Expert Coach: Karen Crowley,
Former Admissions Officer, University of Pennsylvania
What is the one thing virtually every college applicant has in common?
High school.
Every student is different, but the experience of ninth through twelfth grade is the common denominator among all college applications. The good news is that this portion of the college application process is familiar to you already. You have guided your child through school since kindergarten, so you no doubt have plenty of experience helping your child make decisions about which classes and activities he should sign up for. Now itâs time to approach those same types of decisions from the perspective of a college admissions officer.
What are college admissions officers looking for when it comes to a studentâs high school experience? They want to see a young adult with some understanding of what heâs good at, how he applies himself, what he is dedicated to, and how others perceive him. To determine these answers, they assess academics, extracurricular activities, and a studentâs reputation. In this chapter I will share specific success strategies to help you and your child make the best choices in each of these three areas.
Rules to Remember in this Chapter
- Report cards matter most. Academics are the most important factor to admissions officers. Pay close attention to your childâs course selection and grades through every year of high school.
- Colleges like students with passion and commitment. The best applicants demonstrate unique extracurricular pursuits that involve leadership, personal growth, and genuine enjoyment and enthusiasm.
- Reputation counts. Colleges seek out the opinions of teachers and administrators when assessing a student. Having a reputation as a good school citizen can tip the scales in favor of your childâs application.
I. Academics
Make no mistake about it: academics are the most important factor to admissions officers when making a final admissions decision.
Despite all the tips and strategies youâre likely to hear about essays, interviews, teacher recommendations, and other parts of the college application, academics are, bar none, the most important piece of a studentâs profile. If admissions officers believe that an applicant cannot meet the academic challenge at a particular college, that child will not be admitted. After all, we are talking about a student at one school applying to become a student at another school. All other aspects of the application process are certainly important, but none influences the yes or no decision as much as the admissions officerâs complete academic analysis. The components of that analysis, which will be explored in detail in this chapter, include:
- Academic Picture. What is the âat-a-glanceâ view of the studentâs academic track record? What are the exact, âunweightedâ grades (number of As, Bs, Cs, et cetera) each year? What level of courses (honors, advanced placement, et cetera) has the student taken? What curriculum choices has the student made? What is the yearly GPA (grade point average) and the combined GPA of freshman, sophomore, and junior years?
- Context. In looking at a studentâs transcript, what courses does the particular high school offer and how did this student fare within the given academic environment? Also, are there any extenuating circumstances in the studentâs life to considerâsuch as a divorce, death of a family member, or a learning disabilityâthat may have affected academic performance?
- Profile. When the admissions officer evaluates the above factors, what is the overall impression of the student? For instance, âThis is a smart, ambitious scientist who struggles with English composition,â or âThis is a girl with great fluency in foreign languages who continues to plug away in increasingly difficult math classes even though it hurts her GPA,â or âThis is a boy who struggled his freshman year but really applied himself and improved his grades over time.â The profile is a more complexâand forgivingâacademic representation of a student than the straight numbers of a GPA.
The better you understand what admissions officers are looking for in your childâs high school academic record, the better you can help your child make decisions about what courses to take, what grades to strive for, and what trade-offs might be beneficial.
Academic Course Selection
It is essential to become familiar with the academic options at your childâs school as soon as possible. Conscientious course selection is vital preparation for the college admissions process. Using the strategies below, you should review the course catalogue with your child before each school year to help plan what classes he would like to take and how that fits into his collegeâand lifeâaspirations. It is never too early to be planning for each yearâs slate of classes, so get a copy of the course catalogue as soon as possible. If your child is in ninth or tenth grade, you can follow all of the guidelines below. If your child is in eleventh or twelfth grade, donât agonize about choices your child has already made, but do your best to help maximize remaining course selections. Helping choose the best courses each semester requires an ongoing conversation with your child, one that may develop and change dramatically throughout high school. Your overall goal should be to have a child who is happy, challenged, and achieving the best grades possible. To help guide you, here are my answers to parentsâ most frequently asked questions about course selection and, its soul mate, GPA:
- English. English is English. Youâve got to have it.
- Social Science History. This is also a classic standard.
- Mathematics. Almost any college degree will require math, so colleges are more comfortable with kids who will make it easily through college math courses. Four years of math is highly recommended. Note that âtraditionalâ math is preferred over specialized math, so encourage your child to take geometry rather than business math.
