The Admission Process – College Counseling At a Glance

What courses should my son or daughter take in order to be prepared for college?

Our curriculum ensures that every graduate is more than prepared for college work. However, “prepared” does not mean “competitive” for admission purposes. The more selective the institution is, the more demanding its expectations in terms of course work. The most competitive colleges expect students to take the most demanding course load they can. The key is taking advantage of the academic offerings available, in as many curricular areas as possible – both breadth across the curriculum and depth in each academic discipline are important. So, taking four years of the same foreign language is better than stopping after two years of study. The third and fourth years demonstrate commitment and the ability to work with more challenging material. The same philosophy applies to other departments.

While most selective colleges want to see depth in every department, scheduling and extracurricular commitments do not always allow individual students to take the maximum number of courses. Colleges will understand a student’s taking one less year in a particular discipline in order to pursue another subject in greater depth or to participate in a special opportunity. They will not understand a student’s choosing to cut back on courses if no other area of study or expertise takes its place.

Clearly communicating each student’s individual strengths to the colleges is one of the most important jobs we do. When the time comes, we will make certain that the colleges understand the special strengths and talents of each of our applicants. Meanwhile, you and your son or daughter need to make decisions that will reaffirm those areas. The single-most important factor in planning a student’s schedule must be the student’s individual strengths, passions and interests. To build a high school career solely around the “supposed” dictates of a college admission officer could result in a host of lost opportunities right here at St. Mark’s.

Should my child take an easy course and get a better grade, or take a hard course and risk a lower grade?

The honest answer to this often-asked question is, take the harder course and earn the top grade. College admission officers gauge the degree to which each student takes advantage of the academic opportunities available to them in their school’s curriculum as well as how well they stood up to the challenges of their course load. Put another way, college admissions officers consider the overall quality of a student’s academic program by assessing both individual grades and the courses in which they were earned.

Your child’s teachers and advisor will recommend the appropriate course placement during curriculum sign-ups. Once those determinations have been made, you may find that your child has some choice among courses. As long as a student is qualified and ready for the more difficult course, he or she should resist the temptation to take the easy way out. As is the case with many aspects of school life, balance is the key. It does not make sense for a student to take on an academic (or extracurricular) load that will overwhelm them, turning their St. Mark’s experience into nothing more than a grind with a limited focus on the interpretation of what some college admission officer may want to see.

My child’s grades during the first year in high school are lower than they were last year. Won’t this present a problem for college admission officers?

College admissions officers expect there to be a period of adjustment and look less critically at grades earned earlier in one’s high school career. Once students hit their stride, however, they should try to maintain or improve their overall performance. The most difficult admissions scenarios are those in which a student’s grades decline markedly in the last two years of high school. In contrast, an upward trend in grades sends a wonderful message about readiness for college-level work.

What effect does the fact that St. Mark’s does not rank have on the way admission officers make decisions?

St. Mark’s is by no means alone in maintaining this policy. In fact, the majority of independent schools (as well as a growing number of public schools) have moved away from this practice. In St. Mark’s case, it was felt such practices promoted a competitive climate on campus that was not healthy for students or faculty. It was also clear that for a school with such a small and highly talented student body, ranking students did not help to distinguish them in meaningful ways. We communicate this policy, and the reasons for it, to our colleagues on the college side and work hard to find other ways to help them understand the individual talents and characteristics of our students.

How will colleges evaluate extracurricular activities?

Colleges stress one theme in terms of extracurricular and community activities: sustained interest in whatever the student chooses. The student who thinks he or she will impress the admissions committee with a long list of clubs and involvements will probably come across as scattered. It does not matter what one chooses to do, as long as one is intent upon developing his or her talents and interests in the area or areas he or she chooses. If a student is serious about a particular endeavor, he or she will probably not have time to join half a dozen other clubs. Initiative and leadership are other factors that play a role in the evaluation of one’s extracurricular record. The bottom line is that the college wants to know what impact an applicant is likely to have on its campus.

How much of an impact can athletic, artistic or musical talent have on an admission decision?

