Application Bootcamp College Admissions Blog

Claremont McKenna Says College Official Inflated SAT Scores

February 1st, 2012  

Read the following article for more information on how a college official submitted inflated SAT scores to publications such as U.S. News & World Report to inflate the school’s ranking.

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-201_162-57368736/colleges-fake-sat-scores-lead-to-admins-ouster/

AP Test Planning

January 30th, 2012  

When we begin working with new students on their testing plan and strategy, they are often surprised that AP tests are included; they mistakenly think that AP tests are for college credit only. Actually, AP scores have become important for the purpose of college admission. Not only does taking an AP-level course show colleges that you have taken a challenging course load (learn more about how rigor of course load can help you in admissions by using our Academic Index Calculator here) but earning scores of 3 or better on the AP’s 1-5 scale on enough exams can earn you the distinction of AP Scholar, which looks very high level on your applications. You can learn about the different levels of distinction here: http://www.collegeboard.com/student/testing/ap/scholarawards.html.

Finally, in addition to proving your rigor of course load and giving you a nice honor to add to your Common Application, performing well on AP tests in a specific academic area can back up your honed academic focus. For example, if you want to present yourself as a budding psychologist on your applications, taking AP Statistics and AP Psychology would certainly help to back up that interest.

Even if your school does not offer AP classes, any high school can order AP tests for students – but you have to ask ahead of time, in January or February, as schools must order by March. If for some reason your school refuses to order a test for you, you can also take AP tests at a neighboring public high school as long as you order them ahead of time. Remember that colleges only see AP tests from junior year and before since the results come back in July and the tests are only offered in May. That means you want to front-load AP tests, taking as many as you can prior to senior year.

An article last year in USA Today noted that AP scores of students from around the country are dropping. Despite the fact that students are taking nearly three times as many AP exams as they used to (from 1.1 million in 1999 to 2.9 million in 2009), the failure rate (students scoring a 1 or 2) has risen by over 5% in the same time period.

Nearly half of all students in the United States who take the AP exam are failing – therefore, nearly half of all students in the United States are not gaining even the most elementary level of knowledge necessary to compete at the university level and beyond. This gives you an opportunity to be in the other half of students to show your level of expertise along with rigor of course load.

What’s the average AP score at your high school for specific tests? Find out. Read your high school profile, which is sent with your transcript to colleges when you apply. If you don’t think your AP class is preparing you for the AP test or your school doesn’t even offer AP classes, take matters into your own hands and self-study for the tests. There are plenty of resources available to do so. MIT OpenCourseWare, for instance, offers free online classes in physics, biology and chemistry. Some additional test prep website resources are CollegeBoard’s APCentral, SparkNotes and McGraw-Hill.

If you live in California, UC College Prep offers free self-study AP courses:

http://www.uccp.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=56&Itemid=78

KahnAcademy offers no cost AP test prep videos in courses such as Calculus, Biology and Physics. There are AP test prep books galore as well as AP textbooks corresponding to AP classes.

When more and more students are performing poorly on their AP exams, your strong AP scores will help you stand out. The earlier you start preparing for your AP exams and using all of the tools available to you, the more likely it is that your scores will improve the quality of your application.

Some interesting facts about AP Tests:

• As of this year, guessing is encouraged if you are unsure of an answer. The quarter-point penalty for a wrong answer has been eliminated, so experts are advising students to play the odds.
• Foreign language AP exams are often broken up into a “language” test and a “literature” test. The former tests knowledge of grammar and vocabulary, the latter tests understanding of literary texts (such as Don Quixote for Spanish Literature). The literature tests are considered more difficult and somewhat less common but don’t shy away from them.
• Some exams have different levels: Calculus BC is higher than Calculus AB; Physics C is higher than Physics B. If you take the higher level AP, the lower level will usually not count for any additional credit in colleges although you may gain additional grounds for AP award eligibility.
• AP Exam Dates: http://www.collegeboard.com/student/testing/ap/cal/cal2.html
• You can suppress a low AP test so there is NO risk to taking one you are unsure of. In fact, this past year many of students reported that they were allowed to first SEE their score and THEN cancel it – but in either case, you can suppress a 1 or a 2.

