See the full list (23 colleges and universities total) here. Unfortunately, you will not find many lesser-known schools on this less. Nice to see Trinity on there (I considered it during my college search, was admitted as a transfer but stayed in Burlington), but would have liked to see a wider variety of schools represented.
No changes to the CA essay prompts for the upcoming admissions cycle; yay!
Most of my students disregard the prompt when thinking about their essay, but when it comes time to submit end up categorizing it as #1. See all five options below. Time for juniors to start brainstorming!
2016-2017 Essay Prompts
1. Some students have a background, identity, interest, or talent that is so meaningful they believe their application would be incomplete without it. If this sounds like you, then please share your story.
2. The lessons we take from failure can be fundamental to later success. Recount an incident or time when you experienced failure. How did it affect you, and what did you learn from the experience?
3. Reflect on a time when you challenged a belief or idea. What prompted you to act? Would you make the same decision again?
4. Describe a problem you’ve solved or a problem you’d like to solve. It can be an intellectual challenge, a research query, an ethical dilemma – anything that is of personal importance, no matter the scale. Explain its significance to you and what steps you took or could be taken to identify a solution.
5. Discuss an accomplishment or event, formal or informal, that marked your transition from childhood to adulthood within your culture, community, or family.
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No, this post is not about the famed Public Enemy jam (but if you’ve forgotten it, sit back, relax and take a listen here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9vQaVIoEjOM). It is about the onslaught of “college admission revolution” talk/projects/reports of late. Remember a few months ago when 80 colleges and universities joined “The Coalition” for access, affordability and success, and everyone freaked out? Well, the hype train has left the station again with “Turning the Tide: Inspiring Concern for Others and the Common Good through College Admissions,” a report who authors hope to inspire a more caring and authentic generation of young people. But, these hyped coalitions and reports are just that. As Sarah Harberson’s HuffPost College article aptly points out:
“Turning the Tide” beckons our youth to focus on quality and authenticity. What’s missing is a call to action for colleges who have been complicit and damaging to the “common good” of youth and opportunity. If colleges want to encourage caring, authentic and ethically-sound students, they need to make sure they are living by the same mantra. It is time to rebuild the playing field of college admissions. It should not only be a level playing field, it should be hallowed ground. To do that, colleges need to come clean about who really gets admitted before students believe that being authentic is more valued than being privileged.”
I won’t be holding my breath for colleges to change, but it could happen. Maybe, hopefully, someday.
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| The institution (Plan) | Applied | Admitted | Rate | Link |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brown (ED) | 3,030 | 669 | 22% | Link |
| Columbia (ED) | 3,520 | Link | ||
| Dartmouth (ED) | 1,927 | 494 | 26% | Link |
| Dickinson (ED1) | 251 | 220 | 88% | Link |
| Duke (ED) | 3,455 | 813 | 24% | Link |
| Georgetown (REA) | 7,027 | 892 | 13% | Link |
| Harvard (SCEA) | 6,173 | 918 | 15% | Link |
| Johns Hopkins (ED) | 1,929 | 584 | 30% | Link |
| Middlebury (ED1) | 636 | 338 | 53% | Link |
| MIT (EA) | 7,767 | 656 | 8% | Link |
| Northwestern (ED) | 3,022 | 1,061 | 35% | Link |
| Princeton (SCEA) | 4,229 | 767 | 18% | Link |
| Stanford (REA) | 7,822 | 745 | 10% | Link |
| University of Georgia (EA) | 14,516 | 7,500 | 52% | Link |
| UPenn (ED) | 5,762 | 1,335 | 23% | Link |
| Williams (ED) | 585 | 246 | 42% | Link |
| Yale (SCEA) | 4,662 | 795 | 17% | Link |
For most students, counselors recommend applying to between six and eight colleges, with at least one safety school, one reach school, and a few good fit schools where you feel you’re likely to be admitted. I agree! Too many students today are applying to 10, 12, even 20+ schools. Applying to more schools does not mean, in most cases, getting more acceptances (from my experience). Read more from Money’s Kaitlin Mulhere, here.
As parents and students begin to obsess over admissions decisions here’s some perspective (that I have posted before). It is harder to get a job at Wal-Mart in Washington, DC. Wegman’s in Pennsylvania boasted an acceptance rate of 5% in 2014. And Google only has room for one half of one percent of its job applicants.
The answer is, as you probably guessed, not so well. Read this awesome post by Scott Barry Kaufman, the Scientific Director of The Imagination Institute and a researcher in the Positive Psychology Center at the University of Pennsylvania, on how current college admissions criteria penalize our most creative students.
“If higher education faculty and administrators seek to develop critical and creative thinkers who can adapt to and innovate in a rapidly changing society, we must identify and develop creativity among our students. Such a goal can mean changing curricula or changing selection practices used for college admission.”
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