- Science, preferably with lab. Lab science requires critical thought, which colleges believe is needed. Three to four years of science is preferable, and biology, chemistry, and physics are preferred. Of course, your daughter should not drop science if she is planning to be premed!
- Foreign Language. Foreign language courses with literature study are recommended over conversation when there is an option.
Most colleges prefer to see a student enroll in all five academic solids each year of high school. At the least, they favor students with four years of English and math and three years of a foreign language and science. Eleventh and twelfth graders have the most leeway when it comes to taking all five academic solids. After careful consideration and consultation with an academic adviser or guidance counselor, upperclassmen may choose to drop an academic solid in favor of another class related to personal interests or future goals. For instance, a boy with a flair for creative writing and a summer internship to study poetry in Europe may opt to take an additional foreign language course in lieu of AP physics during his senior year. A girl who is planning to go into engineering may drop Spanish class after junior year in order to take an additional math class or science lab.
The most common way colleges approach this is by recalculating a studentâs GPA from ninth to eleventh grade based solely on his five academic solids. Most schools use a three-year cumulative average and then let the senior year stand alone as a final factor.
To compare students regardless of grading systems, admissions officers will most likely recalculate the five core subjects using a four-point, unweighted scale. In such a scale, an A = 4, a B = 3, and so on. (An âunweightedâ GPA is calculated based on the actual grade in each class, regardless of the level of the class. A âweightedâ GPA takes into consideration both the class level and the studentâs grade.)
Here is a chart to help you calculate your childâs unweighted GPA.
What happens after an admissions officer calculates an unweighted GPA? He then goes course by course and gives his own weighting to the courses based on the difficulty level of each. Sometimes this is done in his head and sometimes in writing based on a collegeâs very specific point system. Unfortunately, there is no way to know how each school approaches this process, but itâs important to know that they do not take your childâs high school transcript at face value.
As a general rule, admissions officers look favorably upon the student who challenges himself academically rather than take an easy A. When it comes to helping your child decide which courses to take and at what level of difficulty, realistically assess what each course will add to the studentâs overall transcript and application in light of the level of schools he wants to attend.
If your child is applying to Yale, Harvard, Stanford, or other highly selective schools, you probably wonât be surprised to learn that your child has to take AP classes and get As. At these schools, most candidates will have achieved stellar grades in the most challenging classes.
On the other hand, schools admitting greater than 50 percent of their applicants, such as Indiana University, the University of Pittsburgh, and the University of Arizona, are likely to accept a weaker course load, but they still look for a consistent record of hard work, achievement, and improvement of grades over time.
Of course, a wide range of schools occupy the middle ground. Here is a basic chart to help you understand what course levels and grades are most common at a variety of schools. This is not a comprehensive list, but it will give you an idea of where your child sits in the spectrum and what grades are needed to be seriously considered by various schools.
Challenge, rigor, and high hopes for college acceptance are important, but you must also be realistic when assessing your childâs course selection and subsequent GPA. You donât want to set your child up for mediocre grades or even failure. If a studentâs grade in a particular course goes down an entire mark (say, from a B to a C, as opposed to a B to a B-), thatâs a signal that his course load is probably too difficult. It is always better to be a B student than a C student, regardless of curriculum. When in doubt, talk to your childâs academic advisers when deciding what course levels your child should take.
If your child is less focused and wants to experiment with electives and other nonacademic courses, there is nothing wrong with showing a genuine curiosity and trying a variety of classes, from computer science to studio art. Again, this helps tell a story. Perhaps your son is a Renaissance man who wants to combine his interests in science, music, and technology. No matter what the story, itâs best to demonstrate good grades in elective courses. But keep in mind that the grades in these electives are not as important as the grades in the five core subjects. In other words, an A in art is nice, but donât expect your kid to get into MIT with an A in art and a B in chemistry. Howeverâand this is a strong warningâpoor grades in elective classes are a red flag to admissions officers. They imply a negative attitude and work ethic, and they can change an admissions officerâs feelings about an applicant. Bad grades in gym class raise concerns that a kid with otherwise stellar grades is not really the all-around winner he appeared to be.
The High School Transcript
Have you ever seen your childâs high school transcriptânot the report card, but the official transcript? If you are like most parents, the answer is probably no. I am often surprised to learn that many families have never seen this important document, yet they eagerly instruct guidance counselors to send it directly to colleges! Often, families, and even the students themselves, donât know what the transcript looks like or what information appears on it.
It is important to request, study, and carefully proof...