4 Tips for writing a successful supplemental essay

So, why do schools ask you to write additional essays? Here is a summary of why and how to construct a good supplemental essay.

 Supplemental essays can vary in substance, length and in question. But overall, the supplemental essay is asking ‘why.’ The supplemental essay’s job is to effectively show why you, the applicant, would like to attend this university in particular.

1.     Make the connection as personal as possible.

If a supplemental essay is asking you to explain why you’d be a good fit on campus or how you would add to the campus community use this prompt to discuss the following.

Make the connection between the place and the personal through discussing a specific moment, conversation or take away while:

A.     Visiting campus

B.     Interviewing with an admissions representative or alumnus

C.     Conversing with a college fair representative

D.    Meeting with a coach, professor or administrator

2.     Answer the question with specificity. If the college is asking you to answer a unique question. One of Villanova’s previous supplemental essays asked the student to identify which year he would like to travel back in time to and why. This type of question should be answered with showing a unique interest or historical moment that is of importance to the applicant and explain why.  Be creative!

3.     Do not repeat information from the common application essay. Use the supplemental essay to write about the connection between you and the college, and why. Do not repeat.

4. If a supplemental essay is optional, I highly recommend answering and submitting your essay response. Going above and beyond is always looked highly upon.

Finding ‘fit’ in College Admissions

Today, parents and families are concerned about the value of a higher education degree. What is it worth? Is it worth going into debt? If so, how much? I hear this from many of the families I work with today more than in the past and my advice is simple: include in your college search how to define and identify what ‘fit’ means to your student. ‘Fit’ should include what the student experience looks like on each college campus they apply to. 

The student experience in itself is what students think about most yet is often not necessarily discussed directly in virtual tours, information sessions and on campus tours. Your experience is in and of itself the true essence of the college experience. So here are some key factors to consider when identifying what the college experience means to you and how to become familiar with these traits on college campuses as a prospective student.

1. Housing: When visiting a campus or  during a virtual tour or information session ask about housing such as how many years do students live on/off campus? Are you guaranteed housing? If so, what does that look like? Many schools have been over-subscribing and literally housing students in hotels. Housing is a big part of the student experience and should always be asked about by a prospective student.

2. Get involved: Ask about student clubs and organizations. How many are there and are there clubs that are of interest to you at your schools of interest? Ask during a campus tour, virtual tour or information session or look up the data on their website for details about student clubs and organizations. Getting involved in student-led organizations for both social and academic purposes is ideal to maximize your experience as a student on any college campus. 

3. Mental Health Services: This is often overlooked but statistics show that over 40% of college students today face mental health issues that need to be addressed. Not every college campus has the same amount of mental health services so I highly recommend asking while on a visit or looking up their services on their website to see what is offered. Uwill and Let’s Talk are two fantastic nationally recognized programs on many college campuses.

4. Dining: Some schools will tout their food options and others do not mention it but if you have a dietary preference or restriction, it’s important to ask about the college offerings and availability. 

5. Fiscal Health of a University: Is the college you are applying to in good fiscal standing? Check out their rating in Moody’s to see how strong they are before depositing. 

Last, always follow a college of interest on social media. You will ALWAYS learn about that school tenfold and get a good feel for their campus climate and student body. 

5 Reasons Why You Should Hire A Seasoned College Counselor

Most high schools have school/guidance counselors which assist the student with high school course selection and submit materials such as the high school transcript and school profile to colleges when the student applies. But a seasoned independent college counselor can help fill in the gaps to assist the student throughout the entire process. Here’s a breakdown of some of the reasons why hiring a strong College Counselor is a great idea:

1. Less Stress: A successful college counselor knows how to guide and counsel the student through the entire college admissions process with grace and ease. They should be able to help the student feel confident in decision making in regards to their college list, essay topics and application completion. They should not tell the student what they should write about or steer them through the process. This is a counselor position, not a nagging one. I work hard at getting to know each of my students (and parents) so I can guide them through the process and provide the necessary support to help boost their confidence they so desperately need during this journey.

2. Accurate Knowledge: A successful college counselor will arm you with the necessary knowledge about the landscape of today’s college admissions. It is a landscape that is constantly changing thus having a counselor that stays up-to-date with the most current admit rates, trends and information is key to having a successful college admissions process.

3. Tools: A competent college counselor will provide the appropriate tools for the student to use throughout the journey to better understand themselves and thus they can then make successful decisions about their future. For example, I use an extensive college selection questionnaire for my high school juniors to complete before discussing their comprehensive college list. By completing this exercise, it allows the student to think through which traits of a college are most important to them.

