For almost 50 years, the SAT has played a pivotal role in the college admissions process. The upcoming transition from the traditional paper-and-pencil format to a digital, adaptive SAT marks one of the most significant changes since its inception in 1926. The Class of 2025 will be the first cohort of U.S. students to undergo both the PSAT and SAT in a digital, adaptive format.
Early acceptance rates at these institutions showed a significant advantage over regular decision rates, according to U.S. News data. Though crafting a standout college application can be a time-consuming and stressful process, submitting an application in the fall, well before the typical winter deadline for regular admissions, is possible.Read on to find out more.
High school can be a balancing act. You might be figuring out how to make time for your coursework, extracurricular activities, a part-time job, or spending more time with your friends. Wherever you are this spring, know that you can do it! Whether you’re taking your first AP Exam or your last, here are some proven tactics that will help you be successful and build confidence now and in the future.
KEY POINTS
In an application cycle unlike any other, more students were rejected or waitlisted at their top-choice schools.
Now students are left with fewer options and only a short time to figure out their next move ahead of National College Decision Day on May 1.
Is big money and privilege blocking your kid from getting into an elite college?
If you were waitlisted at your dream college, join the club.
The hardest application cycle to date left more students in limbo than ever before.
In addition to the number of gap-year students who already accounted for as much as a quarter of next year’s freshman class, schools were “test optional” for the first time ever, which meant students didn’t need certain SAT or ACT scores—even though, ultimately, submitting an SAT or ACT score would help their application—in order to apply. That helped drive the surge in applications for fewer spots.
Heightened uncertainty due to Covid also encouraged students to cast a wider net, resulting in a record number of applications at many top colleges and historically low acceptance rates as a result.
“It’s almost a perfect storm,” said Hafeez Lakhani, president of New York-based Lakhani Coaching.
Now students are left with fewer options and only a few weeks to figure out their next move ahead of National College Decision Day on May 1, the deadline for high school seniors to choose which college they will attend. (Last year, the coronavirus crisis pushed many schools to extend the deadline until June 1.)
At that point, they must cough up a non-refundable deposit to secure their seat at the school of their choice. And yet, many campuses remain closed to tours and visits, so students must also make these decisions sight-unseen.
And perhaps the biggest problem is that many students have been waitlisted at their top picks.
Waitlisted applicants have neither been outright rejected by a college nor have they been extended a formal offer of admission.
Instead, they may be considered for a seat between now and September, depending on whether there’s sufficient space for them in the incoming class, among other factors.
“For colleges, it’s a no-loss proposition,” said Eric Greenberg, president of Greenberg Educational Group, a New York-based consulting firm. “The more uncertainty about yield, the bigger the waitlist will be.”
Waitlists are an easy way to protect yield — or the percent of students who choose to enroll after being admitted — which is an important statistic for schools.
Nationwide, the average yield for freshmen at four-year colleges and universities fell to about 30% in the year before the pandemic, from closer to 40% a decade ago, according to the National Association for College Admission Counseling.
“It’s so more challenging for all of us to predict our class sizes,” said Leslie Davidson, vice president for enrollment management at Beloit College in Wisconsin.
Although Beloit received 3,300 applications for an incoming class with a target size of 260 students — and already received a record number of deposits as of the latest tally — the college could still be affected by waitlist activity at other places, Davidson said. When a student accepts an offer off the waitlist at another institution, they give up their spot elsewhere (and so on and so on).
Pandemic hammers higher education
Colleges with lower acceptance rates place more students on the waitlist and ultimately accept fewer of them.
Pre-pandemic, colleges granted spots to about 20% of waitlisted applicants, according to the National Association for College Admission Counseling, but that number falls to just 7% at the most selective colleges.
With far fewer students choosing to defer and many of last year’s gap year students returning, the percentage will likely be even lower this year, Lakhani said, “I expect that waitlists will not be heavily utilized.”
There are, however, ways to improve your odds.
The first thing seniors who were waitlisted should do is write a letter of continued interest to the college to let them know why they want to attend, experts say.
