Tips+from+admissions+officers+and+others

Hi everyone: I hope you're having a restful weekend. The email below is the summary of responses to a query regarding admissions officers' and hs counselors' pet peeves. The query was posted on a counselors' e-list to which I belong. Some of it is a little repetitious, but read on.

Ana

Please find a collection below of the responses to my recent NACAC listserve posting. The response was overwhelming with many submissions and even more requests for a prompt posting. At the risk of not proofing this as much as I should, I am sending it out now as opposed to next week.

Thank you to all of the College and HS folks who contributed. There was a weird and somewhat cathartic reverse "Chicken Soup for the Soul" feeling after I put the whole thing together. You may fell the same way, or perhaps I am just odd, either way, some of them are priceless!

At the behest of a colleague, I will try to put this into an article format and get it out there to as many students as possible. I don't know when this would be or where, but I will certainly be sure to credit all of you for contributing while keeping it non-institutional. I'll cross that bridge when I come to it. I appreciate the submissions and have tried to categorize them by topic.

Enjoy.

E-mail Etiquette, Social Networking, Other Electronic Annoyances ● Inappropriate email address. I try to contact students from around 10th grade telling them they need a 'grown-up' address. Given that I'm at an international school I often have foreign phrases, that doesn't disguise the sentiment!

● Getting an e-mail from a student with an inappropriate e-mail prefix ( imsupersexy@hotmail.com)

● Getting an e-mail that looks more like a text message (OMG, I find this to be annoying and IDK why students do this but they talk to their BFF's this way so why not us adults?)

● Cellphone outgoing voice mail message is offensive or embarrassing.

● An embarrassing or inappropriate myspace or facebook page

● Students who start their voicemails with "Hi! This is Jenny!" and then don't leave either a last name or a phone number and then complain when you don't call them back in a timely fashion.

● How about phoning an applicant to provide information or ask a question and having to listen to a minute or more of the student's favorite rap or pop music before being able to finally leave a message?

Visits ● Wearing a sweatshirt of competitive college A when you go to competitive college B's admissions representatives presentation.

● Talking on a cellphone through most of the tour

● "Entitlement" thinking. One student thought that her boyfriend's well-connected relatives would get her into film school in L.A.

● Visit a class and stand out for the wrong reason: fall asleep, talk on cell phone, ask a ridiculous question

● Having a parent come to a high school - during the school day - to sit in on a college rep visit.

Interviews ● Answering a cell phone in the interview

● Inappropriate clothing.....they are not interviewing your navel nor do they want to know the color of your underwear!

● Showing up to the admissions office on a Saturday morning after visiting a frat party the night before, wearing the same shirt.

● Showing up for an interview wearing a college t-shirt/sweatshirt/baseball hat/etc. from another institution.

● Young ladies wearing skirts so short and/or tops so low cut that when they sit down during the interview, you don't know where to look.

● A student of mine once responded to an Ivy alumni interviewer who had asked him what his favorite book or movie was, with "Half-Baked." (This is a movie about smoking marijuana.) When I asked him what he was thinking, he let me know he was "Keeping it real." He was denied.

● When a student is asked about a special interest or undertaking, he or she mentions volunteering at the soup kitchen or storefront literacy center. Then, when asked to elaborate, the reply is, "Well, I really haven't started yet. The program begins next week" or "I've only been once so far ..."

● When a student is asked, "What attracted you to this college?" (an almost inevitable interview query in one form or another) and replies, "You have both majors I want ... biology and English" (or some other generic response that could point to pretty much Any College USA).

● Yawning, looking out the window, twirling hair, tapping feet never work in a student's favor. Admittedly, some of these are behaviors that go along with being nervous, but students should be cautioned to try to maintain eye contact with the interviewer and attempt to appear engaged, not bored. I've advised students who find themselves REALLY nervous to say so outright at the start of the session. Anxiety can be the elephant in the room, and if the student says something like, "I didn't expect to be nervous, but this is my first interview, and I can't seem to keep my hands from shaking" that can actually help to put him or her at ease ... and to make the interviewer more comfortable, too.

