The Application

What are the Colleges looking for?

	Colleges are essentially looking for students who would thrive in their particular college setting. An applicant doesn’t have to be perfect to be selected. At the most selective colleges, the admissions committee will be looking for an excellent record in the most challenging courses available to you. They are also looking for interesting people who have significant talents, have had unusual experiences, or have made significant contributions to either the school or community in extra-curricular activities. They want to find people who will be good students, good roommates, and have a positive effect on the college community.

	Colleges are looking for reasons to accept you, not to deny you admission. If an applicant comes alive on the page, shows initiative, writes in a lively and interesting style, demonstrates a well developed interest in something in addition to his or her studies, and has strong letters of recommendations, that student will be given every consideration in the application process. Colleges want to enroll a varied group of students.

	In deciding how to approach your application, think seriously about what makes you a unique individual. Do you have a special talent? Is your background unusual in some way? How can you write your application so it will be memorable?

	If there are weaknesses in your record, such as a dip in grades in your freshman or sophomore year, you should usually address them head on, though it shouldn’t be the focus of your main essay. A steadily improving record in the junior and senior year can offset lapses in your first upper school years, and not explaining setbacks leaves questions in the admission officer’s mind.

Should I apply early?

Many students are trying to beat the odds by securing an early acceptance, and many colleges are encouraging the trend. The early programs come in two varieties: Early decision (ED) and early action (EA). Both require students to apply by an early deadline, usually November 1 or 15, and the college informs you of its decision by approximately December 15. (Borderline students may be deferred for consideration in the regular applicant pool.) Early decision is by far the most common of the two and requires applicants to make a firm commitment to enroll if accepted. Early action, offered by only a few elite schools, requires no such commitment.

Early Decision

Some Advantages:

	The second semester of your senior year is much more enjoyable if you already have an acceptance letter from your 1st choice school.

	ED gives you a slight advantage because colleges know that you really want to be there and are committed to enrolling.

Some Disadvantages:

	You can apply ED to only one school, and if accepted must withdraw all other applications.

	Applying ED shortens the time you have to weigh your options and make a well-informed choice. Remember that college admissions is not a contest to see who can receive the first acceptance. Choosing the right school is what is important.

	Although acceptance rates are higher in the early round, the ED applicant pool is self-selected. The early applicants are generally stronger than the regular applicants. In other words, your competition is greater.

	Because financial aid packages are often negotiable, ED prevents you from seeing more than one offer. Colleges which use merit scholarships as recruiting tools have little incentive to offer them to students already committed to enroll.

Early Action

If you have a first choice that offers early action and you feel that you are a strong candidate, then you may as well apply early. You are not under any obligation to enroll. However, early action is generally offered only by big-name schools that have no problem getting students to enroll (i.e. Brown, University of Chicago, Georgetown, Harvard, and MIT). If there is a chance that your application will improve during the first semester of your senior year, it is best not to apply early. The competition in the early applicant pool is very high.

The Early Decision Checklist

Students should be able to able to answer “yes” to each of the following concerns before applying Early Decision:

	1.		The student will not suffer remorse when her classmates have many interesting choices of colleges in the spring. This is THE one place she wants to be.

	2.		The student has visited the one college that is right for her.

	3.		The student has solid GPA and test scores that won’t be improved by senior fall grades, or retaking the SAT.

	4.		The student’s family doesn’t need to compare financial aid packages against other colleges, but can afford to go with what is offered at the early decision college.

Common Application

More than 225 colleges accept the Common Application. You fill it out once and then photocopy it for every school on your list that takes it. Be aware that many colleges require supplementary material, usually another page with short answer or essay questions. By looking on the website: www.commonapp.org, you can find out which schools accept the Common Application, which require supplementary material, and which allow you to file the common application electronically—right from that website! Request this supplementary application as soon as you know you will apply to the school or download it from the website.

