. In general, I recommend being authentic in your interactions with colleges. Typically these demonstrations of interest are valuable to schools for a reason. They want to admit students who want to attend their school. If a place is your first choice, your behavior usually makes that obvious.
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