● When asked to describe a favorite in history, don't tell the interviewer that you are fascinated with Hitler because he is a bad, bad man.

● In interview: "I want to go to this school because of the prestigious journalism program," at a school that has no such program.

● Students chewing gum during an interview was always a pet peeve of mine.

● An isolated case, I'm sure, but the boy who proceeded to chew off his fingernails and then spit them on the floor during our interview.

Applications ● Being inundated with voicemails, e-mails or snail mail that is a disingenuous attempt at racking up points for expressed interest.

● Cakes, Pies, Gifts or other unsolicited attempts at bolstering an application that are counterproductive.

● Sending something to College B that should have gone to College A.

● Online apps not proofread.

● Online apps with not one capitalization and/or using IM shorthand.

● In the days of paper applications, the occasional app would arrive written in two different colored pen inks, or in pencil.

● Applying to one college as a Nursing major and another in Engineering, and then a few for Education.

● Not knowing how to properly address an envelope.

● Not believing me when I tell you that your high school peers, one year from now, will mostly be people you used to know, and that letting them dictate your college choices is a bad idea.

● It always amazes me that kids today have no idea how to write a correct greeting for a letter or email. It drives me nuts to read: "Dear Mr. John. J. Smith", instead of "Dear Mr. Smith," It's little, but it still gets to me....

● Handing transcript and letter requests for schools that they decide to never apply to.

● A student of mine put on his Activities List that he spends time lifting weights to improve his abs!

● Proofreading error: I had a student put the wrong graduation year on applications to California State schools. I believe they didn't think he was old enough for college and denied him at all campuses. He had to jump through many hoops, including enrolling in the summer term instead of fall.

● Looking at me blank-faced about the process for opening your recommendation file when I know that you sat through a 60 minute presentation going over it in minute detail.

● An applicant used a "Big Time University" recommendation form (we were still using paper applications at the time) - the applicant used Whiteout to cover "Big Time University" and wrote the name of my university (also an Ivy) in blue ballpoint pen across the white out - an excellent way to signal the admissions committee that you're well-organized and genuinely interested in their university!

● Where do I buy stamps for the envelopes?

● How to address an envelope: we had to do a visual of an envelope to include in our packets.

● A parent who filled out an application and placed the father's name and social security as the applicant and not the son's. Both had the same name, but different socials.

Essays ● Writing a college essay that has not been proofed, has a boring topic (isn't reading se ason taxing enough without having to sift through the same essay topic multiple times?), or is "over-thesaurusized" (yes, I realize that is not really a word).

● Student applying to multiple colleges that ask for "Why do you want to apply to X college?" and deciding that they can write the same essay for each college and simply substitute the name. (In other words, NO thought as to why they want to apply to "X" college.....)

● Students should make sure that they indicate which essay question they are answering when given a choice of several prompts. It's not always obvious from the essay itself, even if, perhaps, it SHOULD be.

● Grade-school words that are misspelled rankle me far more than garden-variety typos. Key offenders: received (usually spelled "recieved," of course) and definitely ("defintately" and other aberrations). Aspiring business and psychology majors need to know how to spell those words, too.

● I tell students they can write their essays on any topic, but one I think sank a student's chances: writing about her anorexia.

● "School A is my ideal school because..." in an essay to School B.

● Writing your essay about what a great baseball player you were in eighth grade, even though you haven't played since then.

● This is going to be opening a big can of worms, but please try and steer the kids away from very common essays. Here are the ones that put me to sleep every admissions cycle:

● The Big Game: being a on sports team, preparing for the big game, winning and learning the value of hard work and teamwork or losing and learning the value of defeat etc. Super common and super unoriginal.