Essay Writing Tips

Writing a good college essay requires thought and work, but you should look at it as an opportunity, not just an ordeal. It’s your chance to express yourself and to show who you are, beyond the numbers and grades. Imagine your audience—admissions representatives—they generally like people, especially young people and motivated, interested students. Many have just graduated from college themselves. They come from a variety of backgrounds, and they will read your essay, hoping to get to know you a little better. They also see the essay as evidence of how well you write, which is something they care about a great deal.

Now, the topic is up to you, but here are some guidelines that should help you avoid some major pitfalls:

	DON’T USE HUNDRED-DOLLAR WORDS. One of the worst things young writers do is “beef up” their compositions by substituting long, difficult words for short, easy ones. Some students write a rough draft in their own words and then use a thesaurus to plug in big, impressive words. Doing this is always obvious, and it is never impressive. A good writer can spot a “thesaurized” composition a mile away. The reason is that the big, plugged-in words seldom mean exactly what the young writers think they do. There are few precise synonyms in English. Most of the big words in a thesaurus have meanings that are different from the meanings of the shorter words they replace. Use language and a tone you are comfortable with.

	AVOID ADJECTIVES AND ADVERBS. As you reread your essays, stop at every adjective or adverb and ask yourself if it is necessary. Too many adjectives and adverbs make writing seem flabby. Concentrate on nouns and verbs.

	AVOID THE WORD “HOWEVER”. Most people use it incorrectly or put it in places where it isn’t needed. Few people know how to put punctuation around it. Everyone uses it too much.

	FIND AND READ YOUR CLASS IX OR X WRITING TEXT: THE ELEMENTS OF STYLE, BY WILLIAM STRUNK, JR., AND E.B. WHITE. Let it inspire you. You’ll use it again and again in college and beyond. If you do what it says, your writing will improve.

	Don’t use Exclamation Points! Ever!

	THROW AWAY YOUR COPY OF BARTLETT’S FAMILIAR QUOTATIONS. One of the worst things a student essay can contain is a lot of sentences that begin, “As Shakespeare said…” or, “I am reminded of Tennyson’s words…” Admissions officers will know you found these lines in a book of quotations. They won’t think you pulled them out of your memory. Quotations make essays seem phony, not sophisticated.

	Don’t begin your essay with a little quotation, either – no matter how perfect it seems. And don’t ever quote the lyrics of a rock song.

	DON’T PUT QUOTATION MARKS AROUND WORDS THAT AREN’T QUOTATIONS. Don’t put quotation marks around a word just because it isn’t quote the “right” word for what you want to say. If the word doesn’t seem “right” without quotation marks around it, find one that does.

	DON’T SAY WHAT YOU’RE GOING TO SAY, SAY THAT YOU’RE GOING TO SAY IT, SAY IT, SAY IT AGAIN, AND SAY THAT YOU’VE SAID IT. INSTEAD, SIMPLY SAY IT. Some student compositions have tedious introductions and conclusions that first announce and then repeat whatever is said between them. Most good writers don’t write this way. Even if they did, you wouldn’t have room to do it on your application. You want to make sure a reader understands what you’re talking about, but you also want to be concise. You don’t want to bore an already bored admissions officer with a boring introductory paragraph that does little more than repeat the question.

	HAVE A GOOD WRITER CRITIQUE YOUR ESSAY. HAVE A GOOD SPELLER PROOFREAD IT: Admissions officers take it for granted that applicants get help with their essays. In fact, if you submit an essay that is filled with misspellings and grammatical errors, admissions offers will conclude not only that you don’t know how to write but also that you aren’t shrewd enough to get help. Ask your mom, dad, teacher, brother, sister, someone, to read your essay and comment on it. (Does it sound phony? Is it clear? Do I get my point across? Is it boring? Are the jokes stupid?) Be especially careful about punctuation. Are your commas in the right place? Find someone who knows. You should also critique your own essay after letting it sit for at least a few days. The longer it sits, the more mistakes you’ll be able to find. Asking for help isn’t cheating (although actually getting someone else to write your essay is).

