College admissions

College admissions are the process in which students gain entry into colleges (undergraduate institutions in the United States). In recent years the college admissions process for elite institutions has become extremely competitive. Many students base their entire high school education on gaining entry into the college of their choice. In the United States the number of people seeking to enter college is record high. Considerations that go into admissions are SAT and/or ACT scores, an admissions essay or personal statement, GPA, teacher recommendations, personal interview, and extracurricular activities. Racial and economic factors (through affirmative action) are also considered at times.

With the increase in competition, it is not nearly enough to have high SAT scores and a good high school GPA. Many elite private schools look for that something extra that differentiates high-achieving applicants from each other. This may include a unique passion or an award showing true dedication to extra curricular activities. There are numerous other factors involved also when making an admissions decision.

Underrepresented minorities, including Native Americans, Blacks, and Latinos, often receive a boost in their applications due to their comparatively low representation among elite schools, a process known as affirmative action. Another select group of students receiving a comparable boost are known as Legacies. They are the offspring of alumni and usually enjoy higher acceptance rates due to the college wishing to uphold strong alumni ties especially with those who contribute towards the college financially.

For students striving for the most elite institutions, a balance of good SAT I and SAT II scores (or ACT scores, which many schools accept and which is a more common test in parts of the country), good recommendations, good essays, a high GPA with a high class rank along with good awards and good extra curricular activities is the key to acceptance. Although this balance will help in admissions, sometimes they can be viewed as prerequisites to truly succeed in an elite institution of higher learning.

Occasionally the applicant may not get into a college due to factors outside of their immediate control. This pertains to the concept of need blind admissions and yield protection. Need blind admissions involves the evaluation of applicants without regard to their financial ability to pay. At private institutions such as Tufts University and Washington University in St. Louis, need based admissions policies exist resulting in some high achieving applicants being waitlisted or even rejected due to the school's inability to provide enough need based aid for the applicant's education due to strict limits in financial aid budgets.

Yield protection often occurs with the strongest applicants at schools that are yield conscious. Yield refers to the amount of students who matriculate after acceptance to a college. If the yield rate is too low, some may view the school as undesirable by a select amount of applicants. Yield conscious schools who wish to inflate their yield or otherwise protect their yield from lowering employ such methods as waitlists and guaranteed transfer options to promising applicants who may appear to have numerous other college choices. Through waitlists, the applicant is not technically accepted and may never be unless the applicant shows active signs of interest in attending thereby not harming the school's acceptance rate or yield. Although the applicant has no real control over such policies, they can apply to other schools without such policies so as to not limit their options. The term "Tufts Syndrome" is sometimes used on college admissions message boards to refer to such practices of forced yield-protection, as schools like Tufts are perceived to waitlist and reject overqualified candidates for fear that they will choose other schools over themselves.

See also: College and university rankings

External link

• College Confidential (A great wealth of information on college admissions.)
• Xoxohth: "The most prestigious admissions board in the world."