● Most Influential Person: Most common (naturally) are parents and grandparents. But please keep in mind that everyone ELSE is putting this down too so their essay gets quickly glossed over and forgotten. Have them write on another topic. If they feel passionate about writing on their dad or grandma, then ask them to write about them in a different, original, funny, even shocking way. It breaks up the monotony.

● Wrong College!: I have known colleagues at other institutions who will outright deny/waitlist a kid who has accidentally inserted another college's name in the essay in an attempt to personalize. Example: "The reason I want to go to Super Competitive A" written in the Super Competitive B app folder.

● How about the student who submitted an essay on diversity for a special visit program that we were offering? She went to our University website, then to the Law School site, and cut/pasted their entire statement on diversity on her essay form. It even included phrases like, "The University of XX School of Law strives..." We did not invite her to campus. She called and wanted to know why. When I explained plagiarism to her, she said, "Well, I didn't copy it from your admissions' web site so I thought it would be fine." I explained that it was not acceptable and she said, "Well, can I go ahead and come as I already have the days off from school?" Seriously.

Gimmicks ● Sending one, old sneaker the admissions office (the one foot in the door gimmick).

● Sending a life sized sculpture of yourself to the admissions office with the figure holding an acceptance letter in hand.

● An applicant mailed us a scale model replica of the campus clock tower. It was a stunning piece of work but couldn't cover for the student's poor academic record.

Parents…..we all have/had them and many of us are them, but hopefully we will not…… ● Starting off a sentence with " My Mom just had a few questions for you...she was doing my applications last night and....."

● Having a parent tell you that they didn't have time to write their sons essay's so they hired a professional to do it.

● My favorite parent story is true and one I use at Open Houses. Mom called concerning her son's application. The family had been waiting for a reply from us. After looking into the situation and not findin g the student's name in our database, we asked some more questions of the mom. We did a search in our database on address and found an applicant with the same address. Lo and behold, it was the mom's name on the application. Transcripts were not matched and the application was sitting in our incomplete drawer.

● I share with parents' that we appreciate their support of the student, but let the student complete the application form.

● A parent from a former district called me once in a panic because she was coming up on a deadline of filling out her daughter's application (first issue.) She was incensed with the convoluted questions put to her, asking, "What the hell is a DOB??" She ended up putting in her own date of birth instead of her daughter's.

● Okay- here's mine, when a parent calls me and asks, "I am filling out the common app and I am need to know the school code" Never a good sign!

● The parent who says, "WE are in the process of completing college applications."

● Having a helicopter parent hover at the start of an interview, or worse yet think it is their job to come into the interview or even worse, talk for their student during the interview.

● A student with a 2.4 that applys to a super-competitive…...cause their parents said to give it a shot.

● Parents who think their pretty average kids are a prize for whom/which we should compete is my #1. Nothing is more annoying than the "You'll be lucky to have my 26 ACT, B+ son" parent. #2 is relatively affluent parents who think we should be bringing scholarship dollars in 18 wheelers to their pretty average sons and daughters. They may have three cars, two homes, etc., but they don't think they should have to spring for tuition for their "25 ACT, top 20% of the high school class daughter." See a trend here? I'd rather have an "Ihaveasexybod" email address anytime (although those folks are seldom rocket scientists in waiting either).

● I actually received phone calls that began with the parent admitting, "I'm sitting here filling out Johnny's application..." There were also a few parents who pretended to be the child on the phone. Very strange.

MISC ● Don't forget the kid whose cumulative GPA dropped from a 3.8 to a 3.6 because of a 1.5 GPA in the 8th semester, resulting in being dropped by a HIGHLY selective university.

● How about over-doing your resume? They'll come in with made-up clubs, or say that they are involved in things they aren't- last year I was the senior class advisor, and kids would come in with their activity sheets stating all the hours they devoted to their class- not even realizing that I was the class advisor! My other favorite- though I know that there are good college consultants who don't pad resumes or over-do it with kids, BUT..... I can always tell if a student has used 2 college consultants in the area- one has the kids change 'babysitting' to independent child care provider, and the other has kids write 3 page resumes, which include lengthy descriptions of every activity or interest, such as shopping, going to movies, etc.