4. Creating a strong Application: A good college counselor will help the student create a strong application. An application consists of your application, essay(s), extracurriculars, transcript, and letters of recommendation. By learning how to properly complete the application and to make your application as strong as possible, the counselor is helping the student become the best version of themself.

5. Staying Grounded: I use this phrase often when working with students and families. A good counselor helps them feel confident throughout the entire process by providing emotional support, using a timeline and using strong communication skills with the student/family.

New School Year, New Start, New You….

Ever since I can remember, I have considered the start of the year to be September 1, not January 1. Why? Well, I’ve never really felt like the cold, dark first day of January brings a whole lot of change to my schedule and life. But, September 1, always has. It brings a change in season, a change in schedule, and a change in expectations. I usually feel a bit anxious with anticipation during August but not in December.

So this August, I have met with many of my students, who also, have expressed a bit of angst with anticipation of the new school year starting soon. My rising seniors are in a bit of shock that it’s ‘go time’ with college applications, my rising juniors can’t believe they are no longer underclassmen and feel a bit anxious about having to start thinking about standardized tests and visiting college campuses and earning their driver’s license and my rising freshmen and sophomores are developing their time management with social, academic, and out of the classroom commitments (sports, work etc.)

All high school students are trying to figure themselves out, the world and how to navigate their future plans.

Here are just a few simple thoughts on how to start off this new school year for both students and parents.

1.    Goals

I have been asking my students to create 2 or 3 personal goals for the school year. Nothing elaborate. Make it simple, for example, a goal to communicate more with teachers. When you do not understand a concept or you missed a class, it’s a must to take the time to see the teacher after school to communicate your needs in order to ensure that you understand what’s expected of you.

This is a very challenging task for many students. Not only does this take more effort and motivation but high school students need to develop the skill to advocate for themselves.  This helps to develop self-confidence and verbal and written communication skills needed for personal and professional life.

2.    Self-reflect

Once a month, pause and review how you are doing. Is your time being managed well? How are your grades? Are you getting enough sleep? Too much screen time? We are all ‘works in progress’ thus reflecting allows us to modify any needed behaviors to help us reach the goals we are trying to focus on.

Self-reflection can be uncomfortable for many. Having to analyze and think about how and why things are not going as well as we hoped forces us to critique one-self.

But this is the first step to owning our behavior and actions in life. The more we feel comfortable with self-reflection, the better we will be at reaching goals and feeling responsible for our own actions.

3.    Sense of humor

This has helped many persevere through tough times. Finding the humor in situations helps us to take ourselves less seriously and to not be too self-critical.  Give yourself a break!

To laugh at oneself is both wit and wisdom- Walt Whitman

Happy New (School) Year to you all!

10 tips for completing the Common Application

The Common App is used by more than 1000 colleges and universities. It is available each year as of August 1st to be submitted to schools. Early Decision and Early Action due dates tend to arrive first, as early as October 15 nowadays, but usually around November 1 and 15. Regular Decision deadline is typically around January. https://www.commonapp.org

The Common App is convenient as it allows students to apply to multiple colleges and universities at once with the same inputted information and college essay.

As convenient as the Common App may be, many students make mistakes inputting their information. Here are some tips on how to avoid typical mistakes.

1. Deadlines: The Common App goes live on August 1st of each year. So a student can start to submit any time after that especially for a school that has rolling admissions or early decision or early action. Keep track of deadlines. It is very important to not miss a deadline or you will miss out on submitting your Common App.

2. Personal Information: A student must input their personal information about basic information. It is important that the student ask a parent or guardian for any information they may need to complete this section accurately. (Typically, a student doesn’t know when their parent graduated from college, for example.)

3. Activities Section: The goal of the activities section is share with the Admissions Committee your involvement in extracurricular involvement. Activities should be organized from the most important to the least important. There are ten spots to list activities. Use these spots wisely. A student only has a limited space to describe each activity. Write your description clearly.

4. Common App Essay: The student will submit a 650 word essay answering one of the prompts listed on the Common App. Copy/paste the essay into your common app. Do not attach a document. This does not always work. The essay should be a non-fiction personal narrative. The essay should share a part of you that is not found anywhere else on the application and that only you can write.

5. Resume: Not all schools ask for a resume to be submitted but if a school does, definitely submit one. It will help explain your activities, honors and accomplishments in more detail than the activities section of the Common App.

