mlktwins Posted June 26, 2022 Share Posted June 26, 2022 My boys will mostly be applying to schools in Virginia and possible a few others along the east coast. I've been reading a lot on these forums and am seeing comments saying admissions only spends about 6 minutes per application. Is this specific to UC schools or to most colleges in general? My guys are currently taking a common app essay workshop to get a jump start on this process. Neither one is finding it easy to write about themselves. They are pretty confident kids, but don't like talking themselves up -- LOL. They will get there, but it is not easy. For the personal essays for specific schools, is this also included in the short amount of time admissions does a first pass at applications? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
regentrude Posted June 26, 2022 Share Posted June 26, 2022 20 minutes ago, mlktwins said: I've been reading a lot on these forums and am seeing comments saying admissions only spends about 6 minutes per application. Is this specific to UC schools or to most colleges in general? *Most* colleges accept most students, and the admissions official wouldn't even need 6 minutes to decide whether to admit a candidate. Quick look at test scores and hs gpa, done. Skim essay, extra minute. 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mlktwins Posted June 26, 2022 Author Share Posted June 26, 2022 46 minutes ago, regentrude said: *Most* colleges accept most students, and the admissions official wouldn't even need 6 minutes to decide whether to admit a candidate. Quick look at test scores and hs gpa, done. Skim essay, extra minute. Thank you! I know our test scores and GPA will be great for a lot of schools, but UVA and William & Mary, for example, are more selective. My guys are up there as far as their stats, but acceptance rates are still generally low. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sebastian (a lady) Posted June 26, 2022 Share Posted June 26, 2022 (edited) 6 hours ago, mlktwins said: My boys will mostly be applying to schools in Virginia and possible a few others along the east coast. I've been reading a lot on these forums and am seeing comments saying admissions only spends about 6 minutes per application. Is this specific to UC schools or to most colleges in general? My guys are currently taking a common app essay workshop to get a jump start on this process. Neither one is finding it easy to write about themselves. They are pretty confident kids, but don't like talking themselves up -- LOL. They will get there, but it is not easy. For the personal essays for specific schools, is this also included in the short amount of time admissions does a first pass at applications? This varies by college, but in general an application is going to get less than 15 minutes of reading. There are schools that will spend longer on an application. Small liberal arts colleges for example. Or schools that are really trying to understand what the student has done in high school. I was in a meeting with a rep from Worcester PI last week and he said they will look at digital portfolios or links to student websites or videos showing the engineering or STEM related projects students have worked on. ETA: I do agree with @regentrude that most colleges don't need a long review, because they admit the bulk of students who apply. Somewhere around 2/3 of colleges admit over half of applicants. But also, these colleges serve the majority of students. Colleges that admit fewer than 10% of students enroll less than 1% of incoming college freshmen each year. Edited June 26, 2022 by Sebastian (a lady) 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
easypeasy Posted June 27, 2022 Share Posted June 27, 2022 Agreeing that most schools give a basic overview look of the application, make sure all necessary boxes are checked, put it in the correct pile, and move on. The more selective colleges, I feel are a bit different. I think maybe they have an initial, brief overview to cull out those who are for-sure "no" applicants. After that, it goes to the second round of readers, and I honestly felt like those admission counselors had read every single word of their applications based on email communications. Then, there are often alumni interview. DS didn't feel his made any difference (but he's a musician, so the application process was quite different), but BK felt that his made a huge difference in the application process. (His interviews went really well and the interviewers contacted him several additional times throughout the process and some contacted admissions regarding his application, which I am sure helped his chances considerably). 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rzberrymom Posted June 27, 2022 Share Posted June 27, 2022 The College Essay Guy podcast has an interview with a former admissions dean from UVA. He said no one in admissions ever looks at an application and says, ‘wow, look at that SAT score!’ or ‘look at that GPA!’ But, he said they do that with essays all the time. He also said the essays are what makes the admissions folks want to advocate for you—a good essay makes them connect with the kid and be on the kid’s team when it comes time to cull applications. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roadrunner Posted June 27, 2022 Share Posted June 27, 2022 (edited) 4 hours ago, rzberrymom said: The College Essay Guy podcast has an interview with a former admissions dean from UVA. He said no one in admissions ever looks at an application and says, ‘wow, look at that SAT score!’ or ‘look at that GPA!’ But, he said they do that with essays all the time. He also said the essays are what makes the admissions folks want to advocate for you—a good essay makes them connect with the kid and be on the kid’s team when it comes time to cull applications. I think this is more likely https://time.com/3585539/college-application-essays-dont-matter-as-much-as-you-think/?amp=true Edited June 27, 2022 by Roadrunner 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