● My other pet peeve- When I am going over the paperwork that we ask kids to fill out prior to our rec letter meeting, and it is clearly written by mommy. Baby boy or girl does not even know the answers recorded on the form, because not only have they not completed the form, they haven't even read it. I love this- especially at 9 PM when I am sitting in front of my computer with their materials in my lap hoping to really capture the kid in the best light possible for the colleges.....

Oops!:

My favorite from my time working in admissions was a student who emailed a sample information request and forgot to insert the specific information. It looked something like this.

Dear [insert college name],

I am writing to request information from your school. My GPA is [x.xx].

Please send me information.

Sincerely,

Student did actually sign his name but we had little relevant information b esides his name and address. Either way, it was a good joke in our office for that week and we contemplated sending a specialized email to him saying

Dear [student name],

We appreciate your interest...etc etc.

[college name]

Longer Lists - These were particularly thoughtful and I wanted to send them in their entirety and give credit to the authors:

Toby Brewster (St. Paul's School) 1. Do not bring a cell phone to your interview. 2. If you forget, and your cell phone rings, apologize, excuse yourself, and turn it off. 3. When you apply to a college, make sure the College Office knows. 4. For every college you apply to, turn in a typed Secondary School Report Form. 5. Bring your best effort to the classroom and your extracurricular activities. 6. Abide scrupulously by the School's expectations. 7. When contacted by an alumni representative, respond promptly to arrange an interview. 8. Read and respond to your email. 9. Meet your appointments. 10. Meet all deadlines-including the internal deadlines for questionnaires.

Christine J. Scott (The Masters School) 1. Proofreading does not equal spell checking, computers may not pick up our vs. hour. 2. You'd be amazed at how many students mis-spell their intended major: pyschology, psichology, psychology (just to name some) and business (to name another) are the biggest offenders. 3. Illegibility/poor penmanship creates the obvious issues, especially handwritten essays that look really bad. 4. I wonder about the applications that are clearly penned in the mother's scrawl with portions also filled out by the student, so that you clearly see that two different people worked on it. 5. Some apps ask for County or Country, and students get these mixed up. 6. Many students who have jobs do not mention this on applications. Often, these jobs impact the time they have available for activities, and so they should include this info to paint a fuller picture of their out-of-school activities. 7. A thing that some students forget a lot is SIGNING AND DATING the back page of the application. 8. For online applications, sometimes students slip the mouse and click on the wrong item in a drop down. (Amazing how many students say they're from Afghanistan -- which is usually listed right after United States on drop-downs for countries) 9. There are a couple things off the top of my head that make a poor impression on applications. The first one is: a. When students list "Hanging out with friends" or "talking on the phone" as an extra curricular activity. b. Then, another no-no is to blame the teacher in the personal statement for bad grades. I look for information not so much as why did you get the bad grade, but what did you do about it, i.e. seek extra help? Repeat the course? Etc... I could go on and on with this question! c. Reading a college essay with numerous misspellings and grammatical errors. I'll even forgive a student if they list another university rather than overlook a poor attempt at writing the essay. 10. Applications folded 16 times to fit in a small envelope look bad, as do those that arrive with soda/coffee stains, are sticky from placing a lollipop on them, or are torn or ripped. 1. One common mistake is not informing your counselor or the registrar that they are applying to colleges x,y, and z and submitting the necessary forms by the necessary deadlines to be sure that their transcript, profile, etc. will be sent to their colleges by their high schools. a. Also - they need to remember to have their SAT or ACT scores sent to their colleges directly from ETS. b. Also - each student should be sure to review his or her transcript before it is sent out. Check all of these: name spelling, Social Sec #, home address, phone numbers AND course names and grades and credits received. You'd be surprised how many transcripts contain errors that students are often never aware of b ecause they didn't review their transcripts and birth dates of 2007! 2. They don't realize that many colleges that use the Common Application also have supplements. 3. They don't read the instructions including the suggested length and topic prompt for the personal statement section(s). 4. They substitute thesaurus words for the more natural ones. Parents don't realize that very bright 17 year olds do not and should not write like 45 year olds. Applications that stand out do not have the above problems. They "tell" rather than "show." 5. They don't relate whatever they are writing about to themselves. They write generic essays. They should write details that are unique to them and that only they could have written. 6. And, my favorite, the essay all about how badly he/she wants to Attend College X that gets sent to University Y by mistake. One major thing I include these days is that students have to be aware of the impression their e-mail address makes. I encourage them to create a "professional" email address for college and job applications. Offensive email addresses make a bad impression. I recommend all students use a sensible name email address for college apps (_JohnDoe@ MSN.com _ (mailto:JohnDoe@MSN.com) ). There is at least one case I can cite where we did not admit a student in part because his email address suggested sexist, violent behavior toward women. Most of them are not that bad but most are silly at best.