Not All College Majors are Created Equal

January 18th, 2012  

Your future earnings and employment prospects could vary wildly depending on what major you choose. Read this recent Washington Post article for more details…

Early Deferral: Attack List with Timeline

January 16th, 2012  

Greetings,
We hope your 2012 is off to a great start!

We’ve gotten a lot of questions recently from readers who were deferred in the early round and unclear about what to do going forward. We’ve shared below the deferral plan we suggest, beginning in January when students hear from early colleges.

If you were deferred from your early school, take a deep breath and take action as you must be proactive. If you simply do nothing, chances are you will not get in. Here’s a plan:

January

• Focus on your grades! The biggest reason for a deferral is mediocre grades senior fall – cut out your extras and focus on GRADES. All A’s will help.
• Retake the SAT or SAT Subject Tests on January 28th if that was a problem area (you can always go standby if you’ve not yet registered). If you don’t do better, just don’t send the new scores and no one will see them. If you do better, RUSH them to all your schools.
• Are there any awards or competitions you can enter or have won and not yet reported to the college? Any concrete accomplishment will be brought up down the line.
• Have you followed up with any professors at the college that you had spoken to? Let them know your plight and enlist their help.
• Call (or email) the admissions office a few days after you receive the deferral letter and speak with your admissions officer – the person who covers your area or who you interviewed with or if you are a minority student, the minority representative. Tell him or her how disappointed you are, how much you like the school, and ask what else you can do. LISTEN to any clues he or she might give you in the conversation. It’s important YOU make this call NOT your parents. We had one student discover that by not visiting her early school she was at a disadvantage. She immediately made plans to visit.
• Ask your guidance counselor to call both to support you, and to find out anything about WHY – any missing items? Tough year? Huge rise in applicants? School support is critical.
• Ask a senior year teacher to write you a letter of support.
• If you happen to know the headmaster/principal of your current school well, you can ask him/her to call or write on your behalf.

February
By the last week in February, you want to write a “deferral letter” stressing the following info:

• Anything NEW — grades, scores, awards, prizes, etc… — Since my deferral, I … (Don’t waste space with insignificant achievements as that would only weaken your case.)
• Have your school send your updated transcript including all new grades.
• Any interesting extracurricular additions, achievements, etc…
• Anything else that is interesting you didn’t mention elsewhere.
• An impassioned paragraph on WHY the school is still your first choice – summarize and stress WHAT YOU WOULD ADD to the college campus.
• Don’t forget to use the heading you used on all of your essays which includes your DOB, Name, High School and SS #.

March
In early March, CALL again and speak to your regional admissions officer to touch base, ask if he/she got the letter, stress how it’s your first choice, and mention a few notable accomplishments (I pulled my grades up to all A’s and had the best quarter of my high school career…). You can email if they do not accept calls.

Some final advice:

• If you have any strings to pull, now is the time to pull them.
• While we want you to advocate for yourself, don’t become a pest. You don’t want to stalk the admission office.
• Don’t let this deferral erode your confidence. Keep focused and remember that the odds these past few years have been at all time lows and you stood out enough not to be rejected.

2012 New Year

January 3rd, 2012  

We wanted to wish you all a wonderful 2012! May this year bring all good things your way. If you are a parent, we wish you peace and calm as you help your children navigate their high school years. For students, we wish you calm as well…but also confidence that if you work hard, stay true to yourself, and keep organized you will make the college admissions journey less stressful and — dare we say it — fun.

Please know we are here to offer you our insight, guidance, and resources for this all important time in your lives.

Be well, and HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Earlier Blog Posts

Early Results Released

U.S. News Presents “Create Winning Applications” Teleseminar by Application Boot Camp®

Common Application Online – Application Versions

Early Application Trends

Informed Decisions about College: Rankings and Beyond

Early Action/Early Decision

Score Optional Schools

Write an Academic Personal Essay – with a Hook!

Create Winning Applications Teleseminar

Fall College Visits

ACT with Writing

College Counseling

College Admission Blogs

Out of State Applicants

Tell the Truth

Rising Seniors

Check Early Policies

Merit Scholarships

Keep your eye on bond ratings for top schools like Amherst

Summer Stuff