6. Standardized Tests: Most colleges and universities have stayed test optional. But if you decide to submit your SAT or ACT score, it should be in at least the 50% percentile of what the college looks for. Average test scores have gone up due to schools being test optional so be wise about whether you submit your score on the Common App.

7. Supplemental Essays: Students will be able to review whether or not a college or university asks students to respond to a supplemental essay prompt(s). These are specific to each school. Be sure that if a school says it’s optional to submit anyway. Be as specific as possible when answering supplemental essay questions. Stay on point.

8. Proofread: Make sure to proofread your Common App answers. Have a parent, teacher or guidance counselor read through your application.

9. Email Address: Please use an appropriate email address when applying to college. If you need to create a new address, please do so. This is how admissions offices communicate with you; they will send you an email to check your admissions portal. You need an appropriate email address.

10. Last, make sure to hit submit! Some students forget to make the time to submit their Common App. Set time aside to submit your Common App. Good Luck!

New Changes to FAFSA

The FAFSA Simplification Act makes several significant changes to the FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) process beginning next upcoming cycle: 2024-2025 and will launch in December of 2023. Here are some important changes:

1. A Simplified FAFSA: The questions on the FAFSA form have decreased significantly. This will make it easier and faster when completing the form.

2. Elimination of (EFC) Expected Family Contribution: The EFC calculation, which determines a student’s eligibility for need-based aid, has been eliminated and replaced with the Student Aid Index (SAI). This establishes distinct criteria for determining eligibility for Federal Pell Grants.

   1. *Also, the new formula removes the number of family members in college to allow for a minimum SAI.*

3. Parents/Guardians should check with the colleges and universities their student is considering to find out what other aid may be available such as merit, scholarships and grants. By simplifying the process, the act aims to make it easier for students to access financial aid for college.

5 Trends in College Admissions

As we head into another admissions cycle, for the Class of 2024, here are 5 trends to consider when deciding on your college list, whether to submit your standardized test and how to write a great essay.

1. Applications: The volume of applications being submitted has been on the rise exponentially over the last few years. According to the Common Application, the total number of applications has risen 30% from 2019-2023. Students are applying to more schools on average. For example, Fairfield University’s acceptance rate dropped 14% in just one year (2022-2023) due to a record number of applications and New York University saw 120,000 applications in 2023, a 13% increase for a 8% admit rate.

2. Test Optional: College and universities are staying test optional. At least 80% of colleges and universities remain test optional for the 2023-2024 admissions cycle. Fewer students are submitting their test scores each year, too. 47% submitted in 2023 compared to 78% between 2019-2022. Please note: this has caused the average submitted score to skyrocket. What was once a competitive score is now not necessarily in the 50% mean, check each college’s average before submitting.

3. Early Decision: Early decision round is becoming the new Regular decision round at many highly selective schools. More and more highly selective schools are also offering ED1 and ED2 rounds as well. They are bringing in close to, if not, more than 50% of their incoming class through their early decision round(s). Typically, early decision rounds have a higher acceptance rate than regular decision rounds but they are becoming more competitive. And more and more students are being deferred from ED to the regular round due to the volume of applicants.

4. Video Submissions: Video submissions are on the rise at schools such as Brown, Tufts, WashU and Bowdoin. It is a great way to introduce yourself in a more informal manner to the admissions staff. And with ChatGPT, it may become more prevalent across college admissions.

5. Business, engineering and computer science majors: These majors are the most competitive majors in college admissions. Make sure you take the appropriate courses in high school to prepare for these majors in college. Also, make sure your college list is the right combination of likely-target-reach schools for a balanced list.

Finding your updated Grade Point Average

Summer is here and school is out! High schools should have your final grades for the year and you should be able to look up your final grades. But you should, also, look up your most updated grade point average (GPA). If your high school uses Naviance or Scoir, you should be able to find it there, if not, contact your guidance/school counselor and inquire as to where you can find your most updated GPA. Sometimes it can be found on your official transcript which you can also request from your guidance/school counselor as well.

Some high schools use a weighed GPA, some use unweighted GPAs and some calculate both. Which one does your high school use? It is important to know as you will need to input your GPA (weighted or unweighted or both) into your college applications.

Weighted GPA means that the high school factors in the level of difficulty of each core class (history, foreign language, science, math, English). Unweighted GPA does not factor in the level of difficulty of each core class. Typically, IB (international baccalaureate) , AP (advanced placement) and Honors courses are weighted more than CP (college prep) courses in high school.

It is especially important for rising high school seniors to look up their most updated GPA, after their junior year of high school ends because this is the GPA they will use to apply to college.