“Pick one school that you would definitely go to and make a very, very clear statement: If given the spot, I would absolutely take it,” Lakhani advised.
Then, provide an update that demonstrates what you could bring to the table. For example, if you took classes or completed a research project that helped solidify why that school is now an even better fit.
Schools are waiting to hear what it is about the given student today that might be different from the same student a year ago.
Eric Greenberg
PRESIDENT OF GREENBERG EDUCATIONAL GROUP
Think: “How your story has evolved since you applied,” Lakhani said.
Finally, submit one more piece of information to help illustrate this new angle, such as an additional letter of recommendation or non-academic testimonial to your character story, Lakhani said.
In the meantime, “plans need to go ahead as if there’s no waitlist,” Greenberg said.
Settle on a school among the list of acceptances, based on which is the best fit in terms of cost, academics, campus life and other factors.
“That’s where it becomes imperative to see schools,” he added. “There seems to be a correlation between how well a person likes a school and how many times they’ve visited.”
Also consider the amount of aid available. Some financial aid is awarded on a first-come, first-served basis, or from programs with limited funds. Students who were admitted in the first round tend to have first dibs on grants and other forms of aid.
“As time goes on, it’s typically harder to get financial aid if they get off a waitlist,” said Greenberg. “There are less funds available at that point.”
Covid has made paying for college harder, so affordability may be the most important consideration, after all.
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Vint Hill Educational Services offers test preparation for the ACT, SAT, PSAT, SSAT, ISEE, HSPT, and SAT Subject Tests. Each session is one-to-one for individualized support. The tutor will assign one to two hours of test prep homework after each session. The sessions are ninety minutes in length and test prep materials are included. The tutor will focus on the student's weakest areas of the test. In order to ensure improvement, the student will continue to take full-length practice tests throughout the course. The student will also learn tips and test-taking strategies.
Did you know improving by just a single test point can be worth thousands of dollars in financial aid for your college education? The SAT'/ACT® test is important to your future—and can open up new opportunities for college and career.
If, after getting your scores, you’re thinking of retaking the SAT/ACT, consider these important questions and factors.
Match schools make great choices because you'll be among peers who have academic abilities that are similar to your own. A match school is a college or university that is more than likely to admit the applicant as a student. The reason for this is because grades, along with ACT or SAT test scores, are similar to average students at the school. When applying to undergraduate institutions, it's important to choose schools wisely.
Is the school a match for you?
If you know your high school GPA, and you've taken either the ACT or SAT, it's simple to figure out if your GPA and ACT or SAT test scores are average for a specific school. There’s two ways for finding out this information:
Find schools that interest you and go to the admissions department page on their website. ACT and SAT data for matriculated students is usually posted. For most schools, the posted information represents the 25th and 75th percentile of students who enrolled. If your ACT or SAT scores are above the 25th percentile number, you're a possible match for the school. Though, the ultimate goal is to be at the middle 50th percentile. If you cannot find the data on the school’s website then give the admissions office a phone call. It doesn’t hurt to pick up the phone and ask!
View a sample student body profile (Princeton University).
Your match school choices
You must understand that there is no guarantee of admission. Perhaps, many students with grades and ACT or SAT test scores similar to yours were offered a spot to attend next year. It’s very likely that students with comparable portfolios to yours were not admitted. This is a good reason to apply to safety schools. Try to have a few of these because it can be a shock to find out the spring of senior year that you've received nothing.
Top reasons for why you may not have been admitted to a match school:
• The application was incomplete or had careless errors.
• You failed to show your interest in the school.
• The college has a holistic admissions process. Meaning, your essay or extracurricular activities weren't as impressive as other students.
• You may have been knocked out by applicants who applied early action or early decision.
• Your letters of recommendation contradicted or drew suspicion compared to the rest of your application.
• The school wasn't able to meet family financial needs.
• Many schools believe that a diverse student body benefits the campus environment.
Contact us if you need help determining your match schools.
