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Calvary Students Understanding The College Selection Process

9/25/2017

Stacey Mell

The college selection process is highly competitive, stressful, and yet rewarding for high school seniors. The onus of the process should fall on the senior; it is his/her responsibility to prepare a complete, authentic, and purposeful application. The final result …matching with the college that is most fitting. The application sections are broken down into multiple parts, and a description and explanation is provided for each section.

Academic Achievements and Background:

The transcript is the most important piece of information that will be sent to the college. Courses of rigor need to be well planned for all four years of high school.
Grade achievement is considered very important in the selection process.
Calvary will upload to the college recommendation sites an updated school profile. A profile provides vital information to the prospective college about course offerings, grade weighting, and levels of courses offered.

Letters of Reference:

Calvary’s Director of Guidance will be asked to complete a recommendation for the student. This recommendation provides information that “puts the student in the context of school.”
Teachers at Calvary will be asked to complete a recommendation for the student, and this recommendation “puts the student in the context of the classroom.”
Students will provide the email address for the recommender and the recs will be completed and submitted online.

The Essay:

The essay is a very important piece of information that provides the college admissions office with a true measure of writing ability.
The essay needs to be unique and provides a sense of who the student is and who he/she desires to become.
It is most important that students writes their own essay. Admission officers are smart people, and they are able to distinguish between an authentic high school essay and someone pretending to be a highschool student.

Standardized Test Scores:

Some schools are becoming test optional, meaning that a SAT or ACT score is not required for entry purposes. That is an important piece of information to know prior to submitting one’s application. Currently over 800 schools are test optional.
The higher ranked the school (Ivy’s, Tier 1s, Public Ivys), the more important the test score is in the admission process.
Some schools will accept students if they meet their required entry level scores. Find out what those scores are for the schools on your list so you will be able to set accurate testing goals.

Additional Points of Interest:

Many private schools still interview students. What a wonderful opportunity to be able to demonstrate your level of interest in a school!
Extracurricular activities are taken into consideration by many colleges. Try to select a few activities and demonstrate consistency throughout your four years of high school.
Employment and community service hours are deemed important by many colleges. Students should try to include this information either in the application or on their resume.
Many colleges, especially during the regular decision time period, implement a “holistic review” process. That means that they are looking at the entire package that the student has provided them through the application process. In other words, they are looking past the 3 BIGs (test scores, GPA, and rigor). These colleges are searching to find the best fit of students for their college.

Resource: Smith College “What I Like About You”: The College Selection Process.

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