What Parents Need to Know About Getting Into Selective Colleges Welcome! (805) © Susan Goodkin All rights reserved. No part of this presentation may be reproduced, distributed, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without written permission from Susan Goodkin.

Strength of Academic Curriculum Grades Standardized Test Scores Extracurriculars Application (essays, recommendations, interviews)

Strength of Academic Curriculum What classes are the top students taking?

Grades

Standardized Testing PSAT, SAT/ ACT, SAT Subject Tests

PSAT Colleges won’t see scores Counts only for National Merit SC, fall Jr. year Only top 3% get any recognition (out of 1.5 mil.)

ACT and SAT All colleges take either! SAT is new, out of 1600 again ACT top score 36 Teleseminar on the new SAT

An 800 isn’t what it used to be...

Problem Testers Fairtest.org: list of schools that do not require SAT’s Includes Wesleyan, Smith, Skidmore, Lewis and Clark, Bennington, Bowdoin, Sarah Lawrence, Colby, Middlebury, Mt. Holyoke, Bates, Brandeis, Bryn Mawr, George Washington University, Franklin and Marshall

Subject Matter SAT’s Check college requirements Take as close to end of class as possible Important for homeschoolers! U.S. History Korean World History French Math Level 1 German Math Level 2 Spanish Biology Ecological Biology Molecular Latin Chemistry Chinese Physics Japanese Literature Italian Modern Hebrew

Extracurriculars Start thinking about these early!

Extracurriculars Extracurriculars make applicants stand out from the applicant pack Strong passions, pursued with increasing depth More selective schools look for more impressive activities Don’t be constrained by high school offerings

Think Outside the Box WRITING Get published Internship at paper NaNoWriMo Start a writing group Attend summer writing seminars Mentor younger writers Start a blog

Science Competitions (including research papers) Summer research opportunities Find a mentor/be a mentor On-line classes (Grand Rounds)

Athletes Overall Acceptance Rate: 30% “Typical” applicants: 15% Recruited Athlete: 75% Statistics from Fiske Guide to Getting Into the Right College Ivy: Average male athlete has 4x the chance of getting in compared with comparable academic candidate

Essays Think small – slice of life essay Avoid the usual suspects Does the writer sound like a good roommate? “Why This School Essay” important!

Recommendations Not all colleges require recommendations What will student add to college classroom? Want to assess student’s interest in learning, level of achievement compared to classmates Personal traits Help teachers write strong recommendations by giving them resume and cover letter Fame doesn’t matter

Guidance Counselor Recommendation

Interviews Will rarely be critical Practice with mock interviews Will send recorded interview about interviews!

Contact Information Susan Goodkin