Colleges and universities receive thousands of applications each year. Your college application needs to impress them and sell yourself. What is unique about you and your experiences? It is important to put across what will make YOU an excellent fit within that college’s community.
1. Select the Best Topic for You
Many colleges provide suggested topics that you can choose from. Typically, they’re broad and designed to offer some direction and guidance. They should only be considered as a starting point and not where your application essay begins. A top mistake students make when it comes to college application essays is not really giving careful consideration when thinking about their prompt choice.
It happens quite frequently; students jump straight to the prompt that appears the easiest. However, just because an essay seems easy to write doesn’t mean it’s the essay you should choose to write. Students should ask the following question, “Which of these essays allows for me to talk about myself in a way that the admission counselor hasn’t already heard before?” Also ask yourself, “Which one of these prompts would all of my friends choose to write on?” You may not want to write on the same prompt that every one of your friends would write on.
2. Bring on the Brainstorming
Set aside enough time for brainstorming. Application essays that are well written and thought out take time. You cannot sit down at your computer and in three hours type up your best work. That may have worked fine in your History class, but this is a college application essay.
Once you’ve chosen a prompt, don’t just write an essay on the first idea that pops into your head. Set aside enough time and brainstorm everything. Just because you write an idea down, doesn’t mean it will end up being the topic you select. Brainstorming is an important step to writing a really engaging story. All your ideas are now down on paper and you can now spend the time reviewing each of them.
You should now have a long list of ideas. The question to ask is: Which of these ideas helps demonstrate my personality traits? Usually, the more specific you are, the more engaging your story will be. If you are having a really hard time choosing a topic, pick your top two or three ideas and write outlines for each.
3. Develop a Clear Outline
An outline is an important step in the essay writing process. Architects use blue prints and computer programmers use code; a good outline is like having a roadmap for your essay. Writing a successful essay is much easier once you have a clear outline.
Your essay is like telling a story. You should write your outline with a beginning, a middle, and a conclusion. When writing your outline, it is also a great time to begin thinking about some of the important parts of the essay. A hook is the most important part of the college admission essay. By the time the admissions officer gets to the end of the second line, he or she has likely decided if they are invested or if they will passively read the essay. You want something that will make the admissions department employee choose the first option.
An essay that takes a circle format is a good choice. Meaning, that where you start is where you end. This can be achieved by opening with a quote that comes in later, or by telling the ending before you get to it and backing up.
4. Writing Your Essay
Once you’ve invested in the time necessary for the first three steps, then writing the actual essay should be the easiest part of the process. Your outline will guide you through the writing part. The most important thing you can do during the writing process is to engage the reader’s imagination. Writing specific descriptions that allow the reader to visualize your story will help keep the reader’s interest.
While writing your essay, try to avoid grammatical and spelling mistakes. But don’t worry too much, you’ve still got one final step.
5. Proof-Read Your Essay, and Then Proof-Read It Again
Students tend to want to just finish their essay and be done with it. However, proof-reading and reviewing plays a crucial role. We all know the nightmare stories that can play out due to not reviewing one’s essay before that final submission. One of the most common mistakes: sending an essay to a school with another school’s name on it. That’s what can happen when you don’t proof-read. So learn from mistakes of others and proof-read your essay. After all, you’ve put so much work into it.
If you find proof-reading to be a difficult task, try reading the essay out loud. A lot of times you’ll catch common mistakes that you may have missed by reading it silently. Then, give it to people whose opinion you trust. This may be a parent (but it doesn’t have to be), a friend, a teacher, a guidance counselor, a tutor. It never hurts to give it to someone who is really familiar with college admissions, but the most important thing is that the reader will give you honest feedback. Important questions to ask include: Does this interest you? Did you think it accurately reflected my personality? Was there anything you would change? Do you think the essay answers the original question? Did the introduction interest you?
Once you get this feedback, go back to your essay and make any changes necessary. Repeat this step until you are completely satisfied.
The last thing you need to do is have someone check your essay for grammar and spelling. The person you choose should not read your essay for content, but solely to provide feedback on the basics. Once you get any changes, make them and review one last time.
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