SAT scores, Essay writing
Common Application
History
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 In 2012, The Common Application is used for
undergraduate admissions by 488 colleges and universities.
 Only schools that evaluate applications holistically are
allowed to use the common application; that is, the
admissions staff must take into consideration things like
letters of recommendation and the application essay.
 If a college bases admission solely on GPA and test scores,
they can not be members of the Common Application.
Common App video
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 http://video.about.com/collegeapps/What-Is-theCommon-App-.htm
 Nearly all top colleges and top universities use the
Common Application. The Common Application covers
several areas:
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personal data ( you)
educational data (you and the counselor)
standardized test information ( you and collegeboard)
family information (you)
academic honors (you)
extracurricular activities (you)
work experience (you)
a short answer essay (you)
a personal essay (you)
and criminal history (counselor)
Financial aid information needs to be handled on the
FAFSA.
Basics
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 In addition to basic
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family stats
language(s) spoken at home
courses taken
test scores
details on honors/AP classes/IB classes
extracurricular activities (hours per week spent on extracurricular activities and/or work)
 In the same way that a football player would include
practice hours along with game time in his totals,
prospective music majors should include hours spent
practicing alone, as well as ensemble rehearsal and
performance time.
Basics
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 In most cases, the Common Application is submitted
electronically, and the Common Application website
does a great job organizing your documents and
keeping track of the different application
components.
Basics
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 Many schools will ask for a supplemental essay to
complement the personal essay options provided on
the Common Application. These supplements are
often submitted through the Common Application
website
SAT scores
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 SAT scores are just one of many criteria used by
colleges to make admissions decisions. Nevertheless,
their importance shouldn’t be underestimated.
 As much as admissions officers say they take an
open-minded and holistic approach to their
decisions, SAT scores can make or break an
application.
SAT scores
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 It’s easier to compare numerical data than it is to
decide whether a semester in France should be
ranked higher than a state soccer championship.
SAT scores
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 Also, schools usually make their SAT data public,
and they know that their reputations depend upon
high numbers.
 A college won’t be considered “highly selective” or
“elite” if its students have an average SAT math
score of 470.
So what is a good SAT score?
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 The exam consists of three parts:
 Critical Reading
 Mathematics
 Writing
So what is a good SAT score?
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The scores from each section can range from 200 to 800,
so the best possible total score is 2400.
The average score for each section is roughly 500, so the
average total score is about 1500.
STATS
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For the 1.65 million test-takers in the class of 2011, the
mean scores were
497 critical reading
514 math
489 writing
So what is a good SAT
score?
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 Very few students get a perfect SAT score, even
those at the country’s top colleges. The list below
shows the middle range of SAT scores for different
schools.
 The middle 50% of admitted students fell within
these numbers. Keep in mind that 25% of students
who were admitted scored below the lower numbers
listed here.
Schools and their Scores
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Auburn (Main Campus)
 Critical Reading: 500 - 600
 Mathematics: 520 - 620
 Writing: 490 - 590
Duke
 Critical Reading: 660 - 750
 Mathematics: 690 - 780
 Writing: 670 - 770
Harvard
 Critical Reading: 690 - 790
 Mathematics: 700 - 800
 Writing: 690 - 790
MIT, Massachusetts Institute of
Technology
 Critical Reading: 670 - 770
 Mathematics: 740 - 800
 Writing: 680 - 770
Stanford
 Critical Reading: 670 - 770
 Mathematics: 690 - 780
 Writing: 680 - 780
UCLA
 Critical Reading: 570 - 680
 Mathematics: 610 - 740
 Writing: 580 - 710
Schools and their Scores
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 For SAT score information for hundreds of other
colleges, explore the A to Z list of admission profiles.
Holistic scoring
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 "Holistic" can be defined as an emphasis on the
whole person, not just select pieces that make up the
whole person. If a college has holistic admissions, the
school's admissions officers consider the whole
applicant, not just empirical data like a GPA or SAT
scores.
 Colleges with holistic admissions are not simply
looking for students with good grades. They want to
admit interesting students who will contribute to the
campus community in meaningful ways.
Holistic scoring
policy, a student with a 3.8
 Under a holistic admissions
GPA might be turned down while an award-winning
trumpet player with a 3.0 GPA might get accepted.
 The student who wrote a stellar essay might get
preference over the student who had higher ACT scores
but a bland essay.
 In general, holistic admissions take into account a
student's:
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interests
passions
special talents
personality
The Essays
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 The first step to writing a stellar personal essay on
your college application is to understand your
options.