As with many questions related to college admissions, the answer is, “it depends.” There are different levels of “impact.” There are, in fact, a handful of admission decisions every year involving St. Mark’s students that do, in fact, reflect what might best be described as “special talent.” In this circumstance, a student has gained an important advocate in the admission process (a coach or instructor) who is willing to put his or her weight behind a student’s application. This level of extra support happens only for high-level athletic recruits or artists and musicians who have truly distinguished themselves. Whether an athlete or artist, the first (and most important step) in determining what level of talent one has is to have a “reality check” conversation with one’s coach, teacher, or instructor. Making a varsity team roster, earning a spot in the fall play, or having one’s photographs on display in the art center does not represent the “special talent” referred to above. Getting an objective, honest assessment of one’s talent should not wait until the Fifth Form year and should be a regular part one’s participation and future growth. Early assessment and subsequent planning are particularly important for spring sports, as there is one less season to work with. It should also be noted that, unfortunately, the timeline for recruiting seems to be moving up (earlier) each year. St. Mark’s, as well as club coaches, teachers and instructors possess a good deal of experience in this area and can offer vitally important guidance and support; talk to them early and often.

What about jobs and summer enrichment programs?

Students who want or need to work should do so. Colleges see job experience as evidence of initiative and responsibility. They are well aware that time spent at work will probably mean fewer hours devoted to extracurricular activities and academics, but they will expect a student to take all of his or her responsibilities seriously. In other words, having a job should not be an excuse for poor schoolwork.

Colleges view summer study and enrichment positively, as long as the student is pursuing genuine areas of interest and not just “doing it so it will look good on my college application.” Here again, the general attitude is that a student should be taking advantage of his or her opportunities. If you need your son or daughter to be at home in the summer to help take care of younger siblings, then he or she should stay home and help. If, on the other hand, he or she spends the entire summer lounging at the pool when he or she could have easily found a volunteer service opportunity, the colleges will see lack of initiative on his or her part.

Each applicant is viewed in his or her own context. Just as with academic planning, no decision should be made solely for purposes of fulfilling an assumed preference of a college; following one’s interests and passions must be the key measure. Think about what will benefit the child, not what a college may want. As with other aspects of file review and decision-making, there is no formula, no expected level of involvement, and no standard for review of involvement or work.

How do colleges decide whom to accept?

There is no easy or quick way to answer this question. To be honest, the answer is a bit of a moving target fully dependent on the particular school being discussed and relevant demographic information, as well as any admission goals or initiatives set for any given year.

Regardless of the school and its relative level of admission competition, admission officers look at six or seven major criteria: courses, grades, standardized test scores, extracurricular and community-based activities, recommendations, essays, and, in some cases, interviews. Notice that your child’s performance, relative to his or her school experience, is the number one factor. The college’s goal is to put together a class that enhances the academic and social environment of the school and makes their institution one that other students would want to join.

It is worth remembering that, while competition for admission has increased dramatically over the past twenty years, the hyper-selective schools are still truly in the minority, and, among the nearly-3000 schools in this country alone, there is a school for everyone. The reality is that fewer than 5% of schools in the country accept fewer than 50% of their applicants.

When a lot of students in the same class apply to the same school, aren’t they competing against one another?

To some extent, the answer is yes. However, one must keep in mind that colleges are looking for the most qualified applicants in their pool and that “qualified” means more than just numbers. Admission officers will do much more than a raw statistical comparison of our applicants. It may turn out that all of our applicants are well qualified for admission. Or, it may be in a given year that our applicants are not as strong as the pool in general. Because gaining admission to any particular place is always a relative competition based on that year’s pool, the results vary. For this reason, we may have a year in which College X accepts sixteen people, followed by a year in which College X accepts two people. Our main concern is that students apply to schools that suit their needs and aspirations. We do not counsel our students according to our number of applicants. However, we do believe that there should be a wide range of college applications in a class of 100 or so individuals. No one or two schools can fill the various needs of all our graduates. In recent years, our students have applied to an average of more than 160 different schools each year.