regentrude Posted June 28, 2022 Share Posted June 28, 2022 6 hours ago, rzberrymom said: The College Essay Guy podcast has an interview with a former admissions dean from UVA. He said no one in admissions ever looks at an application and says, ‘wow, look at that SAT score!’ or ‘look at that GPA!’ But, he said they do that with essays all the time. He also said the essays are what makes the admissions folks want to advocate for you—a good essay makes them connect with the kid and be on the kid’s team when it comes time to cull applications. I would expect a person whose business is selling college essay writing courses to only have folks on his podcast who will tell you that the essay is extremely important. I would not expect his free materials to be an unbiased source of information. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
easypeasy Posted June 28, 2022 Share Posted June 28, 2022 8 hours ago, Roadrunner said: I think this is more likely https://time.com/3585539/college-application-essays-dont-matter-as-much-as-you-think/?amp=true I mostly agree with this - however, scholarship/selective program essays are a whole other matter. DD2 has had multiple administrators at her large university over the two years she's been there QUOTE her essay to her verbatim. Some haven't known her, learn her name, and *bam!* they connect her with her essay. She's a rising junior, and in her spring semester of sophomore year, two of the honors program advisors (at different times) quoted her essay to her - this is almost three years after she'd written the thing. 😶 (The honors advisors had just had to read all this years' essays for their top scholarship programs and were lamenting that there wasn't a standout like my DDs essay in the bunch, lol). That essay scored her a LOT of money. 😆 I think overall acceptances are a combination of holistic inspections and luck. The programs, however, do seem to dig deeply. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChickaDeeDeeDee Posted July 6, 2022 Share Posted July 6, 2022 If *not* submitting test scores expect that admissions will spend much more time on the essay and be looking for signs that the student would be a good fit for the program/school. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SanDiegoMom Posted July 19, 2022 Share Posted July 19, 2022 On 6/26/2022 at 8:49 AM, mlktwins said: Thank you! I know our test scores and GPA will be great for a lot of schools, but UVA and William & Mary, for example, are more selective. My guys are up there as far as their stats, but acceptance rates are still generally low. When my daughter applied for 2017, Wm and Mary waitlisted her but accepted two of her male friends who had lower stats but were still good candidates. I think they struggle to get guys there, so yours might have a good chance! Not said it a bad way -- I totally get the colleges attempts to balance the cohort. My DD didn't apply to UVA. She did an interview at Wm and Mary as well -- I think it shows interest in the campus by doing one. The guys she knew had SATs in the 1400's and grades were below a 4.0, though not too far below I think. One went there and the other went to Davidson. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roadrunner Posted July 19, 2022 Share Posted July 19, 2022 2 hours ago, SanDiegoMom said: When my daughter applied for 2017, Wm and Mary waitlisted her but accepted two of her male friends who had lower stats but were still good candidates. I think they struggle to get guys there, so yours might have a good chance! Not said it a bad way -- I totally get the colleges attempts to balance the cohort. My DD didn't apply to UVA. She did an interview at Wm and Mary as well -- I think it shows interest in the campus by doing one. The guys she knew had SATs in the 1400's and grades were below a 4.0, though not too far below I think. One went there and the other went to Davidson. Do you know what the culture is like at Davidson? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SanDiegoMom Posted July 19, 2022 Share Posted July 19, 2022 3 hours ago, Roadrunner said: Do you know what the culture is like at Davidson? I don’t, sorry! I can ask my daughter to ask her friend how he enjoyed it, thought! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
8filltheheart Posted July 19, 2022 Share Posted July 19, 2022 9 hours ago, Roadrunner said: Do you know what the culture is like at Davidson? Whoa, Davidson is a lonnnnnnng way from CA. Does this mean your ds is open to living a long way from home? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roadrunner Posted July 19, 2022 Share Posted July 19, 2022 7 minutes ago, 8filltheheart said: Whoa, Davidson is a lonnnnnnng way from CA. Does this mean your ds is open to living a long way from home? Oh my DS has always been willing to leave the state. In fact he prefers it. Generally CA kids like to stay home, but mine is open to explore anywhere outside of extreme south (Florida comes to mind) due to health issues. Let me put it this way, he is being forced to write CA essays. We need options. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SanDiegoMom Posted July 21, 2022 Share Posted July 21, 2022 On 7/18/2022 at 8:02 PM, Roadrunner said: Do you know what the culture is like at Davidson? No joy. She lapsed contact with her friend and has no idea! He's a pretty quirky kid with a very spiky profile, that's all I know! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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