Dana Lambert (West Milford Township HS) Common Mistakes Students Make When Filing College Applications

1. Proofreading is more than just spellchecking. Check grammar, punctuation, accuracy of information. 2. Many students forget to SIGN & DATE the application. 3. Many students misspell their intended major. (pyschology, psichology, buisness) 4. Applications should be in YOUR handwriting. Some students have parents fill out sections which leads to two different handwritings. 5. Illegibility/poor penmanship can impact accuracy and makes the application look bad. Essays, when possible, should be typed. 6. Applications should not be folded like origami to fit in envelopes. Use business size envelopes to avoid this. 7. Applications should be clean! No finger marks, coffee stains, tears, rips, etc. 8. Beware of COUNTY vs COUNTRY. 9. Forgetting to include work experience with their activities. 10. With on line applications, beware of drop down items. Misclicks of the mouse often lead to students saying they're from Afghanistan (which is usually right after the USA on drop down menus) 11. Substituting thesaurus or parent-provided words for more natural ones. 12. "Hanging out with friends" or "talking on the phone/computer" are not extra curricular activities 13. Blaming the teacher in a personal statement for poor grades. Colleges want to see what YOU did to improve the situation, not where you lay blame. 14. Sending an essay that says how much you want to attend College X to College Y. 15. Not reading instructions on suggested length and topic of essay. 16. Not realizing that the Common Application often needs to be supplemented by college specific papers 17. Not realizing that on line applications often need PRINTED supplements filled out by teachers or guidance counselor. 18. Writing a generic essay - colleges want to know about YOU and how you are unique 19. Using a nonprofessional email address. Offensive email addresses make a bad impression. Stick with JDoe@hotmail.com or  SusySmith@yahoo.com. (Avoid things like PunkSkater, HottyHSstudent, Anarchist25, etc) 20. Forgetting to SAVE their work on on-line application. If you leave to do anything else, even answer the phone, hit the save/logout feature to store your information. 21. Forgetting to click "Submit Application" when you have finished on-line applications. 22. Forgetting to notify your counselor that you have submitted an on-line application. Remember transcripts & recommendation letters come from the guidance office. 23. Forgetting to have your essay double checked by a parent, English teacher, or counselor. 24. Not sending SAT or ACT scores directly to the college from ETS. Many colleges do not accept scores on hs transcripts. BE SAFE send all directly. 25. Losing their password or user name for on-line applications. Keep all information written in one place (a notebook perhaps?). 26. Forgetting to print out a receipt for on-line applications. This is your record of your id number and completed application. 27. Forgetting to pay the admission fee for the on-line application. Without money, applications may not be processed. 28. Forgetting to make a copy of EVERY application they submit. On the chance that the college loses your application, this is a huge timesaver! 29. Waiting until the last minute to complete applications. DEADLINES DO MATTER!!!!