	PUT A LID ON IT: Unless they specifically tell you otherwise, admissions officers would prefer that you confine your responses to the spaces provided for them. Longer is not better. Don’t add extra pages because you think length is impressive. It isn’t. Your essay will be the zillionth essay that your reader has read. Do them a favor and be brief.

	SPELLING: Misspellings in your application can make you look like a moron. You couldn’t do much worse than one girl we know about who misspelled a college’s name three or four times in her application. She was rejected. Students whose applications are messy, ungrammatical, and filled with misspellings look like students who don’t care.

	SHOW, DON’T TELL: Instead of writing, “I am very passionate,” show how you feel about, say, mountaineering: why you love it, what it means to you. You don’t have to do everything, but admissions officers want to see that you are excited by academic pursuits and life and can express yourself. Be specific, personal, and honest.

	OMIT NEEDLESS WORDS: Most professional writers cut their work down by one third from the first draft to the final. It is even more important that every word tell in a 500-word essay.

	EXAMPLE QUESTIONS AND TOPIC ADVICE: From the general common application questions such as: “Discuss some issue of personal, local, national, or international concern and its importance to you” to University of Chicago’s “What do you think about Wednesday?” it can get crazy out there. Even if you find the question inane, try to answer in a straightforward, but creative manner. Don’t ever be arrogant. Also, don’t be cynical, pretentious, or maudlin. If you choose a popular topic such as the terrorist attacks or the moral issues that arise with corporate accounting practices, you should try to show why the topic is important to you, why you think the way you do.

Sending Test Scores

SAT I, II, and ACT score reporting

Seniors—Remember that you must send an official copy of your SAT I & II and/or ACT scores to all the colleges to which you are applying. They take a couple of weeks to get to the colleges, so do it now, or as soon as you make final decisions to which schools you will apply, if you haven’t done it yet.

SAT I & II scores only:

	1.		Internet: SAT Score Sender on the College Board web site. Use a credit card ($6.50 for each report to each college). www.collegeboard.com is the site: click on Score Sender.

	2.		Or, mail: Get an SAT Additional Report Request Form (it’s a small card 6”X3”) from Ms. Rauscher or by Mrs. Kitchen’s desk. Fill out and mail in with check. (The college codes are available in the SAT Registration booklet outside Mrs. Kitchen’s or Ms. Rauscher’s office.)

- The College Board mails your scores out about three weeks after your request arrives.
- You can now view your scores free on the website three weeks after you take them.

ACT Additional Score Report (ASR)

	1.		On Internet: On the www.act.org website, click on “Send Your Scores” on the left side of the homepage. Fill out form, use credit card to pay $7.00 per college report fee.

	2.		Or, Mail: pick up Additional Score Report form from Mrs. Rauscher, and mail in with check. College codes available in ACT Registration packets.Rush Options: - Priority Reports are $10.00 per report extra and will sent within four days of request.- Mailgram Reports are $15.00 per report extra and will be sent within on day of request.- Phone express requests are available by calling 319-337-1313 and are $10.00 for the phone call, plus you must request a mailgram or priority sending.

You should only need the latter three rush reports in extreme circumstances. (Make your request now and save the money for new CDs or books or something!)

