Chapter 1
The High School Experience
Expert Coach: Karen Crowley, Former Admissions Officer, University of Pennsylvania
What is the one thing virtually every college applicant has in common?
High school.
Every student is different, but the experience of ninth through twelfth grade is the common denominator among all college applications. The good news is that this portion of the college application process is familiar to you already. You have guided your child through school since kindergarten, so you no doubt have plenty of experience helping your child make decisions about which classes and activities he should sign up for. Now it's time to approach those same types of decisions from the perspective of a college admissions officer.
What are college admissions officers looking for when it comes to a student's high school experience? They want to see a young adult with some understanding of what he's good at, how he applies himself, what he is dedicated to, and how others perceive him. To determine these answers, they assess academics, extracurricular activities, and a student's reputation. In this chapter I will share specific success strategies to help you and your child make the best choices in each of these three areas.
Rules to Remember in This Chapter • Report cards matter most. Academics are the most important factor to admissions officers. Pay close attention to your child's course selection and grades through every year of high school.
• Colleges like students with passion and commitment. The best applicants demonstrate unique extracurricular pursuits that involve leadership, personal growth, and genuine enjoyment and enthusiasm.
• Reputation counts. Colleges seek out the opinions of teachers and administrators when assessing a student. Having a reputation as a good school citizen can tip the scales in favor of your child's application.
I. Academics
Make no mistake about it: academics are the most important factor to admissions officers when making a final admissions decision.
Despite all the tips and strategies you're likely to hear about essays, interviews, teacher recommendations, and other parts of the college application, academics are, bar none, the most important piece of a student's profile. If admissions officers believe that an applicant cannot meet the academic challenge at a particular college, that child will not be admitted. After all, we are talking about a student at one school applying to become a student at another school. All other aspects of the application process are certainly important, but none influences the yes or no decision as much as the admissions officer's complete academic analysis. The components of that analysis, which will be explored in detail in this chapter, include:
• Academic Picture. What is the "at-a-glance" view of the student's academic track record? What are the exact, "unweighted" grades (number of As, Bs, Cs, et cetera) each year? What level of courses (honors, advanced placement, et cetera) has the student taken? What curriculum choices has the student made? What is the yearly GPA (grade point average) and the combined GPA of freshman, sophomore, and junior years? • Context. In looking at a student's transcript, what courses does the particular high school offer and how did this student fare within the given academic environment? Also, are there any extenuating circumstances in the student's life to consider -- such as a divorce, death of a family member, or a learning disability -- that may have affected academic performance?
• Profile. When the admissions officer evaluates the above factors, what is the overall impression of the student? For instance, "This is a smart, ambitious scientist who struggles with English composition," or "This is a girl with great fluency in foreign languages who continues to plug away in increasingly difficult math classes even though it hurts her GPA," or "This is a boy who struggled his freshman year but really applied himself and improved his grades over time." The profile is a more complex -- and forgiving -- academic representation of a student than the straight numbers of a GPA.
The better you understand what admissions officers are looking for in your child's high school academic record, the better you can help your child make decisions about what courses to take, what grades to strive for, and what trade-offs might be beneficial.
Academic Course Selection
It is essential to become familiar with the academic options at your child's school as soon as possible. Conscientious course selection is vital preparation for the college admissions process. Using the strategies below, you should review the course catalogue with your child before each school year to help plan what classes he would like to take and how that fits into his college -- and life -- aspirations. It is never too early to be planning for each year's slate of classes, so get a copy of the course catalogue as soon as possible. If your child is in ninth or tenth grade, you can follow all of the guidelines below. If your child is in eleventh or twelfth grade, don't agonize about choices your child has already made, but do your best to help maximize remaining course selections.
Helping choose the best courses each semester requires an ongoing conversation with your child, one that may develop and change dramatically throughout high school. Your overall goal should be to have a child who is happy, challenged, and achieving the best grades possible. To help guide you, here are my answers to parents' most frequently asked questions about course selection and, its soul mate, GPA:
Q: What courses are absolutely essential year by year?
A: Every college-bound student must enroll in each of the five "academic solids," for at least the first two years of high school. The five solids are:
• English. English is English. You've got to have it.
• Social Science History. This is also a classic standard.
• Mathematics. Almost any college degree will require math, so colleges are more comfortable with kids who will make it easily through college math courses. Four years of math is highly recommended. Note that "traditional" math is preferred over specialized math, so encourage your child to take geometry rather than business math.
• Science, preferably with lab. Lab science requires critical thought, which colleges believe is needed. Three to four years of science is preferable, and biology, chemistry, and physics are preferred. Of course, your daughter should not drop science if she is planning to be premed!
• Foreign Language. Foreign language courses with literature study are recommended over conversation when there is an option.
Most colleges prefer to see a student enroll in all five academic solids each year of high school. At the least, they favor students with four years of English and math and three years of a foreign language and science. Eleventh and twelfth graders have the most leeway when it comes to taking all five academic solids. After careful consideration and consultation with an academic adviser or guidance counselor, upperclassmen may choose to drop an academic solid in favor of another class related to personal interests or future goals. For instance, a boy with a flair for creative writing and a summer internship to study poetry in Europe may opt to take an additional foreign language course in lieu of AP physics during his senior year. A girl who is planning to go into engineering may drop Spanish class after junior year in order to take an additional math class or science lab.
Q: How do colleges compare GPAs from school to school when students take various course loads and different schools have different grading systems? A: What you see on your child's high school transcript is not necessarily how colleges will see that transcript. Colleges use their own proprietary weighting system for high school grades. These probably do not coincide with your high school's system.
The most common way colleges approach this is by recalculating a student's GPA from ninth to eleventh grade based solely on his five academic solids. Most schools use a three-year cumulative average and then let the senior year stand alone as a final factor.
To compare students regardless of grading systems, admissions officers will most likely recalculate the five core subjects using a four-point, unweighted scale. In such a scale, an A = 4, a B = 3, and so on. (An "unweighted" GPA is calculated based on the actual grade in each class, regardless of the level of the class. A "weighted" GPA takes into consideration both the class level and the student's grade.)
What happens after an admissions officer calculates an unweighted GPA? He then goes course by course and gives his own weighting to the courses based on the difficulty level of each. Sometimes this is done in his head and sometimes in writing based on a college's very specific point system. Unfortunately, there is no way to know how each school approaches this process, but it's important to know that they do not take your child's high school transcript at face value.
Q: Is it better for my child to take easier courses and get As, or take harder courses (such as AP classes) and get Bs? A: The answer to this question greatly depends on the college or university in question.
As a general rule, admissions officers look favorably upon the student who challenges himself academically rather than take an easy A. When it comes to helping your child decide which courses to take and at what level of difficulty, realistically assess what each course will add to the student's overall transcri...
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