Seniors returned last week for their final semester of high school, and they are in the depth of the college admissions process.
Admissions decisions have begun arriving in students’ emails, acceptance packets have been opened, and some decisions have been made – with a long way to go for some.
Throughout this time, seniors have become familiar with the complicated nature of this process, filled with confusing terms like early decision, guaranteed admission, test option, and letters of rec, to name a few. This reveals a complicated process that has changed significantly and rapidly in the 21st century.
Bearden’s college and career counselor Mrs. Susan Bolinger has had a close up view as to how the process has changed. She assists the nearly 500 seniors applying to higher education and notes that multiple factors have caused this change.
“The process has become a lot more involved,” she said. “Particularly, a lot of Bearden students are applying to really selective universities, and that’s a whole different kind of process than just applying to the state schools or the community colleges.
“I’ve definitely seen a shift in what students are required to do.”
Students no longer can just provide grades and classes, but are now required to submit other materials for consideration such as letters of recommendation, supplemental essays, and ACT or SAT scores.
“There are more essays, and there are more colleges that require letters of rec,” Mrs. Bolinger said. “In the last five years, there’s been a shift in who requires test scores. Many colleges got away from that.”
Due to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, many universities went test optional (meaning that they did not require ACT/SAT tests to be submitted for consideration). This has placed a heavier focus on other materials, particularly essays and recommendations.
“Letters of rec have definitely become more important because as colleges go test optional, they have to kind of have something to replace that, so if they don’t have a test score from you, what are they going to look at?” Mrs. Bolinger said.
Additionally, she noted that colleges still heavily value grades and strength of schedule as factors playing into admissions decisions.
“The number one thing that has kind of stayed as number one that might be surprising to students is strength of schedule,” Mrs. Bolinger said. “Did you challenge yourself while at your high school? That’s almost more important than grades or test scores. Did you challenge yourself? Did you take AP if your school offered it? Did you continue to take strong classes your senior year? Did you continue to take extra science, extra math, extra foreign language?”
These factors have influenced Bearden students in deciding where to apply and when to apply, and students have also had to become familiar with the terms early action and early decision. This year, Bearden seniors have applied with all decision plans to a wide variety of schools ranging from Ivy League institutions to Tennessee state universities to community colleges.
They have submitted around 1,100 applications to around 209 universities so far.
Students also have to consider the variety of decision plans accessible to them. They can apply early decision (binding them to attending a specific school upon admission), early action (submitting an early application, thus hearing back from the school earlier), or regular decision. Restrictive early action plans can also be used for Ivy League schools.
Mrs. Bolinger suggests looking into resources from the National Association of College Admissions Counselors for help on deciding when to apply.
Senior Joel Alcocer applied early decision to and will attend Dartmouth College in the fall. Alcocer says that his love of the school, plus the availability of financial aid influenced him to apply with this plan.
“I applied ED [early decision] because I found a school that had everything I wanted, such as programs and departments that I was interested in, a beautiful campus, a tight-knit, undergraduate focused community, a great academic reputation, easy access to the outdoors and to athletics, and excellent affordability for my family,” Alcocer said.
As more students have begun to apply early decision, universities have begun to admit larger parts of their classes during these rounds.
“What has changed not necessarily in the last five years, but I think in the last 10 years, is the importance of applying early if you want to get into those more selective schools,” Mrs. Bolinger said. “There is a distinct advantage at most places in [those] early action or early decision pools. Particularly, with a lot of the more competitive state schools like Auburn, UT, Georgia, or Florida, you really need to be in that first round or you’re going to have to be super strong in that second round if you want to even have a chance of getting admitted.”
However, a large base of students still apply to schools through non-binding decision plans. Senior Ainsley Major applied to schools all within the state of Tennessee due to program specialties and affordability.
“Some factors that influenced my decision to apply to these schools were the community, the reputation, and the type of majors they specialize in,” Major said. “I plan to get a graduate’s degree after undergrad, so I have also looked ahead and seen what schools provide the type of program I will need to go through for my future profession.”
Mrs. Bolinger advises that students preparing to start the process begin early in order to account for the challenges the process brings.
“I think the biggest thing to do is start early,” Mrs. Bolinger said. “In the spring of junior year, you need to be visiting schools and coming up with your list. That helps you stress less senior year when you have your list and you already know where you’re going to apply.”