Reporting AP Scores

Only a few selective colleges require an official AP score report from The College Board, but if they do, you can order reports sent in the following ways ($14.00 per report):

	1.		By filling out and sending in right half of AP Grade Report (to address below).

	2.		By phone at (609) 771-7300 (extra $8 for phone call).

	3.		By writing your name, address, date of birth, AP test number, and test dates and mailing a check to:

AP Exams
Po Box 6671
Princeton, NJ 08541-6671

Letters of Recommendation

Most selective colleges ask their applicants to submit two recommendations from teachers. The teachers will comment on your performance in their classes, your intellectual curiosity and work habits, your academic strengths and accomplishments, how you relate to your peers in class, and everything else relevant to your academic work in the discipline he or she teaches. Your college counselor will also write a recommendation looking at you as person in the context of your school community: what kind of student you are, how you spend your time outside of academic studies. He or she will look at your school career and outside achievements and accomplishments as a whole. Here are guidelines that should help you secure better teacher recommendations:

	BE PROMPT. Writing recommendations takes a lot of time. Ask teachers six weeks in advance.

	MAKE IT EASY FOR THEM. When you ask teachers to write recommendations for you, give them everything they need, including your application deadline and a stamped, addressed envelope.

	Here’s a list:

	1.		a) Fill out the necessary information on each form

	2.		b) Paper clip the envelope to the form

	3.		c) Place all of these envelopes and forms into a larger manila envelope

	4.		d) Write your name, the colleges to which you are applying, and the due date of each application on the front of the manila envelope.

	WAIVE YOUR RIGHTS. You have the legal right to read the information colleges have in their files about you. Virtually all recommendation forms include a little box there you can waive this right by signing your name. By all means, waive the right. Colleges won’t pay as much attention to your recommendations if they think the people who wrote them were worried that you would be reading them. Sign the waiver before you give the forms to your teachers.

	PICK WISELY. The actual content of a recommendation isn’t the only important thing about it. To a large degree, a recommendation is also a test of your judgment. If your recommendations are lukewarm or wishy-washy, admissions officers will conclude that you aren’t bright enough to pick good recommenders. In general, when choosing recommenders, you should do the following:

	1.		Pick teachers who know and like you. Teachers who can point to specific stories or qualities you possess will write letters that are meaningful to admissions officers

	2.		Pick teachers who will absolutely write positive things about you. This is important enough to discuss openly with your teachers. Ask your teacher directly whether he or she will write you a strong recommendation if you have any doubts.

	3.		Pick teachers in fields where your principal interests lie. If you say in your application that you are going to be an English major, at least one of your recommendations should be from an English teacher.

	4.		Ideally your recommendation is from a teacher in your junior or senior year, but if a teacher from you sophomore year knows you and your academic work really well, that is better than having a teacher writing your letter who doesn’t know you well.

Ask your teacher before the due date if they have sent it in.
SEND A THANK-YOU NOTE. Thanking a recommender is good manners.

Interviews

Though not required at many colleges, interviews are strongly recommended at some, especially smaller private colleges. If the college does offer an on-campus interview and you are able to visit, take advantage of the opportunity. If an interview is optional and you are very interested in that school, by all means interview. Call ahead to the college admissions office to schedule your interview. When college representatives visit the Waterford campus, they sometimes arrange times to meet with interested students individually. Whether interviews are held with admissions officers on campus, or set up with alumni or admissions officers in Salt Lake City, colleges hope to round out the picture of you as an applicant through the interview. You shouldn’t regard the interview with apprehension or fear, but rather as a chance to give colleges important information about you and your personality that can’t be conveyed on paper.

	Try to relax, act naturally, and be yourself. How to dress? Again be yourself, but also be neat and well-groomed. A skirt or slacks and sweater for women and slacks and a sweater (or tie, if you are comfortable) for men are appropriate. Jeans, big jewelry, and untidy hair are not appropriate in most cases.

	Arrive on time for your interview. When you meet your interviewer, look him or her in the eye, shake hands firmly, and SMILE. It will indicate that you are happy to be there and looking forward to the exchange of information. Ask for the interviewer’s card so that you can refer to him or her by name when you write your follow-up letter. If there is no card, be sure to get the spelling right. Be honest during the interview. Don’t put on airs or misrepresent yourself. Show your strengths—if you have a good sense of humor, use it, if you are vivacious, be vivacious, but don’t overdo it—act dignified at all times.