 650-word length requirement for the personal essay.
Before 2011, the length of the essay was set by the
judgment of the applicant (and some applicants who
wrote 1,200-word essays showed bad judgment).
New Essay prompts for
fall 2013…#1
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 "Some students have a background or story that is so
central to their identity that they believe their
application would be incomplete without it. If this
sounds like you, then please share your story.“
 Keywords:
 Background
 Identity
 Central
#2
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 "Recount an incident or time when you experienced
failure. How did it affect you, and what lessons did
you learn?“
 Keywords:
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Recount
Experience
Failure
Lesson
#3
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 "Reflect on a time when you challenged a belief or
idea. What prompted you to act? Would you make
the same decision again?“
 Keywords:
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Reflect
Challenge
Prompted you (inspiration…passion behind it)
DO over?
#4
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 "Describe a place or environment where you are
perfectly content. What do you do or experience
there, and why is it meaningful to you?“
 Keywords:
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Place/environment (noun)
Peace
Experience
Meaning
#5
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 "Discuss an accomplishment or event, formal or
informal, that marked your transition from
childhood to adulthood within your culture,
community, or family.“
 Keywords:
 Event or accomplishment
 Transition (changed you)
 Culture/community/family
Essays
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 Which Essay Prompt Should You Choose?
You should choose the essay prompt that best allows
you to tell the application readers something about
you that they won’t get from your high school
transcripts and test scores. Note that these are all
“touchy-feely” topics, not questions about your SAT
scores or where you placed in the Math Olympics.
Essays
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 This type of reflection is often hard for young people to
do well (the hardest topic to write about is usually you!),
but just know that college admissions officers aren’t
perfect, they know you’re not perfect, and you’re frankly
more interesting when you show something other than
how perfect you are.
 It’s okay to reveal a weakness or a fear, or to share
something that seems silly, as long as it helps admissions
officers feel like they got to know you better and it makes
it easier for them to imagine you walking around their
campus a year or two from now. Being real is better than
simply being impressive.
Essays
Limits
 Common Application Word
You must submit only one essay, and it must be no more
than 650 words.
 The word limit was just 500 words last year! Those extra
150 words can make all the difference in the world when
you’re trying to whittle down your story.
 You don’t need to use all 650 words… As The Common
Application folks say, “650 words is your limit, not your
goal.” If you can tell your story in an impactful way in
just 400 words, then great.
 Some of their all-time favorite admissions essays are also
some of the shortest we have seen.
Essay Minimum
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 Note that there is actually also a minimum word
limit: 250 words. The system won’t accept anything
shorter than
Facebook pics I should
NOT post
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 More and more, college admissions officers are going
to the web to get additional information about their
applicants. As a result, your online image can be the
difference between a rejection and acceptance letter.
Facebook pics I should
NOT post
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 The 12 photos illustrated in this power point are ones
that probably shouldn't be part of your online image
when you are applying for college.
 One of the most common examples of inappropriate
images found on Facebook, MySpace and other
social networking sites...
I got a fake ID
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Smoking pics
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Let me show you what
I think
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I got away with it
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Drink, drink, drink
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Look, No tan lines
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I hate you
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My Stupid Family
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I killed Bambi
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Get a Room
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TMI
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Look I’m wasted
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Facebook pics I should
NOT post
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 Nearly every college campus in the country has an
underage drinking problem. So that photo of you
with a beer in hand on your 18th birthday? Get rid of
it.
 Colleges have their hands full trying to deal with
drinking problems on campus, so why would they
want to admit students who provide photo evidence
of their underage drinking?
Facebook pics I should
NOT post
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 Also, do you have your birth date posted on
Facebook? Obviously lots of underage students
drink, but you're showing really poor judgment if
you document illegal behavior in such a concrete
way.
Pictures I should post
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Social Events
World Traveler
Scouts
Fine Arts
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Acting
Passion
Music
School stuff
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Leadership
Awards
Science Geek
Community Service
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Mentoring
Family ties
Volunteering
Exrtra-curriculars
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Sports Fan
Team Player
The star
6 common mistakes on
college apps
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 1. Missing Deadlines
 2. Applying for Early Decision When It’s Not the Right
Choice
 3. Using the Wrong College Name in an Application Essay
 4. Applying to a College Online Without Telling School
Counselors
 5. Waiting too Long to Ask for Letters of Recommendation
 6. Failing to Limit Parents’ Involvement
For more info…

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