How to parent through the college admissions process…

Many parents reach out to me seeking guidance and advice on how to navigate parenting through the college admissions process. Here is what you, as a parent, can focus on.

1. If you are positive about your teen, then your teen will be positive about themself. Focus on helping guide your teen, not tell the, what they need to do, should do, or must change to become a valid applicant to a reputable college. How you talk to your teen, talk about your teen in front of them and how you react to your teen’s mistakes directly effects how they feel about themself. Your teen is not an outcome or trophy. The student is a human.

2. If you attempt to be too involved in the college application process, then your teen will feel like they are not capable of handling it themself. Don’t be a snowplow parent. Do not ask too many questions and nag. You are not applying to college, they are. Do not re-write their essays. Let them write. Admissions representatives can certainly tell if a 17-year old or a 50-year old wrote the essays.

3. Assist your teen in creating a balanced college list with equal number of likely, target and reach schools. This will give them the best opportunity of having multiple options to choose from once decisions arrive. A list with too many reach schools is unrealistic and does not work.

4. Do not read social media ‘college admissons’ accounts on Facebook. That’s like falling down a rabbit hole of wrong information. It will cause you added stress which will then cause your student stress too.

5. Don’t make every conversation about college admissions. Enjoy your last year with your teen at home. Enjoy senior year and let the college admissions process happen naturally.

6. Help your teen create a calendar so they have their time organized for when to do everything in a timely manner. Timelines help both the parent and teen feel grounded.

7. Let your teen make mistakes. He needs to learn how to build character, problem solve and build self-confidence.

8. When your teen lands on a college campus, he will inevitably face new problems in life. How will they have the needed skills to problem solve, deal with homesickness and/or approach a teacher about a question if they never had the chance to do so in high school? There is no perfect teen. There is no perfect applicant. There is no perfect parent.

The NEW SAT or the ACT: which standardized text to take?

The chart (see below) will show the differences between the new SAT (effective January 2024) which is now 2 hours and 14 minutes in length (down from 3 hours) and the ACT exam (2 hours and 55 minutes in length). Students should consider taking both the PSAT or a practice SAT and a practice ACT either during their sophomore or early junior year.

You can find free online practice exams at https://www.suzannelagemann.com/helpful-links.

Some Key concepts to keep in mind while taking practice exams:

• ACT is an achievement test and SAT is an aptitude test.

• ACT has more Geometry and SAT has more Algebra.

• You have less time per question on the ACT than on the SAT.

• ACT has a Science section (4 sections total) SAT only has two sections (Reading/Writing and Math).

• The SAT is taken on a digital device and is adaptive. ACT is hand-written on paper.

• You can use a calculator on all math sections of both exams.

This will help you do the following:

1. By taking the practice exam for both, you will be able to get ‘a feel’ for each. They are different (see chart). Use these practice exams for the sole purpose of assessing which you’d prefer to pursue taking.

   By doing this, you will not be concerned with you score (as much as you may think you need to) and can focus on which test you’d want to take.

2. After you receive both scores, decide which is the best test for you. Then do the following:

   1. Timeline: Research test dates on either the College Board www.collegeboard.org for the SAT or the www.act.org for the ACT exam. Discuss with your parents which upcoming date would work best with your schedule. Outline your school year: when are you more busy? Do you play a fall sport? Perform in a winter musical?

      1. After you identify a test date, I recommend that you prepare for the exam. There are a number of ways to prep for the test. Take the exam during your Junior year of high school.

      2. Here are some ideas:

         1. Online Test Prep: Princeton Review, Applerouth Tutoring Services, Khan Academy just to name a few.

         2. In-person 1-on-1 or group tutoring: There are a number of private and group tutoring businesses to choose from, depending on your location. Reach out to me for referrals.

         3. Online/Textbook test practice: This would be for a student who feels they just need to practice.

         4. Testing Accommodations: For students who are eligible for testing accommodations, please review the process at these sites:

            1. https://www.collegeboard.org/students-with-disabilities/eligibility

            2. http://www.act.org/content/act/en/products-and-services/the-act-educator/accommodations.html

3. Practice: Regardless of what type of tutoring route you choose, practicing and practicing for a few weeks/months leading up to the test date is needed for every type of student. Practicing the test taking strategies taught by a tutor/class is the KEY to eliminating getting tricked.

4. And remember:

   1. Stick with one test.

   2. And take the test no more than 3 times over a span of time. 2 is typical and ideal.

   3. Using solid and positive test prep strategies will work! You’ve got this!