	The interviewer will probably start by asking you questions. Answer them in a straightforward manner, but don’t be afraid to offer some interesting relevant details or specifics. Know what your grades and test scores are, because the interviewer may ask about them. If you are asked a question you don’t understand, say so. Don’t guess, stammer, or lie, but ask for clarification. When it is your turn to ask questions, ask about the aspects of the college that relate to your interests. Research and plan your questions beforehand; don’t ask simple questions that can be answered by reading the literature. Don’t bring in a paper with questions written on it, though—try to keep it like a good conversation.

	Conduct a practice interview with a teacher, counselor, or friend. Practice speaking about your activities, interests, and favorite classes.

	Write a thank you note to your interviewer, whether alumni representative or admissions officer—leave them with this impression of civility.

	Examples of small or middle-sized colleges where interviews are required or optional: Occidental, Vanderbilt, Tufts, Lake Forest, etc.

	Generally larger universities where interviews are not part of the admissions process: Northwestern, U California system, etc.

We have provided some examples of questions you might be asked. Think about these. If you have thought through some of the answers, and practiced saying them aloud, you should be well-prepared for any question.

Sample questions from college admissions interviewers:

	1.		How do you like Waterford School? What has been the most positive experience you have had? The most negative? What would you change about Waterford??

	2.		What classes are you presently taking? Which is your favorite? Why? In which class do you struggle the most?

	3.		What is your role in the school community? What would your teachers say about you as a person? As a student?

	4.		What is the most significant contribution you’ve made to your school?

	5.		What are you looking for in a college? How did you become interested in ________?

	6.		What are some of your goals—personal and career—for the future?

	7.		What is your reason for participating in athletics/student government/newspaper, etc.?

	8.		Since you are interested in science, math (where appropriate), why are you interested in a liberal arts college rather than a more technical institution?

	9.		What might you study in college?

	10.		What books or authors have made a lasting impression on your way of thinking? Have you read deeply into any one author or field?

	11.		What events, if any, would you deem critical in your life thus far? Who has most influenced you?

	12.		How have you spent your summers?

	13.		What are your reactions to current events? E.g., war on terrorism, corporate scandals, etc.

	14.		Describe something you have been really indignant over in the past year.

	15.		How would you describe yourself as a person?

	16.		Have you ever thought of not going to college? What would you do?

	17.		How do you spend your free time?

	18.		Why do you think you are a good match for this college?

	19.		Many qualified students apply to this school. What characteristics single you out from others

	20.		Do you have any questions? (Have some in mind.)

Application Checklist

The application is composed of many different sections designed to elicit a wide variety of information about you. Ordinarily, a college application will consist of the following sections:

	1.		Basic data, which you complete. This section requests your name, address, school, year of graduation, Social Security number, and other objective information.

	2.		Secondary School Report, which usually includes your transcript, character/motivation assessments, and a written statement about you. You fill out the top student section and give it to your college counselor, who will then complete the rest of the report and mail it with an official transcript.

	3.		Letters of recommendation, which you must initiate and teachers complete. Give all forms to recommending teachers at least 6 weeks in advance. It is also a courtesy to indicate the number of colleges to which you are applying, so that teachers can plan ahead.

	4.		Personal essay – written by you.

	5.		Test scores – It is your responsibility to release scores through the appropriate testing agency and make sure that they are reported to each college to which you apply.

	6.		Application fee – provided by you and/or your family.

	7.		Supplementary material. Have you informed the college about your talents and skills? If you have optional space to add something meaningful, use it. Tapes of musical performances, slides of art work, samples of creative writing, particularly excellent in-class essays, etc are often welcome additions. Scrapbooks containing every certificate earned and every tournament attended are not. If in doubt, consult with your college counselor.

	8.		Interview reports, provided by the college’s staff member of alum, and filed directly into your application folder

	9.		Financial aid forms, if applicable.