November 2022 Admissions Insights
Welcome! Each month, Admissions Decisions will provide you with things to think about depending upon where you are in the college planning process. These are meant to help you ask the right questions to get the right answers for you or your child.
Freshman:
Very straightforward, finish the academic semester strong. Use your midterm exams as a barometer of where you are. If you have been doing well, keep up the good work. But if you are not in a position to finish strong, buckle down and do the work. Remember, if you apply to a summer program as a freshman, you are likely applying to the program with only your freshman fall grades.
How you finish your freshman fall is often how you finish your freshman year. It’s not unlike Newton’s First Law of Motion: objects in motion tend to stay in motion. If you stumble out of the gate with your grades, you will find yourself scrambling in the spring to make up for it. But if you find yourself finishing the year strong, you set yourself up to start the next semester strong.
Be honest with yourself. If you are struggling, focus on incremental improvements. Finishing strong does not mean “get an A.” It means complete the semester with focus and effort.
Key Question: If you took the effort you gave yesterday and applied it every day moving forward, what would be the result for this semester?
Sophomore:
Start thinking about your after high school aspirations? Do you want to go to college? If so, what kind of college? What do you want to study?
Start with the end in mind. Start with a job. What are some of the things that you believe you would be interested in doing? Limit yourself to 3-5 different roles. Do not worry about prioritizing it. Not sure what exactly you want to do? Think about what you have a natural talent for, not what you are interested in.
Tim Grover, a personal trainer who trained Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, and Dwayne Wade, often says that one of the first things to confirm in your path is that you have talent. You can practice every day, but if you do not have talent, there is a cap on how good you will be.
List the things that you find yourself naturally inclined to do and where you naturally excel. It does not matter what the subject matter is, find out how you can match that natural talent with a potential career.
Key Question: What are the programs that will do the best at fostering your talents and preparing you for the next steps?
Junior:
Focus on figuring out your summer opportunity. This is the last summer of activity that will appear before you apply to college. You want to evaluate as many opportunities as possible and give yourself plenty of time to apply to multiple programs.
The possibilities are limitless, but the only thing that you should consider is how the summer program fits your overall application story. Interested in attending a specific college? Apply to a summer program at that college. Interested in studying business? Spend the summer working launching your own business. Considering a legal career? Apply to work at a law firm over the summer.
When your summer experience matches your overall goals, it creates a very compelling college application story that will show admissions officers a clear connection between what your resume and your future interests.
Key Question: How does what I am doing today tie into my goals for the future?
Senior:
Take the same advice we gave the freshmen, but for different reasons. Finish the semester strong. Every college will ask for you fall semester transcript. If you have applied early decision and been accepted, your fall semester transcript is supposed to show that you are still focused. But if you are applying regular decision, your fall semester grades can be a competitive advantage (or disadvantage) against other applicants.
For certain schools, fall semester grades can help to separate otherwise equal applicants. Did you take a more rigorous semester? Did you do extremely well? There is no downside to doing well, but there is a lot to lose if you struggle.
Key Question: Will my senior fall support or weaken my case for admission?